The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV

by John MacArthur

  2:5 did not spare the ancient world. The second illustration serving as precedent for God’s future judgment on false teachers is the judgment on the ancient world through the world-wide flood (cf. Gen. 6–8). The human race was reduced to 8 people by that judgment (cf. 1 Pet. 3:20). a preacher of righteousness. See Gen. 6:9; 7:1. His life spoke of righteousness as he called people to repent and avoid the flood judgment.

  2:6 Sodom and Gomorrah. The third precedent for a future divine judgment on the wicked is the total destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the other lesser surrounding cities (cf. Gen. 13; 18:16–33; 19:1–38; Deut. 29:23). This judgment destroyed every person in the area by incineration. See notes on Jude 7. making them an example. That is, a model, or a pattern. God sent an unmistakable message to all future generations that wickedness results in judgment.

  2:7, 8 delivered righteous Lot. He was righteous, as all the saved are, by faith in the true God. Righteousness was imputed to him, by grace through faith, as it was to Abraham (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:3, 11, 22, 23). There was spiritual weakness in Lot (Gen. 19:6), e.g., immorality (Gen. 19:8) and drunkenness (Gen. 19:33–35). His heart was in Sodom (Gen. 19:16), yet he did hate the sins of his culture and strongly sought ways to protect God’s angels from harm. He obeyed the Lord in not looking back at Sodom (Gen. 19). In both of the illustrations where God rendered a wholesale judgment on all living people (once on the whole earth, and once in the whole region of the plain S of the Dead Sea), Peter pointed out that God’s people were rescued (v. 5; cf. v. 9). The Gr. word for “oppressed” implies that Lot was troubled deeply and tortured (the meaning of “tormented”) with the immoral, outrageous behavior of the people living in and around Sodom and Gomorrah. Tragically, it is ordinary for believers today no longer to be shocked by the rampant sin in their society.

  2:9 to deliver the godly out of temptations. The Gr. word for “temptations” can mean “an attack with intent to destroy” (cf. Mark 8:11; Luke 4:12; 22:28; Acts 20:29; Rev. 3:10) and refers to severe divine judgment. The pattern of the plan of God is to rescue the godly before His judgment falls on the wicked. to reserve the unjust. The wicked are kept like prisoners awaiting the sentencing that will send them to their eternal prison (cf. v. 4). The final judgment on the wicked is called the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:11–15) where all the ungodly of all the ages will be raised, judged finally, and cast into the lake of fire.

  2:10 walk according to the flesh. Cf. Jude 6. Like the wicked of Noah’s and Lot’s time, the false teachers of Peter’s era were slaves to the corrupt desires of the flesh. despise authority. “Authority” comes from the same Gr. word as “lord” (1:2). The false teachers identified with Christ outwardly, but they would not live under His lordship. The two major characteristics of false teachers are emphasized in this verse: 1) lust and 2) arrogance. presumptuous, self-willed. “Presumptuous” is to be brazen, audacious, and defiant. “Self-willed” is to be obstinate, determined in one’s own way. speak evil of dignitaries. Cf. Jude 8. To speak evil is to ridicule and blaspheme. “Dignitaries” refers to angels, probably wicked angels. Wicked angels have a level of existence in the supernatural world that has a dignity and a transcendent quality about it that is beyond humanity (Eph. 6:12). A certain honor belongs to those who transcend time. Consequently, there must be no flippancy regarding Satan and his angels. It may even be that these teachers tried to excuse their wicked lusts by pointing to the angels in Genesis 6 “who did not keep their proper domain” (Jude 6). The blasphemy of even bad angels by the false teachers demonstrated their arrogance and antipathy toward any authority, be it good or bad.

  2:11 angels, who are greater in power. A reference to the holy angels, who are greater in power than human beings. do not bring a reviling accusation. Unlike false teachers who are defiant toward higher powers, the holy angels so revere their Lord that they will not speak insults against any authority. Even the archangel, Michael, recognizing the great presence and power of Satan, refused to speak evil of him (see notes on Jude 8, 9), but called on the Lord to do so (see note on Zech. 3:2). No believer should be so boldly foolish as to mock or command the power of supernatural demons, especially Satan.

  2:12 like natural brute beasts. Cf. Jude 10. The false teachers have no sensitivity to the power and presence of demons or holy angels, but like wild animals, insubordinate, insolent, and arrogant, they charge into the supernatural realm, cursing away at persons and matters they don’t understand. utterly perish. Since they live like beasts who are “made to be caught and destroyed,” the false teachers will be killed like beasts. False teachers cannot get beyond their own instincts and thus will be destroyed by the folly of those passions.

  2:13 the wages of unrighteousness. Immorality and arrogant boldness will not pay in the end. It will rob and destroy. carouse in the daytime. Sinning during the day without the cover of darkness was a sign of low-level wickedness in Roman society (cf. 1 Thess. 5:7). But these false teachers are so consumed with lust and rebellion that they are pleased not to wait for the night. Their unbridled passions consume them. spots and blemishes. Cf. Jude 10. That is, dirt spots and scabs. They are opposite to the character of Christ (1 Pet. 1:19). The church should be like her Lord (Eph. 5:27). carousing…while they feast with you. The false teachers, feigning to be teachers of truth while sitting with Christians at church love-feasts, were behaving arrogantly and immorally even on such occasions intended for Christian fellowship. Though attempting to cover their corruption with religious talk, they were filthy defects on these church gatherings (cf. 2 John 9–11; Jude 12).

  2:14 eyes full of adultery. The false teachers had so totally lost moral control that they could not look at any woman without seeing her as a potential adulteress (cf. Matt. 5:28). They were uncontrollably driven by lust, never resting from their sins. enticing unstable souls. The metaphor is from fishing and appears also in v. 18. To beguile is to catch with bait. False teachers do not capture those strong in the Word, but prey on the weak, the unstable, and the young in the faith (see 3:16; cf. Eph. 4:14; 1 John 2:13). heart trained in covetous practices. The word “trained,” was often used for training in athletics. The false teachers have trained, prepared, and equipped their minds to concentrate on nothing but the forbidden things for which their passions lust. They are well schooled in the craft of self-fulfillment. accursed children. This is a Hebraism for the curse of sin being the dominant thing in their lives, thus saying that they are damned to hell for their blatant wickedness. Cf. Gal. 3:10, 13; Eph. 2:1–3; 1 Pet. 1:14.

  2:15 forsaken the right way. The “right way” is an OT metaphor for obedience to God (cf. Acts 13:10). Balaam. Cf. Jude 11. Balaam served as an illustration and example of such false prophets. He was an OT compromising prophet for sale to whomever paid him, who preferred wealth and popularity over faithfulness and obedience to God (Num. 22–24). Through a talking donkey, God kept him from cursing Israel (v. 16; cf. Num 22:21–35).

  2:17 wells without water. In this verse, Peter uses two poetic figures (“wells” and “clouds”) which represent a precious commodity in the Middle East. A well without water would be a major disappointment in a hot and dry land. Likewise, false teachers have a pretense of spiritual water to quench the thirsty soul, but they actually have nothing to give. clouds carried by a tempest. The coming of clouds would seem to promise rain, but sometimes the storm would blow the clouds on by, leaving the land dry and hot. The false teachers might seem to promise spiritual refreshment, but were all show with no substance (cf. Jude 12). the blackness of darkness. That is, hell (cf. Matt. 8:12; Jude 13.)

  2:18 great swelling words of emptiness. Cf. Jude 16. That is, ostentatious verbosity. The false teachers deceive the weak with high sounding words that masquerade as scholarship or profound spiritual insight, and even as direct revelation from God. They may contradict the plain historic teachings of Scripture which in some cases they are not able to explain properly because of their lack of adequate training and divine wisdom (cf. 1 Cor. 2:14). In
reality, they say nothing genuinely scholarly, or spiritual, or divine. allure through…lewdness. Nevertheless, in spite of all the empty talk, false teachers entice others to their philosophies by appealing to people on the baser level. Seduction, rather than the winsomeness of truth, is their ploy. They offer people a kind of religion that they can embrace and still hold on to their fleshly desires and sensuality. Peter may also be implying that false teachers particularly aim to seduce women through sensual methods. actually escaped…error. The preferred translation is “barely escaping” or “trying to escape.” This is a description not of saved people, but of people who are vulnerable because they have high levels of guilt and anxieties—people with broken marriages, people who are lonely and tired of the consequences of sin and are looking for a new start, even for religion or help from God. The false teachers exploit these kinds of people.

  2:19 promise them liberty. False teachers promise those “trying to escape” the struggles of life, the very freedom they seek. slaves of corruption. The false teachers can’t deliver the freedom they promise, because they themselves are enslaved to the very corruption which people are trying to escape. overcome…bondage. Whoever puts himself, in the name of freedom, into the hands of a false teacher, who is a prisoner himself, also becomes a prisoner. Bondage to corruption awaits all followers of false teachers.

  2:20 escaped the pollutions of the world. “Pollutions” has the idea of putrid or poisonous vapors. Morally, the world gives off a deadly influence. Peter notes that at some point in time, these false teachers and their followers wanted to escape the moral contamination of the world system and sought religion, even Jesus Christ (on their terms, not His; see notes on v. 1). But these false teachers had never genuinely been converted to Christ. They heard the true gospel and moved toward it, but then rejected the Christ of that gospel. That is apostasy, like the people of Heb. 10:26, 27. Their last end is far worse than the first (for examples of apostasy, see Luke 11:24–26; 12:47, 48; 1 Cor. 10:1–12; Heb. 3:12–18; 6:6; 10:26, 38ff; 1 John 2:19; Jude 4–6).

  2:21 to turn from the holy commandment. Lit., “to turn back.” This verse describes the perversion and defection of the false teachers. They professed the Christian experience (the way of righteousness; cf. Matt. 21:32), and even had access to the true teachings of Scripture. But by their lives they demonstrated that they ultimately had chosen to reject Christ (cf. Heb. 10:26–31). Such false teachers as Peter was describing were not made outside Christianity. They are always bred in the church, half in and half out; but eventually they reject the truth and try to seduce others in their attempt to fulfill their self-gratification.

  2:22 dog…sow. Two graphic analogies of an apostate. The first from Proverbs 26:11; the second is Peter’s own.

  2 Peter 3

  3:1 Beloved. This attitude toward the readers of his letter reflects Peter’s pastoral concern (cf. 1 Pet. 5:1–4). this second epistle. That is, second to 1 Peter (see Introduction). your pure minds. A good commendation which demonstrates that Peter believed that his readers were genuine Christians. “Pure” means uncontaminated, unmixed by the seductive influences of the world, the flesh, and the devil. How different the true believers were from the corrupt apostate false teachers (2:10–22). Peter sought to impress on his readers the truth they already knew so that their sanctified reason and spiritual discernment would be able to detect and refute the purveyors of false doctrine.

  3:2 holy prophets. The OT prophets are in view, who were holy in contrast to the unholy false teachers. God’s Word was written by those prophets in the Scriptures (see notes on 1:19–21). In particular those prophets warned about coming judgment (e.g., Ps. 50:1–4; Is. 13:10–13; 24:19–23; Mic. 1:4; Mal. 4:1, 2), and even about the coming of the Lord (Zech. 14:1–9). the commandment of us. Peter is referring to the warnings which he and the other apostles had written regarding judgment (Jude 17). apostles of the Lord. The apostles (see notes on Rom. 1:1; Eph. 4:11) of Christ filled the 260 chapters of the NT with about 300 references to the second coming. NT revelation about the Christ coming to gather His own, warnings about eschatological judgments, information about the establishment of His kingdom, and teaching concerning God’s bringing in eternal righteousness, are the irrefutable proof for the second coming of Christ and the judgment of the wicked.

  3:3 knowing this first. “First,” here means the preeminent matter, not the first in a list. Peter’s priority in this section of his letter is to warn Christians about how the false teachers would try to deny this judgment and steal the hope of believers. scoffers will come. False teachers argue against the second coming of Christ or any teaching of Scripture through ridicule (cf. Is. 5:19; Jude 18). in the last days. This phrase refers to that entire period of time from the arrival of the Messiah to His return (cf. Acts 2:17; Gal. 4:4; 2 Tim. 3:1; Heb. 1:2; James 5:3; 1 Pet. 1:20; 1 John 2:18, 19; Jude 18). The entire age will be marked by saboteurs of the Christian truth and especially the hope of Christ’s return. walking according to their own lusts. “Walking” speaks of the way of conduct, the course of lifestyle. Peter again speaks of the lifestyle of the false teachers, which was characterized by sexual lusts (cf. 2:2, 10, 13, 14, 18), pounding home his warning. False teachers who know not the truth and know not God have nothing to restrain their lusts. They particularly mock the second coming of Jesus Christ because they want to pursue impure sexual pleasure without consequence, or without having to face divine retribution. They want an eschatology that fits their conduct (cf. 1 John 2:28, 29; 3:2, 3).

  3:4 Where is the promise of His coming? The early church believed that Jesus was coming back imminently (cf. 1 Cor. 15:51; 1 Thess. 1:10; 2:19; 4:15–18; 5:1, 2). These scoffers employed an emotional argument against imminency rather than a biblical argument. Their argument played on ridicule and disappointment. the fathers. The OT patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (cf. Rom. 9:5; Heb. 1:1). all things continue as they were. This argument against the second coming of Christ is based on the theory of uniformitarianism, which says that all natural phenomena have operated uniformly since the beginning of the earth. The false teachers were also implying that God is absent from earth affairs. In effect, they were teaching that, “There will not be a great cataclysmic judgmental event at the end of history, because that is not how the universe works. There never has been such a judgment, so why should we expect one in the future? Instead, everything in the universe is stable, closed, fixed, and governed by never varying patterns and principles of evolution. Nothing catastrophic has ever happened in the past, so nothing catastrophic ever will happen in the future. There will be no divine invasion, no supernatural judgment on mankind.”

  3:5 they willfully forget. The false teachers, in their quest to avoid the doctrine of judgment, deliberately ignore the two major previous divine cataclysmic events—creation and the flood. by the word of God the heavens were of old. Creation was God’s stepping into the emptiness and bringing the universe into existence, not by uniformitarianism, but by an instantaneous, explosive 6-day creation. Everything has not gone along in some consistent, unvarying evolutionary process. In six, 24 hour days the whole universe was created mature and complete (see notes on Gen. 1; 2). earth standing out of water and in the water. The earth was formed between two realms of watery mass. During the early part of the creation week, God collected the upper waters into a canopy around the whole earth, and the lower waters into underground reservoirs, rivers, lakes, and seas. See notes on Gen. 1:2–10.

  3:6 by which. That is, by water. God, by creating water above and below, built into His creation the tool of its destruction. the world that then existed. A reference to the pre-flood world order. This world included the physical arrangement with the canopy above, the waters in the underground reservoirs, rivers, lakes, and seas below, and the heavens in the middle. The pre-flood world, sheltered from the sun’s destructive ultraviolet rays, and with a gentle climate without rain, storms, and winds, was characterized by long life of humans (Gen. 5) and the ability of the e
arth (like a green house) to produce extensively. perished, being flooded with water. The second great divine cataclysm that defeats the idea of uniformitarianism, was the universal flood which drowned the whole earth and altered that originally created world order. According to Genesis 7:11ff., the flood occurred from two directions: first, the bursting open of the sources of water below as the earth cracked open and gas, dust, water, and air burst up; then came the breakup of the canopy when hit by all that upward flow, which sent the water from above crashing down on the earth. The deluge was so cataclysmic that the inhabitants of the earth were all destroyed, except 8 people and a representation of every kind of animal (see notes on Gen. 7:11–24). Clearly, by those two great events, it is certain that the world is not in a uniformitarian process.

  3:7 which are now. Humanity, since the flood, lives in the second world order. One of the obvious differences between the two world-orders is that people live 70 years in the present world not 900 years, which was a common age of pre-Flood human beings. And Peter was making the point that there is a third form of the heavens and earth yet to come following another cataclysm. are now preserved by the same word. The present world system is reserved for future judgment, which will come by the Word of God just as creation and the flood came. God will speak it into existence as well, after the present order is again destroyed. reserved for fire. God put the rainbow in the sky to signify that He would never destroy the world again by water (Gen. 9:13). In the future, God will destroy the heavens and the earth by fire (cf. Is. 66:15; Dan. 7:9, 10; Mic. 1:4; Mal. 4:1; Matt. 3:11, 12; 2 Thess. 1:7, 8). In the present universe, the heavens are full of stars, comets, and asteroids. The core of the earth is also filled with a flaming, boiling, liquid lake of fire, the temperature of which is some 12,400 degrees Fahrenheit. The human race is separated from the fiery core of the earth by only a thin 10 mile crust. Far more than that, the whole of creation is a potential fire bomb due to its atomic structure. As man from atoms creates destructive bombs that burn a path of death, so God can disintegrate the whole universe in an explosion of atomic energy (see notes on vv. 10–12). until the day of judgment…of ungodly men. The earth waits for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. The godly will not be present on earth when God speaks into existence the judgment by fire (cf. 1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9).