PsalmTree

2 Peter 2:1-22…The Appearance of False Prophets

“But false prophets also appeared among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their indecent behavior, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, held for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example of what is coming for the ungodly; and if He rescued righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the perverted conduct of unscrupulous people (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from a trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt passion, and despise authority.

Reckless, self-centered, they speak abusively of angelic majesties without trembling, whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a demeaning judgment against them before the Lord. But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, using abusive speech where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions as they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having hearts trained in greed, accursed children; abandoning the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the reward of unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own offense, for a mute donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained the insanity of the prophet.

These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. For, while speaking out arrogant words of no value they entice by fleshly desires, by indecent behavior, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what anyone is overcome, by this he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

Context: The context of 2 Peter chapter 2 is a strong warning against false teachers who have slipped into the church, teaching destructive lies and living in immorality, while claiming to be followers of Christ. Peter’s main goal is to expose them, assure believers that God will judge them, and urge Christians not to be drawn away by their seductive words.

• Peter describes these false teachers as bringing in “destructive heresies,” even “denying the Lord who bought them,” and leading many astray through sensual and greedy behavior.
• He grounds his warning in God’s past judgments: the fallen angels, the flood‑world, and Sodom–Gomorrah, showing that God knows both how to punish the ungodly and how to rescue the righteous (like Noah and Lot).
• The chapter is meant to strengthen believers’ confidence: even though false teachers may seem powerful and successful for a time, “their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep” (2 Peter 2:3).
• At the same time, Peter calls his readers to remain faithful, to remember the true gospel, and to resist the seductive, self‑indulgent lifestyle promoted by these teachers.

Explanation: No person is immune to false teaching, but some people are more structurally susceptible because of weak doctrine, strong celebrity culture, or a low view of biblical authority. Scripture’s point is not to “name and blame” whole groups, but to warn believers to test any doctrine by the gospel and the apostles’ teaching (1 John 4:1; 2 Peter 2:1–3).

2 Peter 2:22 sums up the tragic end of certain people who had heard the gospel and made some outward profession of Christ, but were never truly changed and then returned to their old sinful lifestyle. It uses two vivid, disgusting proverbs from Proverbs 26:11 to drive the point home. “It has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to its own vomit,’ and, ‘A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mud.’”

Peter is saying The dog and the sow are not really changed in nature; they may look a little cleaner, but their basic character remains the same. So it is with those who profess faith, then abandon it and return to the same sin: their way of life proves they were never truly transformed on the inside, even if they once seemed “cleaned up” by the gospel. Most commentators take this to describe people who had some “knowledge” of the Lord and perhaps even escaped the “pollutions of the world” for a time, but were never brought to genuine saving faith in Christ. When false teachers came along and enticed them, they gladly went back to their old patterns of sin—as predictable as a dog gobbling its vomit again or a pig wallowing in mud after a bath.

Why this matters for believers…

It highlights the danger of a shallow, intellectual or emotional “knowledge” of Jesus that never produces real, Spirit‑wrought repentance and change.

Illustration: Herbert W Armstrong is widely regarded by mainstream evangelicals as teaching a mixture of serious doctrinal errors and cult‑like patterns. His son Garner Ted Armstrong (1930–2003) was a televangelist and leader of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). He inherited and continued many of his father’s disputed teachings. Major false teachings associated with Garner Ted Armstrong are

1. Non‑Trinitarian view of God - God is not three persons in one (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).
2. Christology bordering on heresy - Jesus “surrendered His divinity” to become human, and then had to “re‑qualify” for salvation through obedience.
3. Anglo‑Israelism/British Israelism - Modern Anglo‑Americans and Britons are the literal descendants of the “lost tribes” of Israel,
4. Legalistic Sabbatarian and feast‑day system - Christians must keep the Saturday Sabbath, Old Testament festivals, and Old‑Testament food laws as God’s ongoing moral code for the church.
5. Exclusivist “one‑true‑church” claim - Worldwide Church of God (and later its offshoots, like the Church of God International) as the only true church, and most other “Christian” churches as apostate or even counterfeit..
6. Moral and leadership contradictions - Garner Ted was removed from leadership and later excommunicated largely over repeated sexual misconduct and moral failures, even as he preached strict moralism.

Garner Ted Armstrong is widely regarded as promoting an aberrant Christology, unbiblical racial‑historical speculation, legalistic law‑keeping, and an exclusivist church claim—all of which place him outside historic, creedal Christianity on key points, even though he used Christian language and Scripture constantly. 

It can happen to anybody. How?

Application: “I’m OK, You’re OK” is the title of a well‑known book and psychological slogan from the 1960s and 70s, associated with the human‑potential and “positive‑thinking” movements. At its core, it expresses a philosophy that everyone is basically fine as they are, and that we should affirm each person without strong moral or spiritual confrontation.

At our core, we don’t believe it. I once saw a cartoon of a man reading a book. The title of the book was “I’m OK, You’re full of baloney!”

How could we be so smug?

Because our mind is the core of our identity; it is the place where I experience thoughts, emotions, plans, memories, and evaluations, and it is here that I become aware of myself rather than just of the world around me. “I think; therefore I am” (Latin: Cogito, ergo sum) is the famous claim made by the philosopher René Descartes. At its simplest, it means that the very fact we are thinking proves that we exist. 

By definition, my “mind” is who I am; everything else is accoutrement.

And, most of us feel quite certain our “thinking, feeling, and choosing” is “Ex cathedra”. Our mind (in our subjective judgment) is faithful and true; it quickly becomes the unquestioned idol we worship.

We are natural narcissists…

So, the mind is the “stumbling block” that prevents people from surrendering to Christ…nobody wants to surrender their identity to someone else.

But, here’s the truth…

Ironically, most of us are keenly aware of the fallibility of everyone else’s mind. For this reason, Jesus asks the question, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” (Matt 7:3, NIV)

Proverbs 14:12 tells us “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” It’s difficult to understand how anyone who reads the Bible (like, Garner Ted Armstrong) could stray so far from the teachings of scripture but, as Greg Laurie reminds us; The devil first attacks our mind…puts thoughts into our heads that “seem correct” but aren’t.

So when Scripture calls for “renewing of the mind” or “taking every thought captive” (Rom 12:2; 2 Cor 10:5), it is recognizing that the mind is the central arena where self‑awareness, discipleship, and spiritual deception all play out.

“Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5) is calling believers to have the same attitude or way of thinking that Jesus had—especially his humility, self‑giving love, and total obedience to the Father.

Paul is not talking about raw intelligence, but about the inner posture of Christ’s heart: He was fully God, yet did not cling to his divine privileges. He willingly took the form of a servant, entered human weakness, and even died on a cross for others (Phil 2:6–8).

• So “this mind” is humility, sacrifice, and love for others, rather than self‑promotion or self‑interest. We “let this mind be in us” by yielding to the Holy Spirit, who gives us “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16), choosing to lay down your rights, pride, and comfort for the good of others, and letting our thoughts, desires, and priorities be shaped by Jesus’ example in Philippians 2:5–11.

In Luke 9:23–24 Jesus says “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” We avoid error by only by surrendering our minds to Christ. In short, “Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” is an invitation to pattern our inner life on Christ’s humility and love, so our thinking, choices, and relationships begin to reflect his heart instead of our own selfish instincts. 

Only an act of God, through Jesus Christ, can convince us to surrender our very essence to Him but, it is the very definition of conversion; Paul claims in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Prayer: “Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I surrender my mind completely to You. Take every thought, imagination, and intention, and conform them to Your perfect will. Renew my mind by Your Holy Spirit, that I may discern Your truth and reject all deception. I commit my intellect, will, and understanding to Your lordship, trusting You to guard my thoughts and guide my decisions. In Your holy name, Amen.”

Live boldly out there today…