2 Peter 2

13 God is always just. He who sows evil will reap evil (Galatians 6:7). The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction (Gal-atians 6:8). Since these false teachers trade in evil, they will be paid in evil.

These teachers are not content to drink liquor only at night, but they drink it in the daytime too. One who gets drunk at night will soon begin to get drunk in the day also. Smaller sins always lead to bigger sins. These false teachers were even getting drunk at church love feasts, at which the Lord’s Supper was customarily celebrated in Peter’s time (see 1 Corinthians 11:2021; Jude 12). Such men are blots andblemishes on the church. They have no place in Christ’s church, which should be without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish (Ephesians 5:27). Jesus was Himself a lamb without blemish or defect (1 Peter 1:19), and those who follow Him should be the same (2 Peter 3:14).

14 The eyes of the false teachers are full of adultery. They look at every woman with lust, desiring to fulfill their evil passions (Matthew 5:28). They cannot stop sinning (see Ephesians 4:19 and comment). Evil passions are like itches; when you scratch them, they itch even more. People who seek to fulfill their evil passions are never satisfied.

These false teachers seduce the unstable (see 2 Timothy 3:6-7). They are experts in greed; that is, they are clever and skillful in making money (see verse 3). Such teachers are truly accursed in God’s sight. Paul called them objects of wrath (Ephesians 2:3). There is only one way they can escape condemnation, and that is to die to their sins and receive new life in Christ (see 1 Peter 4:1-3 and comment).

15 The false teachers are like the Old Testament prophet Balaam, who was tempted to prophesy for money (Numbers 22:1-21). Not only that, Balaam, through his false prophecies, led the Jews away from the Lord (Numbers 31:16; Revelation 2:14).

16 Balaam’s own donkey rebuked him (Numbers 22:22-34). Notice that a dumb animal had more understanding than the prophet Balaam, whose mind had been darkened by wrongdoing (Ephesians 4:18).

17 False teachers are like springs without water. People come to them thirsty, but find nothing to drink. In contrast to these teachers, Jesus gives the water of life; when a person drinks of Jesus’ water, he will never thirst again (John 4:13-14).

False teachers are like mists driven by a storm. They are blown this way and that (Ephesians 4:14). Their teaching will not last; it will be driven away like the mist.

18 False teachers pretend to be religious. They say to new believers: “It’s all right to follow your lustful desires. It’s only a man’s spirit that must remain pure. God does not care what we do with our body.” This same false teaching had spread to the church at Corinth. Paul taught that man’s body was extremely important. He wrote: The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:13). Our bodies are members of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:15). Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 and comment).

19 Such false teachers say to new believers: “You are free from the law.” But these teachers are themselves slaves of depravity (see Romans 6:16). Sin is their master.

Christians are indeed free, but they are not free to sin. We are slaves ofChrist. Only in Christ can we obtain true freedom from sin and its punishment (see Galatians 5:13 and comment).

20 The main sin of these false teachers was that they deceived and led astray new Christians (see verse 3 and comment). These new believers had just escaped the corruption of the world, but now through the false teaching of these teachers, they had again become entangled in the world and been overcome. Thus their second state was worse than their first state (see Matthew 12:43-45).

21 It is better for a person to sin in ignorance than to sin knowingly (see Luke 12:4748; John 15:22 and comments). Judgment will be especially severe for those who have once known the way of righteousness but then turn their backs on the sacred command—that is, Christ’s commandments (see Hebrews 3:12-14; 6:4-6; 10:26-29 and comments).

22 The Jews considered dogs and pigs to be unclean (see Matthew 7:6). A dog, when it has vomited something up, will eat it again. Likewise, a person who is entangled in the corruption of the world may momentarily “vomit up” the corruption, but he soon will partake of it again.

In the same way, you can clean a pig momentarily, but it soon will go back into the mud again. Likewise, a man can be cleaned momentarily from his sin; but if he doesn’t receive a new spiritual nature, he will soon go back to his sin.

Those people who taste the grace of God and experience His cleansing, but who then turn from God and return to their old sins, are like dogs and pigs. Their inner nature has not been transformed; they cannot fully free themselves from their old ways.

What terrible things Peter has to say about these false teachers! Jesus said to Peter, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17). But Peter has now seen these false teachers feeding poison to Jesus’ sheep—and the sheep don’t even know it! Let us not say that such poisonous and false teachers can never rise up in our church. They certainly can. Jesus said: “What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” (Mark 13:37).