2 Peter 2:1–22
Inspirational godly lives
I am so thankful for the examples of those around us today like Bishop Sandy Millar, Father Raniero Cantalamessa and many lesser known others who inspire us by their example and godliness.
The New Testament warns about deceptive and potentially dangerous cult leaders who ‘secretly introduce destructive heresies’ (v.1). In very recent times, one such cult, called Shincheonji, tried to infiltrate churches in London and around the world, posing as a ‘Bible study’ for new believers.The leaders of this ‘Bible study’ teach their followers to lie and deceive.
This chapter is a strongly worded attack on lying prophets and immoral teachers. Peter contrasts the lives of Noah and Lot with the ‘false teachers’ (v.1).
Noah, ‘the sole voice of righteousness’ (v.5, MSG), lived among ‘ungodly people’ but was ‘a preacher of righteousness’ (v.5). Lot also was a ‘good man’ (v.8, MSG). He was ‘a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of the lawless’ (v.7).
Peter holds out Noah and Lot as examples to those to whom he is writing, as they contend with false teachers who ‘introduce destructive heresies’ and follow ‘shameful ways’ that ‘bring the way of truth into disrepute’ (vv.1–2).
These false teachers are not simply other Christian leaders with whom Peter disagrees. Their lives and teachings are at complete odds with the Christian faith: ‘With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning… They have left the straight way’ (vv.14–15). They appeal ‘to the lustful desires of sinful human nature’ (v.18). ‘They promise… freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity – for people are slaves to whatever has mastered them’ (v.19).
The things that Peter describes here can seem very tempting – which is why he is so concerned about these leaders. His descriptions of pleasure seeking (v.13), sexual freedom (vv.14,18–19) and the pursuit of money (v.15), all strike a chord today.
The false teachers are slaves to these things, yet they entice others (especially new believers) into the same way of life, leading them astray by promising freedom (vv.18–19). However, true freedom is only found in God’s ways, not in any of these enticements that promise so much but actually result in emptiness. Those who pursue and recommend them are ‘springs without water and mists driven by a storm’ (v.17).
This is a terrible warning: ‘If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 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’ (vv.20–21).
Lord, the pull of the world is strong. Help me never to turn my back on you, my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.