2 Peter 2:10-16 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish. They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
In the above focus, Peter refers to the false prophets who are in the midst of the living church of God. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. Rather than understanding the nature of a fleshly life, they revel in worldly living. They teach others to tack on Jesus as a Christian vaccination, but then continue to live in ways adverse to a holy life. They claim God would want his people to win the world, to be richer and more satisfied with their possessions and earthly dwellings. Riches and a pleasant lifestyle is their mantra for a successful Christian life. However, Peter warns that living for the pleasures of this world will lead to hypocrisy and destruction. The world will eventually understand the vaccinated Christian isn’t any different that the unrepentant sinner. People will see the lack of sincerity and inconsistency in Christians following false teaching. Rather than dedicating their lives to God by repenting of their old manner of living, wayward Christians will want to mine everything they can out of this world before their deaths. They will develop and fulfill their bucket lists; experiencing everything possible in this life because they go around only once. Consequently, why not eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we pass into eternity. In Jesus’ parable of the rich fool, the man says he is going to tear down his barns and build bigger ones, and then he will take life easy; eat, drink and be merry. But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself. (Luke 12:19-20) He goes on to say, life is not represented by the possessions we own. When Christians think as the world does, how are we any different from them? Of course, we are not. As Peter says, if we follow false prophets, we will accept the frame of mind of Balaam, a non-Israelite who used divination, mostly to predict the future. He was considered a spiritual man, a mystic who could bless or curse people. People around the world, sadly even in the church, will seek others to tell their futures. Balaam made a living through his divination and prophetic words. In Revelation, we see the church in Pergamum contaminated by the teachings of Balaam and the worldliness of the Moabites: But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the people of Israel, so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and practice fornication. (Revelation 2:14) We do not know how thorough this contamination was in the church, but we do know Balaam’s ideas on life existed in some of the people and the leadership. Worldliness and using spirituality to gain success is always a danger and a threat to the body of Christ. Balaam received notoriety and wealth by using his position of spirituality among the people. He did bless the Israelites as God directed him. Sometimes false prophets in the church can help people in their spiritual journey, but along with Balaam’s blessings came a sinful attitude that led to terrible wickedness, as Peter puts it: madness.
Often people who find popularity because of their teachings will claim aspects of their relationship with God that are untrue or not evident to observers. The more outlandish they get in their teachings, the more people will think of them as great spiritual leaders, for they seem to have special insight into the spiritual world. Of course super spirituality is a way to gain control of people’s thoughts and ways of living. Paul warned Timothy about such people: The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. (1 Timothy 4:1-2) He says they will falsely tell people not to marry or to avoid certain foods. There is no ending to this kind of influence and control from such people. And in the cultish world, control is everything, so thinking outside of their box is anathema to the leaders of the organization. This can also be true of the Christian world. When leaders demand that you must think and view everything just as they do, be cautious about that kind of instruction and control. Peter states in today’s focus that some leaders even claim to have power over spiritual entities. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. Now we are getting into spiritualism and mythology. Of course, Peter is dealing with people who have had experiences in worshipping other gods, also with seances: talking to the dead. Greek mythology was prevalent in that world. People knew about these various gods; barbarians and Jews alike were familiar with worshipping spiritual entities. Some people claimed they could manipulate these gods to fulfill their own worldly purposes. These ideas crept into the church. False teachers came in like wolves, devouring the flock with worldly ideas. Of course, sexual deviation and adultery is one of the first signs of worldliness. With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! False teachers and false ideas always come with fleshly, worldly goals: wealth, control over others, sexual promiscuity. When people claim to have special insight into the unseen world, insight that only they possess, be very careful about following such people. They are probably false prophets with an agenda that does not promote the Good News of the gospel of Christ.
What is the way of the gospel? What is true? What is not? Faith in God and his word brings salvation. Faith in Jesus Christ brings righteousness to all who believe in him. Paul said this well: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9) This is the faith of Abraham. Abraham’s faith in God’s word brought acceptance to him or righteousness. We know in the flesh, Abraham was not perfect. He failed often. He gave up his wife to others twice, saying she was not his wife. He was just a man. But his faith in God’s word brought him favor with God. Why? Because he believed in God’s truthfulness, in God’s integrity. Otherwise, his faith stood the test of time, for in spite of his weaknesses he relied on the goodness of God to fulfill his promises to him. He would not recant his belief in the words of God and his covenant with him. Abraham received righteousness because he knew God could not repent of making his covenant with the man Abraham. Abraham received everything that God is, was and ever will be. Was he then righteous in the flesh? No, he was a mere man, but his faith in God brought God’s righteousness to his soul. This is what faith is. But faith in God’s words alone, his covenant to Abraham and the world, could not change the nature of a man. In fact, the nature of man is so corrupt that not one person, including Abraham, could please a perfect, righteous God. The Bible says not one person follows God in perfection. When Jeremiah speaks over Israel, God says He could not find one upright Israelite; they had all gone their own ways. He told Jeremiah, Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city. (Jeremiah 5:1) In Sodom and Gomorrah, we see the same thing. Those two cities are destroyed, but because of Abraham’s faith a remanent of Jerusalem is saved. (See Genesis 19) The nature of mankind must be changed from the inside out. Jesus came to make new creatures. The word of God did not lay upon man’s head anymore, to be obedient to the law; no, now the word would rest in man’s heart, through the presence of the Holy Spirit. His presence would constantly be with us, teaching and counseling us to live a life in the flesh for God. Are we always good in the flesh? No, but God is always good in our spirits. He is always with us. Any other doctrine is false. We live by faith, but our faith is not just in words. It is the faith we hold in Jesus Christ and his words. As Jesus said, WE MUST BE BORN AGAIN. And we have been reborn through the power of the cross. We are not under man’s control and his worldly ideas; we are under the control of the Spirit as He feeds us the word of life, the manna for each day. Bless each of you today as you partake of sound doctrine and grow in love, mercy and grace in the Lord.
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