2 Peter 2:10-22 – The Deception of False Teachers

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

2 Peter 2:10-22 provides us with descriptions of false prophets so that we are not led astray from the Lord. It is incredibly important that you be able to recognize the deception of false teachers.

Introduction

Don’t be fooled!  Just because someone uses the name of God or claims to move in the name of God, that doesn’t mean that they are of God.  Once again, I tell you that the greatest threat facing mankind today is the deceiving liar who moves in the name of God.  In this Sunday School commentary, we will continue looking at Peter’s words about false teachers so that we may recognize them. This week’s Sunday School commentary will cover scripture from 2 Peter 2:10b-22. 

The Character of False Teachers

Our lesson this week opens with Peter’s description of the false prophets of his day, which we must remember he is warning will be present with us (2 Pet. 2:1).  

In 2 Peter 2:10, Peter tells us that false teachers are presumptuous, self-willed, and not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries.  To be presumptuous means that one is too confident in an expectation or assumption, especially in a rude way.  The “dignitaries”, or authorities, that Peter said false teachers spoke evil of were heavenly authorities – God and His angels. We know that Peter meant heavenly authorities because in 2 Peter 2:11, he speaks of how angels don’t bring reviling accusations against false teachers.

One must consider that if false teachers have the arrogance to speak evil of heavenly authorities, they will speak evil of anyone.  In my sermon – Let Them See You – I spoke of the greatest threat we, mankind, face.  The greatest threat we face is those who move in with lying know-nothing pride.

In their pride and arrogance, false teachers believe that both God and believers need to prove His truth.  They speak against God, showing no proof of what they speak of, and will charge both God and believers with having no proof that He is real.  Personally, I always point to the rising and setting of the sun as proof.  You see, the creation is not random nor is it happenstance, as those who study this creation even find architecture and patterns within it.

Does Belief Require Proof

This raises a question:  Does belief (believing) require proof?  Now, as you think this question over, I want to make it clear that “believing” and “faith” are not the same thing.  So, let me explain the answer to that question to all of you.

In Romans 8:24-25, Paul asked, “For why does one still hope for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.”  In other words, Paul was saying what does one need to believe in if one can see it?  Belief can only work in the absence of proof.  

So, for example, all of us believed in God and His only begotten Son without any proof.  The apostles and the many who became His disciples had the privilege to be eyewitnesses.  However, we believed in Him through the written word of their report.  

After His resurrection, John 20:29 tells us that Jesus said to Thomas, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  Essentially, Jesus was telling Thomas that what you have believed doesn’t require any effort because you have seen Me.  While those who lived at that time had the privilege to see Him, there is a great reward for all of us who have believed the evidence and the eyewitness report of the death and resurrection of Christ.

Now, as I said before, faith is quite different from belief!  As it is said in Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the substance (or assurance) of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  

What this scripture means is that faith is the movement in trust of what one believes through assurance of what one has experienced.  So, to even begin to have faith, one would have had to take that first blind step of belief in the Lord without any proof.  Having done as David suggested, tasted to see that God is good, one saw for themselves that God is good, and chose to keep trusting/relying on the Lord.  By faith, one is confident that what God has done before, He will do again.  

So, for example, the Lord raised His only begotten Son from the dead yesterday and has promised that He will do that for us tomorrow.  The believer has faith that the resurrection of saints will happen not only because they believe God raised His Son, but also because they have witnessed what God has done for them daily.

The false teacher will always struggle in such a battle of faith because they never set out to taste and see that God is good.  The false teacher won’t understand if they never get past the point of needing proof.  The believer that has faith, has all the proof they need, which makes false teachers and their doctrine look as foolish as false teachers believe believers to be.

The Judgment of False Teachers’ Sinfulness

In 2 Peter. 2:12-17, Peter reiterates that false teachers will face the judgment of their eternal condemnation.  The harsh judgment of false teachers was covered in the commentary – The Destruction of False Teachers – where I covered 2 Peter 2:1-10.

The fate of false teachers is sealed because they adamantly move in a manner to hinder one from receiving God’s salvation.  In other words, they work against the truth, blaspheming the Spirit, which is the unpardonable sin.  

Now, what does differ in this section is Peter pointing out how wicked and corrupt false teachers are.  Peter wrote that their eyes are full of adultery, and their hearts are trained in covetous practices.  Moreover, he stated that they follow in the way of Balaam, the son of Beor.  If you’re not familiar with Balaam’s story, you can read it in full in Numbers 22-24.  

Balaam was a prophet who was not of the blood of Israel.  God warned him not to go to the king of the Moabites, as the Moabite king desired for Balaam to curse Israel.  Initially, Balaam turned down silver and gold and refused to go to the king, however he had a change of heart and went to the men so that they may take him.  Again, God had instructed him to only go if the men came to him, but he chose to do his own thing.

On his way to see the king, he was rebuked by his own donkey, which literally spoke to him!  (Yes, it’s one of the strangest things you will read in scripture.) Balaam, again, disregarded God’s rebuke and met the king.  He even taught the king how to entice the men of Israel into sin with Midianite women.  

As Peter stated, Balaam disregarded God’s instructions because he loved the wages of unrighteousness more than the reward of obedience.  The teaching is that Balaam enjoyed worldly riches, which is what Peter was saying about false teachers – their love is for the world and its riches, not for God.

In total, the way of false teachers was of the flesh; they were sexually immoral, covetous, greedy, selfish, and lived in blasphemy.  In their sinful living, their fate is sealed.  This is why Paul wrote and told Timothy that such people who are of corrupt minds, destitute of the truth, and believing that godliness is a means of gain are people who should be withdrawn from.

How False Teachers Deceive

When we get to 2 Peter 2:18, Peter takes the same approach as Paul, telling future believers what to look for in order to recognize false teachers so that nobody is deceived.  Keep in mind, while Peter warned false teachers of the judgment that awaits them, his greater concern is their destructive heresies that can lead others to condemnation.

Deceiving with words of appeasement

With that in mind, Peter speaks of their “great swelling words of emptiness” (2 Pet. 2:18).  Let us not think that “great swelling words” means false teachers will have a great vocabulary using big and large words.  You see, like alluring through the lusts of the flesh and lewdness, they will speak appeasing words that make people feel good about themselves. 

Do not underestimate words of appeasement, as the words of appeasement often go against the words of truth.  While Jesus said that the truth is what sets one free (John 8:32), the truth can still hurt.  In Hebrews 4:12, the writer stated, “The word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of thoughts and intents of heart.”

The thing nobody wants to be told is that they are imperfect, filled with sin, and need to repent.  Very few people desire to be rebuked (corrected) and told when they’ve done wrong – it is upsetting, right? 

I have also found that very few people want to hear that they will be condemned for choosing to live sinfully, rather than living holy. 

So, when a false teacher comes along the way and justifies one’s wickedness, it makes the one who has done wrong feel ok with themselves.  Prophets like Jeremiah and Micah were met by people who turned them away because they had raised up their own prophets who justified their sin.  

Paul told Timothy, in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”  

Personally, I am not a pastor of great quotes and elaborate words.  I preach using sound doctrine, and at times I feel I can be like a hammer, which may make receiving my sermons difficult for people.  That said, I don’t believe the truth should be dressed up, as I believe the truth dressed up is why so many Christians think it is OK to move out of hate and rejoice in iniquity.  

Believers cannot be concerned about being loved by everybody!  Why not, some of you may ask.  First and foremost, Christ said that those who are of the world are going to despise you because your message, the righteous truth, is set against them, and you are not of the world (John 15:18-19).  If you’re set to be loved by the world, then you ought to understand that you’re trying to become an enemy of the Lord (Jas. 4:4).

So, if you’re in search of who is or who is not speaking the truth, look for the one who teaches, preaches, rebukes, and corrects, whether it hurts you or not.  That is one who truly does love you and is concerned for your soul.  Otherwise, one who does not take the time to correct you in your wrongdoing is one who is happy that you have joined them in their wickedness and corruption, and desires for you to be with them eternally.

Deceiving with sight

Now, in that same verse, we’ll see that Peter also stated that false teachers allure through the lusts of the flesh and lewdness. Now, many of our minds will consider this to mean that they allure (seduce and tempt) through sexual desires of the body. While that certainly can be the case, especially as seen throughout Revelation 2-3, with a few of the seven churches, we must also remember that one can be tempted and enticed by other means.

The false teacher genuinely believes that seeing is believing, so, once again, they know how to put on a show. They will deceive by sight, with what one can see. They often produced falsified truths that they believe, so that they may also get others to follow. Honestly, they move in a manner that a believer who desires to share scripture moves in.

However, rather than sharing scripture, one may point to their bank account and say This can be you if you do as I do’. Satan showed Eve the tree in the midst of the garden and its fruit to entice her (Gen. 3:1-6). Do not let your eyes play tricks on you! As magicians will tell you, the eyes can deceive you and make you see something that isn’t there.

Deceiving with false promises

Peter then mentioned in 2 Peter 2:19 that false teachers will promise liberty when they themselves are slaves of corruption.   

Let’s be clear about this:  True liberty can only come through Christ.  Salvation for mankind was made through the shed blood of Christ.  Let me repeat this:  There is only one way to become righteous, and that is through the salvation of Christ’s shed blood.

False teachers love to make such an empty promise because they share the way of Satan.  In Matthew 4:1-11, when Satan tempted Christ, after showing Jesus the kingdoms of the world and their glory, he promised Jesus, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

The desire of false teachers is for one to listen to them, follow them, and glorify them – it is the same as Satan’s desire.  False teachers will say, ‘If you do this or that like I have done, then you will be blessed.’  Their idea of being blessed comes from the riches of this world, not from the Lord.  

Their idea of liberty is being free from God and religion.  There is a belief present in the world today that one can and ought to find heaven on earth because heaven does not exist.  Yet, the one who turns away from the Lord is the one who will never find liberty.  

If you follow in the way of false teachers, you will face the same condemnation that comes upon them.  This, again, is the reason why Peter shared this information about false teachers – do not listen to such speech that denies God, His salvation, and the promise of His kingdom.