21 But false prophets also arose among the people , just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies , even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves . 2 Many will follow their sensuality , and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned ;
3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words ; their judgment from long ago is not idle , and their destruction is not asleep . 4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned , but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness , reserved for judgment ; 5 and did not spare the ancient world , but preserved Noah , a preacher of righteousness , with seven others , when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly ; 6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes , having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter ;
7 and if He rescued righteous Lot , oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men 8 (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man , while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds ), 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation , and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment ,
10 and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority . Daring , self-willed , they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties , 11 whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord . 12 But these , like unreasoning animals , born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed , reviling where e they have no knowledge , will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed , 13 suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong . They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime . They are stains and blemishes , reveling in their deceptions , as they carouse with you, 14 having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin , enticing unstable souls , having a heart trained in greed , accursed children ; 15 forsaking the right way , they have gone astray , having followed the way of Balaam , the son of Beor , who loved the wages of unrighteousness ; 16 but he received a rebuke for his own transgression , for a mute donkey , speaking with a voice of a man , restrained the madness of the prophet . 17 These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm , for whom the black darkness has been reserved . 18 For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires , by sensuality , those who barely escape from the ones who live in error ,
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Peter 2:1-18
Commentary on 2 Peter 2:1-9
(Read 2 Peter 2:1-9)
Though the way of error is a hurtful way, many are always ready to walk therein. Let us take care we give no occasion to the enemy to blaspheme the holy name whereby we are called, or to speak evil of the way of salvation by Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. These seducers used feigned words, they deceived the hearts of their followers. Such are condemned already, and the wrath of God abides upon them. God's usual method of proceeding is shown by examples. Angels were cast down from all their glory and dignity, for their disobedience. If creatures sin, even in heaven, they must suffer in hell. Sin is the work of darkness, and darkness is the wages of sin. See how God dealt with the old world. The number of offenders no more procures favour, than their quality. If the sin be universal, the punishment shall likewise extend to all. If in a fruitful soil the people abound in sin, God can at once turn a fruitful land into barrenness, and a well-watered country into ashes. No plans or politics can keep off judgments from a sinful people. He who keeps fire and water from hurting his people, Isaiah 43:2, can make either destroy his enemies; they are never safe. When God sends destruction on the ungodly, he commands deliverance for the righteous. In bad company we cannot but get either guilt or grief. Let the sins of others be troubles to us. Yet it is possible for the children of the Lord, living among the most profane, to retain their integrity; there being more power in the grace of Christ, and his dwelling in them, than in the temptations of Satan, or the example of the wicked, with all their terrors or allurements. In our intentions and inclinations to commit sin, we meet with strange hinderances, if we mark them When we intend mischief, God sends many stops to hinder us, as if to say, Take heed what you do. His wisdom and power will surely effect the purposes of his love, and the engagements of his truth; while wicked men often escape suffering here, because they are kept to the day of judgment, to be punished with the devil and his angels.
Commentary on 2 Peter 2:10-16
(Read 2 Peter 2:10-16)
Impure seducers and their abandoned followers, give themselves up to their own fleshly minds. Refusing to bring every thought to the obedience of Christ, they act against God's righteous precepts. They walk after the flesh, they go on in sinful courses, and increase to greater degrees of impurity and wickedness. They also despise those whom God has set in authority over them, and requires them to honour. Outward temporal good things are the wages sinners expect and promise themselves. And none have more cause to tremble, than those who are bold to gratify their sinful lusts, by presuming on the Divine grace and mercy. Many such there have been, and are, who speak lightly of the restraints of God's law, and deem themselves freed from obligations to obey it. Let Christians stand at a distance from such.
Commentary on 2 Peter 2:17-22
(Read 2 Peter 2:17-22)
The word of truth is the water of life, which refreshes the souls that receive it; but deceivers spread and promote error, and are set forth as empty, because there is no truth in them. As clouds hinder the light of the sun, so do these darken counsel by words wherein there is no truth. Seeing that these men increase darkness in this world, it is very just that the mist ofdarkness should be their portion in the next. In the midst of their talk of liberty, these men are the vilest slaves; their own lusts gain a complete victory over them, and they are actually in bondage. When men are entangled, they are easily overcome; therefore Christians should keep close to the word of God, and watch against all who seek to bewilder them. A state of apostacy is worse than a state of ignorance. To bring an evil report upon the good way of God, and a false charge against the way of truth, must expose to the heaviest condemnation. How dreadful is the state here described! Yet though such a case is deplorable, it is not utterly hopeless; the leper may be made clean, and even the dead may be raised. Is thy backsliding a grief to thee? Believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved.