The Apostle Peter spends a good portion of his second inspired letter warning the followers of Jesus about false teachers. But why is this necessary? Why is the message of false teachers so attractive? It is because of the false promise that these teachers make.
After describing the character of false teachers, Peter writes in chapter 2, verses 17 through 22, “These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever. For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error; promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him. For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and 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, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog turns to his own vomit again,” and “the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire.””
The first thing to notice is that false teachers cannot back up their claims. They claim to provide life-giving water. But when one comes to drink he finds that the spring has dried up and he is left to perish in the desert. In contrast to this, we have the words of Jesus that through the ages his followers have proven to be true. He said, “…whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” (John 4:14) Another time he said, “…he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)
The false teachers pretend that their teaching and philosophy is a solid edifice that will last forever. But when the storms of life come one finds that they are no more than a mist that is blown away by the wind. No one can build a solid life on their teaching. In contrast we have the testimony of Jesus. He said, “Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on a rock. The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it didn’t fall, for it was founded on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24-25) He also said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Mark 13:31)
The false teachers claim to have light. But Peter writes that for them “the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.” (verse 17) In contrast Jesus said, “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in the darkness.” (John 12:46) The Apostle John writes about him, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4)
If the message of false teachers is such a sham, then why do people find it so attractive? Peter says that it is because they appeal to people’s lustful desires. This is very different than the teaching of Jesus. He said, “…If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) If a teacher’s message stirs up our lustful or selfish desires then we can be sure that it is a false message. On the other hand, a true teacher will always bring a message of self-denial and of self-sacrifice in the service of others.
False teachers promise freedom. Freedom from what? In chapter 3, Peter points out that there are many who do not believe that Jesus will return to judge the earth. If there is no judgment, then it follows that there will be no punishment for sin. So the freedom that false teachers promise is freedom from moral law. But this promise fails in at least two ways. The first is that the teachers themselves are “ bondservants of corruption” [NIV, “slaves of depravity”]. Jesus said, “Most certainly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin.” (John 8:34) The false teachers cannot give what they themselves do not have. In contrast to the false teachers, Scripture says this about Jesus: “You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and in him is no sin.” (1 John 3:5)
The second way in which the promise of false teachers fails is that they choose the wrong means of becoming free. Peter points out that the way to become free from the “defilement of the world” is not to deny that corruption exists or that there is a punishment for sin, but to become sinless “through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (verse 20). In chapter 1, verses 3 and 4 Peter had already written that knowing Jesus enables us to “become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
How does participating in the divine nature give us freedom? The more we participate in the divine nature, that is the more we know Jesus, the more we will want to do what is right. And when we become so much like Christ that doing right is the only thing we want to do, then we will be totally free to do whatever we want because we will never want to do anything that is wrong.
In verses 20 and 21 Peter writes that a person is worse off if he chooses to live a sinful life after knowing Jesus than if he had never known Him. Why is this so? Scripture has this reply, “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries. A man who disregards Moses’ law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will he be judged worthy of, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:26-29)
There is another consequence of rejecting Christ. Peter harshly compares false teachers to dogs and pigs. But in verse 12 he had already pointed out that false teachers have deliberately adopted the nature of animals. If we insist on becoming like the animals, then it is only natural that we act like them. It is a dog’s nature to eat its own vomit. It is a pig’s nature to lie in the mud. The question is will we accept Christ’s invitation to participate in the divine nature? Or will we reject His invitation?