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Orange border with sunset clouds background. Text reads: "Solemn Words About False Prophets, 2 Peter 2:1, April 6, 2025."
Bible Passage 2 Peter 2

2 Peter 2:1 Solemn Words About False Prophets

  • Tony Raker
Date preached April 6, 2025

This important study, based on 2 Peter 2:1-22, has been described as ‘a dark and an appalling chapter.’ There were false teachers in Old Testament times, in the days of the Prophets, and Jesus warned that this would be the situation through this present day (Matthew 7:15; Mark 13:5, 22).

2 Peter 2:1: “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.”

  • Grammatical Usage: “destruction” or in the Greek, “apōleian” meaning, “loss; perish; everlasting ruin”.
  • Literal Interpretation: But even in those days there were false prophets, just as there will be false teachers among you. Men who will subtly introduce damning false teaching, denying the Lord who redeemed them, bringing on themselves loss, perishing into everlasting ruin.
  • Contextual/Comparison: God keeps His Word: God continually uses His Word. The Apostles also warned that the days would get darker and that false teachers would enter the Church, causing havoc (Acts 20:29; Galatians 1:8-9; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; Titus 1:10-11; Jude 4). Let us carefully study Peter’s admonition to us:
  1. The warning that we are to expect false teachers in Christendom

The word ‘Christendom’ refers to the professing Church, constituted of all who profess to be Christians – that is, those who are real Christians and those who are Christians by profession only. The warning is in vv. 1-3, where false teaching is described as “destructive heresies”. Any teaching that is contrary to the truth is a destructive heresy. We immediately identify:

    • Romanism, with its false teaching about the Godhead, the Church, the Pope, purgatory, the priesthood, and its emphasis on works rather than faith for salvation
    • Spiritism, which often presents itself to the unwary as ‘Christian’ teaching
    • Seventh Day Adventism, with its erroneous teaching about law-keeping
    • Mormonism, which is so contrary to the Scriptures
    • Christian Science, with is neither scientific nor Christian
    • Unitarianism, which denies the full deity and saving grace of the Lord Jesus
    • Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose teaching is quite contrary to the gospel.

We must also mention Liberalism, which teaches a blatant denial of the truth (Jude 3). We cannot fail to realize that there are many holding high positions of responsibility in the Church, and in our colleges, who deny the inspiration and authority of the Bible, and the fundamental truths of the Faith.

  1. The characteristics of false teachers

The false teachers spoken of here are not so much those who are teaching false doctrine out of ignorance, but those who know the truth and deliberately teach error. What are they like? Notice the following description:

    • They are cunning, as the word ‘secretly’ means ( 1)
    • Their chief sin is that they deny the Lord ( 1)
    • They hinder others ( 2), and notice the word ‘many’
    • They are covetous ( 3). They are religious racketeers
    • They are proud, self-willed, presumptuous and sometimes immoral ( 10; 18)
    • They love popularity ( 18), they “entice”
    • They are in dreadful bondage ( 19)
  1. The fearful judgment that will fall upon false teachers

Peter does not hesitate to speak of the awful condemnation that awaits false teachers – “swift destruction” (v. 1); “has not been sleeping” (v. 3); “the unrighteous” (v. 9; vv. 10-22).

  1. The need there is to be on our guard against false teachers

Those who propagate false teaching are constantly trapping the unwary. Notice again in v. 1 that they “secretly introduce destructive heresies…” They come into a church or an assembly of God’s people and gradually indoctrinate them (Colossians 2:8) and notice the following safeguards for the Christian, to avoid being led astray:

    • Ground yourself deeply in the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15)
    • Be much in prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
    • Don’t play with poison! – if any teaching is suspect, run from it, avoid it, beware of it, keep away from it (2 Timothy 3:5)
  1. The promise of escape from false teachers and teaching

There may be a wider application than this in v. 9, but all that the apostle says in the first part of this verse includes the promise of God’s delivering and keeping power. The illustrations are of:

    • Noah, who with seven others stood against the almost overwhelming current of their time
    • Lot, who though he made a bad mistake, proved the Lord’s gracious power to deliver

These words in v. 9 tell us:

(1) The Lord knows…

(2) The Lord knows how…

(3) The Lord knows how to rescue…

(4) The Lord knows how to rescue godly men…

(5) The Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials…

Conclusion: Standing for the Lord is to stand for biblical reality. Will I?