2 Peter 2 Study
Destructive Doctrines – The DECEPTION of False Teachers
2 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction [a]does not slumber.
Doom of False Teachers
4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to [b]hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— 9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of [c]dignitaries, 11 whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.
Depravity of False Teachers
12 But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, 13 and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to [d]carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, [e]carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, 14 having eyes full of [f]adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices and are accursed children. 15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.
17 These are wells without water, [g]clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness [h]forever.
Deceptions of False Teachers – The Tragedy of Apostasy
18 For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who [i]have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of [j]corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into [k]bondage. 20 For if, after 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, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”
Notes 2 Peter 2 Study – (vv. 1-3; vv. 4-10; vv. 12-17; & v. 19) …
2:1-3: Peter now reaches his main concern: FALSE TEACHERS who are unholy and communicate heresy … They are arrogant, sensual, and greedy – (he deals with them in much the same way as does Jude) but they deny accountability in their lives … Isolating themselves from apostolic doctrine concerning Christ, they hold on their own “private interpretations”, misconstruing doctrines about the second coming and the ultimate authority of Christ over us … But as deceivers, they teach as though they possess true apostolicity …
2:4-10: God’s past judgements indicate what awaits the heretics: He will divide the holy from the unholy in the life and the world that is to come … We already have the example of the angels who sinned – (v. 4), imprisoned in the lowest part of hell – (Greek – “tartarus”) while awaiting the FINAL JUDGEMENT … (v. 10) – repeats the two main sins of heretics: (1): IMMORALITY, (2): DISDAIN FOR AUTHORITY, especially that of CHRIST …
Noah is a preacher of righteousness – (v. 5), in part because by doing righteous deeds he showed to all who saw him how life ought to be lived – (see – Hebrews 11:7) …
Hebrews 11:7:
7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
2:12-17: False teachers are condemned for both their words and their actions … Those who are natural cannot understand spiritual things – (1Corinthians 2:14) and will be destroyed, as false prophets have been in the past … For the story of Balaam – (v. 15); see Numbers 22:1-25:9; & 31:8, & v. 16; Deuteronomy 23:4-5; and Joshua 13:22; and Jude 11 …
Numbers 22:1:
Balak Sends for Balaam
22 Then the children of Israel moved and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho.
Numbers 31:8
8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of those who were killed—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. Balaam the son of Beor they also killed with the sword.
Numbers 31:16
16 Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 23:4:
4 because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of [a]Mesopotamia, to curse you.
Joshua 13:22:
22 The children of Israel also killed with the sword Balaam the son of Beor, the [a]soothsayer, among those who were killed by them.
Jude (v. 11):
11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah
2:19: A common misunderstanding of Liberty or freedom is to see it as standing apart from all moral restraints, to say there is no such thing as sin … But this results in slavery of the worst kind, bondage to egotistic and sensual passions … True Christian freedom begins with freedom from sin, freedom from immoral activity … A Christian is called to live in purity in an impure world …
Closing out with 2Peter 2:19 and will further discuss more what it truly means to be a Christian and walking in the true ways of Jesus Christ and His teachings …
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