In the above focus, we see the continued theme of false prophets. Peter warns those who follow errant prophets and false doctrines that God will judge the wayward harshly. God does not allow humans to distort his word, for the Holy Spirit inspires the word. Any trespassing on the Spirit’s domain and authority will be punished severely, without recourse. “If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.” (Mark 3:25-30) In the passage in Mark, the religious leaders were criticizing Jesus’ teachings and his miracles. Jesus’ popularity with the common people exasperated them, so they claimed He was serving the devil, not God. Of course, this went directly against everything the divine Spirit in Jesus was empowering him to do. These leaders literally blasphemed the Holy Spirit. Consequently, Jesus told them they were on dangerous ground when they boldly came against the work of the Spirit. In today’s text, Peter gives examples of God’s judgement on disobedience and rebellion against his authority. God’s righteous judgment will fall on angels, people, communities, nations, or any organization that speaks against his word and his position as God of all existence. False prophets who skew his word for their own benefit face the danger of judgment, for God will not allow his word to be corrupted by mere people or even by holy angels. His word, and only his word, sustains eternal life. No corruption from earth to eternity will be allowed to exist without horrendous consequences. Peter tells us that the rebellious angels are held in chains of darkness; he also tells us the ancient world disappeared because of its corruption and violence. Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. (Genesis 6:11-12) Sodom and Gomorrah experienced the damnation of fire because of making aberrant sexual behavior common. In all three of Peter’s examples, we see God’s authority and likeness challenged. The angels came directly against God’s sovereignty. The ancient world disassembled God’s likeness by elevating its own nature as preeminent; as the Bible says, We all, like sheep, have gone astray. (Isaiah 53:6) In Sodom and Gomorrah we see the radical threat to the propagation of mankind by homosexual activity. God will not tolerated a challenge to his likeness, his authority, his goodness, for anything that is not as He is will not endure the test of eternity. All aberration, all disassembling, all rebellion will end in death. God is eternal: his likeness, his authority, his control will go on forever; He tolerates nothing else.
Earlier in this letter, Peter instructs people on how to live. He tells his readers that they do not need a new prophet’s inspiration or revelation: Jesus is enough. He is the revelation of God, for Jesus is from God and He reveals God fully. Therefore, Jesus is the exact representation of God. When we accept Jesus as our life, we have the power of the Holy Spirit resident in us. We are fully equipped to live Christ’s life on Earth. We do not need another message, another insight into God. His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:3-4) We are not to team up with diverse doctrines or false teachers who lead us away from Jesus only and away from the divine authority of the scriptures. We do not function outside of the scriptures, but within the word of God, for the word sets the parameters of a Christian’s life. The word is our anchor, a foundation that is secure and eternal. Of course, Jesus is the living word within us, so we listen to his words as He elevates the written word in our lives. We do not have to listen to others to know how to live a victorious life; the Spirit instructs us as we read the word. The Bible clearly points the way to a successful life IN CHRIST. Our nature will succumb more and more to his likeness: loving our neighbors as ourselves, exuding love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (See Galatians 5) Christians are not to bring themselves under the restrictions of false ideas and devilish doctrines. We are not to become the automatons of some organization or idea. God has set us free from that kind of living, even the law of the Old Testament. Jesus fulfilled the law completely; therefore, walk in freedom. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1) False prophets or divergent ideas about the scriptures will almost always demand slavish obedience to the new doctrine or way of living. Those who do not fall completely underneath the authority of the leader or the directions of the followers will not be tolerated. Christians are not to be yoked up with anything that demands obedience to a man or woman who teaches a wayward doctrine. We do not have to judge people, but we should be wary of those who want to make a name for themselves, who want to be the leader of the band. Peter warns about people who become rich off the gospel. Breakfast companions, do not be excessively critical of others or even their beliefs if they are uplifting Christ in their ministry and lives. Accept them as brothers and sisters in the community of God. But we should not ignore good biblical advice: Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)
Peter tells his readers to beware of false prophets within the community of believers, but he also wants them to escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. The world’s inundation in sin and inability to express God’s nature and obey his authority remain prevalent in mankind. Every culture expresses a rejection of God’s nature of goodness and mercy. This behavior of sin torments the souls of Christians. The depraved conduct in Sodom and Gomorrah distressed Lot. Noah willingly followed God’s command to build an ark because he understood the corruption of his community. Through all the ages, man has failed God by not bringing harmony and love to the people around them. In our day, mankind still functions outside of God’s goodness and love. Even when we dress up in religious thinking, we function primarily in way that is beneficial to ourselves. Peter talks about false prophets lifting up themselves, for all people tend to work for their own benefit, not really thinking about God. Even in standard Christian circles, we often find ways to avoid obedience or lack honesty in our ways of living. We break speed limit laws on the highway; we are abrupt with people who do not serve us well; we cut corners on our income taxes; we are disrespectful to people we dislike; sometimes we disrespect authorities such as school principals and teachers. As Christians, we know to respect people, giving deference to authority and striving for peace in everything we do; but we have embedded in us the Adamic nature of self-will that pulls us toward impure thoughts and actions. We will determine what is right or wrong, not God. We will do what is right in our own eyes. Consequently, Christians feed themselves with violent entertainment with explicit sexual content, knowing this is not for our good. What happened to Paul’s command: Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) We seek subjects and view things that are not good for our peace, tranquility, and walk with God. We stereotype groups of people and think of them as being worse than we are. We can be corrupted by the world, and sadly, even though we struggle not to be corrupted, we often are. We sometimes think as the world, worry as the world, sin in thought and mind as the world. However, we must remember that the manna of life, the word of God, has been prepared for us, to help us escape false teaching and the corruption of the world. We must pick up this manna every day to strengthen our inner person, allowing us to combat the corruption that is around us, permeating our environment. The Lord has promised us that He would live in us if we would seek him with our whole hearts. He has promised us abundant life—HIS LIFE IS ABUNDANT. Whatever we believe, however we live, Christ should be manifested in our lives. His nature of light should be shown to all people who interact with us. For sure, we know in everything the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. Wherever you are today, let him rescue you and lift you up into heavenly places with Christ Jesus!
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