2 Peter 2 - Be Careful of People Who Promise Everything But Deliver Nothing!

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False Teachers and Their Destruction

2 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.

Peter continues on the subject of false prophets. False prophets will always be among us, because our enemy Satan is always trying to influence our minds with lies. He is the "father of lies". John 8:44 He mentions "destructive heresies". A heresy is the same as false teaching. A heresy can be destructive if it contains lies about the person of Jesus. A heresy usually tries to undermine who Jesus is by making him only a man, or only God. A truly good man but not God. Or, someone who looked human but was really more of a spirit-being. Either version undermines Jesus work as truly God and truly man who died on the cross for our sins. If Jesus was only a man, he would have had to die for his own sins. If he was only God, he could not have died. You see the problem there! Pretty much every heresy that has plagued the church made one of these two errors. I.e. Gnosticism in the 1st century, Mormonism and New Age in 21st century. 

He gives other characteristics of these "charletans", including the fact that these teachers will be exploit and be greedy for gain. Unfortunately many will follow them, because they are not grounded in the truth and are easily swayed. 

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. 10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority.

But there seems to be an unusually severe judgment for these false teachers. Even as angels, Noah, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, were judged for their evil ways, so these false teachers will not escape destruction. But this is not only true of false teachers, but all who are in bondage to their sinful nature and depise and do not submit to authority. One of the heresies was that since there was no way to restrain the flesh, it was okay to indulge as much as you wanted to. Today is has sometimes gone by the name "Christian hedonism".  

Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; 11 yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. 12 But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.

"These ungodly ones are proud, despising authority. In their presumption they will even speak ill of spiritual powers (Satan and his demons) that the angels themselves do not speak evil of, but the angels rebuke them in the name of the Lord instead." - Guzik

Whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation: Here Peter contrasted the behavior of those who walk according to the flesh with angels, that is, faithful angels. The faithful angels did not slander or exaggerate in what they said or how they represented the sins of others; these who walked according to the flesh did. - Guzik

13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. 14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! 15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. 16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

Peter continues to describe the behaviors of these false teachers. Obviously they did not practice what they preached. Many false preachers have been exposed in this generation not only in their false doctrine but also lives filled with immorality and greed. 

"While they feast with you" could refer to the "agape feast" believers in the first century celebrated. They are sort of like our modern day "church potluck".

But the bottom line was that while they attended these events, they were also indulging in their lustful desires and behaviors. They were truly what we would call "hypocrites" today. The word "hypocrite" means "to wear a mask". They were fake teachers and fake Christians. There was nothing true about them. 

What does it mean that they followed the way of Balaam? 

They are like Balaam, who was guilty of the greatest of sins – leading others into sin, and that for the sake of his own gain. Balaam had to be restrained by a dumb donkey because he would not listen to God. - Guzik

17 These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” 20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”[g] and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

The false teachers were like springs without water. They appeared as springs which could nourish, but in the end left one dry. Or, they were like clouds that promised, rain but brought none. They preyed on their sinful nature. They taught that true freedom was to indulge in sensuality and sexuality, but the people ended up in bondage to sin. 

It was kind of like the 60's when students dropped acid to escape the world. They were thus "free". But after their trip was over they were in the same world, but dealing with the consequences of the drug wearing off.  The bottom line is that after indulging in these pleasures over time, your body begins to crave them more and more. The body develops a tolerance so that more is needed to reach the same high. Someone might begin by choosing drugs, alcohol, or promiscuous sex, but in the end it chooses them. It has mastered them. 

The following verses create a tension between the doctrine of "once saved always saved" and "you can lose your salvation".  If you read the verses closely I don't think there is any evidence that Peter is teaching you can lose your salvation. What he is saying is that if someone has come to know the Lord and been delivered from the bondage to the flesh, if they go back to their old way of life,  they will be much worse off than they were before.

Why? Because when you have tasted and seen the goodness of the Lord and the abundant life he gives, when you go to your old life the remorse you would feel is much worse than if you have never known Jesus. Not to mention the guilt you would feel and the relentless conviction of the Holy Spirit that would make your life miserable. 

When a believers turns away from Christ, the Holy Spirit is relentless to draw him back to the Lord. Whether after quenching the Holy Spirit for so long he loses all sensitivity the Spirit is maybe what he is referring to here.

The bottom line is people can argue all day about this issue but in the end we really don't know if someone can lose their salvation or not. You can use biblical verses to argue either side. We might do well to heed the words of 1 Timothy 6:14, 

"They are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions."

We can spend our time arguing about the finer points of theology all the while people are dying and headed to a Christ-less eternity!