Preached Sunday, March 16, 2014 from 2 Peter 2:1-3
Theme: False teachers—because of what they are—cannot deliver what they promise.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
We are continuing our study this morning from the New Testament book of 2 Peter. And in doing so, I have quite a challenge before me. It is my duty today to preach from what—in my opinion—is the most unpleasant portion of the whole letter. It may be one of most unpleasant passages in the New Testament.
But I believe God has preserved it in His word for us because He loves us. He cares very much that we remain faithful to Jesus Christ our whole lives long; growing in Him all along the way, and receiving a full reward in heavenly glory. And so, He has led His servant Peter to write these hard words for our eternal good.
The apostle Peter was writing in the second chapter of his letter to warn his brothers and sisters about the dangerous influences of false teachers. These were teachers who—like the false prophets of the Old Testament era—would arise from within the church, develop unbiblical doctrines, spread them deceitfully under the guise of genuine truth, and mislead God’s people away from faithfulness and into their error.
And at the end of that chapter, Peter wrote these harsh words about them:
These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire” (2 Peter 2:17-22).
It’s certainly not a passage we hear from very often—and certainly no one’s favorite. But I feel quite sure that we should hear from it much more often than we do.
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When I think of this harsh passage, my mind is drawn to what Peter said in the first chapter—and to the passage that, I believe, helps us to understand what Peter felt was at stake when he wrote those harsh words.
In 2 Peter 2:16-19, Peter had written to his brothers and sisters to urge them to stay true to the faith in Jesus Christ as they had been taught it; and to carefully build upon the foundation of the faith in the way they had been instructed. He told them this because he wanted to assure them of their sufficiency in Christ. If they have placed their faith in Jesus, there was nothing than anyone could offer them that was more than what they already had in Him. He said that—because of their relationship with Jesus—they already had “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (1 Peter 1:3). By God’s grace, they were already sufficiently supplied in Christ with all they needed to be everything that God wanted them to be.
And to assure them of this, Peter told them the certainty of things from the perspective of himself and the other apostles. He wrote;
For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts . . .” (2 Peter 1:16-19).
It was as if Peter was saying, “Do not doubt what I am telling you, my dear brothers and sisters, about your sufficiency in Christ. This faith of ours is the real deal. We—the apostles—can testify to this. In fact, James and John and I were alone with Jesus on the holy mountain long ago; and we saw Him transformed before our eyes. On top of everything else we learned of Him, we saw as His glory was revealed to us; and we heard as the Father from heaven affirm that He truly is His Son. We’re not making any of this up. We’re telling the absolute truth. So, give yourself fully to the truth of the gospel that we have brought to you; and don’t let anyone ever draw you away from it.”
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And that is a very relevant thing to tell us. You see, brothers and sisters in Christ; I believe that this morning’s passage is an expression of the whole viewpoint of the Scriptures—a viewpoint of ‘antithesis’ in which the gospel of Jesus Christ is presented to us as the absolute truth from God; and that anything that denies it, or presumes to be an alternative to it, or that seeks to set itself up in its place in defiance of it, is a lie.
Think of what the Bible tells us of the exclusive nature of the gospel—that there is no other way to be saved and to enter into God’s favor than the way He Himself has provided through Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). There are not ‘many ways to God’—as some insist. It’s true, of course, that there are many ways that people come to that ‘one way’—as many of us here this morning can testify. We all came to trust Jesus Christ through many different and unique experiences. But however it was that we came, we came to God through that ‘one way’—that is, through Jesus alone. There is but ‘one way’, ‘one truth’, and ‘one life’. As Jesus said when He stood before Pilate, “For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37).
The apostles said the same thing—that the gospel is the exclusive truth that leads to salvation. After Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead, the apostle Peter preached Christ and declared, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The apostle Paul wrote, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). It was either John the apostle, or John the Baptist being quoted by John the apostle, who said, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36). And it was most definitely John the apostle who wrote, “By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God” (1 John 4:3-4). “Who is a liar,” John wrote, “but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also” (1 John 2:22-23). John wrote about the gospel of Jesus and said, “This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:20-21).
And think of that last statement! “Little children, keep yourself from idols.” John identifies any claim to spiritual fulfillment or to salvation that is offered outside of Christ Himself—or in contradiction to the gospel that he and the other apostles preached—as ‘idolatry’! But the fact is that, nevertheless, many make their way into the household of faith to promote just that—idolatry! They offer ‘false alternatives’ to the gospel of salvation through faith in the cross of Jesus Christ and repentance from sin—making up for themselves, as it were, a universe in which God their Creator never spoke and never sent His Son! They come along and offer ways to wholeness and spiritual enrichment that are completely apart from anything told us in the Scriptures—as if you don’t need a sure word from God—and in the process, basically call Jesus a liar when He said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God'” (Matthew 4:4). They come and offer the enticing news that you don’t really have to repent of the things that God says in His word are contrary to His will—things that they laughingly say, back in the ‘old days’, were called ‘sin’ —and in the process, basically call the apostle Paul a liar when he said that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), and that “the goodness of God leads you to repentance” (Romans 2:4). They would come and say that there are many ways to enlightenment and enrichment—that many different faiths and religions have their paths that are just as valid, and that you can pick the one that suits you best—and in the process, basically call God into doubt when He clearly said of Jesus, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” (Matthew 17:5).
What I’m about to say may sound harsh, dear brothers and sisters; but if we take seriously the claims the Bible makes of the exclusive truth-claim of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that means that every time you hear some expert on television or a talk show tell you about new system of spiritual fulfillment or personal enrichment that allows you to believe whatever you want to believe and live however you wish to live, you’re hearing a lie. It means that every time you hear a popular, pleasant-looking, articulate religious leader from another faith offering a way of enlightenment and spiritual peace apart from faith in the cross of Jesus Christ, you’re actually hearing the words of an idolater who is in open rebellion against the God who made him. It means that every time you hear a scholar or theologian dismiss what the Bible teaches and who offers a ‘non-judgmental’ ethic and a ‘self-defined’ spirituality in its place, you’re encountering a ‘blind leader of the blind’ who is—himself or herself—on the way to self-destruction and eternal loss.
And Peter wrote these morning’s words—in love—to protect us from such false teachers; so that we won’t go down the path of destruction that they are traveling, and so that we won’t have to suffer any loss of the good things that God has given us in Christ.
Take this morning’s passage, then, as a very serious warning that false teachers absolutely cannot deliver the goods that they promise. Don’t give any credence to them, don’t be fooled by them, certainly don’t follow them, and—by all means—don’t allow yourself to suffer loss because of them. Be careful who it is that you listen to!
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Now; take a look at this passage again—remember that whole ‘antithetical’ approach to the truth that the Bible presents to us; that the gospel of Jesus is the absolute truth, and that anything contrary to it is a lie—and see what Peter tells us about these false teachers.
First, he warns us that . . .
1. THEY CANNOT OFFER ANYONE SPIRITUAL SUBSTANCE
BECAUSE THEY THEMSELVES ARE EMPTY (v. 17).
He tells us, “These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.” What pictures he uses to describe then! How incapable they are of providing anyone any of the good things that can only be ours in Christ!
First, he says that they are “wells without water”—or, as it can be translated, “springs” or “fountains without water”. You see them from a distance, and you think that they have refreshment to offer. You become thirstier and thirstier as you draw near them and hear their promises. You dip in; but to your disappointment, you find that there’s nothing there but dust. The promise sounded so good; but the well only proved to be dry. When I read this, I think sadly of all the people whose hearts have been hardened to spiritual things because of an encounter with one of the cults. Such people often come away so disappointed and disillusioned by being sucked in by phonies that they no longer want to even hear about spiritual things anymore.
Second, he says that they are “clouds carried by a tempest”, or “mists driven by a storm”. Clouds are temporal. They are easily blown away in the wind and vanish. Sailors don’t guide their ships by the positioning of the clouds, because the clouds aren’t reliable. And these false teachers are like clouds in a strong wind. The tempest blows and they’re gone. They can’t be counted on. You try to put your trust in them; and when you think you need them most, they’re missing and have moved on. They have no firm rooting in God whatsoever. It’s a harsh thing to say; but when it comes to false teachers, they’re in it for what they can get. Just take away whatever it is they want, and they’ll quickly hurry on to someplace else for fresh victims.
And most horrible of all, they are ones “for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever”. We’re not just talking about “blackness”. We’re talking about the blackness of “darkness”—the thickest gloom of all! We were already told something of this in 2 Peter 2:4; where we’re told that the angels who fell into sin and rebellion against God were “cast into hell”—delivered into “chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment”. What a dreadful picture of eternal judgment that is!—the blackness of thick darkness forever and ever! And Peter tells us that, just as that judgment is reserved for the fallen angels, it’s also reserved for these false teachers who mislead God’s people. Perhaps this is, in part, what our Lord was referring to in Matthew 18:6; when He said that it would be better for some if a millstone would be hung around their necks, and that they were drowned in the sea, than that they cause one of His little ones who believes in Him to sin!
And do you see the point? These who lead people away from God’s sure word, and away from a pure faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, can’t do any good for anyone. They draw people away from true spiritual riches, and have nothing of any spiritual value to offer in their place. They themselves are empty, and utterly void of any spiritual light. Worse than that—they are destined for eternal darkness! Don’t listen to them.
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Second, Peter tells us that . . .
2. THEY CANNOT SET ANYONE AT LIBERTY
BECAUSE THEY THEMSELVES ARE IN BONDAGE (vv. 18-19).
He writes, “For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage” (vv. 18-19).
Now; notice first who their intended victims are. We’re told that they “allure” those who “have actually escaped from those who live in error”. I believe that Peter is speaking of Christians who are new to the faith—mere ‘babes in Christ’. Other translations have it that they have “just escaped”. In the original language, we’re told that they are, even then, “just escaping”. That’s who false teachers look for—those who are not yet rooted and established in the truths of the faith. They are eager to grow in the spirit, but young in the Christian walk; and so, they are most vulnerable to the kind of false teaching that might draw them back into the sins that God had saved them from.
And second, notice how these false teachers seek to draw them in. They try to allure them through “the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness”. They make the appeal to their victims that, if they follow their path, they can still enjoy the pleasures of the fleshly nature. In fact, they make it sound as if they can even gratify those lusts more fully. I remember one of my former teachers in Bible college—a man who had done a great deal of study into the false teaching of the cults—telling me that, if you watch long enough, false spiritual teaching will almost always cause its victims to degenerate at some point into sexual immorality. That’s how these false teachers draw people in—with high and swelling words of moral ‘freedom’ and ‘liberty’. But it’s not ‘freedom’ and ‘liberty’ at all. The only thing they really offer is licentiousness—and the eventual suffering that goes with it.
And notice thirdly why they really can’t offer freedom to anyone. It’s because they themselves are slaves to corruption. Do you remember what our Lord taught us in the Sermon on the Mount? He said;
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every three that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:15-20).
These false teachers boast in their “freedoms”; but their claim completely misrepresents what true freedom is. Jesus taught us that true “freedom” is the freedom from sin—and the ability to now do what God commands us to do. He told us;
“Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:34-36).
If these false teachers were truly “free”, then they would freely walk in holiness. But as it is, they can’t set anyone free. They are overcome by sin; “for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage”. Don’t listen to their phony offers of “freedom”. They can’t deliver what they offer.
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A third thing that Peter tells us is that . . .
3. THEY CANNOT MAKE ANYONE BETTER
BECAUSE THEY THEMSELVES ARE ON THE DOWNWARD SLIDE (v. 20).
The weight of the sins that have enchained them—sins that they will neither repent of or trust the Savior to deliver them from—simply pulls them down further and further in their separation from God. Peter writes; “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning” (v. 20).
Isn’t it interesting that Peter says that they had “escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”? Apparently, the false teachers that Peter spoke of knew the truth about the Lord Jesus. They even appear to have known enough to—temporarily, at least—escape from the pollutions of the world. They may have made some progress; and may have repented for a while. But they turned back to their rebellious ways again—and ended up in even worse spiritual condition than before.
It’s important to know that the word Peter used for their “knowledge” of the Lord doesn’t mean that they were ever saved by that knowledge. The word he uses is one that means that they were only ‘coming’ to a knowledge of the Lord. It wasn’t, however, a saving knowledge—not a full commitment to the Lord. They apparently knew enough to turn from sin for a while; but they didn’t come to a full ‘saving’ knowledge. They were like the folks who ‘give the Lord a try’. It’s good to draw near the Lord; and it’s best to place a complete faith in Him. But it’s a terrible thing to draw near to the charms of Jesus—and to be inclined to turn from sin because of that attraction—and then to turn away from Him and back into sin. I think that’s what the writer of Hebrews was talking about when he wrote,
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, had have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame (Hebrews 6:4-6).
I don’t believe that’s speaking of someone losing their salvation. I believe it is speaking of someone who was never saved at all. They drew close—but then they drew back. I can tell you from experience; there is no one who is more hardened toward the gospel of Jesus Christ than someone who boasted that they once believed, but who then turned away and rejected it because of a love for autonomy, rebellion and sin.
And note that they do not simply return to the state of being in which they were before they came to Him. Their latter condition is far worse than the first. The Lord Jesus once told a parable about this. He was speaking of the people who saw His miracles in His own day—who were drawn to Him and tasted of His glory—and who yet rejected Him. He said,
“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation” (Matthew 12:43-45).
That’s how it is with false teachers who knew of the Lord Jesus, perhaps were even drawn to Him, but who rejected Him and have returned to their rebellion against Him. Their condition is even worse than it was before. They had a knowledge of the truth, and then deliberately rejected it for lies. Don’t listen to them. They can’t make anyone “better”—they can only make those who follow them “worse”.
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And finally, Peter tells us that . . .
4. THEY CANNOT LEAD ANYONE TO SALVATION
BECAUSE THEY THEMSELVES RETURN TO THEIR OWN DEPRAVITY (vv. 21-22).
Peter says an amazing thing, “For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them” (v. 21). Imagine that! It would have been far better for them to have never heard the gospel at all than to have heard it and turned from it! What condemnation they bring on themselves!
But Peter then tells us that this is consistent with their own nature. He quotes from the Old Testament—from Proverbs 26:11—and writes, “But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire'” (v. 22). What a repulsive picture! I would just as soon not dwell much on it; but I have to remind you that it’s a picture that is given to us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The picture of a dog vomiting in that way is a picture of what it means to be rescued from our sin. Out goes all the things from our lives that are repulsive to our holy heavenly Father. But what a far more repulsive act it is to go back and get those things and take them back into ourselves again! Or when a pig is washed of its own filth, that’s a picture of what it means for you and me to be cleansed of our sinful habits—so that we can stand clean before a holy God. But what a repulsive act it is to go back—after having been cleansed by the blood of Jesus—to go back and wallow in that filth again! The very picture such things makes us sick to think about. But we need to understand that that’s how God sees it when people who are drawn to His Son—and then taste of a righteous life—then turn away and go back to their sin!
Peter says that “it has happened to them according to the true proverb”; and he says this—and I say this with genuine trembling of heart—because such false teachers prove their nature by their return to their sins. They show themselves to be—spiritually speaking—dogs and pigs. They cannot offer anyone any kind of salvation; because they are still—by nature—inclined to the kind of depravity that Jesus saves us from. Don’t even bother to listen to them! If you ignore them, you won’t be missing anything; but if you listen to them, you will most certainly suffer loss.
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Now; let me close with another important warning. I don’t believe that is passage is meant to give us permission to go around speaking evil of those who we think of as false teachers. I am suspecting that Peter—if he had wanted to—could have named names. But we should note carefully that he didn’t do so. And perhaps neither should we. Let’s not go around calling people “dogs” and “pigs”. That can be a very ugly and unbecoming thing for a follower of Jesus to do. If we hear false teaching, and if we see someone leading others down a path of sin, then by all means—let’s call them on it. Let’s not be silent! Let’s be faithful to confront falsehood with the word of truth! But let’s also be careful how we speak of those who—while in error—are nevertheless made in the image of God. Let’s leave the eternal judgment to the rightful Judge—and pray for those souls of those in error. God may still grant them repentance, and make them into brothers or sisters in Christ.
But the thing that I believe this passage is meant most of all to teach us is that we must not listen to them in their error! Peter, in this passage, shows us their true nature. Don’t give even the slightest little bit of validity to the teaching of those who offer you something other than the truth of God’s word. There is no other way than the way God has provided us through Christ. Don’t look to such teachers for spiritual insight, don’t be drawn to their offers of freedom, don’t listen to their ‘self-help’ and ‘enlightenment’ programs, and don’t look for anything of saving grace from those who have knowingly reject the truth. They can only deceive you, rob you, and drag you further and further from God’s blessings.
Instead, trust completely in the reliable word of God, join your brothers and sisters in Christ in wholeheartedly pursuing the faith once delivered to the saints, and rejoice confidently Jesus alone as your all-sufficient Savior. You’ll never go wrong if you do.