2 Peter 2:1

CHAPTER 2

This entire chapter is a prophecy of the great apostasy foretold by Christ himself and by Paul, Peter and John. It is printed as a single paragraph in the ASV, but a workable outline of it is given by Strachan, thus:[1]

The false teachers and their judgment (2 Peter 2:1-3).

Historical illustration of Divine judgment on the wicked, and care of the righteous (2 Peter 2:4-10a).

Further description of the false teachers (2 Peter 2:10b-14).

The example of Balaam (2 Peter 2:15,16).

The libertines are themselves slaves (2 Peter 2:17-19).

The consequences of apostasy (2 Peter 2:20-22).

The connection this chapter has with other New Testament writings on the subject was pointed out by Paine, who observed that the warnings here are "somewhat after the manner of Acts 20:29,30; 1 Timothy 4:1-6, and 2 Timothy 3:1-5."[2] Plummer noted the same thing, pointing out that, in addition to the references just cited, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; 2 Timothy 4:3,4; and 1John 2:18,1 John 4:3, also deal with the apostasy, observing that, "Those in 2Thessalonians and 2Timothy are especially worthy of comparison, as containing like the present chapter, a mixture of future and present."[3] For a fuller list of New Testament prophecies related to the great apostasy see my Commentary on 1,2Thessalonians, 1,2Timothy, Titus and Philemon, pp. 106-109. With regard to the strange mingling of future and present tenses, this was exactly the manner of the ancient prophets, such a device even being called the prophetic tense. Green agreed that this is the correct view on the mixed tenses, and that they do not, "as some maintain, (come from) the failure of some second century writer to be consistent."[4]

[1] R. H. Strachan, Expositor's Greek Testament, Vol. V (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), pp. 133-141.

[2] Stephen W. Paine, Wycliffe Bible Commentary, New Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 197l), p. 994.

[3] Alfred Plummer, Ellicott's Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. VIII (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), p. 450.

[4] Michael Green, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, 2Peter (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1968), p. 93.

But there arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also there shall be false teachers, who shall privily bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. (2 Peter 2:1)

False prophets ... One of the outstanding teachings in the Petrine writings is the correspondence between the Old and the New Israel, an analogy that he had surely learned from the Lord himself. Jesus himself had flatly predicted the same thing Peter prophesied here (Matthew 7:15-23). A number of Old Testament references to the false prophets of the Old Israel were cited by Barclay, thus:[5]

The false prophets said, Peace, Peace, when there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:14).

Its priests teach for hire, and its prophets divine for money (Micah 3:11).

The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink; they are confused with wine (Isaiah 28:17).

They commit adultery, and walk in lies, they strengthen the hands of evil-doers (Jeremiah 23:14).

They lead my people astray by their lies and by their recklessness (Jeremiah 23:32).

The prophets invited the people, Let us go after other gods (Deuteronomy 13:1-5; 18:20).

Paul evaluated the character of false teachers in the New Israel in the same terms (1 Timothy 6:5; Titus 1:11).

Among you, also, there shall be false teachers ... The scholars who see some dependence of this epistle upon Jude are confronted with a real problem in this. Is it possible that Peter was here prophesying a condition that Jude spoke of as already existent? As a matter of fact, this writer rejects outright any notion that either one of these epistles is dependent upon the other, despite the fact of Jude's certainly having 2Peter in mind when he wrote.

Who shall privily bring in ... The significance of "privily" is that, "The heresies were to be introduced under the color of true doctrine, in the dark as it were, little by little."[6]

Destructive heresies ... Heresies are often thought of as sects; but the thing in view here is, "given opinions, which came to mean the tenets of a party,"[7] at variance from orthodox Christianity. They are called "destructive," because, "They foster licentiousness and contempt for the way of truth."[8]

Denying even the Master that bought them ... This is a surprise, coming from one who himself had denied his Lord; and, as Plummer said, "No forger would have ventured to make Peter write this."[9] The reference is, of course, to the Lord Jesus Christ who, in a special sense, bought the church with his own precious blood (Acts 20:28), the important deduction from this being that the apostate teachers foretold here would arise from among the Christians themselves, in full agreement with what Paul wrote in Acts 20:29,30. Again, from Plummer, "The Apostle declares that these impious false teachers were redeemed by Jesus Christ,"[10] a fact absolutely opposed to teachings in Calvinism. Caffin also agreed that, "The word for Master, here, implies that the deniers stand to the Lord in the relation of slaves, bondservants."[11]

Despite this clause, however, Calvinistic ideas are defended in spite of it by some. Bruce attributed to the false teachers not any salvation at all, but a "measure of enlightenment," showing "in the end, their real unregenerated nature."[12] Throughout this chapter, there are extensive teachings which demand the understanding that the apostates had indeed known the Lord in the primary salvation of their souls, but who fell away, forsook the right way, and "went back."

Bringing upon themselves swift destruction ... This does not mean, "coming soon," but, "coming suddenly and unexpectedly so as to preclude escape."[13]

[5] William Barclay, The Letters of James and Peter (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 314.

[6] James Macknight, Macknight on the Epistles, 2Peter (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, reprint, 1969), p. 540.

[7] Albert E. Barnett, The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. XII (New York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1957), p. 187.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Alfred Plummer, op. cit., p. 451.

[10] Ibid.

[11] B.C. Caffin, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 22,2Peter (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 43.

[12] F. F. Bruce, Answers to Questions (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1972), p. 131.

[13] Alfred Plummer, op. cit., p. 451.