False Teachers and Destructive Heresies — Alan Martin

So this week, we will begin the actual description that Peter gives of the conditions and teachings that will be introduced into the last days that he knew that those he was writing to would be facing.

We've already dealt with chapter 1 about the importance of giving all diligence to amend our faith and add to it, develop it, strengthen it. And by having these spiritual amendments, you know, of virtue and knowledge and godliness and self-control and brotherly kindness and love, if they are innocent abound, they keep us from becoming ineffective and unproductive.

And by having these things and doing these things, it says we'll never fall. That's how we make our calling and election sure. And through that vibrancy of spiritual life, we make for ourselves a rich entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

And then he mentions right before he goes into the false prophets that the certainty of the word of God's prophets, men who spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit, none of whom spoke by their own private interpretation, but they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

And he tells us that we do well to pay attention to what they said, as if it were a light shining in a dark place. And then in contrast, he mentions, but there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you.

And that means, that's sad for us, isn't it? You know, Paul looked at his fellow Ephesian elders. He looked right at them and said, among you, there savage wolves will arise. Can you imagine talking to people you know?

What if I turned to some of you and just said, you know, as loving you as you are, there's some wolves among us. Now I'm not saying that, but you can do the difficulty. You can cut the air with a knife, but these things happen.

Peter is saying among you. He's not saying among out there. This is difficult. Amongst you, amongst your brothers and sisters, false teachers will arise. And what they're going to do is secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them, and bringing on themselves swift destruction.

Now let's look at the word heresies. You've probably heard it. It means, what it really means, it's simple, it's a choice. It's a personal choice that someone makes. And it highlights, it's a very subjective, it's an individual nature of this specific opinion.

Because it usually arises out of a person. It's unique to a teacher before it gains wide acceptance by those who embrace it. In other words, it's something a man chose to believe. For whatever reasons, he came to that opinion, or he came to that belief.

It's something he embraced, began to teach, and then it gained a wide acceptance. And these heresies, this is kind of a strange word, are pseudo-truths. And that's actually a very different word because pseudo means false.

So it's a false truth. It appears to be true because the teacher claims to have discovered it from his careful study or he's received special insight by divine guidance from the Lord. But these teachings are personal teachings and they're usually distinctive to this individual insight.

You'll find that they're hard to harmonize with the consistent writings of the apostles, of Peter and John, James, Jude, the other gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And the word destructive, because he said the destructive heresies, comes from the Greek word apoleia.

The very literal form of the word means to loose away from. So the idea is these heresies, they cause someone to be loosed away or cut off from what is sound or what's solid. It does not imply annihilation.

It doesn't destroy them. Instead, it cuts them off from what is good for them. It's a loss of well-being. Like for example, the 40 years wandering in the wilderness of the people of Israel, they were alive, they ate manna every day, the temple was with them, God still led them in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, but they were just there until that entire generation died outside the promised land.

So they weren't destroyed, but it was a slow annihilation. And here's an example. This is a first example of one of these destructive heresies, and let's see if it sounds familiar to you. In 1 Timothy 6 .9, Paul wrote Timothy, that those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

There's that word. Same word, apoleia. So the same word that Peter used, Paul's using here to Timothy. Are you familiar with prosperity teachers? Does that ring a bell to you? It's a broad term, and we don't want to necessarily decide, you have to decide who fits into that category, but in general, there is teaching out there, and many of them will call themselves word of faith teachers, and they advocate, and it's very popular in our country and in some other places around the world, that God desires for all His children to be financially wealthy and physically healthy.

That is His will. That poverty and sickness are the result of unbelief or lack of understanding on our part. They teach that prosperity and health are God's will. Jesus Christ earned it for us on the cross.

They'll say, by His stripes, you are healed. And so if you don't experience healing, it's a lack of faith on your part. So because it's God's will, all you have to do is just name it and claim it. And they will advocate that if you give in faith, you know, God promises to multiply to you a hundred times.

So if you give, if you give a hundred dollars, how much will God give you back? Ten thousand. That's a pretty good return on your money, you know? Do you think this is a popular teaching? It has taken the United States, it's in every state in the United States.

This is, it's become very widespread. Another example, maybe closer to home for us. Jude, in verse four, and I said that in our study, we would be following 2 Peter and Jude because they have very similar, they cover the same area in the last days.

So in Jude, verse four, we read, For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation. They are ungodly men, and they transpose the grace of our God into indulgence, and deny the only Master and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, I use the term indulgence for a Greek word, aselgia. And I'll explain what that is in a minute. The word transpose, they transpose the grace of God, comes from the Greek word metatheme. And it means, if there's two things, you change their places.

So you put one thing in the place of another. So in the place of the grace of God, these men actually cause the grace of God to become indulgence. The Greek word for indulgence is aselgia. And aselgia was a city that was famous for the strict morality of its citizens.

So the word for aselgia came to mean a person without restraint. He could do what he wanted, enjoy what he wanted, and he wasn't restrained by any sense of moral contents. So how is it possible for a teacher amongst Christians, a teacher amongst people who call themselves Christians, who gather to worship Jesus Christ, how is it possible for a person like that to transpose grace and indulgence?

And do you see here that I say, I believe that it primarily happens by very sincere men. I don't believe that these men believe they're doing anything wrong. I believe they are simply teaching grace as they understand it.

They're just doing the best they can to explain grace as they see it. And wouldn't that be one of the hardest forms of deception to detect? It's not a person that's doing something deliberately evil. It's a person sincere and dedicated and a person who believes he's actually helping someone.

And what he says is resonating with those that he's speaking with. Well, this is happening. Now, the question is how does this take place? How is it that grace could actually be transposed to something without restraint, to an indulgence?

Well, by teaching something called, these are my words and let me explain them, imputation without impartation. To impute means to credit to your account. That means to impute. There's a theological term called imputed righteousness.

And that means that the righteousness of Jesus Christ is credited to our account. There was an account before God. God takes the righteousness of Jesus and he credits his righteousness to our account.

That's what imputed means. But notice, I didn't say imputation is wrong, did I? I said imputation without impartation. The problem is not that there's not a truth in the righteousness of Christ being imputed to our account.

But if it's not taught that Christ's life, Christ's power is imparted to us through the Holy Spirit, what happens is a person can get the feeling that he's good. The Bible teaches that our faith is reckoned to us as righteousness.

And the word reckoned is just another word for imputed. It's credited to us as righteousness. So men teach that God credits Christ's righteousness to our account. Now, you all have heard that, right? That sounds right, doesn't it?

It is right, so far as it goes. Now, let me encourage you to do this. If you type in on the internet, if you have the internet, and you type in, when God looks at us, he only sees what Jesus did. Or if you could type in, when God looks at us, he only sees Jesus.

I encourage you to type it in. You know what will come up? Preachers, sermons, pages and pages, this is being taught. That God doesn't even see you when he looks at you. When he looks at you, what he sees is he sees Jesus.

And they're teaching this based upon this imputed righteousness as a legal pardon. God gives you a legal pardon for your sin. You have it, it's by decree. When he gives it to you through faith, as far as God's court is concerned, your entire record, your past is erased, and Jesus' perfect record is credited to you.

Entirely, it's credited to you. That's good news. But, the righteousness of Jesus is far more than just a judicial decree. That's the key. It's more than just a judicial pardon. It is a pardon. That's forgiveness.

Our past sins are forgiven. God does wipe them out. He does cancel them. Christ's death did die for us in our place. He did take the punishment of our sin. But, the righteousness of Jesus is a dynamic spiritual power that is imparted to us through his divine nature.

We actually participate in his very life. So, it's more than just a legal pardon. It's more than just being right in God's court. It is a living, dynamic, enabling power of righteousness. And, that needs to be what is taught.

Grace is a free gift. But, this free gift is not mere static or positional righteousness. I know I'm having to explain these terms tonight. Static means a state. That just means that God gives you the state.

You are considered righteous. You're in a state of righteousness because he grants it as a gift. He looks at you as righteous because you're in Christ. And so, positionally, he sees you as righteous because he sees his son Jesus in you.

And, it's not about what you do at all. So, when God looks at you, what he sees is you trusted his son. So, it's not even about what you do anymore. You are in a state of righteousness. You are in a position of righteousness.

And, it's permanent. And so, what you do really doesn't matter anymore. You're not going to be judged based upon what you do. He considers you righteous because that's the state and the position that you're in.

However, the grace of God is the very dynamic power of Christ's life given to us for practical righteousness. Now, you tell me. See if I'm communicating. What would be the difference between practical righteousness and positional righteousness?

If you follow me. Right. Practical righteousness would be a righteousness that actually you do. That changes how you talk. It changes your relationship with the people in your life. It changes you as an employee.

It changes you as a husband. It changes you as a father. It changes you as a mother. It changes you as a child. It changes you as a citizen. It affects your communication. It affects your response. It is very practical.

It touches every area of your life. And it transforms your conduct. And if teachers are teaching that positional righteousness without the dynamic aspect of the power of Christ's life to transform us, it's an incomplete teaching on grace.

Now, note this. Grace is not given because we are holy. That's not why God gives us grace. We're given grace while we're sinners, right? But notice. This is very important. We are given grace to empower us to become holy.

That's the reason God has given us His grace. That we become holy. And holy in what way? This is what Paul said in his letter to Titus 2, verses 11 and 12. This is the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared unto all men.

And it is training us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. And you see that word, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly?

The word live means we should conduct our lives. Soberly, righteously, and godly in this world. So in other words, the grace of God that really brings salvation is more than positional. It's more than static.

It's dynamic. And it's dynamic that it literally trains us in a holy conduct. That's the genuine grace of God. In 1 Peter 1, verses 14 -16, Peter says, As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lust as in your ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.

Because it is written, be holy for I am holy. Or you could actually translate it, become holy for I am holy. The difference between this kind of admonition and a teaching that makes grace, the emphasis of grace being positional, would be this.

God sees you as holy right now. He sees you as perfect right now. And this is being taught. This is gaining wide acceptance. That when He looks at you, He sees Jesus. You already are holy. So you don't need to worry about trying to be holy.

You can never be holy. You don't need to worry about being good because you can never be good. It's not about what you do at all. When God looks at you, it's Jesus He sees. And so, as long as you believe in Jesus, that's all that matters.

And you can see why this is a fine line, isn't it? Between truth of what the Bible teaches and things, which aspect of these truths men can emphasize. But we know this, God's goal, God's purpose for His grace is godly conduct that brings Him honor and glory, isn't it?

I've been teaching since I've been here because it's a burden on my heart. When I understood through the prophets, through those that Simon Peter said we should pay attention to, those prophetic men who spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit, in Jeremiah, and in Ezekiel, and in Malachi, and several other of the prophets, when they spoke of the reason that God was going to make a new covenant, they said that the reason God was going to make a new covenant is because the people of the first covenant had continually caused His name to be dishonored by their disobedience and their bad conduct.

Their unfaithfulness had caused God's shame and reproach everywhere they went. And what happens, if we're not careful, when men stress positional righteousness, and that positional righteousness meaning because of your profession of faith, because you're a Christian, God sees you as perfect already.

When they stress that without empowering righteousness, this can result in the false assumption that, well, Jesus' perfect conduct is credited to me by faith. I will not be judged for my conduct. You think, what's the implication of that?

How many of you have ever really witnessed on the street, been out on the street? I've been out there. I've gone street witnessing. I run into people all the time. People that were as drunk they could hardly stand on their feet.

And you know what they told me? I'm a Christian. When God looks at me, He sees Jesus. And it's not about what I do. I'm already perfect because I have put my faith in Christ. Where did they get that? They got that from someone stressing positional righteousness without empowering righteousness, without transformation.

And this has gripped people. I mean, wouldn't that be good news? Wouldn't it be good news? You could take whatever drugs you want, drink what you want, be married however many times you want, and you're not going to be judged for that.

You put your faith in Christ so it's not about what you do. You're considered a Christian. You're considered righteous by virtue of you believe in Jesus. You're just as right as the person who's faithful in church, serving others, denying himself.

It's your position. It's not about your conduct. This is a teaching. It's gained wide acceptance. I don't know if you all notice, I mean, how many of you here have a Christian television station that you watch?

So if you do, listen for this. Look and see if you hear this. Because if it's not been pointed out to you, sometimes you won't even realize, huh, I didn't realize that that's what they were saying. That actually fulfills what Peter said, certain men have secretly slipped in, and they've actually changed the original grace of God for this lack of restraint.

Well, doesn't it make sense? If you believe that God already sees you as perfect, and it's not about what you do at all, would that make you strict or careful about your life, or would it make you loose?

You see? You see what happens? It causes a lax in your Christian walk. So, both Peter and Jude introduced the next characteristics of these false teachers, and they both used this phrase about these teachers, that they deny the Lord.

And deny, the Greek word for deny means to contradict, or refuse to affirm, or confess. Now, this is strange. Because he's saying these teachers, who do you think these teachers are saying is the Son of God?

These teachers are saying Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the Son of God. How could they teach in a Christian church if they weren't saying that? So, how can someone, who's teaching that Jesus Christ is God's Son, still be denying the Lord?

Have you thought about that? How is that possible? Well, it makes sense that Peter says that they slip in unaware, so we need to... I'll show you the two verses first before we talk about it a little further.

This is the actual verse in Jude. Men who turn the grace of God into indulgence, and deny the only Master and our Lord Jesus Christ. And in Peter, Peter chapter 2 verse 1, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who brought them.

You see, both of them use nearly the exact same phrase. So, both of them, separately by the Holy Spirit, were warning the believers, that there were going to be false teachers, coming in, who even in their teaching, Christians end up denying the Lord.

Is that strange? Does it seem strange to you? It is strange. So, the question we would need to ask then is, how? How can someone, who is professing faith in Jesus, actually deny Him, or contradict, or refuse to affirm or confess?

Well, the New Testament talks about this. In his second letter to Timothy, in chapter 3 verse 5, Paul mentions this, about people in the last days. We'll get to verse 5, ok? We'll get to verse 5, but let me read you the whole passage, from verse 1 to verse 5.

The reason I want to read the whole passage to you, is because it talks about the last days, specifically. Here's the whole passage, from 2 Timothy 3, 1 -5. But know this, that in the last days, perilous times will come, for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying its power.

From such people turn away. Have you thought about that? What would it mean to have a form of godliness, but deny its power? How do you do that? What would it mean to deny the power of godliness? Any ideas?

A form of godliness. What would a form of godliness mean? Well, but we're talking about the form of godliness. The form. What would that look like? Church attendance? It would look religious in some way, wouldn't it?

A form of godliness? Maybe they have a gift of heaven, so they can contract people. Somebody run around being pious. They give some kind of appearance that they have a faith of some kind. Or that they're spiritual.

They're actually pious, but they're... We know that this is possible. So, alright. We can see that there are ways that people can kind of have an appearance that they're godly. But what would it mean that they're denying the actual power of godliness?

And here's where I hope... I hope we weigh this very carefully. Nobody can be perfect. Nobody can do what's right. Nobody can really fully obey the Lord.

In this life. You make exceptions to man or the idea of love to a fellow man. But you would turn around and say, I love all of you, but I don't like that person over there.

Go ahead. We'll talk about those. Those kind of things wouldn't be consistent with someone really living in the Spirit of the Lord. For sure. But this situation, this is why I believe what Paul's warning Timothy.

The power of godliness is the life of Jesus Christ in us. With God at work in us, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. And because of God in us, because of a new heart, because of a new mind, because of the Holy Spirit leading and helping us, you and I can live a godly life.

We're not going to deny that you can. But you know who I hear? People denying the power of godliness? People that stress positional righteousness. No one can be perfect. No one can do what's right. That's why it's not about you at all.

When God looks at you, He just sees Jesus. No one... Even if you try to do what's right, you can't. That's why it's not about you. We're all just broken. That's all we are. No one can be any better than anybody else.

It's just through Jesus we're all equal. Well, we are equal in Jesus. God does love us all the same in Jesus. It is Jesus' blood that cleanses us from our sin. Those things are true. But it is not true that you and I cannot live a godly life.

The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. And what does it do? It trains us to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age. So remember, godliness is the very goal of grace.

The reason He made a new covenant was the people of the first covenant were ungodly, disobedient, unfaithful, and they brought reproach of His name. So He said, I'm going to make a new covenant. And it's going to be dynamically different.

Instead of writing my laws on tablets, I'm going to write my laws right on their hearts and their minds. I'm going to put my Spirit right inside them. I'm going to cleanse them of their lawlessness. I'm going to put my Spirit in them and inspire them to fear Me and to walk in My commandments.

That's the goal. And do you remember why He said He was going to do that? He said He was going to do that for His own namesake. So that He could show Himself for who He really is. He's going to show Himself holy through the godly conduct of His people.

And that's how grace needs to be accurately taught. If you emphasize positional righteousness over this dynamic power of Christ living in us, it will produce people who don't realize that their conduct does matter.

It does matter. It affects the testimony of the church. It affects the honor and the glory of God. Here's the other way that this is expressed. Again by Paul, but this time to his other co-worker Titus in the first chapter, verse 16.

Paul says of these men that they profess to know God, but in works they deny Him. Now what would that mean? How could you deny God in works? You profess to know Him, but you deny Him in works. Well, if you understand the reason God created good works for us to do, it would make sense.

Paul explained in Ephesians 2, verse 10 that we are His workmanship. We are created in Christ Jesus for good works. That's why we were created in Christ Jesus. Now, we were created in Christ Jesus by grace, weren't we?

It's a free gift. It's all what God did for us. But the reason He did this for us in Christ is so that we would walk in these good works. And why? Why did God prepare them ahead of time for us? What was His purpose in these good works?

You know what His purpose was? These are the works that men would see and glorify Him. That's the purpose of these good works. God's purpose for giving us grace in the New Covenant is to show Himself holy through our grace-taught conduct.

His grace teaches us how to conduct ourselves. And this is what Jesus said, let your light so shine before men that they may see what? Your good works. And what do men do when they see your good works?

They glorify your Father as in heaven. So you see, if you profess to know God, but in works you deny Him, basically, you're not glorifying Him by the works that He created for you to do, to walk in, to bring honor and glory to your name.

If we do not glorify God by our works, we're really denying Him the very stated purpose for His giving us grace. He gave us His grace to make a dynamic name for Himself. It's free. It's dynamic. It's of Him.

We couldn't earn it. It's a gift. But the reason He gives it is His own glory and honor. And that needs to be taught. And when men don't stress that, then it takes away from our calling to grow and be zealous for these good works to bring Him glory.

And what happens, Peter mentions that these teachers are going to bring swift destruction upon themselves. Now, we need to understand this. This does not mean as soon as they start teaching this, they're going to be zapped.

That's not what it means. It means that when the destruction comes, it will happen so quickly, they'll never see it coming. Now, there's a place in the Bible where you actually have an example of that.

Many, many will say unto me in that day, what will they say? Lord, Lord. And you remember what else they say? You know what He says to them, right? He says to them, depart from Me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you.

But you remember what they said? They said, Lord, did we not do miracles in Your name? And in Your name, did we not do mighty works in Your name in these things? And what the Lord is telling these people is it catches them entirely by surprise.

They felt they were serving Him all their life and they find out without any time to do anything about it, it's too late. Wow. And you see, that's my burden as a pastor. If you yourself, or you have a son or daughter that claims to be in Christ, you want to see them as a Christian.

You want to see them as a person of faith. You want to believe that they're going to heaven. And yet, you can't see, right now, you can't see that they glorify God by the faith they have. They are in this danger.

They are in this danger. Now, what undermines this sober... This is not pleasant. But this is very consistent throughout the New Testament. This kind of sober instruction and warning is very consistent throughout the New Testament.

But what undermines this sense of soberness is the teaching that you're already okay. You just believe in Christ. It's already okay. Your eternal security is sealed. It's not about you. You don't have to worry about what you've done or what you say.

Heaven is secure. That is not the tenure of the New Testament. That's not what you read in the New Testament. The New Testament talks about working out your salvation in fear and trembling. And seeking to become holy as God's holy and to bear good fruit.

And the danger of this is that look what it says. It says that many will follow after their indulgences. Now, there's the same word that Peter and Jude used. Those men who changed the grace of God for indulgence.

Peter uses the very same word that Jude uses. And many will follow after their indulgences. Some manuscripts, some Greek manuscripts have the word for destruction. They're very close in spelling. But the majority of manuscripts have the word for indulgences.

The same word about those men who changed the grace of God into indulgence. And notice, it says many will follow. And God, let me tell you something about God. God does not exaggerate. So what does many mean?

A lot. A lot of people are following these kind of teachings. A lot of people are. And the follow me, they're closely imitating. That's why you have people who call themselves Christians, who consider themselves Christians, and no longer go to church.

They don't feel they need to read their Bible. They don't need to devote themselves to prayer. You know what they'll tell you if you ask them? If they've been affected by these teachings? I don't need to do those things.

All I have to do is believe in Jesus. It's not about reading your Bible. It's not about going to church. It's not about trying to do good. This is what happens when these teachings take a hold on someone.

But let's don't forget, can you quote this verse with me? There is a way that seems right to a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death. This is one of those ways that can seem to be right. And Jesus said this, the last thing as we wrap up tonight.

In Matthew 7, 13 and 14, Jesus said, Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction. And there are many who go in by it, because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

You know what I believe He's saying, there are few who find? There are few who find the real truth that the reason God gives us His dynamic and wonderfully free grace is to bring glory and honor to His name.

These are Christians. When you really discover this, you lose your life. You don't live in indulgence. Your money, your energy, your time is not about you anymore. You're conservative with all you have and you use it for other people.

You take care of your basic necessities and you can even treat yourself just with a proper amount. But you're not lavishing things upon yourself and stingy towards the world. You care about people. You don't live a life of indulgence.

You live as a servant. You love other people. You give your time. You devote yourself to others. And this is what few find. In our country, our country is a glutton for self-indulgence. It is a nation where people can't get enough.

And sadly, some of the concerns about this have been undermined by teachings in some churches that don't warn people about the danger. And so, we've just begun. We've only really covered two things tonight that Peter warned about.

The first was people introducing destructive heresies. And there are many, okay? One thing I'm going to promise you not to do. I'm not going to name any names. I'm not going to call any person a false teacher.

You judge the teaching. When you hear a man teach, judge the teaching. Weigh the teaching. Test all things. Compare it to the Bible. And we don't need to call men names. Our concern is that we love the truth and that we're careful to guard the truth and avoid the extremes.

This is a particularly difficult subject, the first part of this, because it is true that by grace we are saved through faith in Christ. As sinners, not one of us could have done a single thing to save ourselves.

Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing but His sacrifice. Nothing but His death. But the reason for that grace, the reason for that gift had better turn into to God be the glory. Great things He has done.

If that's the change of heart that's happened in you, you've got the real deal. If the grace that you think you have has turned into, well, I don't really need to worry about how I live anymore. I would check that.

I would check that. That's not the grace of God. That's not why He gave His grace. Alright, are we understanding that? In part? Okay. Alright, let's take it. Thank you.