Series: New Testament Overview
Category: Core Seminars, False Teaching, Inspiration and Inerrancy of the Bible, Grace and Mercy, The Wrath of God, Perseverance of the Saints, Predestination and Election, The End Times / Return of Christ, The Gospel
Detail:
Introduction & Purpose: False Teaching “Among You”
One of my favorite things to do when I take a flight somewhere is to spend some time browsing through the airport bookstore. The bookstore is a reminder that we live in a pluralistic age, where atheist manifestos sit in the same sale bin as Buddhist meditation guides and commentaries on the Qur’an. As a Christian, I walk through and notice plenty of falsehood: everything from the book God Is Not Great by the late atheist Christopher Hitchens, to a Hindu text promising “A Life of Purpose, Happiness, Prosperity, and Freedom.”
Now, I must say that it’s discouraging to see these titles; these books are dangerous, they deny the one true God. But it typically doesn’t ruin my flight – this is what we expect from people who don’t claim to believe in Jesus. But what happens when I get to the Christian section of the bookstore? Is that shelf full of truth? If I grab any book with a Christian label, will I arrive in my destination as a wiser and more faithful follower of Christ?
With that question in mind, listen to the Apostle Peter’s words from 2 Peter 2:1: “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies.” And then listen to the 4th verse of the letter written by Jude: “For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”
In 2 Peter, there “will be” false teachers that come; in Jude, they have already “slipped in” unnoticed. But did you hear what phrase both authors use: “among you .” These two letters aren’t about defending the faith against Roman polytheism or Greek philosophy. They’re fighting something even more dangerous: falsehood with the Christian label. Poison wrapped up like a candy bar. The question is: will we be those who eat the poison? Or will we be alert and aware? As you see there under “purpose,” Peter and Jude write To warn Christians against false teaching and to encourage them to persevere in the true faith.
So, first, we’ll look at some background and an outline for each book, and then we’ll talk about four main themes, four certainties that these books call us to know. We’re going to jump around a bunch between these two letters, so you’ll want to keep your finger or a pen on both of them as we go.
Authorship, Audience & Context
Let’s begin by talking about who’s writing. Please turn to 2 Peter 1:1 (p. 1204). The book begins, “Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours. ” We see the author here identifies himself as Peter, and then look at 1:16: “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” Peter goes on to tell about how he personally saw the transfiguration of Jesus.
Who’s Peter writing to? Look over at 3:1: “Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. ” It’s likely that the first letter is the Biblical letter of 1 Peter, which as we saw in 1 Peter 1:1 was written to Christians scattered throughout Asia Minor, modern day Turkey. Peter wrote that letter to encourage believers as they suffered through persecution. But now, it’s not just attacks from the outside that concern Peter – it’s attacks from within. And Peter says in 1:14 that “I know I will soon put my body aside” – he can tell that his death is near. And so he pens one final warning to his people.
Turn over to Jude and let’s ask some of the same questions. Who wrote it? Verse 1, “Jude a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James .” Scholars agree that the James he’s talking about is James the half-brother of Jesus and the leader of the Jerusalem church who wrote the book of James. This means that Jude too is a brother of Jesus.[1]
Who is he writing to? Verse 1 makes it clear that his audience is Christians: “Those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ. ” When we look at the rest of the letter, we can guess that his readers were most likely Jewish Christians, because Jude refers to some characters and stories that would have been known in the Jewish community. Now, if you read through Jude this week, you’ll probably be curious about these references because a couple of them don’t actually come from the Old Testament. Jude alludes to a story about the archangel Michael in verse 9[2] st Enoch in verse 14. What’s Jude doing here? He’s not saying that these things are scripture. Instead, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he’s illustrating his points using stories that his audience would be familiar with. The things he refers to are true, but he’s not suggesting that all of 1 Enoch is inspired or inerrant. Paul did the same thing when he quoted true statements from non-inspired Greek philosophers in Acts 17 and 1 Corinthians 15.[3]
Now, one of the interesting things about these two books is just how alike they are. They don’t just deal with similar themes, they actually share the same language in many places. For this reason, it’s likely that the books were written in light of each other. In the early days of Christianity, letters such as these would have been widely distributed, so it seems like for the sake of having a unified message, one of the writers decided to echo phrases and themes from the other letter. You see in your handout there a chart that shows which verses resemble each other. You can look at that at home and notice all the similarities.
Which letter came first? Really hard to say. But whatever the order of authorship, what we should take away is that the reality of false teaching was serious enough to deserve two letters in the New Testament, and so it’s certainly serious enough for us to take notice and examine closely.
III. Outline
With that background in place, let’s look at how these books are structured so we can see how the authors mount their arguments. You’ll see the outlines on the back of the handout.
2 Peter
Looking first at 2nd Peter, you’ll see that in many ways it’s a symmetrical letter. It begins and ends with exhortations for believers. First, in 1:1-15, Peter reminds them that they are saved only by God’s power and calls them to “make every effort” to live in a way that confirms God’s work in them. Similarly, the book closes at the end of chapter 3 with an instruction to “make every effort” to live in holiness as we wait for the second coming of Christ. In the the second section, Peter gives reasons we can be confident that Jesus is returning, and in the 4th section, 3:1-13, Peter explains what will happen when the day of the Lord comes. The middle section, then, chapter 2, is really the center of the book’s message. Peter describes the false teachers, their godless way of life, and the horrific destruction that will God will pour out on them.
Jude
And we see a similar structure in Jude. It’s one of the briefest books in the Bible – you can tell that Jude is like a loving father who is spurred to passionate writing by the dire circumstances his children face. Like 2 Peter, the center of the book is a portrait of the empty lifestyle of the false teachers and the judgment that awaits them. And immediately before and after that center portrait are again two exhortations – first, in verses 3-4, to contend for the faith, and second, in verses 17-23, to be built up in the knowledge and love of God. At the very beginning and end of the book, Jude in his greeting and doxology reminds his readers that in the midst of such falsehood, God is a true and faithful hope. God is the one who called them, and God is the one who will keep them from falling until they appear before his glorious presence.
Any Questions ?
IV. Main Themes
Let’s turn to 4 major themes we see in these books. You can follow along on the 2nd page of your handout.
First: A. The Certainty of Your Call
Think about what Peter and Jude’s readers are facing. You’ve got false teachers looming, spreading error and confusion like confetti around the early church. In this climate, it was key for Christians to be sure of their salvation. So, first, the authors tell them that their salvation is utterly and totally God’s work .
Look, for example, at the second half of Jude v. 1: “To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ.” Being called means being chosen by God personally for new life in Christ.
Peter says something similar in 2 Pet. 1:3-4. Go ahead and turn there: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” What a comfort these words are: He His promises
And yet, even though our calling is from God, it has implications for us. Peter continues in verses 5-11: “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
He’s saying: God has saved you. Now, your responsibility is to live in such a way that confirms that you really are saved. Here’s a great example of how the Bible upholds both God’s sovereignty and human responsibility: It’s God who calls, and yet God’s call results in our action. The image of adoption is useful for illustrating this – the Bible says elsewhere that God has adopted us as his sons. And what do children do? They’re supposed to live Iike their father. They uphold the family reputation. It’s like he’s saying, “You’ve been made part of the family by grace, you didn’t earn it, and you can’t lose it. Now, as you imitate the Father and live like him, your assurance that you really are part of the family will deepen and grow.”
So, Peter tells usto “make your calling and election sure ” – verse 10. How? We make it sure by what we do: “For if you do these things, you will never fall” – not meaning that you’ll be perfect in this life or that you’ll never sin, but that the pattern of your life will confirm that your repentance and faith are genuine. What things do we do? Verse 5 – we make every effort to grow in Christ-like virtues and qualities.
To put it in more theological language, sanctification, the process by which we become more like Christ, is both passive and active. It’s passive in that we depend totally on God’s strength to grow us – verse 3, his power gives us all we need for godliness. He has given us his Holy Spirit. And it’s active in that we are responsible to pursue holiness the way an athlete fights for the gold medal.
So let me ask us this morning: when was the last time you examined the fruit of your life ? Look at the qualities Peter lists in verses 5-7 – goodness, knowledge, self-control – do you see evidence of these virtues in your life more and more as you follow Jesus? Do you expend effort on growing in godliness? Can you think of one way this upcoming week you could “make every effort” to grow in these characteristics? One of the ways we can serve each other as brothers and sisters is by helping to give one another this assurance that Peter is talking about. We should notice evidences of grace in the other members of this church, and we should tell them about it! “Hey, I just wanted to let you know, I can see how God has grown you in perseverance this past year and you should be comforted to know that the Spirit is at work in you!”
Jude’s letter has a good reminder for us here. He says in verse 21, “keep yourselves in God’s love” – that’s this kind of active sanctification we’ve been talking about – but then he adds, “as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” It’s not our good deeds that cause us to persevere to the end. It’s the mercy of Jesus . So: one of the ways we know we are saved is by the evidence in our lives. But the way that we are saved is by trusting in the mercy of Jesus alone.
The first certainty is the certainty of our call; Second is B. The certainty of God’s truth.
When falsehood is waiting around every corner, we don’t just need to be certain about our own faith – we need to be certain about what’s true.
So, Jude tells his readers in verses 17-18 to recall the words of the apostles . Their teaching is true. They predicted false teachers would come, and now false teachers are here, so that’s one good piece of evidence that their teaching is correct!
And then in 2 Peter chapter 2 he says, “listen, the false teachers will make up stories and introduce heresies.” But we have something far better: Look at 1:19-21 . “A nd we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
Why should we trust the writings of the Old Testament? Because they are God’s Word. Here we have one of the clearest statements in scripture about the Bible’s inspiration. The authors used words and concepts natural to them, but the source of the revelation was the Holy Spirit. So if anyone comes and teaches in opposition to the scripture – then they teach in opposition to God himself.
And, importantly, God’s Word is not just the Old Testament . Look at 2 Pet. 3:15-16: “Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” This is a significant verse, because we have one of the early church apostles already calling Paul’s writing scripture. And, what a comfort to know that we aren’t the first to find some parts of Paul’s letters hard to understand, right?!
All of this should be a reminder to us: A Christian is an echo-chamber of God’s Word. The church is the community in which God’s Word reverberates. I appreciate in 2 Peter 3:2 where he tells his readers and us, what he wants us to do, straight up, pure and simple: “I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets. ” What do you do to keep God’s Word on your mind? He says in 1:19 that we should pay attention to the Word like we would to a light shining in a dark place. If you’ve ever been out in the woods late at night; if you’ve ever been in a dark area where you don’t know how to get back to your cabin or your car; what do you need? The light. Maybe the problem is that we so often forget just how dark the world is. We get comfortable, our retinas adjust, and we think we can make it on our own in woods. We should pray that each day we might recognize the value of the light of God’s Word. We should point one another to the light of God’s Word. What’s the greatest resource I have in making sure I know how to discern which “Christian” book I pick up at the airport is actually true – the light of God’s Word. False teachers à they breed uncertainty. God’s Word à leads us to certainty of the truth.
Any Questions or Comments?
Let’s turn to theme that is front and center in each of these books:
C. The Certainty of Bad Fruit from False Teaching
Peter says in 2 Pet. 3:3, “First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.” One of Peter and Jude’s main goals in writing? It’s that their readers wouldn’t be surprised. They are saying: you can be absolutely, 100% sure that false teachers will emerge, and their fruit will be rotten. So don’t be shocked; be prepared.
One of the ways they call their readers to be prepared is by describing some of the flawed doctrine these scoffers hold. We can sum it up this way: in 2nd Peter, the false teachers say “It doesn’t matter what we do because Jesus isn’t coming back.” Look at 2 Pet. 3:4: “They will say, ‘Where is this “coming” he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” And it’s similar in Jude. Here the false teachers say “It doesn’t matter what we do because God’s a God of grace!” Look at Jude v. 4, starting in the middle of the verse: “They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign Lord.”
We saw in the letter of Galatians that one of the false teachings that can cripple the church is legalism – the idea that we have to earn our standing in God’s sight by obeying his law. But in these two letters, we’re on the other side of the spectrum. Here, we’re dealing with antinomianism – literally, anti , “against,” nomos , “law.” These false teachers twist the Gospel so that God’s grace is not about us being forgiven so we can please God; it’s about God not caring so we can please ourselves.
But the main way Peter and Jude call their readers to be prepared is by describing the godless lifestyle of these teachers. Just as Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.”[4]
For one, they reject authority. 2 Pet. 2:10: This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings.
Second, they embrace immorality . 2 Pet. 2:13-14: Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed – an accursed brood!
And third, they serve only themselves . Turn over to Jude vv. 12 and 16: “These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm – shepherds who feed only themselves...” [Verse 16:] “These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
These guys are like fake doctors who promise healing when they only want the money.
What are we called to do in response? Look at Jude 3: “Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints .” Contend for the faith. 2 Pet. 3:17 says “Be on your guard.” In other words, defend the truth of the Gospel against those who teach it wrongly, and live in obedience that provides a stark contrast with the lifestyle of those who rebel against Christ. Now, this doesn’t mean we should spend all day writing angry blog posts or turn every spiritual conversation into an argument. What it means is that we should know the truth, love the truth, and stand for truth even when it goes against the grain.
For us, today, especially thinking about falsehood that slips in under Christian label, there is a whole host of unbiblical teaching that we need to be aware of and contend against. On the one hand, you’ve got groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormonss that deny truth about Jesus, on the other you have the prosperity Gospel that misunderstands who God is and how he works. There’s theologically liberal Protestantism that rejects the bodily resurrection of Christ, and then there are those who may believe in Jesus but also discard key doctrines like the atonement, hell, and the idea that God knows the future. All of this means that we should do what Jude v. 20 says and build ourselves up in the most holy faith – making sure that we know the Gospel, we know the Word, and we’re sitting under faithful teaching.
But in contending for the faith, we also need to know that it’s not our job ultimately to defeat false teachers. That’s God’s role. And that leads us to our fourth and final theme,
D. The Certainty of God’s Judgment
Right now, we can only see the fruit. But God knows the heart.
And so Jude says in v. 14: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
What’s even more tragic is that the false teachers don’t realize this judgment is coming. In fact, as we saw in 2 Pet. 3:4, they mock the idea that Jesus would ever return.
Why is it wrong to think God will never judge? Peter gives 2 reasons: First, time is completely different for God. Look at 2 Pet. 3:8: “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day .” Second, the fact that God hasn’t judged yet doesn’t mean he never will. In fact, the reason judgment hasn’t come yet is because he is merciful. 3:9, The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
But when God does judge, it will come suddenly. 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.”
But false teachers aren’t the only ones who will face God’s judgment; we will, too. And when we face God on that day, our teachers won’t be standing beside us. Each of us will someday give account for how we have used the lives God gave us. It may be a useful exercise this week to look through the passages in these books that describe the false teachers, and reflect on the fact that without the grace of Jesus – the false teachers would be us. Selfish, lustful, manipulative, grumblers and faultfinders... 2 Pet. 2:19, “slaves of depravity.” We should be in shock and awe at the great, painful judgment that awaits false teachers. But we should be in even more shock and awe that Jesus took every ounce of the destruction we deserve, for all who would repent and believe.
Since God is indeed coming to judge the whole universe, how should we live? 2 Peter has a couple of instructions for us:
First, Pursue holiness. 2 Pet. 3:11-12: “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” Don’t live as if God doesn’t care. Don’t take his patience as license to sin. We can ask ourselves, in moments of temptation: “On the day of God, will I be happy that I indulged this sin?” Pursue holiness.
Second, Look forward . 2 Pet. 3:13: “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” What will that new heaven and new earth be like? A home of righteousness where wrong, and injustice, and rebellion are vanquished. Why would we not long for such a place? And God has given us his Word so that we can know something of this new heaven and new earth – the books of Thessalonians and Revelation that we’ll be studying in the next few weeks will point our gaze to that day. We can meditate on heaven. It’s kind of like a travel guidebook – I love these things, if I’m going somewhere where I haven’t been, I grab the guidebook from the library, look at the pictures, imagine the streets, anticipate the taste of the food – I love meditating on where I’m going. Of course, when I get there, usually it’s much better than I ever imagined. Brothers and sisters, how much more will heaven exceed every meditation and anticipation of our hearts. We should meditate on heaven.
That’s what 2 Peter and Jude call us to do – to look forward to that day when we will see Christ face to face. Any questions?
Conclusion
In many ways, reading 2 Peter and Jude is like stepping out into the winter air. These books confront us with the cold reality of false teaching and the calling for us to brace ourselves and contend for the faith. It’s enough to leave us feeling a bit scared and inadequate, if we’re honest. But these authors do not want us to be without hope. In the end, we can be certain of our call – we can be certain of God’s Word – we can be certain that false teachers’ bad fruit will be recognizable – and we can be certain that God himself will judge. And we can be certain that in the midst of all, God will sustain us and keep us until the end. So listen to how Jude closes his letter and let’s take comfort in the reality that this is the God that we serve:
24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25
Let’s pray.
[1]
[2] The Assumption of Moses . See Carson and Moo, p.694.
[3]
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