Tag: False teachers

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2 Peter Devotionals

Promising freedom

They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, since people are enslaved to whatever defeats them. (2 Peter 2:19)

In this passage, Peter warns against false teachers in the church.

The truth is, we are seeing a lot of false teachers in the church today. Teachers who treat the Bible as mere human words instead of as God’s words.

And so when culture goes against what the Bible teaches, these teachers go right along with the culture.

Our culture and these teachers promise people freedom by getting away from the teachings of God.

But this “freedom” actually destroys. It destroys people’s lives, and worst of all, it destroys their souls.

Jesus is the one who gives true freedom. And if we want to be truly free, we need to believe and cling to his teaching.

You cannot claim to be Jesus’ disciple while rejecting his teaching.

Let us always remember our Lord’s own words on this:

If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:31-32)

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Mark Devotionals

Be on your guard

Mark

It’s hard to miss the repetition Jesus uses here when he talks about the last days.

Three times, he says, “Be on your guard!”

All three times, it’s different things we are to be on our guard about.

The first time, Jesus warns us to be on our guard because persecution will come (Mark 13:9-13).

The time will come when we will be hated even by those closest to us because we love Jesus.

There will be times we will be punished by those in power for proclaiming Jesus.

You already see this in countries like China. But you also see it in the States as well: people punished for standing up for what scripture clearly teaches in terms of right and wrong.

Jesus then warns a second time: “Be on your guard (23)”.

Why? Because false messiahs, false prophets, and false teachers will come to deceive, even performing miraculous signs.

Do you test the teachings you hear from your pastor, from pastors on the internet, and famous Christian authors?

Hopefully, those you listen to are spiritually solid, but if you are not on our guard, you may be deceived.

Jesus warns a final time: “Be on your guard (33).”

Why? Because Jesus will come back some day and he will hold you accountable for how you are living. When Jesus comes back, will he be able to say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant?”

How about you? Are you on your guard?

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Jude

Recognizing those we contend with

Shepherd

The problem with deception is that it is by its nature difficult to detect. That’s why it can be so easy for false teachers to slip into the church. They don’t come out blaring to the church, “I am a deceiver.”

Rather they look like us. They talk like us. To some degree, they even act like us.

But when you take a closer look, they are wolves in sheeps’ clothing. How do we detect them?

Mostly by what they teach.

As we saw yesterday, the false teachers in John’s day were turning God’s grace into a license for immorality. Though they claimed Jesus as Lord, their lives showed that they were in no way submitted to him as Lord. (Jude 4)

And that leads into the second way we can detect them: through their attitudes and actions.

For one thing, they reject all authority, including their Lord’s. (8)

For another, they don’t understand spiritual things and as a result, they speak abusively against them.

This was true even of their attitude toward Satan. They mocked him despite the fact that he was more powerful than they. Even Michael the archangel refused to do that, even when he was in the right. (8-10).

Meanwhile, the things they do understand, their base instincts, lead them to destruction.

Because of this, Jude condemns them in language vaguely reminiscent of Jesus’ condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees.

He calls them murderers (having taken the way of Cain), greedy (following the way of Balaam), and rebellious (as Korah was when he tried to lead an insurrection against Moses). (11).

Perhaps referring back to Korah, he also calls them grumblers and faultfinders, people who follow their own evil desires, boasting about themselves and using flattering words to gain followers. (16)

He then gets picturesque, calling them blemishes at the Lord’s table, shepherds who fed only themselves rather than the sheep, and clouds without rain, promising much but delivering nothing, while being blown about by every wind of teaching they encountered.

He also called them fruitless trees headed for destruction, waves that are uncontrolled and unresting, whipping up only their shame, and as wandering stars that lead anyone who tries to find direction through them astray. (12-13)

Their end? Judgment. (14-15).

And even at that thought, they scoff and continue in their ways, dividing the church and following their own instincts instead of the Spirit of God. (18-19)

The ironic thing of all this? They had once seemed like sheep, looking and sounding like us.

But this is nothing new.

The Israelites who came out of Egypt under Moses were like this. Though they were all “saved” from Egypt, nevertheless, they died in the desert because of their lack of faith. (5)

In the same way, Jude talks about angels who left the place God had assigned to them. (6)

Some believe this has to do with some of the angels following Satan after he rebelled, while others think it has to do with them marrying the daughters of men in the time of Noah. (I find the latter a bit hard to believe).

Either way, the point is the same. They seemed to have a spot secure among God’s chosen, but because of their sin found themselves under judgment.

In the end, these false teachers in Jude’s time simply abandoned themselves to sin as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah did.

As a result, Jude warns that these teachers will be judged with eternal fire as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were. (7)

And if we follow them, we’ll end up where they’re going.

So Jude exhorts us,

But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.

Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring us to eternal life. (20-21)

In short, if we are to recognize these teachers for what they are and avoid their fate, we need to stay rooted in Christ.

We need to grow in the grace and knowledge of him and stay connected to his Spirit.

And we need to stay in his love, knowing that the judgment that awaits them is our hope because Jesus has paid the price for our sins on the cross.

How about you? Are you so rooted in Christ, that you can recognize false teachers when you see them and contend for the faith against them?

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2 Peter

Our need to know God’s word

Bible

We saw yesterday that our faith is based not only on our experiences with God, valuable as they are, but also on God’s word. And now in chapter 2, Peter tells us why it is so vital to know God’s word well.

The reason? False teachers that slip into the church.

Peter wrote,

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 Peter 2:1)

What were these teachers teaching? Basically, they were saying that as Christians, you can live however you want. That you can live for your sinful lusts and God won’t care.

These teachers themselves lived that way, doing sinful things in broad daylight, perhaps even getting drunk at the Lord’s table, and sleeping around with as many women in the church as they could. (13-14).

More, they were in love with money, and when they taught, that was their aim: to rob the people of God. (14)

And they justified all this by saying that when you live that way, you find true “freedom.” (18-19)

But as Peter said,

They themselves are slaves of depravity — for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. (19)

And Peter tells us that these false teachers are now worse off than before they had heard the truth about Jesus. Why?

Because when they heard the truth, they temporarily ran away from the things that had enslaved them, but now they were right back where they started.

At least when they didn’t know the truth, there was hope that when they heard it, they could be saved.

But now they’ve come to know the truth. They’ve tasted the goodness of it. Yet despite all this, they have now rejected it.

What hope is there for them now? Precious little. None if they do not repent. And God will judge them even more harshly because they didn’t sin in ignorance, but in full knowledge of the truth. (20-21)

And Peter says,

Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.” (22)

The problem is, of course, that if we fall in line with their teaching, we’ll fall into the same pit they do.

So the question is, “How well do you know your Bible?”

Do you know it well enough that if someone teaches something that is false, you can detect it?

How do you detect false teaching? The same way bankers detect false money. Not by studying the counterfeit, but by becoming so familiar with the real, that when a counterfeit touches their hand, they recognize it immediately.

Are you that familiar with the Word of God? You should be.

And if you are, you never have to fear being deceived by false teaching.

How well do you know your Bible?