2 Peter

Influence of False Teachers. Just as there arose false prophets alongside the true prophets of God in OT times, so also there will arise false teachers who will try to mislead the church.

Peter describes the false teachers. secretly. They will subvert the truth by surreptitiously bringing destructive heresies into the church. These heresies will be contrary to what Christ and the apostles laid down as foundational doctrines (cf. Eph. 2:20–22), resulting in spiritual ruin rather than life. The false teachers will even deny the truth about the Master (Jesus Christ) who bought them. Peter apparently uses the language of redemption (“bought them”) here in the same way that he describes the counterfeit “salvation” of the false teachers at the end of ch. 2: that is, they claimed to be “redeemed” and “saved” because they were part of the church, but their apostasy showed that they were not truly believers. Another interpretation is that Christ’s death paid the penalty for their sins (“bought them”) but God did not apply this payment to them because they rejected Christ.

The heresy will be characterized in part by sensuality (Gk. aselgeia, “lack of self-constraint, abandonment to immoral behavior”), which most often refers to sexual sin.

Greed drives the false teachers as well. They exploit believers with their false words for the sake of material gain. False teachers throughout history have been marked by sexual sin, a lust for money, and dishonesty. All such teachers face condemnation and destruction.

a Judgment of False Teachers. Peter turns to a detailed argument proving God’s certain judgment on the false teachers. He uses a rabbinic form of proof that moves from minor premise to major premise (if A is true, how much more is B also true), and his analogies in vv. 4–8 amount to minor premises leading to the major premise of vv. 9–10a.

First minor premise: if God did not spare angels. If (A) God has eternally condemned the sinful angels, then (B) how much more certainly will he condemn the false teachers and their followers (major premise, vv. 9b–10a). (See note on Jude 6.)

Second minor premise: if (A) he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah … with seven others, then (B) will he not even more certainly judge the false teachers (major premise, vv. 9b–10a) while at the same time preserving the godly (major premise, v. 9a). Christians may be a small minority, but God will protect them.

Third minor premise: Peter sees the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah as a “type” (a divine foreshadowing) of judgment by fire on the last day (3:10–12), an event that will be denied by false teachers (2:4). If (A) God condemned Sodom and Gomorrah, then (B) how much more certain it is that the same thing will happen to the ungodly who reject the gospel.

Fourth minor premise: if (A) God rescued righteous Lot, who was greatly distressed and even tormented by the conduct of the wicked in Sodom (v. 6), then (B) how much more will he “rescue the godly” (major premise, v. 9a). Some have questioned whether Lot was truly righteous, given the serious sins he committed (Genesis 19). But the righteous are never considered to be perfect. Moreover, Scripture distinguishes Lot from the citizens of Sodom in that he received the angelic visitors and attempted to protect them from harm—a crucial and courageous action in his lawless and morally depraved environment.

a Having stated his minor premises, Peter moves now to his major premise (see note on vv. 4–10a): “If” vv. 4–8 are true, then how much more true are vv. 9–10a. God indeed knows how to rescue the godly from trials. In the case of Peter’s audience, this would have evoked hope of divine deliverance from the false teachers and their influence. God also will certainly keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment. He will punish them in a partial, preliminary way before the final day of judgment (cf. Luke 16:23–24; Heb. 9:27). This applies especially to those who engage in defiling passion and who despise authority—probably a reference to false teachers (cf. 2 Pet. 2:12, 18; 3:3; Jude 8, 16, 18).

b–16 Character of False Teachers. Peter gives a lengthy description of the debased character of the false teachers.

b–11 The false teachers are bold (in a reckless, foolhardy way) and willful (stubborn and arrogant), behaving in ways that even the angels avoid. They blaspheme the glorious ones, probably evil angels (cf. v. 11; Jude 8–9). In so doing, they recklessly dismiss any thought that these demonic forces have power or that their willful sins will open them to demonic attack. But good angels, like wise humans, do not take these evil powers lightly.

The false teachers operate in irrational ways. They act like … animals, following neither reason nor truth but instinct, ignoring even the most basic of human values. Yet they behave like this while posturing as Christians, even to the point that they feast with you, probably a reference to the Lord’s Supper. They are guilty of profound blasphemy and live licentiously.

Their eyes desire adultery with virtually every woman they meet. insatiable for sin. Their appetite for sin is never satisfied. Even worse, they entice (Gk. deleazō, “lure with bait”) unsteady people to join them in their debauchery. Sexual sin and greed characterize these false teachers (cf. v. 3 and note). Accursed children! Peter assures his readers that the heretics will face God’s curse.

They have followed the way of Balaam (Numbers 22–24), which is a life spent gaining things at other people’s expense by means of wrongdoing. Balaam was particularly condemned for his greed. He was supposedly a man of spiritual insight, but God can use even a donkey to restrain someone who is following the way of madness rather than living as a rational, responsible human being.

Influence of False Teachers Revisited. False teachers lead astray weaker people, enticing them back into lives of sin.

The false teachers are waterless springs (they promise refreshment and bring none) and mists driven by the wind (they sow confusion wherever they go), devoid of any inherent value. The gloom of utter darkness has been reserved (Gk. tēreō, “keep, guard, hold, preserve”) for them, as for the evil angels (“kept,” v. 4) and the unrighteous (“keep,” v. 9).

The false teachers entice by sensual passions … those who are barely escaping from the clutches of sin. They prey on newly professed Christians, teaching that they can do whatever they wish sexually and no harm will come of it.

The false teachers operate under the guise of freedom, but in actuality they entice others to become as they are, slaves of corruption, once again overcome by evil.

It would have been better for these false teachers never to have escaped the world in the first place, than to follow in the path of the knowledge of … Christ only to abandon that path and return to a life of sin and darkness. One reason it is better not to have known about the holy commandment is that those who turn away after falsely confessing the Christian faith will not be inclined to consider Christ again. Another reason is that their knowledge and experience of the Christian life makes them more accountable before God (cf. Luke 12:47–48). Some understand these verses to teach that true believers can lose their salvation. It is more likely that Peter refers to those who appeared to be Christians but then showed by their apostasy and their behavior that they never truly belonged to Christ (see notes on John 6:66; 15:2; Gal. 2:3–4; 1 John 2:19). God promises that those who truly know him will never fall away because he will keep them by his grace (cf. John 10:27–29; Rom. 8:28–39; Phil. 1:6). Those who do turn back show that their true character is like that of a dog (cf. Prov. 26:11) or a sow. They appeared to have been saved, but by returning to the vomit and mire of the world, they demonstrated that they were never truly regenerated.