But false prophets were also among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves.
Truth to Learn
Beware! There are false teachers in the church today.
Behind the Words
“False prophets” is translated from the Greek word, pseudoprophētēs. This is made up of pseudo, meaning “false” and prophētēs, meaning prophet. The word prophētēs is made up of pro, meaning “before, in time or position” and phēmi, meaning “to tell” or “to proclaim.” Thus, the word prophētēs refers to someone proclaiming a message before it occurs, or proclaiming a message before (in front of) other people.
The word translated “destructive” is apōleias which is a compound word made up of apo, used as an intensifier and ollumi, meaning “to destroy.” Hence, it could be interpreted as “completely destructive” or “absolutely destructive.”
The word “heresies” is translated from the Greek word, hairesis. The verb form of which is haireō, meaning “to choose for oneself.” Hence, a heresy is not a God given truth, but a false truth chosen by the false teacher.
“Master” is from the Greek word despotēs, which refers to a person who possesses supreme authority over another. It is the word from which we get our English word “despot.”
Meaning Explained
Having just proclaimed the importance of, and the veracity of the prophetic messages in scriptures, Peter now gives us a warning that we need to heed, especially today! He tells us that in addition to the absolutely truthful and reliable prophets of the Old Testament, there were also those who were masquerading as prophets of God who, in fact, were not prophets of God. Peter says that there will also be false teachers among us, who will not just deny the truth of the Word, but they will teach destructive heresies.
He tells us that the false teachers of today are proclaiming a message that they choose for themselves rather than proclaiming the truth that God intended. And these lies (or mis-truths) will cause absolute destruction, not only to those who believe their lies but to those proclaiming the lies themselves as well. These false teachers will even go so far as to deny their master; literally the text says “disavow the master who bought them,” ultimately bringing destruction on themselves.
There are two things we can learn from this verse. First, we should not be teaching God’s Word unless we are sure it is the Spirit of God who is teaching through us. We who teach are under stricter condemnation if we do not adhere strictly to the truth. James warns us:
My brothers, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we will receive greater judgment. (James 3:1)
In other words, be careful, those of you who want to teach, because teachers of God’s Word will receive a greater punishment for false teaching and for leading others astray.
The other thing we all can learn from today’s verse is that we need to be careful who we believe. Don’t believe any teacher of the Bible simply because he or she claims to teach the truth. Rather, we need to make sure that they are teaching God’s Word and not their own interpretation of religion. The Apostle John said:
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)
Application
Are you searching the Scriptures to see if the things taught in your church are truth? Are you searching the Scriptures to see if the things taught in these daily Bible verse studies are truth? I sure hope so!
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2017 Will Krause. All rights reserved