Peter calls their teaching, “destructive heresies.” The word heresy
originally was a neutral term that referred to a school of thought or a
teaching. It can also refer to factions or divisions within the church
(Gal. 5:20; 1 Cor. 11:18; Titus 3:10). But by adding the word
“destructive,” Peter shows that he is talking about seriously wrong
doctrine that destroys lives and churches and, if unchecked, leads to
eternal judgment.
Peter takes us to the root of their destructive heresy when he adds (2:1), “even denying the Master who bought them.” Master
is a strong word for Sovereign or Owner. We get our word “despot” from
it, but in New Testament times it did not have the negative connotation
that “despot” has in our language. It was used for the earthly master of
slaves or to emphasize God’s absolute lordship.
Here (and in Jude 4) it refers to Jesus Christ.
These false teachers were denying, both by their teaching and lifestyle,
the lordship of Jesus Christ as the rightful owner of His people. If
someone claims that you can believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and yet
not submit to Him as Lord, it is destructive doctrine. It deceives
people into thinking that they are saved because they “accepted Christ.”
But Jesus said that He will say to such people, “I never knew you;
depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matt. 7:23). They will be
damned because their lives denied “the Master who bought them.”
But that phrase plunges us into a world of
theological controversy! Some would argue that it supports the view that
those who are saved can lose their salvation. But there are many
Scriptures that affirm that God keeps all whom He saves (John 6:39;
10:27-29; Rom. 8:1, 29-39). Peter himself had denied the Master who
bought him, yet the Lord did not cast him off.
Others use this phrase as proof that Christ died for
all people, even for those who ultimately reject Him. The Master bought
these heretics who end up in eternal condemnation. In other words, the
verse seems to teach what is called “unlimited atonement.”
I thought about taking an entire message to deal
with the extent of the atonement (many books have been written on this
subject!), but instead I’m going to try to clarify things in a few
paragraphs here. I used to think that Christ died to pay the penalty for
all people, but that the benefits of His death only apply to those who
trust in Him as Savior and Lord. In other words, Christ’s death made
salvation possible for everyone, but actual only for
those who believe. It’s like a gift that has been paid for and is being
offered. But to be effective, the person must receive the gift. This is
the most common view among evangelicals today.
But by reading the Puritan John Owen’s The Death of Death in the Death of Christ
[Banner of Truth], I came to see that that is an inadequate view of the
atonement. Owen points out (p. 61) that either Christ endured the wrath
of God for “all the sins of all men, or all the sins of some men, or
some sins of all men.” If He died for all the sins of all men, then all
men will be saved, which is clearly against the teaching of the Bible.
Some counter, “But Christ died for all sins except for unbelief. Men are
lost because they do not believe in Christ.” But, Owen counters (p.
62), is unbelief a sin or not? If not, why should sinners be punished
for it? If it is somehow not atoned for by the blood of Christ, where
does Scripture teach this? And, there are many Scriptures that say that
people will be judged for many other sins (e.g., Rev. 20:12, 13; 21:8).
Why would God judge them for these sins if they were all (except
unbelief) atoned for?
If Christ died for some sins of all men (the sin of
unbelief in Christ being excepted), then all men have some sin to atone
for, and thus no one can be saved. This leaves as the only possible
option that Christ died for all the sins of some men, namely, the elect.
Christ came to save His people (the elect) from their sins (Matt.
1:21). He came to secure the eternal redemption of all that the Father
had given to Him (John 6:39-40). His death actually paid their penalty.
At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit quickens the elect sinner
from spiritual death to spiritual life. He believes in Christ and
Christ’s saving work is applied to his soul.
I do not have time to deal with the verses that seem
to indicate that Christ died even for those who are eventually lost.
(James Boice and Philip Ryken, The Doctrines of Grace [Crossway
Books], pp. 126-134, give a brief treatment of this.) But let me try to
explain why Peter says that these unbelieving heretics deny “the Master
who bought them.”
Peter is making a comparison between the situation
in Israel (v. 1, “false prophets arose among the people”) and that in
the early church (“just as there will be false teachers among you”). In
the context of warning Israel about false teachers, Moses describes God
as (Deut. 13:5), “the Lord your God who brought you from the land of
Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery….” Later, Moses rebuked
the people, whom he calls (Deut. 32:5) “a perverse and crooked
generation,” by asking rhetorically (Deut. 32:6), “Is not He your Father
who has bought you?” In other words, the Old Testament refers to the
exodus as God’s redeeming or buying His people (see also, 2 Sam. 7:23),
even though only a remnant among them were truly saved. The redemption
language was applied to the entire nation, even though not all were what
we would call “born again.”
Peter applies this analogy to the church. Just as
Israel as a nation were the redeemed people of God, although not all
were saved, so the church is now God’s redeemed nation (1 Pet. 2:9-10),
and yet there are some among them who are not truly saved. They
professed to be redeemed, but by their deeds they denied Him (Titus
1:16). So Peter here is not giving a theological treatment on the extent
of the atonement. Rather, he uses the analogy of God’s people being
bought by the Master to show the heinous nature of the false teachers’
sin. They associated with the chosen nation (the church). The Master
bought the church, just as God bought or redeemed Israel through the
Exodus. Yet these heretics did not obey Him. They denied the Master who
bought them and the result for them and all that follow them will be
swift destruction.
So, beware of false teachers because they are a
perpetual threat to God’s people; their methods are subtle and
deceptive; and, their doctrine is destructive.
Beware of false teachers because their influence is alluring.
“Many will follow their sensuality…” (2:2). They had
a large following. They were “successful!” It’s amazing how the
Christian world thinks that if a man has a huge following, he must be
sound in the faith. If he builds a megachurch, the Christian world looks
to him as a leader, without questioning what he teaches.
These false teachers invariably cater to the flesh.
They do not preach against sin. They do not mention divine judgment or
hell. They avoid truths like denying yourself, taking up your cross, and
following Christ no matter what the cost. Rather, they soothe people
with uplifting thoughts about how much God loves you and wants you to
have your best life now. If they ever mention the death of Christ, they
say that He did it because He believed in your great worth. Now you need
to believe in yourself and ask God to help you fulfill your dreams.
People follow that kind of false teaching by the droves, because it
feeds their pride.
Beware of false teachers because their motives are impure.
Peter shows that these men are driven by two related
evil motives: sensuality and greed. At the root of both of these is
their own self-centeredness and pride. They want to exploit their
followers to gratify themselves.
There is always a connection between false doctrine
and impure living. Sometimes it’s difficult to figure out which came
first, but invariably, they are intertwined. False doctrine leads to
ungodly living, but the reverse is also true. If a man gets involved in
sexual sin, the Bible convicts him. So he has to change the teaching
somehow to dodge his guilty conscience.
Years ago, I had a roommate who came to Christ
through the man who eventually founded the Children of God cult. They
flourished during the hippie “free love” days. This man, who started out
orthodox in the faith, fell into sexual sin. He encouraged all sorts of
sexual sin among his followers. But, of course, he had to veer greatly
from Scripture to do that. He got involved in demonism and all sorts of
false teaching. Wrong behavior leads to wrong doctrine and wrong
doctrine leads to wrong behavior.
Beware of false teachers because their teaching and lifestyles result in dishonor to the way of the truth.
Peter says (2:2), “because of them the way of the
truth will be maligned.” The Christian faith is the way of the truth
because Jesus Himself is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
But when professing Christians, and especially professing Christian
leaders, do not live according to the truth of God’s Word, unbelievers
mock and disregard the truth. The TV preachers who live lavishly while
milking their audiences for more money and the well-known pastors who
get exposed in sex scandals cause the world to scoff at the faith. Steer
clear of them all!
Beware of false teachers because they and all that follow them are heading toward eternal destruction.
Peter uses the word “destruction” 5 of the 18 times
that it appears in the New Testament. He speaks of (v. 1) “destructive
heresies” and the “swift destruction,” which the false teachers will
bring on themselves. He adds (v. 3), “their judgment from long ago is
not idle and their destruction is not asleep.” He also uses the word in
3:7 in reference to “the day of judgment and the destruction of ungodly
men” and again in 3:17, where he says that the false teachers twist the
Scriptures “to their own destruction.” And, he uses the verb in 3:6 to
describe how God destroyed the world through the flood.
Contrary to what some teach, the destruction of the
wicked does not refer to their annihilation. Rather, it refers to their
eternal punishment in the lake of fire (Matt. 25:46; Rev. 17:8, 11;
20:14, 15; 21:8). The fact that these wicked men’s judgment is from long
ago means that God declared judgment on false teachers in the Old
Testament, centuries before. The phrase, “their destruction is not
asleep” personifies destruction as an executioner, always ready to
administer God’s sentence on those who teach and follow false doctrine.
Again, Peter is not talking about minor doctrinal differences, but
rather about false teachings that lead people to damnation. He does not
seem to hold out any hope that these false teachers could be reclaimed
for the truth. But he wrote to warn us, so that we would not be taken in
by their destructive doctrines.
Conclusion
False teachers abound today. Years ago, I received an advertisement in the mail trying to entice me to buy a book, The Good Lord,
in which the author, who went by the name of Paul Moses, claimed to
have discovered the greatest thing since the church began. It was
purportedly based solidly on the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The
author claimed to have discovered that God is always good and thus he
would never threaten anyone with everlasting torment in hell. He would
never send plagues or catastrophes to wipe out thousands of people. He
wants everyone to be rich and no one to be sick or hungry. He has a
bright future for everyone in the world. All you had to do was buy his
book to find out how you can change your view of God and get all the
blessings!
I’ve never heard of that man since, but there are
plenty just like him, promoting similar damnable errors, not just in the
U.S. but also all around the globe. But their teachings are cruel
because they lead people who follow them to eternal destruction. False
teaching is not neutral. It is not just a minor deviation. It is evil to
the core. Beware of false teachers!
Application Questions
