As we finish Second Peter 2, Peter directs our attention to the real threat of the false teachers. They are not abstract concepts, but actually lead people astray even as they race toward their own destruction. Their false teaching is enticing due to their loud, incessant speech, their justification of sins like lust and greed, and their promise of freedom. But when was the last time you met someone that pursued sin who was free? Greed begets greed and lust begets lust. Sin begets sin. It’s a vicious cycle.

The false teachers deny the return of Christ and his judgment so that they can revel in their sin and lead others into sin. We should not be so proud to think that we are impervious to false teaching. It is enticing. We can be drawn in when the false teachers’ message lines up with the false teachings we privately believe. When we preach to ourselves the false narrative of “I’m a failure,” we will readily believe someone who says, you aren’t a failure, you just need to try harder. When we believe that we’re actually pretty good and that God should take that into consideration when he hands out wealth and health and the good life, we’re susceptible to false teaching. When we say to ourselves, “This isn’t really sin. It’s not that big of deal,” we will find ourselves attracted to false teachers who don’t talk about sin and repentance. When we wander so far into sin that we call sin good, we are headed for heresy and there are plenty of false teachers who will lead us further into sin. When we find ourselves in the same sin again and again and our half repentance doesn’t produce righteousness and holiness, we are prone to look for a false teaching that will justify our sin instead of heeding the Biblical warning to flee from sin.

Peter identifies these false teachers and their teaching as “waterless springs and mists driven by a storm” (2 Peter 2:17). They promise life, but give death. We would do well to heed the warning Peter gives us. We must look out for false teachers. We must “look in” at the false narratives we regularly preach to ourselves. And we must look to our Savior who is the “spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).