Peter Warns All Believers Against False Teachers Within and Exhorts Us to be Steadfast Volume 22

The Apostle Peter Declares that these False Teachers Even Scoff at Angels (Good & Evil) 2 Peter 2:11 Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. KJV Note: NLT=New Living Translation; NKJV=New King 👑 James Version In the very last sentence of the previous verse 10, the Apostle Peter said that these false teachers were unafraid in their audacious falsehood to speak evil 😈of dignities. The reference is to angels by the use of that word, however, Peter most likely or could have meant that they railed against the true brothers and sisters 'in Christ' those of us who have truly been born again because we refute, reject, and refuse their twisting of Scripture to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16) and to the unfortunate destruction of the unsuspecting souls who hear and believe their falsehood because they are ignorant of what the Word of God truly declares. It is because these false teachers are the very ones the Apostle Paul warned brother Timothy about when he wrote these words to him in his first letter ✉, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron;" (1 Timothy 4:1-2) (NKJV). Now here in the very next verse Peter gives a comparison of these false teachers to the Holy Angels in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ always in Heaven with these words, "Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord." (2 Peter 2:11) (KJV). The angels who remain in Heaven around the Throne of God are sinless, subservient, and submissive to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and created much greater in power and might than man. The little English phrase 'in power' is translated by the Greek word ischus which means ability and strength. The little English word 'might' is translated by the Greek word dunamis which means force (literally or figuratively); specifically miraculous power (usually by implication a miracle itself): it is where we get our English word dynamite. In other words, these strong and powerful angels have the ability to do miraculous things within our natural world 🗺because they are supernatural creatures created by God/Jesus with those abilities, yet they don't even maliciously make railing accusations against these insubordinate wicked false teachers of God's Holy Word. The little English word 'railing' Peter uses in verse 11 is translated by the Greek word blasphēmos which means scurrilous (expressing offensive reproach), that is, calumnious (against man). The little English word 'accusations' is translated by the Greek word krisis which means as used in this context by Peter condemnation or damnation or judgement. In other words, these Holy Angels constantly and continuously in the very presence of God, could bring offense reproach against these false teachers of the Word of God making His Word into a license to sin with no repenting or no turning away from sin, but instead a continual living in sin with no remorse. The Holy Angels could declare to God/Jesus that these wicked men and women should be dammed to hell right away, yet they do not, for they could even bring such condemnation to the Lord God against the devil and the demons, but instead they do not. Why, we even perhaps the highest ranking Angel in Heaven (Michael the Arch Angel) in an argument or dispute over the body of God's servant and son Moses declaring only these words to the most disrespectful, diabolical, and disobedient (former angel now the devil 👿), "But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, 'The Lord rebuke you!' (This took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses' body.) (Jude 1:9) (NLT). Here is what the Expositor's Bible Commentary has to say of 2 Peter 2:11, "'Daring, self-willed, they tremble not to rail at dignities.' The Apostle passes on to describe another and more terrible manifestation of the lawlessness of these false teachers. They have so sunk themselves in the grossness of material self-indulgence that they revile and set at naught the spiritual world, and the powers that exist therein. In the term 'dignities' the Apostle's thoughts are of the angels, against whom these sinners scruple not to utter their blasphemies. The good angels, the messengers from heaven to earth, the ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation, they are bold to deny; while concerning the evil angels, to whose temptations they have surrendered themselves, they scoff, representing their lives as free and self chosen, and at their own disposal. The two terms 'daring'; 'self-willed,' seem to point respectively to these two forms of blasphemy. They tremble not, they dare to deny the existence of the good, and they shrink not to mock at the influence of the powers of evil. Thus in mind and thought they are as debased as in their bodies, and by their lessons they corrupt as much as by their acts. 'Whereas angels, though greater in might and power, bring not a railing judgment against them before the Lord.' The explanation of this passage is not without difficulty, because of the indefiniteness of the words 'against them.' To whom is reference here made? It can hardly be questioned that by 'dignities,' literally 'glories,' in the previous verse the Apostle meant angels, the dignities of the spirit-world, in contradistinction to 'dominion,' in which he before referred to those earthly authorities whom these false teachers set at naught. The verbs used in the two clauses support this view. The dominion they venture to despise, at the dignities they rail, whereas they ought to be afraid of them. Now even to the fallen angels there attaches a dignity by reason of their first estate. In the New Testament the chief of them is called by Christ Himself 'the prince of this world,' (John14:30) and by St. Paul 'the prince of the power of the air'; (Ephesians 2:2) and he has a sovereignty over those who shared his rebellion and his fall. Having described the railing of the false teachers in the previous verse as directed alike against the evil angels and the good, it seems preferable here to take 'against them' as applying to the evil angels. Even against them, though they must be conscious of their sin and rebellion against God, the good angels, who still abide in the presence of the Lord, bring no railing judgment, utter no reproach or upbraiding. There may have been in St. Peter's thought that solemn scene depicted in Zechariah 3:1-10, where, in the presence of the Angel of the Lord, that highest angel who is Jehovah's special representative, Joshua the high-priest appears, and at his right hand Satan standing to be his adversary, and to charge him, and the nation through him, with their remissness in the work of the restoration of God's temple. There the Angel of the Lord, full of mercy, as Satan was full of hate, checked the adversary's accusation, saying, 'The Lord rebuke thee, Satan.' The same application of the words 'against them' is suggested by the apocryphal illustration in St. Jude (Jude 1:9), where in the contention about the body of Moses no greater rebuke is administered to the devil by the Archangel Michael." If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...