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2 Peter 2 "False Teachers"
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. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. (2 Peter 2:1-3)
One of the clear teachings of the Bible is that there
will be false teachers. We have seen over and over again that the gospel
is simple. It is so simple that it can be explained to a little child.
So simple that it can be explained with just one verse. “For God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever
believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
(John 3:16) So why is it that so many people have so many wrong views
about Christianity? Why do people believe that to get everlasting life
you have to obey the ten commandments? Why do people believe that to
get everlasting life they need to prove their worth to God? Why do people
believe that to get everlasting life they need to make some kind of
deal with God, like “Ok, God, if you will save me I promise to
read the Bible every day and go to church on Sunday”? Why do people
believe that to get everlasting life they have to add something else
onto Jesus Christ?
The reason why is that there is an Enemy of the gospel who wants to
make it as complicated as he can. My wife is Japanese and every so often
we have to go to the American embassy to reapply for her green card.
It is usually a frustrating experience. There is always something that
we forgot to do, or a document that we didn’t bring, or a rule
that had been changed, or a charge that we need to pay, or a form that
we must fill out. We always have to wait in a long line, sometimes just
to be told that we have to come back again tomorrow. And there is no
phone number that you can call to talk to somebody for information,
instead you have to listen to the voice mail tell you, “For information
about getting information about a subject you don’t care about
press 1, for more information about that press 2, for information about
that in a language you do not know press 3, ...” One day I ate
lunch with a man who works in the embassy and I asked him, why is it
so difficult? Why don’t they tell us what we need up front and
make it easier for us? And he told me that they design it that way so
that only the people who really want to get in can come to America.
This is what Satan wants to do as well. He wants to make it as difficult
as possible for people to receive the gospel. He wants to keep as many
people as he can out of heaven. But God would open up the doors wide
and save as many as would recieve Jesus Christ. Now how Satan succeeds
in confusing and distorting the gospel, is by confusing the teachers.
His strategy has always been to undermine the Bible. And what is amazing
is that there are many pastors and teachers who do not teach the Bible.
They might read a Bible passage to begin with but then the rest of their
message is focussed on social issues, or psychology, or politics, or
inspirational self help. And what always gets lost with the Bible is
the gospel.
Peter tells us here what these teachers are like. First he says that
they secretly bring in teachings that are “destructive”,
then he says that their motive is “covetousness” and finally
that their method is “deceptive words”. You see the problem
with false teachers is that they are not easy to recognize. Usually
they are respected and followed within their own church. And especially
if you are a new Christian, or if you are still just seeking God and
have not really made up your mind yet about Christ, how do you know
if this teacher is saying the truth or not. It is like if you go to
the doctor and ask him to check your health. He tells you to stick out
your tongue and say “Ah”. He listens to you breath and then
he says you are healthy. And who are you to argue with him because he
is the one who went to medical school not you. But what if that doctor
pulled a magic African healing stick out of his desk and started waving
it over you? You would think that something was wrong. A doctor is supposed
to practice medicine. And in the same way, a pastor is supposed to teach
the Bible, not psychology, or something else.
The way to tell if a teacher is false, is by looking at the results
of the teaching. You see when we listen to the teaching, it sounds good.
He tells us a couple jokes to make us feel good, adds in a moving story,
quotes a line of scripture or two and we go out of church thinking that
we have been taught the word of God. But in reality these words are
empty and even worse destructive. It would be like that doctor telling
his patients that if they take his medicine three times a day the cancer
will be healed. Not only is the patient deceived out of their money
for the phony medicine that doesn’t work, but they are kept from
the real medicine that really would have helped. Jesus said that “man
does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the
mouth of God.” (Matthew 4 :4) The Bible, the Word of God, is life,
food, truth. It is our best source for learning how to love as Jesus
loves. There is no substitute for the Bible. Anything that would replace
it is destructive, just as much as if I gave my son candy everyday instead
of real food.
The motive behind false teaching is covetousness. It is that desire
to have, to receive, to get from others. Peter says in verse 10 that
they “walk according to the flesh”. You see our bodies are
made up of a variety of needs; the need for food, drink, a place to
live, love, respect of others, and many other needs. The strange thing
about the flesh is that the needs that we feel are always above what
we really have to have to live. So we do not just eat what we need,
instead we eat until we are full. And sometimes we continue eating just
a little bit more because it tastes so good. It is the same with our
clothes, our friends, and all our other needs. The flesh always wants
more. The same thing happens with the false teachers. They want people
to respect them, to love them, to depend on them, to give to them. So
they try to give the people something that noone else can give them.
Instead of teaching the same old message of the Bible they add to it.
But if we walk in the Spirit, the motive is always the opposite. The
attitude of Jesus is giving, not receiving. “For God so loved
the world that He gave...”
Finally, the method of the false teachers is deceptive words. Peter
says in verse 19, “While they promise them liberty, they themselves
are slaves of corruption.” You see they love to make promises,
but the promises are just “great swelling words of emptiness.”
(vs 18) It is like the advertisements I used to see back home for stereos.
In the beautiful color advertisement in the paper you would see the
newest and the latest models offered for incredibly low prices. On TV
the salesman would insure you that they were slashing prices. Except
when I get to the store and ask the salesman about the low priced model
he tells me that they were all sold out. But, would I be interested
in buying a different model for just a few dollars more? The false teachers
promise you love, healing, miracles, the answers to all your problems,
success in business, success in life. But just like the stereo ads,
it is just a lot of hot air. Promises are only as good as the promise
keeper. Look at the lives of these false teachers. Are they living righteously?
Are they living humbly? Are they living holy lives? Or are they just
as much in bondage to the flesh as those they are preaching to? The
only promises that can truly set you free are those that are made by
God, in His word. He is the real Promise Keeper, and you can depend
on His promises.
For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 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; 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; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)-- then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, (2 Peter 2:4-9)
God in His wisdom has prepared a day when the world will
be judged. The Bible teaches this clearly. God will seperate the righteous
from the wicked, saving the righteous and punishing the wicked. Many
teachers don’t want to teach this. They say, “If God is
love then how can He punish so many people. God won’t punish anyone.”
But this is not what the Bible says. And I am not free to teach what
I think God should do, but what God has said that He will do. God did
punish Satan and the angels who rebeled. God did punish the ancient
world by sending the flood. God did punish Sodom and Gomorrah. I cannot
edit these out of the Bible. I cannot pick the parts I like about God
and skip the parts I don’t like. My son would like to have a daddy
who always gives him candy, buys him toys, never gets angry and never
makes him clean his room, but that is just wishful thinking.
But even though God does punish the wicked, He also did save Noah. He
did save Lot. God is holy and just and cannot tolerate sin, but He also
knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations. This is the true
God of the Bible. He is not a sugar-daddy fairy godmother who will give
us anything we wish for. He is not a policeman looking for a mistake
so that He can lock you up and throw away the key. He is our Heavenly
Father. And He has provided us with the way of salvation. He has sent
His son Jesus to show us how to be godly, and to die for our sins so
that we can be free to have everlasting life. And the Bible teaches
that whoever believes on Him is given the right to become a child of
God.
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