The Consequences for False Teachers

2 Peter 2:1-3 - But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

3 reasons that the consequences for false teachers should cause us to embrace the truth of Christ

I. You can be Rewarded, but False Teachers are Revealed and Punished (v. 17)

A. False teachers are full of empty promises

2 Peter 2:17 - These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved.

B. False teachers will be judged just as the angels were

2 Peter 2:4 - For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment…

Jude 12-13 - These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

C. Followers of Christ walk in the truth

Psalm 86:11 - Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.

Proverbs 13:14 - The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.

Proverbs 18:4 - The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

D. Followers of Christ look forward to heavenly rewards

1 Peter 1:3-5 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Hebrews 11:6 - And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

E. Consider false teachers contrasted with Christ

John 7:37-38 - On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

II. You can be a Servant of Righteousness, but False Teachers are Enslaved by Their Own Desires (v. 18-19)

A. False teachers are marked by arrogance and sensuality

2 Peter 2:18 - For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error…

B. Genuine followers of Christ are marked with humility

1 Peter 5:6 - Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time…

Philippians 2:3-8 - Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

2 Peter 1:8 - For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

C. False teachers offer a false freedom

2 Peter 2:19 - …promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.

Romans 6:16-18 - Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

D. Followers of Christ deny themselves and enjoy true freedom

Galatians 5:1 - It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:13 - For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Matthew 16:24 - Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

Romans 6:22 - But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

E. Consider the will of Christ in contrast to false teachers

John 8:29 - And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.

III. You can Continue to Pursue What Is Good, but False Teachers Return to What Is Worthless
(v. 20-22)

A. False teachers are in a worse state

2 Peter 2:20-22 - For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

Proverbs 26:11 - Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.

Matthew 7:6 - Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

B. The way of righteousness through knowing Christ is of supreme value

Philippians 3:7-8 - But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ…

2 Peter 1:2-3 - Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

2 Peter 1:4 - For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

Psalm 31:19 - How great is Your goodness, which You have stored up for those who fear You, Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, before the sons of men!