Welcome to Day 2444 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Day 2444 – Disobedience Gone to Seed – Daily Wisdom

Last week, we observed that scripture does seem to present two sides of the same God—the attributes of justice, judgment, and wrath on the one side and the attributes of mercy, salvation, and blessing on the other. The side that we are on depends on whether we have accepted God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. If you miss any messages, you can watch them online on our Facebook page or at PutnamChurch.org.

Today’s passage is 2 Peter 2:12-22, on page 1895 of your Pew Bibles. Because of the complexities of the subject matter, I will read it from the NLT for clarity of flow.

These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed. They scoff at things they do not understand, and like animals, they will be destroyed. Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They delight in deception even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals. They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse. They have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong. But Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice.

These people are as useless as dried-up springs or as mist blown away by the wind. They are doomed to blackest darkness. They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception. They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.” And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.”

Why does Peter delve so deeply into these depths of depravity? Remember that Peter wrote this letter to remind believers of the source of sound teaching, |to encourage diligence in the faith, |and to strengthen biblical foundations of beliefs and practices. To encourage the positive, Peter sets it against the black backdrop of the negative. In Chapter 1, he described the useful and fruitful image of a growing believer in brilliant hues and pointed to their hope through embracing God’s Word as their standard of unfailing truth. In chapter 2, he describes the useless and fruitless unbelievers in dark, drab colors, pointing to their future judgment for rejecting God’s Word and God’s Son and leading others astray.

2:12-14

These following few verses present a desperate portrait of animal appetites taking complete charge of human beings. When these subhuman impulses take control, the result is self-condemnation and destruction.

When God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden, He gave them authority over all the animals His earthly creation (Gen. 1:26-27). This dominion over the earthly creation is part of what it meant for humans to be imagers of God. Adam and Eve were responsible to tend and caring for the Garden of Eden. Yet, they listened to his deceptive words of the evil one, (in Hebrew, he is called the Nacash, which is better translated as ‘the shining one’ rather than the serpent). Because of this, they surrendered their position (Gen. 3). Ever since that tragic choice, humans have continued to abandon their place of dignity over creation in exchange for behavior that put them on par with the very beasts they were meant to govern.

Instead of being divinely endowed with superior reason, they become, as Peter says, “like unthinking animals.” Instead of exercising dominion, they act like “creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed.” Instead of submitting to God and allowing His divine power to lift them up to a place of dignity and glory, they mock and revile things they don’t understand. With their animalistic mentality, a corrupt morality follows. Such people are constantly on the prowl for fornication or adultery. They size up every situation for unseen opportunities to sin. They greedily bite at every baited hook, unconcerned about the disastrous consequences.

Like carnivorous predators, they hunt for naive, weak, and unstable victims to devour. Peter says, “they are well trained in greed.” They are masters at tricking, extorting, stealing, and blackmailing. They know how to tug at the heartstrings and sound so sincere. Jesus described such monstrous humans well: “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves,” (Matt. 7:15). It’s no wonder Peter says of these false teachers, “They live under God’s curse,” (2 Pet. 2:14)!

2:15-17

Although they knew God’s straight way, the false teachers veered off to cut their own paths through the wilderness of wickedness. Instead of following Christ, the true Prophet, they followed in the footsteps of Balaam, the ideal false prophet. Peter alludes to this Old Testament figure to illustrate a hireling prophet who peddled his gift (see Num. 22-24; 31:1-16). That man loved money, and because of his greed, he led Israel into sin. He was eloquent, but used his giftedness to fulfill his own lusts rather than faithfully represent the truth. In the same way, the false teachers in Peter’s day were leading people astray by persuasive false prophecy for personal gain.

False prophets today are no different. Every modern-day Balaam has their price. They may appear in it for the ministry, but it doesn’t take long to realize they’re in it for the money. When the price is right, make no mistake; they exchange principles for profit.

This reminds me of the story of a crooked bank officer who approached a junior clerk and whispered to him one quiet afternoon, “Hey, if I gave you $25,000, would you help me, well, let’s just say ‘fix’ the books? You know, make a few lucrative adjustments?”

The clerk responded, “Yeah, I suppose I could do that for $25,000.”

His boss leaned in. “Would you do it for $ 100?”

Insulted, the clerk replied, “No way! What do you think I am? A common thief?’

The bank officer answered, “We’ve already established that. Now we’re just negotiating the price.”

The point of this story is that every fake has a price. Lacking integrity, the impostor will do anything to feed the greed. Peter says they “loved to earn money by doing wrong” (2:15). But too often, these false prophets forget that though their exploits can be profitable in the short term, the wages of wickedness will ultimately be met with the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). God miraculously rebuked Balaam himself through a donkey, a sign of the depths of his animalistic madness. Joshua 13:22 includes a brief note in its description of the conquest of the Promised Land that illustrates the ultimate end of false prophets who find themselves on the wrong side when judgment finally falls: The Israelites had also killed Balaam son of Beor, who used magic to tell the future. The wages of sin is death.

Peter uses three vivid word pictures to describe such apostates (2 Pet. 2:17). First, “as useless as dried-up springs,” they appear to have something refreshing to offer, but when you get close, you realize it’s just a spiritually barren mirage. Second, they are “mist blown away by the wind.” Typically, storms drive rain clouds bursting with water to nourish crops and prevent drought. But apostates deceive people with thunderous claims and flashy appeal— bringing with them not spiritually nourishing doctrine but only useless mists. Third, they may claim to lead people into the light through their “enlightening” teachings, but those who follow them end up in the same place as the false prophets: “doomed to blackest darkness.”

2:18-19

Peter makes the point that the impressive words of the false teachers don’t point us to the truth. They point us to the teacher. We are wise to be suspicious of those who are too smooth, too polished, too attractive. Those are telltale signs that they promise more than they deliver. Be especially wary of preachers, teachers, and, yes, leaders in industry or politics who constantly put down other ministers of the gospel or others in their field and try to make themselves look like the best—or even the only— source of truth.

Though they promise freedom, their lifestyles they lure back into sin (2:18). False teachers love to flaunt their freedom. To them, it means the liberty to sin as much as they want, unrestrained by truth, unafraid of repercussions in this life or the life to come. Please don’t misunderstand. I’m a teacher of grace. And I believe Christ has set us free from the Law and delivered us from man-made legalism. But the grace and mercy of God were never meant to provide us with a license to sin nor deliver us into the bondage of legalism. As Paul says in Romans 6:1-2, “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?” The false teachers, ripping the doctrine of grace from its larger context of truth, distorted the Christian faith into an unrecognizable monstrosity. In the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, they offered “cheap grace”!

2:20-22

Throughout his description of the false teachers, Peter has hinted at the future judgments they would reap because of their actions (2:1, 3, 9, 12-13, 17, 19). In the last few verses of this chapter, Peter focuses on the state of those who, having known the way of righteousness through Christ, have nevertheless turned their backs on it and have gone their own way.

The false teachers Peter has in mind were not merely confused Christians, doubting Thomases, or backslidden believers. These were false professors —people who appeared for a time |to be authentic |but were, in fact, like counterfeit bills amidst a pocketful of the real thing. They could pass themselves off as true Christians, but their words and deeds eventually gave them away.

Peter said these false teachers know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2:20). By their fruit, however, we can discern that they didn’t have an actual saving knowledge of Christ that genuinely transformed their lives, or somewhere along the way, they chose to reject Jesus who saved them. Peter describes the kind of fruitful saving knowledge of Christ in other parts of this letter:

May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. (1:2)

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. (1:3)

The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1:8)

In these passages, we see the results of the true saving knowledge of Christ —grace and peace multiplied, life and godliness granted, fruitful and useful virtues increasing. This doesn’t mean that every day, every week, or even every month of a believer’s life will be a bountiful harvest of quality spiritual fruit. But it does mean that the personal knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will result in the bearing of fruit over the lifetime of a believer. It’s helpful to remember that fruit-bearing is seasonal. Peter writes to believers, assuming they all need encouragement in their spiritual growth to regain or remain fruitful and useful (1:8).

Peter has in mind the same kind of people Jesus referred to when he said that Satan would sow “weeds among the wheat”—deceptive look-alikes that become evident only as the genuine wheat bears its grain (Matt. 13:25-26). These are also the caliber of false teachers John described as “antichrists.” These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us, (1 Jn. 2:18-19). This doesn’t mean that true believers can lose their salvation. Just the opposite! It means that false believers never had salvation, or they chose to reject Jesus Christ as their savior, which they once professed.

These people were intellectually aware of the truth but had never allowed it to transform their hearts. As a result, they were in a worse condition than those who had never heard (2 Pet. 2:20-21)! They knew enough about the Christian faith to conduct themselves in genuine ways. Eventually, however, their cloaks of deception fell away, and their malicious intentions became apparent to everybody. How did it become obvious?

Returning to his earlier analogy of false teachers who conduct themselves like “unthinking animals” (2:12), Peter likens their behavior to dogs and pigs. In Peter’s day, dogs were regarded as unclean animals that ran in packs, wild and vicious. Don’t think of the pampered, well-groomed pets of our day. Think of scavenging beasts no more appealing than giant rats. Peter says these false teachers who turn their backs on the truth are, “A dog returns to its vomit,” (2:22; quoting Prov. 26:11). He also says they are like “A washed pig returns to the mud.” There’s just something in the nature of animals to act like animals. No matter how well you treat or pretty them up, their instincts kick in, and their true natures as beasts will be revealed.

In this way, Peter makes the stunning argument that ignorance of the truth is better than apostasy from it. How can he say that? I can think of three reasons. First, somebody who is ignorant of the truth can be won to the Lord, but somebody who has rejected it is seldom open to correction and change. They think they’ve “been there, done that.” It’s not impossible, but removing the baggage, clearing the confusion, and helping them unlearn what they have chosen to believe is problematic.

Second, those who are ignorant of the truth don’t have the influence over others that the “learned” have. Those who think they know it all teach as if they do. They influence others and lead them astray. In fact, in my experience, the most damaging critics of Christianity are those who claim to have been believers, but were suddenly “enlightened” by a different religion—or by no religion at all. The testimonies of apostates can be very influential and highly persuasive.

Third, in the final judgment, the severity of punishment will be less for the ignorant than for the apostates. The Bible states that those who die without having a proper saving knowledge of Christ will be condemned to eternal separation from God. But according to Jesus’ parable in Luke 12:41-48, there will be a lesser degree of punishment for those who never knew Him than those who were exposed to the truth but turned away from Him. Jesus said,

“And a servant who knows what the master wants, but isn’t prepared and doesn’t carry out those instructions, will be severely punished. ⁴⁸ But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required,” (Luke 12:47-48).

At this point, in Peter’s second letter, we reach the bottom of a deep, dark pit. Peter has thoroughly examined the problem of doctrinal compromise, addressing the critical question, “What should I expect from false prophets?” He has warned us that false prophets are coming (2:1-3). He also provides a reminder that those false teachers will bring judgment upon themselves (2:21-22). Yet, amid this gloomy chapter, he has injected a promise that God will rescue the righteous from wrath (2:9). In light of his no-holds-barred attack on false prophets, Peter calls for diligence to avoid their deceptive doctrines and alluring lifestyles. He then urges his readers to look forward to the hope of deliverance at Christ’s return.

Application: 2 Peter 2:12-22

We Need a Dose of Discernment

There’s a Persian proverb that goes like this:

• He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not is a fool; shun him.
• He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is a child; teach him.
• He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep; wake him.
• He who knows, and knows that he knows, is wise; follow him.

I’ve learned the true meaning of those lines over the years. I’ve discovered that all four “types” can be found on every campus, in any business, in all neighborhoods, and within every church. They don’t wear badges marked “Fool,” “Child,” “Asleep,” or “Wise.” And you’ll never have somebody walk up to you, shake your hand, and say, “Hi, I’m Guthrie. I’m a fool.” Chances are, the last thing we want you to discover is the deep-down truth that “he knows not that he knows not.”

Then how in the world are we to know whom to shun, teach, awaken, or follow? First, the answer in a word is discernment—skill and accuracy in reading character and the ability to detect and identify the real truth— to see beneath the surface, read between the lines, and sense by intuition that something is incorrect. Hebrews 5:14 identifies discernment as a mark of maturity. Solid food is for those who are mature and who through training, have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong. Discernment gives a person the proper frame of reference, a definite line separating good and evil. It acts as an umpire in life and blows the whistle on the phony. It’s as particular as a pathologist peering into a microscope. Discernment doesn’t fall for fakes, flirt with phonies, dance with deceivers, or kiss counterfeits goodnight. Instead, discernment would relax alone at night with the Good Book rather than mess around with the gullible gang. The reason? Because it’s from that Book that discernment learns to distinguish the fools from the children and the sleeping from the wise.

You remember the disciple John. He’s the man known for his tender love for Jesus. He wrote, “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world,” (1 Jn. 4:1). In today’s talk (Eph. 6:16), “In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.” Lack of discernment spawns and invites more heresy than we are ready to believe. One of the survival tactics when facing the “fiery arrows of the devil” is to ensure we have cinched up the belt of truth rather tightly around our waists.

Second, Peter reminds us with vivid words that false teachers are on the prowl. The moment they find a chink in the armor of the unsuspecting believer, their hidden stiletto of heresy will strike. To keep your discernment high, Go to your knees. James 1:5 promises wisdom to those who ask for it. Go to the Word. Psalm 119:98-100 offers insight beyond any earthly source. Go to the Wise. Discernment is better caught than taught. Stay close to those seasoned saints, the proven men and women overflowing with wisdom.

Next week, we will continue the letter of 2 Peter in the section Anticipation of Christ’s Return, in a message titled “A Warning to Skeptics and Sinners.” Invest time reading 2 Peter 3:1-7 for next week’s message.

Reflect…

If you found this podcast insightful, subscribe and leave us a review, then encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you next time for more wisdom from God’s Word!