When we think about the early days of the church and the threats to the church in her infancy, we may be tempted to think first and foremost of physical persecution. And there is good reason for that. After all, we read of the apostles being beaten and imprisoned for preaching the gospel repeatedly. And should we open any text on the history of the church we would read of stories of intense persecution and martyrdom, spanning from the time of the apostles until the present day. What we may miss, however, was that persecution probably was not the greatest threat to the church in its earliest days and perhaps never has been the greatest threat throughout the whole history of the church.
I think it can be argued that the greatest threat to the church isn’t believers being beaten or killed for their faith but rather the temptation for Christians to believe things that are contrary to the teaching of Scripture and to live lives in accord with that false teaching. That is to say, the greatest attack on the church is rarely physical persecution but rather a temptation to believe and live in a way contrary to God’s Word.
This reality of the serious threat of false teaching and the immoral living that accompanies it is what led Peter to write this letter. He’s used the first chapter to exhort the readers and focus them on the Bible. But in this second chapter, he goes right at the issue confronting them. There were false teachers among them, tempting them to believe falsehood and live in a way that it forbidden in the Scripture. So, whereas in his first letter (1 Peter), Peter encourages his readers how to walk well in suffering, now, he warns them against succumbing to these false teachers by exposing these false teachers for who they are and the judgment they are going to face.
And as we look at this chapter this morning, I don’t think it should be difficult for us to see that this threat of false teaching is crouching at our door as well. What makes it especially difficult is that it is coming at us in many different forms. We have some preachers and teachers promoting a prosperity gospel, the entertainment industry and certain government officials attempting to re-define marriage and family, and our neighbors telling us that it is bigoted and offensive to suggest that everyone must bow the knee to Jesus Christ in faith. And that’s just a sample. Even to approach the Bible as we are this morning, recognizing it as God’s very words written by human authors, sounds to most like a claim that the world is flat. Surely, they think, we know better by now.
So, this brings us back to 2 Peter. And I think it makes it more obvious why Peter has structured the letter as he has. Trying to survive and walk in righteousness in the midst of a setting and culture as I’ve just described requires that we are reminded of God’s rich grace to us that will sustain us through whatever we face. It also requires sustained effort on our part not to allow ourselves to drift through life but make great effort always to be growing in godliness. That’s what Peter covers in 2 Peter 1:1-11. We also need, however, to be reminded of the importance and nature of God’s Word. After all, when we are tempted to lose our bearings and find ourselves drifting away from what is true and right, we need to be exhorted to return to the Word again and again, remembering that it is a true and trustworthy beacon of truth in a world of darkness and lies. That’s what Peter has told us in 2 Peter 1:12-21.
But this morning, he sets out to expose and attack the false teachers, providing a word of comfort for his hearers along the way. And, as I’ve mentioned, this is a word we need to hear as desperately as we needed the beautiful message found in chapter 1. Therefore, this morning, I want us to hear what it is that Peter tells his hearers and readers in this first chapter.
The chapter breaks down into four sections: 1-3a, 3b-10a, 10b-16, and 17-22. Let’s start, then, with verses 1-3a:
Peter begins this chapter noting that false teachers are always going to be present. The way verse 1 reads, you could think that Peter is saying that there aren’t false teachers present in the churches to whom he was writing, but he knew there one day would be. After all, he writes, “But false prophets also around among the people [in the past] just as there will be false teachers among you [in the future?]." I think Peter writes this way simply to make the point that there always will be false teachers. That is, at all times, we can make the statement – false teachers arose and will be among you. Peter’s audience is seeing it in the present. They have false teachers among them. The prophecy that they would come is being fulfilled in their midst.
But Peter doesn’t simply note that false teachers will come and are present; he also tells us what they will do. He begins by noting that they will “secretly bring in destructive heresies.” By this, Peter probably doesn’t mean that these false teachers are trying to keep their false teaching a secret. Rather, he most likely means that they’re not advertising just how clearly this is out of line with the OT Scripture and the apostles’ teaching. They’re attempting, it seems, to sway people into thinking that their teaching lines up with the Scripture, when in reality, it is falsehood.
Peter makes clear, however, that they are not in line with the Scripture, though. Rather, though they claim to belong to the Lord and to have been ransomed by him, no doubt, their actions and teachings actually deny him so that they will face judgment in the end. That is the most likely meaning of Peter’s phrase, “even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction” (v. 1).
Now, we might think, therefore, that such false teachers would not garner much of a following. But Peter tells us not to underestimate their ability to sway others. He notes three things that will happen because of these false teachers: (1) “many will follow their sensuality," (2) because many will claim Christ yet follow the teaching and practice of these false teachers, Christ’s truth and name will be blasphemed, and (3) their followers will be financially exploited because these false teachers are driven by greed.
Let’s take those one at a time. One reason many will be tempted to follow the false teachers and/or their false teaching is that they’ll allow room for sexual immorality. It’s simply always going to be more popular to say to someone that they can carry out their lives of sexual immorality than that they should repent of sexual sin. I mean, don’t we see this in our own day? If we wanted to speak a message that appeals to unbelievers in their sin, we would condone all sex outside of marriage (with strong support for abortion in case sexual activity results in pregnancy), homosexuality, and on and on. So, it’s not surprising that many are voicing these things and that many professing Christians are jumping on board.
Second, because many professing Christians will jump on board with this teaching, Christ’s truth will be blasphemed. How many times in the recent discussions on homosexuality, for example, have we heard professing Christians say that the Bible does not teach that homosexuality is a sin? How many times have we heard professing Christian, as another example, claim before the media that there’s room within their Christian commitment for a pro-choice stance? And we could go on. But the result is that when Christians claim as true and good things that are false and condemned in the Bible, they blaspheme the truth of Christ.
Finally, many will be exploited by the greed of these false teachers. Don’t be deceived, it is not a new phenomenon that people want to exploit people with false words so that they can get financial gain. This isn’t something that’s only begun to happen in the last few decades with the tele-evangelist movement. This will always happen because false teachers will be driven by power and greed.
So, first, let’s just acknowledge what Peter says here at the start. We are always going to have false teachers with us, even false teachers claiming Christ as their Lord. So, just as Peter says in his first letter, “Don’t be surprised” by the suffering you face, so we should not be surprised when we see this. It doesn’t mean we’re living in unprecedented times when false teachers are all around. It means, rather, that exactly what Jesus said would happen is indeed happening.
But Peter doesn’t leave matters there. In verses 3b-10a we see:
Just at the end of verse 3, Peter reminds us again that these false teachers will indeed be judged. When he says “Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep,” that is simply a way of saying that the judgment promised them is no idle threat. It most definitely will come to them when Christ judges the living and the dead.
Perhaps the false teachers themselves, however, were saying that God is not really going to judge humanity. I mean, we hear many saying that the idea that God would punish unbelievers with hell is an unfit description of God, one that is not in accord with his nature, and altogether false. And Peter and his original audience were no doubt hearing similar things. Maybe his hearers were even on the verge of being won over by such arguments. Therefore, Peter does something masterful. He simply takes up examples from the book of Genesis where God poured out his judgment.
These three incidents that Peter takes up are the angels sinning and being judged (which is most likely a reference to the beginning of Genesis 6:1-4 where the text tells us that the “sons of God” (i.e. angels) had relations with human woman in rebellion against God),1 the flood, and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. So, you can see his point. God judged the angels. His warning against them was no idle threat. God flooded the world, which was a terrible judgment, killing all of mankind but eight persons. Obviously that was no idle threat. And with Sodom and Gomorrah, the Lord brought out Lot and his family, but he did indeed destroy the cities, reducing them to ash. Thus, Peter concludes that if God did all of that, then the Lord knows how “to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority” (v. 10a). Therefore, the idea that God will not really judge unbelievers as he promised is based on some other conception of God and his actions than the one provided in the Bible. After all, again, Peter notes that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was “an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly” (v. 6). It is not safe to believe and live your life contrary to the Bible, for God will judge the ungodly, even as he did the angels, those at the time of the flood, and Sodom and Gomorrah.
But there was another stream there in the text, wasn’t there? Peter wasn’t only making the point that God will judge the ungodly. He was also making the point that the Lord knows how to protect and deliver the righteous. He note that he preserved Noah and his family and Lot and his family, in the midst of judgment against the wicked, and he concludes that if the Lord did that, the he “knows how to rescue the godly from trials” (v. 9).
Now, why would the Lord bring up this point of his ability to protect and deliver the righteous in trials? I think the answer is that with all the false teaching going on around them and many being seduced into immoral living, it can put a strain on believers. He mentions that Lot specifically, living in the midst of a number of ungodly people “torment[ed] his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard” (v. 8). So, the Lord is saying, “Stand fast. Keep holding on in obedience. I’ll preserve you. I’ll rescue you. I’ll deliver my saints.”
So, I say to us: Don’t look around and be blinded to what is true. It may indeed look like those following falsehood are winning. It may look like there are no consequences. It may look like they’re enjoying all the true pleasures of life. But judgment for them is certain, and if you hold fast, you’re deliverance will be certain as well. So, don’t take your cues concerning what is real by looking around you. Take your cues from what the Bible tells you, and one of those is that the Lord will judge unbelievers but will deliver his people.
What’s next is kind of interesting. After speaking of the judgment coming to false teachers, you could be tempted to think that maybe those promoting falsehood aren’t quite worthy of judgment. After all, a number of those spouting falsehood in the history of the church have appeared warm, friendly, and inviting. So, in verses 10b-16 Peter shows us:
Despite what they may appear to be on the surface, Peter wants his hearers to know the natures of those spreading falsehood among them. He notes that they are “bold and willful” (10b). That is, they are arrogant. And one way their arrogance is shown is that they apparently were slandering demons. That, I think, is what Peter means by “glorious ones” (10b). Now, what does it mean that they were blaspheming demons? Well, we can’t know for certain, but let me suggest one possibility. I don’t say this to suggest this is absolutely what’s going on, but I suggest it merely so that we might begin to grasp something that might fit this idea of “blaspheming” demons.
Perhaps as these men sinned, some suggested to them that they were messing around in the realm of the demonic. For example, someone might have said that sexual immorality is not only sinful but demonically sinful. And they’d have a point. After all, it is when we rebel against the Lord in sin that we show ourselves to be following the ways of Satan himself. Therefore, suppose that these false teachers responded by mocking demons, mocking their ability to enslave and oppress people. Well, that would surely fall in the category of blaspheming them, wouldn’t it?
The point is, in speaking against these demons, these men show their arrogance, for even angels, Peter tells us, “though greater in might and power” than the demons simply leave the judgment of demons to the Lord. These men should know their place. But they don’t. They’re driven by their base desires for sin, Peter says in verse 12 and will therefore suffer judgment. They delight in the fact that they’re able to deceive so many, even as they feast with those whom they’re deceiving. When they set their eyes on women it is simply to see if they might be candidates for adultery, for they have an insatiable appetite for sin. They are going after weak ones in the church, driven by greed, acting like Balaam who loved gain from wrongdoing, and they are cursed of God.
So, even here we see again that we cannot take our cues from what our eyes perceive. The person spreading falsehood and encouraging you to disobey Christ, disbelieve his Word, and rebel against him might appear as if he is genuinely good, kind, helpful, and wanting you to know the greatest treasures of life. But the reality is that he is rebelling against the Lord in his arrogance and wicked desire for sin. As he tries to win you over to his ways it is so that he might delight in his ability to deceive you (even if he’s not consciously thinking in those terms). Therefore, these men are to be resisted, and their judgment is just.
Therefore, Peter tells us false teachers will be present, reminds us that the Lord will judge even as he delivers his people, and reveals to us their real (and perhaps hidden) nature. But he ends with one more note. In verses 17-22 we see:
Lest anyone feel the draw to go after all that these false teachers hold out, Peter shows us the impact these false teachers can have on their followers. In verse 17, Peter tells us that though a spring and a storm promise an abundance of water, these men are waterless springs and mere mists driven by a storm. That is, they appear to promise much but actually bear very little. They speak loudly and boast (v. 18), but their promises are empty. And they go after those who may well be recent converts. When Peter says that they entice those “barely escaping from those who live in error” (v. 18), the idea is probably best understood as those who only recently escaped from error.
That is, these false teachers may well prey on those who are walking out of a life of sinful rebellion against Christ toward faith in him, and they’re trying to pull them back. They’re promising blessing, but their boasts are empty. They’re offering sensual pleasures and freedom that those who follow the Scriptures simply don’t know, they claim. But Peter tells us that they themselves are not free but enslaved to their sin. They’re not promising freedom, but they themselves are drowning in sin and want to bring you down with them.
So, Peter gives a warning that turning away from saving faith in the Lord to run after a lifestyle of sin is extremely dangerous. In verses 20-22, he says that if that’s where we go, it would have been better that we never ever knew the way of righteousness. Better that we’d never heard the gospel and claimed we believed it. We would be like a dog returning to its vomit or a sow returning to the mire.
Therefore, let me speak pointedly to you this morning. There may well be some of you who have walked out of a terrible lifestyle recently and have claimed Christ. And there may be some around you telling you to turn back. They may be promising freedom of sensuality and joys that they’re telling you following Christ will never bring you. And you may feel the pull right now. So, let me tell you two things based on this text. One, all those voices around you are lying to you. They’re promising you freedom and joy, but they don’t know it themselves. They’re trapped and enslaved in their own sin, and they’re like people who are drowning and try to drown all around them. And, two, if you turn back from Christ and run after that, you’ll not like the end. The Lord who promised judgment will bring it. On the day of judgment, you’ll have been better off simply never to have heard the gospel and been drawn to it. You’ll be better off never to have understood that Jesus lived, died, and was raised so that if we turn to him in faith, then we’ll be saved. You’ll be better off having never understood that his commands are the only way to lasting joy. So, please, don’t listen to them. Rather, look to Christ in faith and hold fast to his commands.
And to the rest of us as well, false teachers and false teaching are a real threat to our faith. Maybe we’ve lived in fear of the day persecution may grow greater in our country and have missed the clear and present danger of the false teaching that is all around us. Be aware of it. Don’t give in to it. Renew your minds by meditating on the Word of the Lord again and again. And as your obedience brings great trials, remember that the end of the unrighteousness is judgment, while the Lord is able to rescue, preserve, deliver, and bless his people in eternity. Therefore, let us hold fast to Christ in faith. In fact, let us collectively proclaim that as our response to this Word as we come to the table this morning. Amen.