Peter Warns All Believers Against False Teachers Within and Exhorts Us to be Steadfast Volume 23

The Apostle Peter Declares that these False Teachers are Like Wild Animals 2 Peter 2:12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; KJV Note: NLT=New Living Translation; NKJV=New King 👑 James Version The Apostle now refers to these men and women with language that would not be ever used of human beings made in the very image of God, but because these people make themselves out to be part of Christ Mystical Body Peter has no shame or remorse in exposing them for what they really and truly are at their very core. The Apostle writes this of them in verse 12, "But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;" (2 Peter 2:12) (KJV). So that we may be very clear as to what he is saying of these false teachers of God's Holy Word, the English word 'natural' is translated by the Greek word phusikos which means physical, that is, (by implication) instinctive: Next the English word 'brute' is translated by the Greek word alogos which means (as a negative particle) and irrational: - brute, unreasonable. Then the English word 'beast' is translated by the Greek word zōon which simply means an animal. In other words, we know that God did not create the animal world with reason, that is, the capacity for rational thought, inference or discrimination and the state of having good sense and sound judgment. Wild animals have none of this, yet they were created with instinct (inborn pattern of behavior often responsive to specific stimuli) for example the spawning instinct in salmon year after year all salmon instinctively know when it is time for them to make that trip upstream. However, we human beings were made in the image of the Creator Almighty God and we were made to know Him and fellowship with Him and are given by Him rational reason. The animal world does not even know or understand that their is a God who made them nor can they ever know Him. Peter is saying here in this passage of Scripture that these men 🚹and women 🚺who willfully, willingly, and worthlessly pervert, profane, and prostitute the Holy Word of God are and have become just like the wild animal who has no reasoning capabilities at all. Paul the Apostle paints a picture of these men and women in this warning he gave to brother Timothy with these words, "You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! They are the kind who work their way into people's homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires. (Such women are forever following new teachings, but they are never able to understand the truth.) These teachers oppose the truth just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith. But they won't get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as with Jannes and Jambres." (2 Timothy 3:1-9) (NLT). Notice two of the very critical characteristics laid out for us by Paul of these teachers; (1) These false teachers of the Holy Word of God oppose the truth, that is, they stand against the very truth of the Word of God that they profess to be teaching and they fight against the truth of God's Word. (2) They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith, that is, none of them have ever been born again or born from above, therefore, their minds are corrupt continuously and they cannot reason or be rational when it comes to morality, for them any thing goes and anything anyone wants to do with their physical bodies is good and OK. Do we see then why Peter calls them 'brute beast', that is, wild animals. Animals don't know or understand moral behavior or the greater good, none of this is even real to them because they have no way to understand or know the God who created them. These false teachers could have come to know the gracious, good, and great God who created them, but they have rejected or refused or resisted His Spirit's conviction and have given themselves over to a reprobate mind by way of these words also from the Apostle Paul, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest/evident in them, for God has shown it to them." (Romans1:18-19 (NKJV). When Paul says here, they suppress the truth in unrighteousness, he means they hold down the truth because they want to and long to continue to live in their sin. Have you ever seen someone in a swimming 🏊pool take a fully inflated beach ball and sit on top of it and hold it down underneath the water, but what happens when the person gets off the beach ball, it pops right back up to the surface. The false teachers hold down the truth of God's Holy Word and never release their suppression because they want their sin more than they want God. It is their own desire for corruption rather than the light of the Gospel of Grace that will be their eternal downfall, for if they would release their suppression of the truth of the Word of God then their spiritual eyes would be opened to see the Majesty and the Mightiness and the Mercy of God who would then save them. They speak evil of God's truth because it condemns their sinful lifestyles and shows them that repentance is required and needed, that is, a turning away from those things to God so that they could be healed, just as Paul praised and was so thankful that many in Thessaloniki had done just that as it is written, "So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord. As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in Greece—throughout both Macedonia and Achaia. And now the Word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Macedonia and Achaia, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don't need to tell them about it, for they keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the living and true God." (1 Thessalonians 1:6-9) (NLT). Here is what Dr. John Gill had to say of 2 Peter 2:12, "But these, as natural brute beasts,.... So far are these men from acting like the angels, that they are sunk below their own species, and are like beasts, and become brutish in their knowledge and behaviour; are like the horse and the mule, without understanding, act as if they were without reason; yea, are more stupid and senseless than the ox, or the ass, which know their owner, and their crib; and even in those things which they might, and do know by the light of nature, they corrupt themselves; and being given up to judicial blindness, and a reprobate mind, call good evil, and evil good, and do things that are not convenient, and which even brute beasts do not; and like as they are guided by an instinct in nature, to do what they do, so these men are led and influenced by the force and power of corrupt nature in them, to commit all manner of wickedness: and like them are made to be taken and destroyed; or, as it may be rendered, 'to take and destroy'; as beasts and birds of prey, such as lions, tigers, wolves, bears, vultures, hawks, &c. to which abusers of themselves with mankind, ravishers of women, extortioners, oppressors, thieves, robbers, and plunderers of men's properties, may be compared: or 'to be taken and destroyed'; that is, they are made or appointed to be taken in the net and snare of Satan, are vessels of wrath fitted for destruction, and are afore ordained to condemnation and ruin: and this being their case, they speak evil of the things they understand not; either of angels, of whose nature, office, and dignity, they are ignorant; and blaspheme them, by either ascribing too much to them, as the creation of the world, and divine worship, as were by some ancient heretics; or by speaking such things of them as were below them, and unworthy of them; or of civil magistrates, not knowing the nature and end of magistracy and civil government, and therefore spoke evil of them, when they ought to pray, and be thankful for them, and live peaceable and quiet lives under them; or of the ministers of the word, whose usefulness for the conversion of sinners and edification of saints were not known, at least not acknowledged by these men; hence they were traduced, and went through ill report among them, being as unknown by them; or of the Scriptures of truth, which heretical men do not truly know and understand, but wrest to their own destruction, or deny; and of the Gospel and the mysteries of it, which are things not seen, known, and understood by carnal men, and therefore are blasphemed, reviled, and reproached by them: and shall utterly perish in their own corruption: of which they are servants/slaves, 2 Peter 2:19, in their moral corruption, in their filthy and unnatural lusts, which are the cause of their everlasting perdition and destruction, to which they are righteously appointed of God." 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...