2Peter chapter two opens in the very first verse by saying ‘false prophets were among God’s people in the past as false teachers will be among you. They will secretly bring in their own destructive teachings. They will deny the Lord, who has bought them, and they will bring themselves swift destruction.’(v.1).

Through this verse alone, there are three things marking a false teacher:

1. Destructive Secrecy.
2. Denial of the Lord.
3. Demolishment of Self.

1. Destructive Secrecy.

Destructive secrecy is using any means necessary to steer people away from their calling in Christ. What do I mean by this? Some of the in context examples I’ll use is as follows:

                ‘it’s okay to have sexual freedom as long as I’m following the Lord.'(v.18).

                ‘I don’t need to address hidden sin, God takes care of the rest.’ (v.14).

These are examples of a ‘convincing model’ of licentiousness based on false reality. This is destructive secrecy in the church that bears the mark of a false teacher. Jesus Christ is both Lord AND Savior! He is supposed to disrupt immorality because He died to clear sin from the table. It says in verse 17 that these teachers who advocate for sexual freedom are ‘dried up springs.’ There is no fulfillment in sexuality as a stream in itself. The fulfillment is in a Christ centered bond between man and wife.

2. Denial of the Lord.

The marking of a false prophet and a false teacher is the denial of Jesus Christ. If a prophetic voice denies the voice of the Lord, then he or she bears a false advertisement of His glory. Denial of the Lord doesn’t signify a simple wrestling with God—what it says is a straight denouncement of Him. It is a straight denouncement of His authority. A denial of His Royalty and resurrection. To the false teacher,  Jesus is just a ‘nice person’ not the Son of the Living God.

Peter is saying that people can escape the filth but have to stick with it. By going back to the filth, they are like a ‘dog that goes back to its vomit.’ My takeaway from this is: ‘don’t escape the sin just to escape it, rather escape it in order to glorify Christ.’

3. Demolishing of Self.

“These false teachers are dried-up springs. They are a mist blown around by a storm. Gloomy darkness has been kept for them” -(2Pet.2:17).

These false teachers who parade themselves in sexual freedom are going down. Not down in history to glorify Christ as Creator. But rather going down in infamy as ones who disillusioned believers. In my personal notes I wrote ‘beware of dried-up springs.’ Sexual freedom does not lead to fulfillment but rather an ‘empty net.’ This demolishing of self is an empty net which carries off weak believers in sin. It says ‘they promise these people freedom, but they themselves are slaves to corruption. A person is a slave to whatever he gives in to.’ (v.19)

~To Conclude~

Now my argument to this worldview is this: be a slave to Christ as Paul was! What I mean by this is simple. Explore the enjoyment of His Kingdom through the reading of His word and praying alongside the Holy Spirit. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to earth for this reason: to be our guide. He is the third Person of the Trinity, the face of God made manifest in our spirit!

Yours Truly,

Destiny Rose Nielsen.