“In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins. So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
2 Peter 1:5-11 NLT
In 2 Peter chapter 2 the apostle tells us the hard truth that false teachers will surely rise among us. As it was in the Old Testament, so it will be in our day. What we see first, though, is that the Bible tells us two things in order to prepare us.
First, is that we should be grounded in the foundations of our faith. Without objective knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, repentance of sin, and salvation through faith alone, we simply will not stand. But this isn’t all. Knowledge alone isn’t enough, we must also live out our faith. The two are assuredly connected. We’re told to make every effort to develop Christian character. Knowledge without personal holiness (fueled by faith and for God’s glory) is a contradiction in terms. Moral excellence will cost us our sin. It will cost us our vanity and the hidden greed and envy that we privately tolerate and nurture. Christians are not called to a life of moral mediocrity but faith-fueled moral excellence.
A simple truth emerges: all heresies and apostasies arise from men or women who cling to some sin or another. And those sins are usually, but not limited to, lust, pride, greed, or envy. When we want something on this earth more than moral purity in the Lord, we are going to hell, not God’s presence. Why do we say that so boldly? Because lust, greed, and covetousness think they can play God for a sucker. Too many Christians think that God has changed from the Old to the New Testaments. They read of Israel’s failures and grow arrogant (in contradiction to the clear warning in Romans 11:19-24). God doesn’t change and He says to us then, now, and always: “They will build, but I will demolish” whenever in our arrogance we presume on Him (Malachi 1:2-5).
Be not deceived, a man of false doctrine warps the perspicuity of God’s word to fit his sin. Unrepentant sin, the refusal to grow when chastised, the bold assurance of self in the face of God’s holiness is the source and cause of all false teaching and its belief. It’s to that end that Peter encourages us to obey the Lord in humble courage…to hate sin and love God.
We note that in Ezekiel chapters 40-48, the temple reopens in a vision which tells us mighty things. Out of the sanctuary flows a river of life to all the world , RJ Rushdoony points out. Instead of diminishing as it left the altar, the river of life became wider and deeper, and its waters carried healing everywhere. Why is this important? Because God’s salvation is not a mere personal matter. It’s a cosmic event. All false teachers will miss the foundations. The river runs wide and the river runs deep. God’s love and grace will cover all…all the earth. For this to be true, though, requires the complete eradication of all sin or else the death of Jesus on the cross makes no sense. Will we dabble in lies, will we tolerate half-truths and call ourselves the Lord’s men?
So, here’s the interesting thing at play. Peter doesn’t just say that we’re to prepare for false teachers by learning sound doctrine, this passage emphasizes personal holiness too. The Christian faith is integrated – mind and body, you could say. It isn’t enough to know your Scripture, we must apply it. No where in Scripture do we get the idea that Christian living can be sloppy, self-indulgent, sin-tolerating, worldly, and greedy. Rushdoony says again:
“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. (Isa. 11:9) The same prediction appears in Habakkuk 2:14. It is in fact the emphasis of Scripture as a whole. The goal of history is that the world shall become the sanctuary of God. The world must become and shall be the sanctuary of God.
In a sense, the goal of history is a global humility, a total restoration: all things under God the King, the end of oppression, the redemption of the land, and all things else, the time of freedom and joy for the poor, and for widows and orphans. Leviticus 25 gives us the requirements for every half century and sets a pattern for history’s goal.”
“This is a trustworthy saying: “If someone aspires to be a church leader, he desires an honorable position.” So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church? A church leader must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall. Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap. In the same way, deacons must be well respected and have integrity. They must not be heavy drinkers or dishonest with money. They must be committed to the mystery of the faith now revealed and must live with a clear conscience. Before they are appointed as deacons, let them be closely examined. If they pass the test, then let them serve as deacons. In the same way, their wives must be respected and must not slander others. They must exercise self-control and be faithful in everything they do. A deacon must be faithful to his wife, and he must manage his children and household well. Those who do well as deacons will be rewarded with respect from others and will have increased confidence in their faith in Christ Jesus.”
1 Timothy 3:1-13 NLT
Our modern church basically does the opposite. We disregard personal holiness and purity of doctrine. The fact of it is connected because it is integrated, for God is holy. Therefore, His word, when truly loved, will produce increasing levels of personal holiness. And this application of the word/law to personal life acts to protect us from the ravages of belief in false teaching. The lack of action in the Christian life is the result of false belief, which is exactly why we work to add Christian virtues to our lives. They are the reality of our true belief in correct doctrine. If we have unrepentant sin patterns in our personal lives that we rationalize and tolerate, we will be unfit to fight off greater and greater sin. We will have a compromised spiritual immune system against false teachings. We will be prey for greater and greater deceptions.
Calvin says:
It was necessary expressly to shew this, because many imagined that the Church would enjoy tranquillity under the rein of Christ; for as the prophets had promised that at his coming there would be real peace, the highest degree of heavenly wisdom, and the full restoration of all things, they thought that the Church would be no more exposed to any contests. Let us then remember that the Spirit of God hath once for all declared, that the Church shall never be free from this intestine evil; and let this likeness be always borne in mind, that the trial of our faith is to be similar to that of the fathers, and for the same reason — that in this way it may be made evident, whether we really love God, as we find it written in Deuteronomy 13:3.
This is significant enough to quote at length:
““Suppose there are prophets among you or those who dream dreams about the future, and they promise you signs or miracles, and the predicted signs or miracles occur. If they then say, ‘Come, let us worship other gods’—gods you have not known before— do not listen to them. The Lord your God is testing you to see if you truly love him with all your heart and soul. Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him. The false prophets or visionaries who try to lead you astray must be put to death, for they encourage rebellion against the Lord your God, who redeemed you from slavery and brought you out of the land of Egypt. Since they try to lead you astray from the way the Lord your God commanded you to live, you must put them to death. In this way you will purge the evil from among you.”
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 NLT
In the New Testament age we don’t kill the false prophet. No. But we do tear down his stronghold (2 Corinthians 10:5). We do not simply shrug and say, “that’s just the way it is.” A scary fact of our time is how so-called Christians are hatefully slanderous of President Trump and his personal character but ho-hum over transgender ideology, abortion, sexual anarchy, and the graphic evil that is idolatrous Marxism. If a false prophet saying, as Democrat James Talarico recently did, that the Bible teaches abortion via Gabriel’s visit to Mary, doesn’t rankle you, but President Trump’s bluster does, you’re deceived. There is no way this is an intellectual error alone because the truth is too obvious. One’s moral scales are seriously skewed if they believe the wholesale slaughter of unborn babies on the altar of feminist humanism, which must be celebrated if you vote Democrat, is less a moral evil than a president you find personally objectionable. All heresy and apostasy are willful covers of intentional sin. The battle against sin – ours and that of our nation – is a cosmic battle lest we pray, “on earth as it is in heaven” like a hypocrite.
“After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you— from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you. “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.””
Joshua 1:1-9 NLT
We are not to lose courage as we wage this battle. The victory is surely the Lord’s! Peter goes on to remind us of the absolute certainty of God’s judgment of evil. He speaks of fallen angels, Noah, and Sodom and Gomorrah. Yes, the Bible everywhere reminds us that evil is real, that God hates it, will judge it and the people who love it, and that He will rescue the righteous (like Noah and Lot).
We are also forewarned that the primary areas through which false teachers will arise even within our pews is through greed and lust. See:
“But [in those days] false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will subtly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways, and because of them the way of truth will be maligned. And in their greed they will exploit you with false arguments and twisted doctrine. Their sentence [of condemnation which God has decreed] from a time long ago is not idle [but is still in force], and their destruction and deepening misery is not asleep [but is on its way].”
2 Peter 2:1-3 AMP
So, the good news is the bad news and the bad news is the good news. What good news is that? It’s the salvation by faith alone. But the “bad news” is that we still live in this fallen world…are not yet in that “promised land” and must, like Joshua, navigate it, fight it, and conquer it, with courage. With faith. We live by the faith through which we’re saved and the struggles are the proof and testing that the faith is real.
Without the struggles there is no test and where there’s no test (the bad news) there’s no evidence of faith.
We must be willing to fight evil. Like Job (who feared God and hated evil). Like Joshua. Like Israel was called to “purge the evil” by not tolerating false prophets. Often, though, we hate those who speak out and confront the false teachers but not the false teachers. Let us beware of that. If our hatred is not of sin but of those who fight and stand up to sin, we are deceived. Peter will have us stand on the sure foundations of the faith, and the strong personal character that springs from it.
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