Jesus said, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.” (Luke 6:43 NIV) With this in mind we should pay careful attention to what Peter writes in his second inspired letter about the character of false teachers. Since their characters are bad, the outcome of their lives will be bad as well. In chapter 2, verses 10 through 16 Peter writes: “…Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries; whereas angels, though greater in might and power, don’t bring a railing judgment against them before the Lord. But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed, receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and blemishes, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you; having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing; forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing; but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A mute donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the madness of the prophet.”
Peter writes that false teachers are “daring” and “self-willed” [NIV, “bold and arrogant”]. They are depending on their own wisdom and strength rather than on God. A person who has this attitude automatically places himself against God. Proverbs 16:5 says, “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to Yahweh [that is, the Lord]…” In contrast to this King David wrote, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17)
It is because of their arrogance that false teachers “ are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries” [NIV, “are not afraid to slander celestial beings”]. In this way they take the authority of the Lord to judge upon themselves. Scripture says, “Don’t speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge another?” (James 4:11-12) It is not entirely certain who Peter means when he mentions the ‘dignitaries.’ The word that he uses can also be translated ‘glories’ meaning those who posses glory. It is possible that this refers to people in high positions, but from the context it is more likely that Peter is referring to spiritual beings. In any case, if we are not to speak against even our brothers, then how much less against those in the spiritual realms? Peter points out that not even the angels dare to do what these false teachers do.
Another character quality of false teachers is that they speak “evil in matters about which they are ignorant.” What causes spiritual ignorance? Ephesians chapter 4, verse 18 makes it very plain that spiritual ignorance results from a hard heart. If we deliberately reject the truth we already know, we will be unable to perceive new truth. Jesus said, “Be careful therefore how you hear. For whoever has, to him will be given; and whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he thinks he has.” (Luke 8:18)
Deliberate ignorance has another serious consequence. Peter points out that one of the major differences between mankind and beasts is that God has given man the ability to reason. By turning away from reason false teachers destroy one of the things that makes them human and become like “natural animals.” As it says in Psalms, “I was so senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you.” (Psalm 73:22) If we insist on acting like beasts, we become like them. And if we become like a beast God will also treat us like one. In view of this it is significant that Peter gives the example of the prophet Balaam. When he gave way to beastly desires, God used a beast to rebuke him.
Another character quality of false teachers is that they have a wrong concept of pleasure. Peter writes they are, “people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime.” (verse 13) At best this kind of thing can only temporarily satisfy physical desires. It can do nothing to satisfy our hearts. Only God can do that. King David wrote, “…delight yourself in Yahweh [that is, the Lord], and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)
False teachers have two other character qualities that are related to their love of physical pleasure. One is that they constantly pursue adultery. The other is that they are full of greed. Scripture says that greed is actually idolatry. (See Colossians 3:5) In verse 1 Peter had already said that false teachers have denied their master and here we see that they give His place to the false god of money.
For anyone to turn away from Christ like this is tragic enough. But false teachers are not content with their own destruction. They try to destroy others as well. Peter says that these people revel in their pleasures while they eat with Christ’s followers (verse 13) and seduce the unstable (verse 14). It is quite possible that Peter is referring to what the followers of Christ call the Lord’s Supper. It is shocking that false teachers would twist and distort what was intended as a meal in memory of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ into something to tempt the weak away from Christ.
At this point Peter presents us with a dilemma. He mentions the prophet Balaam as an example of those who do wrong. Yet in chapter 1, verse 19 Peter referred to one of Balaam’s prophecies to establish that full enlightenment comes from Christ. On the other hand Peter calls Lot a righteous man in chapter 2, verse 8 while we know from what is written in the book of Genesis that Lot did some very evil and wicked things. How can Peter say that Lot was a righteous man while Balaam was not? The answer is that Peter says that Lot was distressed by the sin of those around him, (2:7) while Balaam “loved the wages of wrongdoing.” (2:15) From this we see that character is even more important than actions. It is possible for a righteous person to be entangled in the sin he hates. But the unrighteous person sins because he wants to. The question we need to ask ourselves is what kind of character do I have? Do I hate sin? Or do I deliberately chase it like the false teachers?