Daily Bread 2010 - 2 Peter 2
2 Peter 2
False Teachers and Their Destruction
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
One of the main issues 2 Peter is written about is the false teachers that were beginning to present themselves in the church. Often these false teachers went one of two ways in their false ideas. One was a strict legalism that taught that one had to do certain things to become a believer (like Gentile men needing to be circumcised). Or the other way was a false teaching on the matter of God’s grace, which said, “You are forgiven so you can go out and do whatever you want.”
The author predicts grave and stern consequences for those who take the precious Gospel of grace and teach a new law or recommend abusing God’s grace for the sake of personal gain or pleasure seeking. Yes, we are freed by God’s grace to live a new life of following him out of love and not obligation, but that does not mean we use our freedom to indulge in the desires of the flesh outside of God’s provision and will for us.
It is not clear whether these false teachers were ever true believers, but at the end of this chapter there is a warning against tasting of the freedom of Christ and freedom from slavery of our sinful nature only to return to it. The writer uses the crass analogy of a dog returning to its vomit! Quite a visual!
This chapter reminds us that the freedom we have in Christ is to be used to serve others, which is where true joy and fulfillment come from. We live in a world that tells us to indulge ourselves always and often, and this is what truly living is all about. But anyone who tries this philosophy knows it is hollow and deceptive and never truly fulfilling. We become truly fulfilled in this life when we follow the model of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came to give us the abundant life we were made to enjoy and serve others out of gratitude for all we have been given.
Jesus help us never to substitute a false gospel for the real one. We are always being tempted to serve ourselves first and yet we know true fulfillment comes as we drink of Your living water which truly satisfies. Amen.
False Teachers and Their Destruction
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
One of the main issues 2 Peter is written about is the false teachers that were beginning to present themselves in the church. Often these false teachers went one of two ways in their false ideas. One was a strict legalism that taught that one had to do certain things to become a believer (like Gentile men needing to be circumcised). Or the other way was a false teaching on the matter of God’s grace, which said, “You are forgiven so you can go out and do whatever you want.”
The author predicts grave and stern consequences for those who take the precious Gospel of grace and teach a new law or recommend abusing God’s grace for the sake of personal gain or pleasure seeking. Yes, we are freed by God’s grace to live a new life of following him out of love and not obligation, but that does not mean we use our freedom to indulge in the desires of the flesh outside of God’s provision and will for us.
It is not clear whether these false teachers were ever true believers, but at the end of this chapter there is a warning against tasting of the freedom of Christ and freedom from slavery of our sinful nature only to return to it. The writer uses the crass analogy of a dog returning to its vomit! Quite a visual!
This chapter reminds us that the freedom we have in Christ is to be used to serve others, which is where true joy and fulfillment come from. We live in a world that tells us to indulge ourselves always and often, and this is what truly living is all about. But anyone who tries this philosophy knows it is hollow and deceptive and never truly fulfilling. We become truly fulfilled in this life when we follow the model of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came to give us the abundant life we were made to enjoy and serve others out of gratitude for all we have been given.
Jesus help us never to substitute a false gospel for the real one. We are always being tempted to serve ourselves first and yet we know true fulfillment comes as we drink of Your living water which truly satisfies. Amen.
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