Daily Bread 2011 - 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.
What Does This Mean?
The author gets to the heart of the issue he sees in the church. As Christianity began to grow, cults that looked like Christianity and even mentioned Jesus in their teaching, started to emerge. To be a good heresy the teaching must look like the truth. But in the end, its demise is that it denies that Jesus is Lord. While they may flourish for a while and fool some people, ultimately their destruction will be swift. Yesterday, I talked about the heresy where the body was denied any pleasure and the key to knowing God was an ascetism that sought to deny the body and connect with the Divine Spirit and become like God.
Another variation of that heresy said that since the body was bad, you might as well indulge in revelry, lust and greed because the body is perishing anyways. You can see the inherent problem in that type of teaching. Since these teachers were seen to have the keys of knowledge, they exploited people into trusting them financially as well.
What Does This Mean For Us?
The focus on the heresy in this book is an argument for a later date and that the apostle Peter was not author of this book. Irenaeus declares in his treatise "Against Heresies" (180 A.D.) that Gnostic movements subjected all morality to the caprice of the individual, and made any fixed rule of faith impossible.
Today, we have false teachers in the church as well. Their message is follow Jesus you will get everything you want in life. You will have health, wealth and prosperity. Granted following Jesus will give us what we need in this life, but it is not always linked to a bigger net worth. I say this a little tongue in cheek, because we do not that God we know we can’t out-give God. But there is the slippery slope of preaching that becoming a Christian will give you everything you want in life. Jesus called us to pick up our cross and follow Him. In losing our life, we would find it. We would find it by dying to ourselves and living for God and others.
Heavenly Father help us to be wise in who we listen to and may we always test everything according to Your Word. Guard our churches from false teaching, and guard our hearts from cheapening your grace, but instead live lives worthy of your calling. Amen.
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.
What Does This Mean?
The author gets to the heart of the issue he sees in the church. As Christianity began to grow, cults that looked like Christianity and even mentioned Jesus in their teaching, started to emerge. To be a good heresy the teaching must look like the truth. But in the end, its demise is that it denies that Jesus is Lord. While they may flourish for a while and fool some people, ultimately their destruction will be swift. Yesterday, I talked about the heresy where the body was denied any pleasure and the key to knowing God was an ascetism that sought to deny the body and connect with the Divine Spirit and become like God.
Another variation of that heresy said that since the body was bad, you might as well indulge in revelry, lust and greed because the body is perishing anyways. You can see the inherent problem in that type of teaching. Since these teachers were seen to have the keys of knowledge, they exploited people into trusting them financially as well.
What Does This Mean For Us?
The focus on the heresy in this book is an argument for a later date and that the apostle Peter was not author of this book. Irenaeus declares in his treatise "Against Heresies" (180 A.D.) that Gnostic movements subjected all morality to the caprice of the individual, and made any fixed rule of faith impossible.
Today, we have false teachers in the church as well. Their message is follow Jesus you will get everything you want in life. You will have health, wealth and prosperity. Granted following Jesus will give us what we need in this life, but it is not always linked to a bigger net worth. I say this a little tongue in cheek, because we do not that God we know we can’t out-give God. But there is the slippery slope of preaching that becoming a Christian will give you everything you want in life. Jesus called us to pick up our cross and follow Him. In losing our life, we would find it. We would find it by dying to ourselves and living for God and others.
Heavenly Father help us to be wise in who we listen to and may we always test everything according to Your Word. Guard our churches from false teaching, and guard our hearts from cheapening your grace, but instead live lives worthy of your calling. Amen.
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