Eternally-grateful
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- Mar 31, 2025
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I am getting ready to teach on 2nd Peter 2 at church this week. A thought provoking chapter about Gods judgment on false teachers. And peters' scathing words and outrage at these people who have came in secretly to the church and perverted Gods truth.
1. Peter said there were false teachers. he also said their will be. so this is not a new thing, All through out the OT we are told of false teachers and false prophets.
2. Jesus warned us of them, and said in the end, there will be more and more (matt 24)
I want to focus on 3 things when I teach Thursday
1. Gods judgment on these false prophets
2. What are these false words - how can I recognize them, and these teachers
3. What can I do to protect myself
2 Peter 2 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
we see here. these false teachings will not just be blasted out by a new comer. these are people who are among us, with us, part of our group.
They secretly bring in these heresies - the word means to bring in along side. to introduce.
The word destructive means to ruin, to destroy, to perish or get lost.
so this is more than just disagreements, These are teachings which can destroy the word of a person who is not set in his or her doctrines of Christ.
Heresy number 1. Deny the lord.
In Peters day there were two factions. and two ways of denying the lord
1. Deny who he is -
Gnostics denied his humanity They claimed he was spirit. Gnostic teaching was one of the major heresies introduced in the church.
The Jews denied he was savior, The Christ. The redeemer of mankind
Today we have another denial, as we have churches that deny his diety. They claim he is a created being, Some call him Lucifer's brother, Some call him a created Son, and some say he was created on the day he was born of Mary
2. They deny his message and what he did on the cross
Gnostics deny Jesus spirit died on the cross. Some claim it was a vision. Others claim the man jesus died on the cross. His spirit did
not die. His body rotted in the grave, while his spirit went into heaven. They also deny the purpose for which he died. as they do not believe they needed saved, their body would die, but their spirit would live on.
Jews - Again denied his sacrifice for sin, They did not think they needed saved, So God coming to earth and suffering was foreign to them and they rejected it
Other Jews believed in this Jesus, but could not believe Jesus paid it all, They felt they too had to add works to faith, They would praise Paul and his gospel. but say it does not go enough. we have to add works of the law. Circumcision was a large part of this false teaching, Paul spent most of his epistles fighting this dark heresy, calling those who teach it to be anathema
By the 2nd century, this message of works was the prominent teaching of the church
today it is easily recognizable as any gospel that says we are saved by grace plus any type of work. or Faith plus any type of work.
we can start off our conversation by asking the question. Why are these two heresies so damning that Peter claims they bring swift destruction to the ones who bring them into the church?
1. Peter said there were false teachers. he also said their will be. so this is not a new thing, All through out the OT we are told of false teachers and false prophets.
2. Jesus warned us of them, and said in the end, there will be more and more (matt 24)
I want to focus on 3 things when I teach Thursday
1. Gods judgment on these false prophets
2. What are these false words - how can I recognize them, and these teachers
3. What can I do to protect myself
2 Peter 2 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
we see here. these false teachings will not just be blasted out by a new comer. these are people who are among us, with us, part of our group.
They secretly bring in these heresies - the word means to bring in along side. to introduce.
The word destructive means to ruin, to destroy, to perish or get lost.
so this is more than just disagreements, These are teachings which can destroy the word of a person who is not set in his or her doctrines of Christ.
Heresy number 1. Deny the lord.
In Peters day there were two factions. and two ways of denying the lord
1. Deny who he is -
Gnostics denied his humanity They claimed he was spirit. Gnostic teaching was one of the major heresies introduced in the church.
The Jews denied he was savior, The Christ. The redeemer of mankind
Today we have another denial, as we have churches that deny his diety. They claim he is a created being, Some call him Lucifer's brother, Some call him a created Son, and some say he was created on the day he was born of Mary
2. They deny his message and what he did on the cross
Gnostics deny Jesus spirit died on the cross. Some claim it was a vision. Others claim the man jesus died on the cross. His spirit did
not die. His body rotted in the grave, while his spirit went into heaven. They also deny the purpose for which he died. as they do not believe they needed saved, their body would die, but their spirit would live on.
Jews - Again denied his sacrifice for sin, They did not think they needed saved, So God coming to earth and suffering was foreign to them and they rejected it
Other Jews believed in this Jesus, but could not believe Jesus paid it all, They felt they too had to add works to faith, They would praise Paul and his gospel. but say it does not go enough. we have to add works of the law. Circumcision was a large part of this false teaching, Paul spent most of his epistles fighting this dark heresy, calling those who teach it to be anathema
By the 2nd century, this message of works was the prominent teaching of the church
today it is easily recognizable as any gospel that says we are saved by grace plus any type of work. or Faith plus any type of work.
we can start off our conversation by asking the question. Why are these two heresies so damning that Peter claims they bring swift destruction to the ones who bring them into the church?
