2 Peter - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

created them. In some cases, the lusts of the flesh and the depraved debauchery involved
are more refined; in other cases, they are just as blatantly evil now as they were
thousands of years ago. The young believers Peter refers to just barely escape the errors
that their fellow reversionistic believers have embraced wholeheartedly (Durative Present
tense). The flesh, the world, and the devil are serious foes. The delusion, the deception,
and the lure of pseudo-happiness is always presented in a form that caters to your own
weaknesses. Satan has a demonic host that knows from direct observation exactly what
your lust patterns are. Without Bible doctrine and the filling of the Spirit, you don’t stand
a chance against such enemies.
Most commentators admit to a difficulty in putting the pieces of this passage together. In
my opinion, there are two groups of three in this verse. There are three types of person:
false teachers, new believers who have just enough doctrine to escape the lures of the
false teachers, and reversionistic believers who have already embraced a lifestyle based
on error and deception. There are three types of activity utilized by the false teachers:
arrogant speaking on things that are blatantly absurd to any believer with an ounce of
truth in his soul, enticing by means of various lust patterns of the sin nature, and illicit
sexual behavior. The most difficult part of this verse is the last phrase; who are those
whom the young believers are barely escaping from? Let me pose a question: If you
witness to an unbeliever who asks rather complicated questions that you can’t answer,
what do you do? Usually you try to find a believer who is trained in that topic, a spiritual
mentor.
In other words, you bring in an expert – a mature believer in the faith, or one who has
taken a course in apologetics who can better handle philosophical discussions. In the
same manner, when a young believer with a little doctrine in the soul counters a heresy
being spread by fellow believers who are in reversionism, what do they do? They call in
the big guns, the false teachers that led them into their current state of cosmic
enslavement. The false teachers would then use their ‘expertise’ to convince the young
believers that their understanding of doctrine is incorrect. They will separate the young,
questioning believers from their reversionistic brethren so: (a) the reversionistic believers
don’t hear the discussions and wise up, and (b) they can concentrate on crafting just the
right set of false concepts to bring the new believers into their sphere of influence. I’ve
seen this work in corporate politics all too many times; the false teachers are usually
consultants.
RELEVANT OPINIONS
Peter’s concern is for the new Christians who still have not had sufficient training in the faith
to oppose the evil one. In general, novices in the Christian faith readily can be lured back to
the ways of the world. (S. Kistemaker) “Doctrines of demons” enter your inventory of ideas
when your volition operates without truth – without divine establishment, the Gospel, and
Bible doctrine. This absence of truth, this vacuum in the soul, is called in the Greek
mataiotes, emptiness, vanity. The vacuum draws in false doctrines, filling your soul with
arrogance and antagonism. When you reject Bible doctrine, you receive the alternative,
satanic doctrine, with destructive effect ... Reversionists are impressed with the rhetoric of