Friday, October 7, 2011
False teachers have an empty message, but enslaving message
2 Peter 2:18 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.
2 Peter 2:19 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.
2 Peter 2:20 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.
2 Peter 2:21 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.
2 Peter 2:22 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.”
Peter explains what the false teachers say, and calls it "great swelling words of emptiness" They speak as if they have some great truth, but in reality, it's empty, because it's without the truth of Jesus Christ.
They have denied Him, and are putting forth ideas and teachings that God has not given them, but have come from their own hearts and minds.
Their words Peter says, "allure through the lusts of the flesh, etc. ". They have a certain attraction to what they are saying. Or they bait people would be a better way of saying it. They are enticing people, and they are doing it through the lusts of the flesh, rather then in and by the power of God's Holy Spirit, who is the author of God's Holy Word. They are enticing people and deceiving them. In short, they are encouraging sexual sins. And, this is what they are baiting people with, and enticing them into.
A few examples taking place today.......
Saying, it's ok to be involved with sexual matters, we see this today in the open promiscuity, fornication, people living together, and the promotion of male homosexuality, and lesbianism in our society. In fact at this time in the history of mankind, there are shows on t.v dedicated to all of the above, songs are written about illicit sex, and people parade in mass on a regular basis, have lobbying power in the halls of congress, and are changing the laws of our states to allow for same sex marriages, and the legalization within the school systems of many states to teach about the propriety and so called normalcy of homosexual/lesbian lifestyles.
It's becoming, and is in some states already on the books, a crime to speak out about and against these lifestyles. Work places are now filled with political correct atmosphere's in this regard, and one could be fired if he or she says something against the gay lifestyle. Children in schools are in danger of temporary suspension for simply speaking their point of view on the subject, and more could be said .....
A few examples taking place today.......
Saying, it's ok to be involved with sexual matters, we see this today in the open promiscuity, fornication, people living together, and the promotion of male homosexuality, and lesbianism in our society. In fact at this time in the history of mankind, there are shows on t.v dedicated to all of the above, songs are written about illicit sex, and people parade in mass on a regular basis, have lobbying power in the halls of congress, and are changing the laws of our states to allow for same sex marriages, and the legalization within the school systems of many states to teach about the propriety and so called normalcy of homosexual/lesbian lifestyles.
It's becoming, and is in some states already on the books, a crime to speak out about and against these lifestyles. Work places are now filled with political correct atmosphere's in this regard, and one could be fired if he or she says something against the gay lifestyle. Children in schools are in danger of temporary suspension for simply speaking their point of view on the subject, and more could be said .....
Back to the text in 2nd Peter 2.......
And, you will notice, that they are going after "those who have escaped from those that live in error" Or they are going after very vulnerable people.
The false teachers are actually full of hot air, and that's about it. They make these promises to those who are listening, saying you will find true freedom if you follow what we are teaching you, but in fact, the teachers are slaves to corruption, they are prisoners to sin themselves. Peter adds that by what a person is overcome, they are in fact, also then brought into bondage by that which has overcome them. Paul talked about this in Rom 6, and 7. So, their promises are empty, and the teachers are only pretending to be what they are, and not actually that in reality.
Continuing on, Peter further describes the victims of the false teachers. They have escaped he says the pollutions of the world, but are then getting pulled back into it, and if they do, the end will be worse for them, then the beginning. They will again become entangled, and not really set free. The rejection of the liberating truth in Jesus Christ, means for them deeper and worse corruption then they had in the past. It would have been better for them not to have known the truth.
Peter ends this section, and adds to his statement about "better for them not to etc, etc" with two illustrations of what has happened to the targets of the false teachers who listened to the false teaching, and took it to heart....here's what has happened to them, or here is what their lives are like.
One, a dog returns to his own vomit. Not a pleasant site, but something that happens. When a dog has to throw up, it's the getting rid of something that was not good for them. But, when a dog goes back and eats that again, it's the taking of something not good for them, back into their system. Same thing when a person turns away from sin, and then goes back to it. P.S, this is a proverb taken from Proverbs 26:11
Secondly, and this a proverb of sorts, was a common phrase among Jews of the 1st Century. A pig who has been cleaned up, returns back to wallowing in the mud. The point of this, and the other proverb are of course, went back to what they were to start with, or what they had been all along. ( See Matt 13, parable of the sower ) Dogs and pigs can be cleaned up, but, they can't be kept clean. Because it is there very nature to live like dogs and pigs.
So, at the end of the day as it were, this is a terrible truth as to the attack of satan into and upon the church. The false teachers bringing their false empty destructive message, alluring the vulnerable, and making their lives worse in the future then they were in the past.
Father, You are the Mighty God who saves His people from error, and establishes them in the truth of Jesus Christ. Protect Your church, give your pastors love, humility, courage, grace, peace, and power to simply oversee the flocks, and to teach Your Word clearly, the whole counsel of Your Word, and to warn, rescue and help keep the church free from these false and destructive teachers. In Jesus name.
Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia
Peter ends this section, and adds to his statement about "better for them not to etc, etc" with two illustrations of what has happened to the targets of the false teachers who listened to the false teaching, and took it to heart....here's what has happened to them, or here is what their lives are like.
One, a dog returns to his own vomit. Not a pleasant site, but something that happens. When a dog has to throw up, it's the getting rid of something that was not good for them. But, when a dog goes back and eats that again, it's the taking of something not good for them, back into their system. Same thing when a person turns away from sin, and then goes back to it. P.S, this is a proverb taken from Proverbs 26:11
Secondly, and this a proverb of sorts, was a common phrase among Jews of the 1st Century. A pig who has been cleaned up, returns back to wallowing in the mud. The point of this, and the other proverb are of course, went back to what they were to start with, or what they had been all along. ( See Matt 13, parable of the sower ) Dogs and pigs can be cleaned up, but, they can't be kept clean. Because it is there very nature to live like dogs and pigs.
So, at the end of the day as it were, this is a terrible truth as to the attack of satan into and upon the church. The false teachers bringing their false empty destructive message, alluring the vulnerable, and making their lives worse in the future then they were in the past.
Father, You are the Mighty God who saves His people from error, and establishes them in the truth of Jesus Christ. Protect Your church, give your pastors love, humility, courage, grace, peace, and power to simply oversee the flocks, and to teach Your Word clearly, the whole counsel of Your Word, and to warn, rescue and help keep the church free from these false and destructive teachers. In Jesus name.
Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia
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