Goal for tonight is to learn the characteristics of false teachers...

As we did in I Peter, we’ve identified a theme verse that captures the main thought of the book, and then commit that verse to memory...while there are a number of verses that could be used, I chose II Peter 3.18...

Let’s practice our scripture memory skills!

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Keep working on it...it takes time and repetition to memorize something...you can do it!

Peter returns to his blistering attack on the false teachers in the first century church, and he takes his scathing criticism up another notch...in verses 1 through 10a, Peter appealed to three OT examples to assure the church that false teachers would be judged for their sin...now Peter describes exactly what earns these false teachers the righteous condemnation of God...

Would you stand with me as we read our text for tonight... 

Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. 17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

There is a type of tv show called a “police procedural” -- “Law and Order” and especially “Criminal Minds” are good examples – that depict a Hollywood version of how police investigate crimes...some have focused on the technique of “profiling” criminals, attempting to describe a silhouette, or an outline, of the type of person who would most likely commit such a crime...

What Peter gives us in this passage is a profile, a silhouette, of the false teachers of his day...he has affirmed that false teachers will arise, most likely from among those claiming the name of Christ, and Peter also affirmed that God will ultimately vindicate the righteous and judge the unrepentant wicked...Peter urged the church to be watchful for false teachers and to be hopeful in light of God’s sovereign authority...now in the second half of the chapter he gives a detailed description of the characteristics of the false teachers...

Blasphemous Arrogance                        2.10b-13a

The first characteristic in the false teacher profile is their blasphemous arrogance...

Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing.

The language here is vivid...this challenging passage begins by identifying the primary sin of the false teachers from which their other sins originate: pride, arrogance, hubris...defined as a personality quality of extreme or excessive pride or dangerous overconfidence, often in combination with arrogance...

This captures the essence of the sin of false teachers...they are bold but not good or wise; they are willful not humble; they desire their own way, their own purposes, their own praise...they are supremely confident, but in themselves, not in the Lord... 

The brilliant writer and late-in-life Christian convert, C. S. Lewis, made a statement that fits this description really well...”The natural life in each of us is something self-centred, something that wants to be petted and admired, to take advantage of other lives, to exploit the whole universe.” 

These false teachers should tremble in recognition of actual powerful spiritual beings, called “glories” here, which based on the text are certainly fallen angels...but they don’t tremble at all, instead choosing to blaspheme them, when even holy angels don’t do that, but instead rightly appealing to the righteous judgment of the Lord...

Peter’s judgment in verse 12 is as startling as it is true...he calls these people “animals”...look at the text...

12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing.

These false teachers aren’t thinking rationally...they are unconcerned about things that truly matter, issues of holiness and sin and righteousness and eternity, and they’re wholly concerned about the things of this world...when you consider that life here is short and eternity is long, thinking only about this life is irrational...their choices are made instinctively, without concern for God and His word, but only what works best for them in the moment, basing their decisions on circumstances or feelings...

The next sentence catches our attention as well...born to be caught and destroyed...whether Peter is thinking of farm animals who are raised for food, or wild animals who are hunted down, the point is clear: these people who are captured and destroyed by their passions will be judged by God in a complete and final way...this brought back to my mind a passage from I Peter 2.8: They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

Even in their ignorance, they blaspheme, and they will be consumed in the destruction of the Lord...the interesting last phrase is difficult to translate, but seems to say that even as they have tried to harm others, they will be harmed as a result...

Sinful Sensuality                              2.13b-19

The first part of the profile is clear: look for pride, arrogance, and willful overconfidence in themselves...now we look at the second part: sinful sensuality...this is the longest passage because this is a major part of who false teachers are...

13 They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 

They revel – throw lavish, extravagant parties with excessive food and wine – in the daytime...drunkenness in the day was condemned by all people, both religious and non-religious...that’s one reason in Acts 2.14b-15, Peter quickly refutes the idea that the believers at Pentecost are drunk at 9:00 in the morning... 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 

They are “blots and blemishes” – in stark contrast to the perfect Passover lamb, Jesus Christ, of whom Peter speaks in I Peter 1.19: 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. And in obedience to the example of Jesus, Peter tells his readers in the next chapter – 2 Peter 3.14 – that Christians are to be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish...the Lamb is spotless – we are called to be spotless – these people are defined as spots...the false teachers are like a terrible stain on a clean garment, marring the fellowship of believers...

They enjoying the fact that they are deceiving the believers during the church’s fellowship meals...Proverbs 4.16-17 describes them well:  16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. 17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. While the rest of the believers are enjoying a meal of fellowship, the false teachers revel in their deception of the church...

Peter uses an interesting turn of phrase next... They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. It’s as if every other person they see is not a person, but a sexual object...they are insatiable, unable to be satisfied...they are in such bondage to their sins that they’ve lost control over their sensual appetites...who or what they have is never enough...

And in that white-hot sinful sensuality, they entice unsteady souls...the context would include not just spiritual sins but sexual sins as well...they are skilled at identifying the people, and the context would indicate especially women, who are unstable or unsteady, who are vulnerable to the enticements of the false teachers...they capture, use, and then throw away people...this is like a predator’s use of bait to attract the prey...listen to the way J. B. Phillips translates this passage... Their eyes cannot look at a woman without lust, they captivate the unstable ones, and their techniques of getting what they want is, through long practice, highly developed.

Adding to the sensuality is the sin of greed...their coveting extends from sensuality to materialism... They have hearts trained in greed. They have an unending desire for forbidden things...and they are skilled in obtaining them...the psalmist captures the sense of this group with verses 3 and 4 of Psalm 10...

For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, and the greedy man curses and spurns the Lord.

The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, “There is no God.” (NASB95)

The last phrase is well said...the Hebrew idiom “Accursed children!” means “children of the curse”... 

Peter now introduces a character study to illustrate the perversity of the false teachers...the story of Balaam...

15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. 

The story of Balaam became an often-used example in the OT, and is mentioned in Deuteronomy, Joshua, Nehemiah, and Micah as a warning to the Hebrews...

What is Peter’s intent in including this story? The key is the word “way” – he’s contrasting the way of Balaam with the “way of truth” in 2:2, and the “way of righteousness” in 2:21...the story of Balaam is a picture of the false teachers...just as Balaam left the right way, forsaking it by going astray and taking the wrong way instead, so did the false teachers...they have “followed the way of Balaam” which Peter describes as loving gain from wrongdoing, transgression, and madness...when you look into Balaam’s story, we also learn that, according to Numbers 22.7, he charged fees for divination, and the angel of the Lord involved in the dialogue with Balaam and the donkey called the way of Balaam “perverse,” and we see in Numbers 31.16 that Balaam had advised the people of Israel to engage in idolatry and act treacherously against the Lord...these descriptions match with the actions and motives of the false teachers...money was a primary motive and their ways were as the angel said, perverse, with their focus on sensuality...truly the false teachers walked in the way of Balaam...

The last three verses speaks of the judgment for the false teachers...they are worse than useless...

17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.

They are springs without water, mists without rain...the imagery is telling, because in the arid Middle East, reliable sources of water were the difference between life and death...the picture Peter gives is of a potential source of water...a spring, or a rain shower...that turns out to contain no water...similarly, the teachers offer no light, no truth, no goodness, but instead are destined for the gloom of utter darkness...the people were looking for living water, spiritual truth, God’s goodness, but didn’t find it from the false teachers...

The false teachers are boastful, but only of foolishness, and even that foolishness is another enticement to unsteady souls...this is the second use of that term, following verse 14...and again, the enticement is to sensual passions of the flesh...and the targets are again those most spiritually vulnerable...

Ironically, the false teachers are selling freedom, most likely some form of teaching that says you can be spiritually saved and live any way you wish in the flesh, an early form of gnosticism...all while they themselves are slaves to the same sin and corruption with which they are tempting these young believers...note: if someone says they can set you free, make sure they are free themselves...if not, don’t buy it...

The End                                 2.20-22

So we’ve seen that the primary characteristics of these false teachers are blasphemous arrogance and sinful sensuality and greed...the question Peter answers next is this: where does that pathway lead? 

20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

Now that Peter has described the motives and actions of the false teachers, he tells us the end of their pathway...eternal judgment...

This is a similar passage to Hebrews 6.4-8, which Tony preached on a few weeks ago...

This compares the two passages...the texts lead us to the same conclusion based on the rest of Scripture...neither passage is describing someone who was saved and lost their salvation, nor is it a hypothetical argument...whereas Hebrews 6 is addressing believers in general, this passage addresses false teachers in particular...but the conclusion is the same: there is a state, a condition, people can reach in which it is better for them if they had not been exposed to the gospel than, having learned of the gospel and then rejected it, to suffer the consequences described here...

They are described as ending up in a worse state than they were in at the first...similar to the truth of Matthew 12.43-45...

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.” It was bad at the beginning...it will be worse at the end...

It would be a lengthy discussion to make point by point, but it’s clear that the knowledge that these people had was an intellectual knowledge only...one can know OF Jesus without KNOWING Jesus...

This isn’t saving faith because genuinely saved people change and nothing in Peter’s description indicates a changed life...it’s true that you can look like a believer for a while, and these false teachers undoubtedly did...even to the point that new believers followed them and their teaching...those new believers who were led astray for a season can return to the gospel, but it’s clear that the false teachers who lured them away don’t have that same opportunity..

F. F. Bruce comments on Hebrews 6...this applies to the truth of 2 Peter 2 as well...

Our author emphasizes that continuance is the test of reality. In these verses he is not questioning the perseverance of the saints; we might say that rather he is insisting that those who persevere are the true saints. But in fact he is stating a practical truth that has verified itself repeatedly in the experience of the visible Church. Those who have shared the covenant privileges of the people of God, and then deliberately renounce them, are the most difficult persons of all to reclaim for the faith.… It is a question of people who see clearly where the truth lies, and perhaps for a period conform to it, but then, for one reason or another, renounce it.… God has pledged Himself to pardon all the truly repentant, but Scripture and experience alike suggest that it is possible for human beings to arrive at a state of heart and life where they can no longer repent.  We would agree with Peter – the end is worse for them than the beginning...

The proverbs in verse 22 close the argument well – Robert Harvey said it this way: ...the point of the proverb in verse 22 is that these false teachers never left the old nature. After an initial public display of repentance and orthodox belief, they prove by their blasphemous words and lives that their nature never changed at all. 

Jesus Himself taught that not all those who claim to walk with God really do...Matthew 7.21-23 reminds us of this sobering truth...

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Application

What is the profile of a false teacher?

Blasphemy

Arrogance

Sensuality 

Greed 

Deceitfulness

Pride

Those who promise freedom but deliver bondage and corruption

If you find people like that in the church – in Christendom anywhere – call them out – approach leaders, the elders who are charged to watch over the flock of God – and hold them accountable

Do not tolerate false teachers – learn the Word so well that you are able to discern the difference between falsehood and truth