2 Peter 2:1-3 ESV
“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
What is a heresy? It is a dissent (opposition) to and a deviation
(departure) from the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am certain there
are many, but the primary one is the cheap grace gospel. For, it instructs, or
it implies that one can be saved and bound for heaven, but that he doesn’t have
to repent of his sins, submit to Jesus as Lord, or obey God and his commands.
Those false teachers who teach this false gospel, thus, give
free license to their adherents to continue living in sin, only now without
guilt. So, their followers believe that a prayer or a confession or a stated
belief in Jesus will be enough to secure them heaven no matter how they live
their lives while they are still on the earth.
And, that belief is denying Jesus Christ as Lord and Master
of their lives. For, it submits not to him as Lord. For, it also does not
believe in the necessity of walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands. And, it
will not die with Christ to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, even
though that is the very reason Jesus gave his life for us (Rom. 6:1-23; Eph.
4:17-24; 1 Pet. 2:24).
And, many are indeed following their sensuality. Much of the
church in America has gone the way of the world, attracting the people of the
world to their gatherings by doing what will entertain them and what will make
them feel at home so they will want to come back. But the world shouldn’t feel
at home in the gatherings of the church.
By accepting this cheap grace gospel, the church overall has
been on a massive spiritual and moral decline, which is then reflected in the
overall decline of our nation, too, because the church at large has lost its
saltiness and has buried its light, for they have become one with the world
instead.
Porn addiction is high among men and pastors in the church.
It is growing in numbers among the women, and it is high among children, too,
especially young boys. Families are destroyed. Marriages are broken. Children
are being abused and sacrificed on the altar of their parents’ idols. And,
since much of the leadership is also following the lusts of their flesh, they
are not doing much if anything to address sinful addictive behaviors, and to
stop them in their tracks. So, the church is a mess.
And, those who are teaching the lie or who are following the
lie need to know the truth. And, the truth is that if you walk according to the
flesh, you will die in your sins, not have eternal life with God (Rom. 8:1-17;
Lu. 9:23-26; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; 1 Jn. 2:3-6; Gal. 5:16-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8).
2 Peter 2:12-15 ESV
“But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray.”
There is a secular song, I think from the 1990’s, which is
called “Constant Craving.” The Lord put that in my mind today, as he has done
before when I was to write on this subject. For, “constant craving” of the
flesh is what this is talking about here, and it never satisfies. It always
goes back for more of the same. And, often it will become even more sexually
deviant because “normal” no longer satisfies. But this is about addictive
sinful behavior.
Those who live according to the flesh, who constantly crave
what is sinful, what is immoral, and what is abnormal, are creatures of
instinct like unreasoning animals. For, they don’t use their minds to think and
to reason out if what they are about to do is bad, or to consider who it might
hurt. They don’t care. All they care about is their lusts and fulfilling their
lustful passions. They are like brute beasts.
They have no real conscience, for their conscience is seared.
Even if they do sometimes confess wrongdoing, if all they do is sin, confess,
sin, confess, with no obvious signs of moving forward away from the sin to
walks of holiness, then the confession is not truthful. It is not sincere. It
can even be just a game that they play with others, too.
So, they can sin right in front of you and bold face lie
about it, either about what they are planning to do or what they have already
done. And, they can fake sincerity, and fake honesty all the while they know
they are lying and cheating and that they are deep in sin. For their sin
consumes them. It has them captive. So, they can sit right across from you and
say they are pure in heart and mind while their eyes are full of lust and
adultery.
And, those who are deep into addiction to sin are dangerous
for you because they are likely to attempt to drag you right down with them.
For, sin loves company and it hates the light, so if you are walking in the
light, one who is deep in sin may try to entice you to join in with him or with
her.
So, guard your hearts against such as these. Be discerning.
Listen to the Lord and not to your emotions. Don’t compromise with the world
even one bit, for one compromise leads to another and then to another and then
you end up desensitized to the sin, and then you fall into the trap of the
devil. Stay in the Word and walk in obedience to the Lord. Resist the devil,
flee temptation, and draw near to God in full assurance of faith.
2 Peter 2:17-19 ESV
“These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.”
And, this is where it gets dangerous. There are so many liars
and deceivers out there – so many wolves in sheep’s clothing leading people
astray. So many of them are winsome, charming, friendly, and persuasive. And,
so many of them are spreading that cheap grace gospel which appeases the flesh
of man and which does not put the flesh to death.
But the message they are teaching sounds like the truth, on
a surface level. They quote Scriptures, but usually out of context, to support
what they teach, too. And, they make it sound so good and so inviting, too.
And, so the masses are flocking to it. And, they are propagating it, as well.
But it isn’t just that they are leading people away from
Jesus and his Lordship, and away from repentance, and away from obedience to
Christ, as Lord, but they are coming against the true gospel, and they are
attacking it, and are attempting to discredit it, and to attack its messengers,
too.
For, this is of Satan who wants to destroy Jesus and his gospel
and his church and his messengers. So, they are convincing the masses that
freedom from sin is merely freedom from the punishment of sin and that it is
freedom to continue living in sin only now without guilt. That is what they
call freedom. But that is still bondage.
For under this false gospel no one is delivered from his
addiction to sin, just the punishment of sin. So, their followers are still
enslaved to sin and bound for hell, not heaven. So, they are being lied to, and
far too many are believing the lies. So, we need to reject these lies and we
need to believe the truth which will deliver you from your addiction to sin.
Walking
in The Light
An
Original Work / November 16, 2011
Based
off 1 John 1-2
When I lift up my voice, and
Sing praise unto God,
I will fellowship with my
Lord and Savior, King.
In Him there is no darkness.
He is in the light of truth.
If we walk in His light,
From sin He purifies.
If we repent of our sins,
He’ll forgive us now,
When we humble ourselves, and
Before Jesus bow.
The man who says, “I know Him,”
But does not obey His truth,
There is no truth in him.
In darkness still he’s found.
Do not love the world of sin,
For it is hell bound.
If you follow the world, you’ll
Not in Christ be found.
The world and its desires
Will not last; they’ll expire.
The one who does God’s will,
Receives eternal life.
See that what you have heard from
Christ remains in you.
Then, you’ll remain in Christ, and
In His Father, too.
This is what He promised us –
His eternal life with God.
So, continue in Him, and
You’ll receive a crown.
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