"THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PETER"
The Deceptions Of False Teachers (2:18-22)
INTRODUCTION
1. Peter's warning against "false teachers" has to this point included
a description of:
a. The destructiveness of false teachers - 2 Pe 2:1-3
b. The doom of false teachers - 2 Pe 2:4-9
c. The depravity of false teachers - 2 Pe 2:10-17
2. Verse 17 summarizes their depravity by describing them as...
a. "wells without water"
b. "clouds carried by a tempest"
...that while they promise much, they do not truly deliver what they
promise
3. Thus they are "deceptive", and the deceptions of false teachers
become even more apparent as we consider the last section of chapter
two
[Verses 18-22 vividly depict the manner in which these "false teachers"
are deceptive, beginning with...]
I. THEY ARE DECEPTIVE IN THEIR METHODS (18)
A. THEY USE DECEPTIVE WORDS...
1. Peter had warned earlier that "they will exploit you with
deceptive words" - 2 Pe 2:3
2. Now he says they "speak great swelling words of emptiness" -
2 Pe 2:18
a. Using eloquent speech that sounds impressive and promising
b. But lacking true substance
B. THEY ACTUALLY APPEAL TO THE FLESH...
1. So deceiving are these teachers, one may think that they are
winning him over to their way through their sound doctrines
2. But their true allurement is through "the lusts of the flesh"
a. Which could include such things as immorality, materialism,
envy, pride - cf. Ga 5:19-21; 1 Jn 2:15-17
b. Thus they offer promises that really have their appeal to
what the flesh will gain
c. Is this not the case with those who promise "health and
wealth" with the gospel?
3. It is even "through licentiousness" that these teachers entice
unstable souls...
a. Licentiousness in the Greek is aselgeia {as-elg'-i-a} which
means "unbridled lust, excess, licentiousness,
lasciviousness, wantonness, outrageousness, shamelessness,
insolence"
b. They shamelessly flaunt their fleshly appeals, while
passing it off as something proper
c. E.g., displaying excessive wealth as something one might
expect to receive as a follower of their teaching
[Through such deceptive methods, they seek to allure those who have
"escaped from those who live in error" (18b).
This leads us to Peter's next point...]
II. THEY ARE DECEPTIVE IN THEIR PROMISES (19)
A. THEY PROMISE "LIBERTY", BUT THEY DON'T DELIVER...
1. Especially if it is liberty from the "lusts of the flesh"
2. For as we have seen, they make their allurements through the
"lusts of the flesh" - cf. 2 Pe 2:1,18
3. Thus they enslave through the very thing they promise
deliverance from!
B. THEY PROMISE "LIBERTY", WHILE THEY THEMSELVES ARE SLAVES...
1. They are "slaves of corruption" trying to promise what they
don't have
2. As evidence of their "corruption", we have already seen...
a. They attempt to exploit through covetousness - 2 Pe 2:3
b. They "walk according to the flesh in the lust of
uncleanness" - 2 Pe 2:10
c. They "despise authority" - 2 Pe 2:10
d. They "speak evil of the things they do not understand" -
2 Pe 2:12
e. They "count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime" - 2 Pe
2:13
f. They have "eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from
sin" - 2 Pe 2:14
g. They have "a heart trained in covetous practices" - 2 Pe
2:14
3. Thus these teachers who promise liberty are themselves...
a. "overcome"
b. "brought into bondage"
4. Indeed, they are worse off now than before (20-22)
a. Their latter end is worse than their beginning
b. It would have been better for them never to have known the
way of righteousness - cf. Lk 12:47-48
c. They have become like the dog returning to his vomit, and
the washed sow wallowing again in the mire!
-- These last three verses raise a question that will be
answered below
[Deceptive in both method and promise, we can appreciate why Peter
would spend so much time warning about them.
Before concluding this lesson (and chapter), it might be prudent to
attempt answer two questions that are commonly raised by Peter's
discourse on false teachers...]
III. CONCLUDING QUESTIONS
A. WERE THESE FALSE TEACHERS ONCE TRUE CHRISTIANS?
1. They were "denying the Lord who bought them" - 2 Pe 2:1
a. These are souls who at one time had been "bought by the
Lord"
b. Peter had written in his first epistle that we are redeemed
(bought back) by the precious blood of Christ - 1 Pe 1:
18-19
c. Thus, these are souls who at one time were "blood bought
individuals"
2. "They have forsaken the right way and gone astray" - 2 Pe 2:15
a. The implication here is that they were once on the right
way
b. For it is impossible to forsake something you never had, or
to go astray if you were always lost
3. "...they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the
knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again
entangled in them and overcome..." - 2 Pe 2:20
a. Compare: "having escaped the corruption that is in the
world through lust" - 2 Pe 1:4
1) What was said of Christians at the beginning of the
epistle...
2) ...is now used to describe these false teachers!
b. They had escaped the pollutions of the world "through the
knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" - 2 Pe 2:20
1) Remember that this "knowledge" includes such things as
listed in 2 Pe 1:5-8
2) Through such "saving" knowledge, then, they had escaped,
but are now enslaved again
4. "...it has happened to them according to the true proverb:"
- 2 Pe 2:22
a. They like dogs have returned to what they had gotten rid of
at one point, and are like a washed sow returning to
wallowing in the mire
b. Some try to say these proverbs reveal that these false
teachers were always "dogs" and "hogs", never truly changed
on the inside, which explains their returning to the vomit
and mire
c. But in the overall context of this chapter, that seems to
be straining the purpose of the proverbs
[Of course, the question about these false teachers having been true
Christians at one time leads right into another question...]
B. CAN CHRISTIANS SIN SO AS TO BE LOST?
1. If these "false teachers" were once true Christians, the
answer is clearly "yes", for consider their end:
a. "bring on themselves swift destruction" - 2 Pe 2:1
b. "for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and
their destruction does not slumber" - 2 Pe 2:3
c. "to whom the gloom of darkness is reserved forever" - 2 Pe
2:17
2. If the answer is "no", then why the warning by Peter in this
epistle?
a. Why warn those who have "escaped from those who live in
error", if there is no real danger of becoming "overcome"
and "brought into bondage" again? - 2 Pe 2:18-19
b. Why the concluding warning to "beware lest you also fall
from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error
of the wicked", if it is impossible for Christians to fall
away? - 2 Pe 3:17
3. But what about those verses that promise "the security of the
believer", such as Jn 10:28-29?
a. Such passages are promising assurance for the "believer",
i.e., one who remains a believer; if we remain faithful,
our salvation is secure - cf. Re 2:10
b. But the Bible clearly warns that a "believer" can develop
an evil heart of "unbelief"; should that happen, the
promises of assurance do not apply - cf. He 3:12-4:2
CONCLUSION
1. The very real possibility of apostasy and losing one's salvation
helps us to understand the grave concern expressed by Peter in his
epistle
a. He believes Christians can "fall from your own steadfastness"
b. He believes Christians can be "led away with the error of the
wicked"
2. For these reasons he takes so much time describing the "false
teachers" who are losing their salvation and trying to take others
with them!
3. But if we can remember what Peter says about...
a. The destructiveness of false teachers
b. The doom of false teachers
c. The depravity of false teachers
d. The deceptions of false teachers
...then we are not likely to be swayed by such individuals
But "false teachers" are not our only concern, we must be careful not
to be deterred in our spiritual pilgrimage by "scoffers" along the way.
Such individuals Peter will address in the next chapter...
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