Be Aware

2 Pet 2:1 "But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction."

Every day I send the verse that has hit me to the leadership of our church. Usually the subject just says: "verse". I changed that a little today. The subject was: "verse, not encouraging but a warning".

That is what this verse is. It is not encouraging. It is not uplifting. It is not something I really want to sink my teeth into and go out skipping after I have considered it. Instead, it is an extremely serious warning that Peter gave to these people and that he gives to us.

Really, nothing has changed. Peter was referencing what he had finished in chapter one…that "no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy mend of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (1:20,21) This is foundational. This is God's word that is God breathed. The Holy Spirit moved men to write what they wrote. These were true prophets who gave us what God gave to them.

We still have that. Not guys who write scripture, but guys who give us what God gives to them. They take the word of God and share what He is teaching them. They give truth. They give solid advice. They give from the heart.

But then 2:1 – there were also false prophets when Scripture was written. There were also false prophets in the early church (Gnostics, Judaizers and probably others) who brought in destructive, captivating teaching that even denied who Jesus was. And now, it still happens.

I know that our church was challenged with this a few years ago. A very warm and personable guy who had huge leadership potential had one problem…he denied the Deity of Christ. He said that Jesus was not Jehovah God but a lesser god. This is a destructive heresy. This denied the Lord who bought us. We had to do something about it and we asked him to leave the church.

Even now, this stuff is happening. We have to be vigilant to protect the church. We have to be aware that there are friendly, warm, hospitable people who bring to us false teaching and we have to guard against it. Just look at Rob Bell. This guy was huge in evangelical circles. He had some catchy videos that people were using in churches. He was cutting edge. He seemed to be an up and coming leader in the church…and then he wrote "Love Wins". A destructive heresy that denies the Lord who bought him. How can I say that? Because in it he writes that in the end, everyone will have a chance whether they put their faith in Christ in this life or not. After all, love wins. God would not condemn people to a place of utter destruction…because love wins. The problem with this is that it is not the truth. Just look at the rest of 2 Pet 2. "These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for who is reserved the blackness of darkness forever." V17. Pretty powerful words if love always wins. And the problem is, if there is no destruction then Jesus died in vain. Why would Jesus have to suffer on the cross if we all had a shot in the end? This is denying the Lord who bought us.

So as Peter reminded the early church, so he reminds me…be aware…be vigilant…stand on the truth.