“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” (2 Peter 2:1-3 ESV)

The whole chapter of 2 Peter 2 describes for us these false prophets:

• They secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
• Many people follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.
• In their greed they will exploit you with false words.
• Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones.
• They are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant.
• They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you.
• They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children.
• Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray.
• They have followed the way of Balaam, who loved gain from wrongdoing.
• They speak loud boasts of folly. They entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error.
• They promise them freedom but they themselves are slaves of corruption.
• For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.
• “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

[Also read Matthew 7:15-20; Matthew 24:11,24; Luke 6:26; Jude 1:1-25]

So these false messengers, supposedly of God, are those who will secretly bring in destructive heresies. So, what is a heresy? It is a self-chosen opinion contrary to the teachings of the Scriptures and to the divine will and purpose of God which brings about ruin, destruction, and perishing to those who teach them, and to those who put them into practice. For they are fundamental errors in doctrine and practice with regard to what the Scriptures teach which end up leading many people to a false faith.

And, in this case, this is willful on the part of these false teachers, because it says that they secretly bring in these destructive heresies, so the intention is to deceive and to lead people astray. And it says that they deny the Master who bought them, i.e. they deny Jesus Christ who laid his life down for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we will now serve him with our lives and honor him with our bodies and with our lips and with our actions.

But we need to understand here that to deny Jesus Christ isn’t always via verbally disowning or disavowing him. That is why we have “wolves in sheep’s clothing” among us serving “church” gatherings as their pastors, because they give the impression outwardly that they believe in Jesus Christ and that they are his followers, so that the people will believe them and trust them, so that they can secretly bring in these destructive heresies in a stealthy way to where the people don’t even notice the transition.

And many will follow their sensuality because they have slowly and gradually and secretly been fed the lies disguised as truth, and so they have come to believe the lies as though they are the truth. And many are rejecting the truth as though it is the lie. And sensuality is licentiousness and lewdness, which is moral depravity, lustfulness, immorality, dishonesty, wickedness, and lacking restraint. The word means “violent spite which rejects restraint and indulges in lawless insolence” (disrespect and disregard for God).

And sadly this is what appears to be the overall condition of much or most of the gatherings of what are called “churches” here in America. So many pastors have taken their people in the direction of the world in order to attract the world to their gatherings, and so they have altered and diluted the character of God/Christ, of his church, and of his gospel message. And so many people are believing that they can “believe” in Jesus and be on their way to heaven but not ever die with Christ to sin nor follow in obedience.

So what this passage of Scripture said will happen has happened, and these false teachers are spreading their false gospel far and wide, and it seems the majority of those professing faith in Jesus Christ are now believing that their sins are forgiven and that they are on their way to heaven, but regardless of how they live. For many are being taught that they don’t have to forsake their sins and that they don’t have to obey the commands of the Lord and that nothing is required of them other than a self-generated faith in Jesus.

But those are false words, for that is not what Jesus and his NT apostles taught, as recorded for us in the Scriptures. They taught that, because of what Jesus did for us on that cross, we are to deny self, die daily to sin, and follow Jesus in obedience to his commands, in practice. For if sin is what we practice (obey), it leads to death. But if obedience to our Lord and to righteousness are what we obey and put into practice, that leads to sanctification, and its end is eternal life with Christ, our Lord.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Peter 1:15; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Should I Not Preach Jesus

An Original Work / July 4, 2013
Based off 1 Corinthians 9:16-10:13

Woe to me should I not preach Jesus.
I’m compelled to preach the full gospel.
I make myself a slave to ev’ryone
To win their hearts to Christ.
All this I do for my Lord Jesus,
And for the sake of His Name;
Do it for the sake of His gospel,
So that I, its blessings gain.

Scripture notates the sins of others;
Written down for us as examples
To keep us from setting our hearts
On evil as did those of old.
Do not worship other gods of man;
Do not give your hearts to them;
Not partake in immorality.
Do not test your Lord and King.

So, be careful if you think you are
Standing firm in your faith in Jesus.
God has given his word to warn us,
So through faith we will not fall.
No temptation has o’ertaken you
Except what is commonplace.
God is faithful to not let you be
Tempted past what you can bear.
He gives the way of escape.