JESUS WILL RETURN PETER’S SECOND LETTER _HILDA BRIGHT AND HELEN POCOCK_ CHAPTER 2 FALSE TEACHERS Much of this chapter is similar to the letter of Jude. Some of the words are almost the same. Peter may have copied what Jude wrote. Or Jude may have copied what Peter wrote. Or both Peter and Jud... [ Continue Reading ]
Some *prophets in the *Old Testament were false. They told people what the people wanted to hear. The false *prophets did not tell people the truth. They told people to enjoy themselves in wicked ways. Therefore, these *prophets gained many *disciples. The false teachers were doing this too. Peter u... [ Continue Reading ]
Christian leaders must be honest about money (1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7). Paul was honest about the money that he collected for the Christians in Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8:20-21). He was very careful. But the greedy false teachers told lies. Then they tried to get money from the Christians. In Deut... [ Continue Reading ]
Peter said that Lot was a ‘good man’. Lot was not perfect. He chose to live in a wicked city. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah lived without any principles. They did what they wanted. They satisfied their wicked sex desires. However, Lot did not behave like the wicked people. Christians often live a... [ Continue Reading ]
God knows how to rescue good people. The stories about Noah and Lot show this. God does not prevent difficulties in the Christian life. But he makes Christians strong so that they can overcome the difficulties (1 Corinthians 10:13). God will punish all the evil people. They will not escape from God... [ Continue Reading ]
God will especially *judge the false teachers. They satisfied all the wicked desires of their bodies. This refers to wrong acts of sex. They would not obey anyone’s authority. They certainly did not care about God’s authority. They did only what they wanted to do. The ‘magnificent ones’ probably ref... [ Continue Reading ]
*Angels are greater than people are (Psalms 8:5). *Angels have more power and they are stronger than the false teachers. But the *angels would not *judge the false teachers. Also, the *angels would not accuse other *angels who did not obey God. *Angels understand more about God’s authority than the... [ Continue Reading ]
The false teachers pretended that they knew a lot about God. But really, they knew very little about him. They were not humble like the *angels. Instead, the false teachers were like animals. Animals have natural desires. But they do not have moral standards. They do what they feel like doing. In th... [ Continue Reading ]
Peter showed that bad moral behaviour is not worthwhile. Galatians 6:7-8 also says the same thing. People may enjoy *sin at the time, but the results are bad. Many people do evil things when it is dark (1 Thessalonians 5:7). But it is worse when people do evil things in the daytime. The false teache... [ Continue Reading ]
The false teachers looked at every woman. They wanted to have wrong sex with the women. These men could never stop doing wrong things. The more that they *sinned, the more they wanted to *sin. Some Christians did not firmly trust the true *gospel message. So, they easily believed what the false teac... [ Continue Reading ]
The account of Balaam is in the *Old Testament (Numbers, Chapter s 22-24). Balak, the king of Moab, wanted Balaam to speak bad things against the *Jews. Balak even offered to pay Balaam. At first Balaam refused. Later he agreed to do it. But when he opened his mouth God forced him to bless the *Jews... [ Continue Reading ]
Balaam rode on a *donkey. He went to speak against the *Jews. But an *angel stood on the path in front of him. Balaam’s *donkey stopped but Balaam could not see the *angel. So Balaam hit his *donkey. He tried to force his donkey to move. *Donkeys are dumb animals. But this donkey spoke to Balaam wit... [ Continue Reading ]
Peter used picture language to describe the false teachers. People go to a well to get water. The water keeps them alive. Some wells contain no water. They may look good but a dry well is not useful. The false teachers did not give anything valuable to Christians. But Jesus promised that he would ma... [ Continue Reading ]
The false teachers sounded very confident. They wanted to impress other people. They tried to attract the people who had just become Christians. These people had not learned very much about God. They did not yet completely understand how to live in the right way. They may have found that the Christi... [ Continue Reading ]
Jesus promised to make people free (John 8:32). But the false teachers were teaching this in a wrong way. They said that people could live just as they wanted to. They were free from the fear of judgement. In his first letter Peter said, ‘Live as free people. But do not use your freedom as an excuse... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The wicked ways of the world’ refers to all the people, societies and governments in the world who oppose God. The false teachers had once escaped from these wicked ways. They had learned about the *Lord Jesus Christ. They had learned about God’s laws. The false teachers claimed to have special ‘kn... [ Continue Reading ]
Peter described the false teachers in two ways. The statement about the dog comes from Proverbs 26:11. The statement about the pig does not come from the Bible. But it must have been a familiar statement at that time. The *Jews considered that both these animals were not ‘clean’ (morally good). In M... [ Continue Reading ]