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.

2 Peter 1: Growing n Faith

Resources:

• 2 Peter Overview (video)
• 2 Peter 1 Reading Guide
• 2 Peter 1 Teaching Notes
• 2 Peter 1 Video

Notes:

• 2 Peter focuses on several key themes:
  • The Danger of False Teachers: Peter strongly warns against false teachers who infiltrate the church with heretical doctrines, leading believers astray and ultimately to destruction.
  • The Importance of Christian Growth: He emphasizes the need for believers to grow in their faith and knowledge of God, developing virtues like self-control, perseverance, and godliness.
  • The Certainty of Christ’s Return: Peter affirms the reality and imminence of Christ’s second coming, urging believers to live in light of this future event.
  • The Importance of Scripture: He highlights the authority and sufficiency of Scripture as the foundation for Christian faith and life.
• These themes are interwoven throughout the letter, with Peter urging believers to remain steadfast in the truth, to grow in grace, and to eagerly await the Lord’s return.

Notes on the video:

• Amongst the suffering there is false teachings – how do we get through the false teachings? Jesus is our master to help us through it.
• Critics have been tougher on 2 Peter than any other book in the New Testament. Many thought Peter wasn’t the author because there were 2 styles of writing.
  • 1 Peter was written by Silas using the words of Peter
  • 2 Peter was likely written by Peter or someone else.
  • Peter refers to Jesus’ prediction that Peter is going to die:
    • For our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that I must soon leave this earthly life, 15so I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone. – v14-15
• Some actually thought 2 Peter was written by a false teacher. This is weird because 2 Peter talks a lot about being wary of false teachers.
• v1 : Peter refers to himself as a slave of Christ
  • This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.
• v3-4: he begins to address the conditions of Christians
  • By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 
  • And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
  • Divine power is all we need to get through life. This power of resurrection is available to us thanks to Jesus.
  • Another resource available to us are the precious promises of Jesus Christ.
  • Also see Philippians 3:10 and Ephesians 1:19-20
• v5-7: We were given multiple supplements to extend and grow our faith (emphasis added):
  • In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge,
  • and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness,
  • and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
  • These are all related – building our faith starts with goodness and builds on knowledge. Knowledge leads to self-control. We display our faith through goodness, knowledge, and self-control. After we get self-control we must have endurance – persevering in spite of adversity. Endurance, then, leads to godliness – a desire to please God in all aspects of our life. Godliness causes us to perform overt acts of kindness, putting everyone ahead of ourselves (brotherly affection). Brotherly affection finally leads to love towards all which is the highest form of love (seeking the welfare of others above your own welfare).
  • John 3:16 models all of these resources.
• v8-9: If we can do these things we will produce fruit for Christ.
  • The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
  • Verse 9 warns us against losing our passion for the faith and becoming stale.
• The video ended before the pastor could cover the rest of 2 Peter 1.
  • Later in 2 Peter 1, Peter lays a foundation to support his attack on the false teachers in the church. He also introduces ideas supporting his declaration that the Day of the Lord is coming.
  • Later chapters in 2 Peter will use this first chapter to support his arguments that the Day of the Lord is coming.

Group Discussion:

• While 2 Peter got a lot of criticism Jude also received quite a bit because Jude references the book of Enoch which is a non-canonical book. Parts of Jude appear to have been transcribed from the book of Enoch.
• How does your faith grow by doing good things and resisting temptation?
  • Resisting temptation requires reliance on Jesus. Faith is doing things Jesus’ way, not my way. This makes our faith grow stronger.
• v5-8 outlines the qualities and progression of how to grow in our faith.
  • If you possess these qualities you are already witnessing to the power of Christ just by being.
  • This is true but you are experientially learning things by doing things – not just by existing.
•  Can non-believers do good deeds and what is different about a good deed done by a believer?
  • This is the difference between being a disciple and being an apostle.
  • One is being (disciple), while the other is doing by following the prompts of the Holy Spirit and doing the things he commands you to do (apostle).
  • Being drives you to do things but doing things does not drive you to being. For example, the Pharisees bragged about doing a lot of things but they only did them to make themselves look good, not to worship God.
• Don’t just hear the word, do it.
• If you start with the being and enter into the doing, you will experience the next level of being by doing.
  • Doing without being restricts your growth in being.
  • Doing without being means you’re doing things you think it makes you look good to God, not because God wants you to do it.
  • This is what the Pharisees were doing – bragging about their faith instead of practicing their faith due to being driven by the spirit.
• 2 Peter seems to be two letters written at two different times. There seems to be a passage of time between the first half and the second half. The wording is also very different from how 1 Peter was written.
  • 2 Peter likely had a different scribe.
  • This is also true of the gospel John when compared to Revelations. The Greek in Revelations is very bad in comparison to the gospel of John – likely meaning John wrote Revelations himself while on the island of Patmos.
• Review of member gratefulness and individual prayer requests.

1 Peter 5: The Role Of The Elders

Resources:

• 1 Peter Overview (video)
• 1 Peter 5 Reading Guide
• 1 Peter 5 Teaching Notes
• 1 Peter 5 Video

Notes:

• Peter wrote this letter to comfort believers and encourage them to stay strong.
• Peter concludes his letter with instructions to the elders, teaching on humility, and a final warning to be sober-minded and alert.

Notes on the video:

• 1 Peter 5 is the last chapter. Peter has been talking to disbursed believers in distant locations. Peter wants to ensure everyone is OK despite all the persecution going on in the world. We need to ensure we keep our eyes on Christ as our living hope to get through such times.
• In verses 1-4 Peter talks about elders/leaders in the church.
  • In verse 1 Peter avoids referring to himself as an Apostle.
  •  Elders are to pastor, care for, and shepherd God’s flock.
  • In verse 3 Peter tells leaders to avoid lording over his people – don’t promote yourself or act as if you are greater than your congregation. Elders do not simply teach – they have other responsibilities.
    • Acts 20:17 – another role of church leaders is to represent the church itself.
    • James 5:14 – elders should also pray for the sick.
  • Verse 4 explains that Christ will provide a reward to church elders for leading their congregation.
• Verse 5 and verse 6 warns elders to be humble since God opposes the proud.
• In verse 8-9 Peter warns us to be aware of the devil who is constantly looking to take advantage of weakness so we must remain strong in our faith.
• In verse 10 Peter reminds us that Christ will restore and strengthen us when we have gone through some hard times. It is important to keep this in mind when we face challenges in our lives.
• In verse 12 Peter explains why he has written this letter and encourages us to stand firm in God’s grace despite all of the persecution going on in the world.
• Verse 13 and 14 wraps up the letter, wishing peace to those who are in Christ.

Group chat:

• The scribe mentioned in verse 13 is the same Mark who wrote the Gospel of Mark. Mark became an understudy of Peter and left when Peter was killed. Mark then became a new elder, replacing Peter.