2 Peter 1:19

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them. And they bring on themselves swift destruction, and many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words. For a long time their judgment has been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. (2 Peter 2:1-3)

False teachers are not a possibility but a certainty—so learn to test every message by the prophetic word confirmed.

A Dark Hour in Israel's History

It was one of the most depressing and tragic periods in Israel's history. God had established His covenant with the people and given them a land of blessing, along with His law. That law was clear: obedience to His covenant would bring continual blessing, but disobedience would bring cursing.

From the giving of the law in Deuteronomy onward through Joshua, Judges, and the historical books, Israel rode a roller coaster—times of obedience and blessing, then times of devastating departure into idolatry. This was exactly as God foretold through Moses in Deuteronomy 28.

If you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God... all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you. (Deuteronomy 28:1-2)

But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God... that all these curses will come upon and overtake you. (Deuteronomy 28:15)

The curse was as much a promise as the blessing. Over nearly a thousand years, Israel slid down a long, deep slope toward idolatry, until God determined to bring His judgment for their departure from the covenant.

Jeremiah and the Soothsayers

That judgment came during the time of the prophet Jeremiah. In such seasons God always sent prophets—holy men of God who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. They saw the Scriptures, they saw the condition of the nation, and they were moved by God's Spirit to speak.

For more than forty years Jeremiah cried out for the people to turn from their wickedness and idolatry and return to the Lord. Yet not a single person heeded his message. They loved their sin—it was enticing and appetizing—and the cost of repentance didn't seem severe. They also loved to listen to another group of prophets.

While Jeremiah warned of a real, coming judgment at the hands of Babylon in the sixth century BC, other men identified as prophets spoke the opposite message.

Ah, Lord God! Behold, the prophets say to them, "You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place." (Jeremiah 14:13)

These were rightly called soothsayers—they spoke a soothing message that made everyone feel nice. "Don't listen to that Jeremiah; he's always so negative. Everything's going to be fine. There will be peace, peace." And which message did the people prefer? The comforting lie.

The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their own heart. (Jeremiah 14:14)

Notice: they prophesied "the deceit of their own heart." They were self-deceived, convinced their message was right because it felt good, sounded good, and drew a crowd. Ultimately Jeremiah's word came true. The book flows right into Lamentations, where he weeps over the burning city.

False Teachers Are Assured

Peter now applies this to his time and ours. As there were false prophets among the people, so there will be false teachers among you—spoken in the future tense. This is point one: false teachers are assured. It is not a maybe; it is a guarantee, prophesied by Jesus Himself in the Olivet Discourse.

For many will come in My name, saying, "I am the Christ," and will deceive many. (Matthew 24:5)

Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. (Matthew 24:11)

For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:24)

Nearly every New Testament writer issues this same caution—Peter, Jude, Paul, James, and John. Paul's final words to the Ephesian elders were a warning:

For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. (Acts 20:29-30)

False Teachers Come in Secretly

Point two: false teachers come in secretly. Peter says they "secretly bring in destructive heresies." Jude says they "creep in unnoticed."

In my kitchen we have a brass Navy bell. When my wife or I ring it at dinnertime, the legions of children come running like Pavlov's dogs—we've got them trained. False teachers do not ring the bell. They do not announce their entrance.

Perhaps the most frightening thing is that they don't always even realize they are false teachers. As Jeremiah said, they speak the deceit of their own hearts. How? They preach a message that feels good to themselves and is appetizing to the people. Paul warned Timothy that in the last days people will heap up for themselves teachers who tickle their ears. False teaching is normally a soothsaying message that causes no discomfort, and so it is very attractive.

Test Everything by the Prophetic Word Confirmed

What exactly is wrong, then? Simply that the message does not align with Scripture—it does not accord with the prophetic word confirmed.

And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed... (2 Peter 1:19)

Peter preached Christ's death, burial, and resurrection as the confirmation of the prophetic word given in the Old Testament. As Paul writes, "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and the third day rose again according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15). If a message is presented as biblical from a pulpit on a Sunday morning, it must align with the Scriptures. "You do well to heed" it—which means if it is not confirmed by Scripture, you do not have to heed it.

This is exactly what Moses told Israel about false prophets in Deuteronomy: if it doesn't line up, don't heed it, and don't be afraid of it. That means we must be students of Scripture enough to check the message.

We call such a person a Berean.

These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. (Acts 17:11)

Paul came into the synagogue at Berea preaching that the promised Messiah had come in Jesus of Nazareth, who died and rose again. The Bereans went home and searched the Scriptures daily to see if it was so. We still call faithful searchers "good Bereans" two thousand years later.

We do our best here at Cross Connection to share truth and show from the Scriptures where it comes from. Still, you should be a Berean—search the Scriptures, be fair-minded, and only heed those things that line up with the Word.

False Teachers and Their Teachings Are Destructive

Point three: false teachers and their teachings are destructive. They "secretly bring in destructive heresies." A heresy simply means a message that diverges from the generally accepted message. Not all heresies are destructive—you might come here and find a different style of worship (a guitar, drums) or a different practice of communion than you grew up with. That is different, but not damnable.

The King James calls these "damnable heresies." A destructive or damnable heresy is a divergent teaching that leads to destruction—a teaching that leads you away from Christ rather than closer to Him. The result is damnation, and that is what makes it wicked.

...who secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. (2 Peter 2:1)

"Denying the Lord who bought them" raises a question: is this a denial of the lordship of Jesus, or of the redemptive work of Jesus? The answer is yes and yes—either one is destructive. To reject Christ's lordship exposes you to swift damnation at the judgment of God. To deny the necessity or the sufficiency of His redemptive work—"I don't need what He did on the cross," or "the cross is not enough"—likewise exposes you to swift damnation.

Heresies Throughout Church History

Would anyone claiming to be Christian actually teach such things? Church history says yes. As early as the second century, after the apostles died, came Adoptionism, which taught that Jesus was merely a man and not God—only a man on whom God placed His Spirit at His baptism. But Scripture says otherwise:

In the beginning was the Word... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1, 14)

He is fully God and fully man—the hypostatic union. In the fourth century, Arianism, taught by Arius, said much the same: Jesus was just a man, and therefore not Lord. Then the pendulum swung. In the fifth century came Docetism, the opposite error: Jesus was God but not truly man, only appearing in spiritual form. If so, His sacrifice on the cross is not sufficient. Also in the fifth century, Pelagius taught that human beings are basically good and unaffected by the fall, so that by choosing good you can save yourself without the cross.

Every one of these early heresies in the church's first six hundred years fits exactly what Peter warned: they deny the lordship of Jesus or the necessity or sufficiency of His redemptive work.

Many Follow Destructive False Teachings

Point four: many follow destructive false teachings.

...and many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. (2 Peter 2:2)

Jesus said the same three times in Matthew 24—false christs and false prophets will deceive many. Why would people who go to church and read the Bible turn to a teaching that denies Christ's lordship or His cross?

For one, none of us by nature like to submit to lordship. It is not in my fallen nature to yield to Christ becoming king and director of my life. That spirit of independence we so love—"no one will rule over me"—runs against the call to yield to Jesus. He is not a harsh taskmaster but a Lord who loves those He calls.

Second, in our fallen nature we love religion. All 7.4 billion people on the planet are religious by nature—even those who say they are non-religious are religiously non-religious, ardently committed to holding onto their unfaith. Religion—the mindset of self-improvement through rule-keeping—appeals to our carnality. But the atonement of Christ goes against it, because it says, "I cannot fix me; I cannot save me; I need a Savior, and He must do it all." So we are drawn to teachings that deny Christ's lordship and the sufficiency of His work.

Followers Foul the Witness of the Church

When many follow destructive teaching, "the way of truth will be blasphemed." Jesus is the way of truth: "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). Because of both the false teachers and those who follow them, His name is slandered.

Why the followers too? Because every follower becomes a teacher by the very act of following. Every parent knows this to their own chagrin. You see patterns in your children and think, "Where did that come from?"—then realize they learned it from you. They're a mirror. You didn't sit them down to teach impatience or rudeness, yet there it is.

Point five: followers of false teachings foul the witness of the church. We're in football season now—you know the yellow flag and the penalty on the field. Followers of false teaching bring this blasphemy against the way of truth. People are watching you, learning things about church, God, and Scripture from what they see in me and in you. That's sobering.

Two Examples That Foul Our Witness

You've probably spoken with a coworker, neighbor, or family member who doesn't believe God or read the Bible but has strong opinions about it. Often that negative opinion comes not from God or the Bible, but from those who claim to believe the Bible.

First example: there is a message presented as Christian doctrine in our nation—preached on Sunday mornings in buildings often much bigger than this—that says God exists in heaven to make you happy, healthy, wealthy, and wise. Many follow it, yet I can find that message nowhere in the Bible. As a result, many outside the church now believe Christian doctrine is all about greed.

Now a trigger warning on the second example. There is something more a political ideology than a biblical theology circulating in Christian circles—a negative view of refugees, immigrants, strangers, and aliens in our midst. It has nothing to do with biblical theology and is actually against it.

He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:18-19)

God loves and cares for the defenseless—the fatherless, the widow, the stranger—and tells us to be like Him. We all know John 3:16. But have you heard 1 John 3:16 and the verses that follow?

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:16-18)

There is a growing opinion among the non-religious that Christians lack compassion and love—when Jesus said the world would know we are His disciples by our love for one another. Is it possible we ourselves have bought into teaching that doesn't represent Christ, simply because it came from a pulpit or a radio ministry? That challenges me. We must keep asking, what do the Scriptures say?

The Root: Covetousness and Greed

What is the heart of these false teachings?

By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words... (2 Peter 2:3)

The New Living Translation sharpens it: "In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed." The underpinning is covetousness and greed—the very aspects of my fallen nature and yours. That's why these things can be so attractive to us.

Guarding Our Hearts at the Table

How do we guard against false teachers, false teaching, covetousness, and greed? That could be a long series, but there is one simple thing we can do today. About every seven weeks we partake of communion, taking the bread and the cup to remember His body broken for us and His blood shed for us.

Jesus said to do this often in remembrance of Him, so that we not be deceived—as the serpent deceived Eve—from the simplicity that is in Christ. God became a man, died on the cross two thousand years ago, and His death is both necessary and sufficient. We need to remember that, and we need to share it. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and the third day rose again according to the Scriptures.

Closing Prayer

Father, we ask You by Your Spirit to meet us here in this place as we now endeavor to remember the simplicity of Your body broken, Your blood shed, the necessity of Your shed blood, the sufficiency of Your shed blood, and that You, by the resurrection, are the Lord of our lives. God, help us to hold tightly to these truths and to be those who share them with others. We pray this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, Amen.