Don’t be Led Astray!

Scripture:

2Pet. 2:17    These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm; for them the deepest darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For they speak bombastic nonsense, and with licentious desires of the flesh they entice people who have just escaped from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for people are slaves to whatever masters them. ²⁰ For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overpowered, the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment that was passed on to them. ²² It has happened to them according to the true proverb,

“The dog turns back to its own vomit,”

and,

“The sow is washed only to wallow in the mud.”

Observation:

Peter’s heart is broken by those who are deceiving new believers. Evidently there were those who had come to Christ and become a part of the church, but didn’t want to live the kind of life that Peter had described in the previous chapter. Finding excuses for living a life of “freedom” they adjusted their theology, but in doing so, watered down the faith until there was no substance. 

Living water represented the connection to Jesus Christ, but these false teachers provided a type of religion that resulted in waterless springs. Of course this type of faith seemed more palatable to new believers but they were leading them astray. Instead of living as slaves to Jesus Christ, they were slaves to their own definitions of “freedom.” While bearing the name “Christian” these people were actually more dangerous and destructive than they were when they were outside the faith. 

Peter finishes with a proverb that paints a pretty graphic picture of what it means to be one of these false teachers. 

Application:

Peter’s frustration is evident because he believes that Christian ought to be all out for Jesus! The reality is that this is not always easy in the face of a world that sees Christianity as counter-cultural. It’s always more comfortable to find a way to accommodate society and adjust your faith, but that leads to a false sense of freedom. Our freedom is not found in moving freely and acceptably within society, but our freedom is found in living for Christ. Whenever we begin to accommodate our faith to culture, we become worse than we were at the beginning, and we can lead others astray as well. 

John Wesley struggled with a preacher by the name of John Taylor who preached that there was no original sin. While this made his listeners more comfortable, Wesley was concerned with the destructive nature of this preaching. Sounding much like Peter, Wesley wrote the following to Taylor:

Is it Christianity or heathenism! for take away the scriptural doctrine of Redemption or Justification, and that of the New Birth, the beginning of sanctification, or (which amounts to the same) explain them as you do, suitable to your doctrine of Original Sin, and what is Christianity better than heathenism? wherein, save in rectifying some of our notions, has the religion of St. Paul any pre-eminence over that of Socrates or Epictetus? Either I or you mistake the whole of Christianity from the beginning to the end! Either my scheme or yours is as contrary to the scriptural as the Koran is. Is it mine, or yours? Yours has gone through all of England and made numerous converts. I attack it from end to end. Let all England judge whether it an be defended or not! (McGonigle, 2020, 182)

We must be very careful when it comes to listening to “new teaching.” It’s far too easy to be led astray, and once we leave the straight path, the trajectory can lead us far from Jesus. Even in these days we must stay close to the Lord in prayer, in the study of the word, in our doctrine and lifestyle. 

Prayer:

Lord, there are so many voices clamoring for our attention. Help me to remain in your word, listening and following your leading. Amen.