Dig Deeper:
IT'S NEVER GOING AWAY: By now our entire society is covid-fatigued and ready for the pandemic to be over and done with. But, say the naysayers, once Covid-19 is past, some other nefarious virus will pop up in its place, and we'll have to remain on guard. So it is with false teachers. Chapter two opens by indicating the false teachers were present, are present and will be present in the church. We all differ on the effectiveness of coronavirus protections, but one thing you can never do is drop your guard against those who make every effort to pry you from Christ.
SUPER SPREADERS: One aspect that's made Covid-19 difficult to contain is that it is spread by people who don't know they're infected. None of us at this point would chose to spend time in a confined space with a person with a hacking cough, running nose and spike fever (except hero health care workers). Sometimes false teachers make their disdain for God & the Bible obvious, but often they appear slick and clean with no symptoms of evil (v1-2). We have to begin to realize that unless a person is showing overt symptoms of Christianity, they're massively infected with viral sin. Keep those people quarantined from your life.
SPOILER ALERT: GOD WINS - Peter makes clear that overt sinners will get their comeuppance as they always have. In v4-8 Peter cites fallen angels cast into hell, the Flood account and Sodom & Gomorrah as examples of God's punishment against sin. It can seem like God is ignoring the viral sinners in our day, but as well see tomorrow in chapter 3, God's timing is not our timing. Although each of the stories Peter mentions can be read in a matter of minutes in Genesis, the actual events transpired over decades, sometimes even centuries. Don't think that God is ignoring rampant sin just because you don't see instant retribution, for
they will be paid back for the harm they have done (v13).
MIC DROP: Peter pulls out all of the stops in the second half of this chapter, comparing unrepentant sinners to 'unreasoning animals' (v12), a Hebrew turncoat whose sin was rebuked by an unreasoning animal (v15-16), and finishing with two proverbs showing sinners in the most disgusting way possible: a dog eating its own vomit and a washed sow rolling in the [mud] (Peter doesn't use the G rated word the translations do in v22). Interestingly, the proverb about the dogs comes from Proverbs 26:11, but the proverb about the sow is an ancient Greek proverb. Even pagans can sense the disgusting filth of sin.
COME TO YOUR OWN CONCLUSION HERE: Another interesting aspect of this passage is that it contains no imperatives (commands). All Peter does here is lay out facts: they're will always be false teachers, God will always rescue His people, and sinners are really disgusting. Never once does Peter write "... so stop sinning." He doesn't need to. What particular implied imperative do you take away from this passage for your own life?
Follow the AAA Prayer Pattern:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: The Lord who knows how to rescue the Godly from trials (v9)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask for God's strength to help you flee from the disgust of sin (v1-22)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
