2 Peter 2: The Judgement Of False Teachers

Resources:

• 2 Peter Overview (video)
• 2 Peter 2 Reading Guide
• 2 Peter 2 Teaching Notes
• 2 Peter 2 Video

Summary:

Notes on on the video:

• v1: But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves.
  Simple truths:
  1. secretive approaches – there are no secret ways to the Father, only Jesus.
  2. denial of Christ – different religions may initially look good but may not have Jesus as the center of their worship, denying what Jesus did on the cross.
  3. abrupt departure from Christian community.

• v2-3: Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered.
  • This following is the abrupt departure from Christian community.
  • Some congregations have more than 66 books in their Bible (Catholics). Many people like this path but it’s not Biblical.
• v3: In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.
  • Many pastors and preachers have gotten in trouble for taking advantage of believers, exploiting them for money.
  • The people doing this will be punished by God.
• v4: For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment.
  Angels who sinned were punished.
  • This could be a reference to Genesis 6:1-6 when angels had relations with the daughters of mankind.
    Judgment came upon them immediately because of their actions
• .v5: And God did not spare the ancient world — except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood.
  • Judgment (the flood) came to the world because of their actions. People saw Noah building the ark – this gave them time to repent.
  • God was warning that judgment was coming but they did not listen.
• v6: Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people.
  • In Genesis 19 it became obvious that judgment was coming due to their continued sinning.
  • This is not anti-homosexual, Christians love people but hate the sin.
• v7-10: But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. 8: Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day. 9: So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment. 10: He is especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire, and who despise authority.
  • These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at supernatural beings without so much as trembling.
  • Lot was depressed by the filthy conduct of the world so the Lord decided to rescue him for the judgment.
  • We should be like Lot because one day judgment will come.
• v11: But the angels, who are far greater in power and strength, do not dare to bring from the Lord a charge of blasphemy against those supernatural beings.
• v12: These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed. They scoff at things they do not understand, and like animals, they will be destroyed.
• v13: Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They delight in deception even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals.
  • The aren’t afraid to demonstrate their sin and influence over leading others to sin.
• v14: They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse.
  • They are constantly looking to seduce unstable people.
• v15: They have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong. v16: But Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice.
  • False teachers are after money and women.
  • Balam sold out his powers to get money from a king to bring a curse upon children.
• v17: These people are as useless as dried-up springs or as mist blown away by the wind. They are doomed to blackest darkness. 18: They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception. 19: They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. 20: And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before.
  • These false teachers are empty and dangerous, leading others into sin.
• v21: It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. 22They prove the truth of this proverb: ‘A dog returns to its vomit.’ And another says, ‘A washed pig returns to the mud.’
  • These false teachers will be punished during when judgment comes.

Group Discussion:

• Modern false teachers are Benny Hinn, Joel Osteen, and many others.
• The signs of a false teacher are Glory, Gals,and Gold. Watch out for these signs.
• God doesn’t necessarily want us to prosper – look at Paul. Many of the prophets and apostles had terrible experiences and deaths.
• Jesus told us to take up our cross and follow Him. Jesus said this before he died on the cross – what did His followers think when He said this?
• Jesus warned that following Him was a death sentence.
• Regarding the 66 books: Protestants didn’t cut books out. Catholics added seven books at the time of the Reformation.
  • There are 66 books in the Bible, 73 books in the Catholic Bible.
  • Jews and Protestants think of these extra books as “apocryphal.” Catholics and Orthodox think of them as scripture.
  • The New Testaments are the same for both Protestants and Catholics.
  • The Books and the Parchments: Original Languages, Canon, Transmission, & How We Got Our English Bible by F.F. Bruce – recommended book.