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| Chapter 2 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom against the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3 ¶ And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you--they whose judgment now for a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. 4 For if God spared not the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment; 5 and spared not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the Flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 and, turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to be overthrown, making them an example unto those who thereafter should live ungodly; 7 ¶ and if He delivered righteous Lot, vexed with the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, having dwelt among them seeing and hearing, was vexed in his righteous soul day after day with their unlawful deeds)-- 9 then the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust unto the Day of Judgment to be punished, 10 ¶ but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise governance. Presumptuous are they and selfwilled; they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities, 11 whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. 12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption, 13 and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceptions while they feast with you, a name="v14"> 14 having eyes full of adultery and who cannot cease from sin, beguiling unstable souls; their hearts they have exercised with covetous practices; accursed children! 15 They have forsaken the right way and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, 16 but was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with a man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet. 17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried by a tempest, for whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh and through much wantonness those who had clean escaped from those who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption; for by whom a man is overcome, by the same is he brought into 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 therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they had known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 22 But it has happened unto them according to the true proverb: "The dog turns to his own vomit again," and, "the sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire." |
v1-9 The False Teachers. Counterfeits or fakes are very common today, but we must not think this is a new activity, Satan has always been the "imitator," 2 Cor 11:13-15, from the Garden of Eden onwards. One day he will provide a false Christ 2 Thess 2:1ff. It is therefore certain to happen that Satan will create numerous false or fake Christians who were and still are teaching false doctrine, they will place it next to the true teaching of Jesus but with just sufficient change to make it appear more attractive. v1-3 Description of false teachers. See also Jude. The messages these people bring are just "damnable heresies," teaching leading to destruction only, unfortunately they can soon collect a group of weak believers who have not bothered to learn all the true teaching of Jesus and know no better. See Acts 20:28-31; 1 Tim 4:1-7; 2 Tim 3:1-9; 1 John 2:18-20; Jude 3ff. These false teachers give the appearance of being true believers, having "feigned (fake, pretend, plastic) words," teaching "their pernicious (harmful, destroying) ways." The false teachers use the Bible words like ‘salvation’ but have a different meaning. They use the Bible to deceive, just as Satan did with Eve, they question the Word of God, then say "did God really mean that?" They especially try to remove the deity of Christ, "he was a special man, not God." Compare Rom 8:5-11. It is important to note that these false teachers are not saved, Rom 8:9 have not the Spirit, not a child of God. But be warned, they may even be able to become leaders or officers of the church. v1 They deny the Lord, even though He died for all on the cross, He has paid the price of their sin, but they chose to ignore the offer and are now heading for destruction. v3 Peter also points out that they may only be interested in money or gain, "make merchandise of you," used as a religious cloak for their desires, 1 Thess 2:5. Compare 2 Cor 4:2. v3-6 False teachers destroy. v3 Peter could only see punishment for those who were false teachers, it may not yet have happened but it will, "their damnation slumbereth not." He now goes on to show how judgement will happen. v4 Angels who have sinned. We do not know very much about the creation of the angels and why Satan and his followers chose to turn away from God, Isaiah 14:12-15 may be the answer, also consider Ezekiel 28:12-19. Lucifer (Satan) was God’s deputy but became full of pride, wanting the throne of God. From Rev 12:4 it appears that a third of the angels followed Lucifer. Where are these angels today? Satan has access to the world, 1 Peter 5:8, he also has an army of demons who work with him, as we see in the various Gospels and letters, but v4 tells us that some angels were sent to hell by God to await judgement. v5 If God judges the angels He will not spare mankind, He has already done it once at the flood, the world had become so full of sin God only saved Noah’s family. No one believed the message of warning given through Noah, He waited 120 years before judgement. The world today is full of wickedness, is just as bad. v6-8 Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 18-19, these cities were wicked and ungodly. Compare Rom 1:24-27; 1 Cor 6:9,10; Leviticus 18:22. Despite Abraham’s prayers and Lot’s messages, God wiped them off the earth. v9-16 God has also reserved judgement for the false teachers. Peter now considers the characteristics of false teachers. v10-12 Peter describes them as full of pride, building up their position, being prepared to attack and spread lies against others to help their position, even those in power. Note that in Rom 13:1ff we are told that God has arranged governments and we could be fighting God. Employers, parents all have authority over others and their children, we should show respect for them. See Eph 6:1-4; Eph 6:5-8; 1 Tim 2:1-4; 1 Peter 2:11-17; Heb 13:7; 1 Peter 5:1-6. Titus 3:1-2 Why are these false teachers doing this? v10 "They walk after the flesh," all for self pleasure, "they are selfwilled," outwardly they appear to be so God centered, but in truth it is all for self, position and power. v11 Peter said that even angels, with more power, do not behave like these people, they know of the danger of objecting to God’s authority, the angels leave all judgement to God. v12 Peter compares these teachers with animals who are waiting to be destroyed, they rundown things which they do not understand, teach and talk about with ‘great words.’ As they try to destroy the Church of God, they are destroying themselves. v13,14 Peter is here suggesting that these people love to live in luxury, always calling for more support for their ‘ministries,’ so opposite to Jesus who gave up heaven to become a man for us. They are not only deceiving others but also are deceiving themselves, so use to their message they believe it themselves, use scripture to make it say what they want it to say, 2 Peter 3:16,17. False doctrine leads to a false living which develops further false doctrine. v14 Always out to satisfy their own desires and capture converts (followers of teaching) to their teaching, "they cannot cease from sin," 2 Peter 2:18-19, their hearts always wanting more personal gain. v15,16 These people know the right way to God, but have chosen to follow the wrong way just like Balaam. "Following the way of Balaam." See Numbers 22-25. Balaam was a Gentile prophet who tried to curse the Jews at the request of Balak, the king of the Moabites. The prophet knew it was wrong to do this but he wanted the money and the honour offered by Balak. He deliberately, consciously tried to curse the Jews. From the beginning God had told him not to help Balak, but more money and rewards made him go his own way. God permitted Balaam to follow his desires but then used a donkey to give Balaam the final warning message from God. Though Balaam was not allowed to curse Israel, however God allowed him to tell Balak how to defeat Israel, to make friends and encourage them to live like the Moabites. Israel turned away from the right way of God and followed the Moabite way of life. God had to punish Israel. It is the attitude of Balaam which Peter is highlighting, all he wanted was money, desired position, then led Israel, God’s people away from God, even though he knew it was wrong. These false teachers are already marked for destruction by God, do not join them. v17-22 A freedom which is false. Peter continues to describe the false preachers, the sad fact that many of these were once members of churches, saying they believed in the Christian message of salvation. Now they think they have found the ‘true message,’ but all they are "dry wells," useless!!! Peter used a word which meant ‘a spring of water,’ a dry spring just does not exist, even a dry well still is a hole which can be used. Compare John 4:13-14. "Clouds that are carried by a tempest," clouds normally warn of coming rain. These clouds are just mist, nice to look at but useless, offer nothing. "Mist of darkness," the word translated ‘mist’ suggests blackness, so these people are blacker than black, they seem to offer ‘light’ but actually offer blackness. v18,19 They speak many words, playing on the lusts of the flesh, the desires of people for freedom and peace but all they end up with is listed in Gal 5:19-21. Offer ‘freedom’ which is really making the person a slave. Compare John 17:17-22 v20-22 These teachers have learnt the truth of Salvation through Jesus, but by changing the truth are even more tied up with sins of the world. It would have been better to have never heard of the true way to God, to getting right, but they have turned back to their original sickness like a dog or a pig washed clean soon becomes very dirty because they like it. These false teachers may have had a ‘religious experience,’ of some sort which they claim gives them fellowship with Christ, yet there is no indication of true salvation, they are like dogs or pigs. Consider: 1)The Spirit lives in us from the moment we believe and accept that we are sinners and that Jesus died for us. This means our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor 6:19-20. 2)The Spirit baptized us into the Body of Christ. 1 Cor 12:13. 3)He sealed us and will never leave us. Eph 1:13-14; John 14:16. |
Easy English Translation
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