2:1 "The people"in view are God's people in Old Testament times, the times to which Peter had just been referring (1:19-22). False prophets in Old Testament times sought to lead God's people away from the revelations of the true prophets. False teachers in Peter's time would try to lead God's people away from the teaching of the apostles. These men--they were typically males in Peter's day--would arise from the believers (cf. Jer. 5:31; 23:9-18; Acts 20:29). The term "false prophets"(Gr. pseudoprophetai) may refer to those who falsely claim to be prophets of God and or those who prophesy falsely. Likewise "false teachers"(Gr. pseudodidaskaloi) can refer to those who claim to be teachers of God's truth but whom the churches' leaders do not recognize as teachers and or those who teach falsehood.72Evidently the false teachers that Peter warned about did not claim to be prophets.
"Secretly introduce"literally means to bring in alongside. The heretics would seek to add some other teaching to the orthodox faith and or some other teaching as a substitute for the truth (cf. Gal. 2:4). The implication is that they would seek to do this in some underhanded way. They would unobtrusively change the doctrinal foundation of the church and thereby make it unstable. "Heresies"refers to ideas inconsistent with the revealed truth of God.
These men would go as far as even repeatedly or typically denying (present participle in Greek) teaching and practices associated with Christ. The inconsistency of their position is that they deny the Person they profess to submit to as Christians, their Master (Gr. despoten) Jesus Christ.73When Jesus Christ died, He paid the penalty for everyone's sins and redeemed (purchased, Gr. agorasanta) every human being in this sense, even unbelievers (John 3:16; 1 Tim. 2:4-6; 4:10; Acts 17:30; Heb. 2:9; 1 John 2:2). This verse supports the doctrine of unlimited atonement, the view that Jesus Christ died for everyone, not just for those whom He would later save.
One limited atonement advocate believed that the whole case for unlimited atonement hangs on this verse.74This is an over-simplification, though another writer said, ". . . no assertion of universal redemption can be plainer than this."75
Peter was not claiming that all the false teachers were Christians. In view of how he described them, most of them appear to have been unbelievers (cf. vv. 4-6). However some of them could have been believers.
". . . New Testament writers sometimes use the language of Christian conversion for such people [non-Christians] on the basis of their appearance."76
The destruction of these heretics will be swift in the sense that when their judgment descends it will be sudden, not that it was about to descend as Peter wrote. They were saying that the Lord was slow in coming to exercise judgment (3:9), but their own judgment was imminent (Gr. taxinen). Their spiritual rather than their physical destruction seems to be in view primarily. In the case of Christian false teachers who departed from the truth they previously embraced, they too brought sudden spiritual ruin on themselves. This ruin would come on them at Jesus Christ's judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:10) if not sooner.
"Ironically, the false teachers incur judgment by teaching that there will be no future judgment and thereby leading themselves and others into immorality."77
". . . destruction' for leading others to destruction' is inevitable."78
"False teachers are better known for what they deny than for what they affirm."79
2:2 Reckless and hardened immorality would accompany their doctrinal error.
"Clearly they permitted and defended immorality in a very broad sense."80
When people abandon God's standard of truth they usually adopt a lower standard of morality. Since sensuality appeals to the flesh many people follow the example of heretics believing that they are correct in doing so because of the rationalizations of their teachers.
"No doctrine, however senseless and monstrous, which under the guise of a religious faith ministers to the sensual appetites of men, will ever want followers."81
This "religion"brings great dishonor on the church because unbelievers identify the immoral as professing Christians and judge their behavior as hypocritical.
2:3 False teachers typically desire to satisfy themselves rather than God. This leads them to take advantage of their audiences.
". . . Peter pointed out that the false teachers used feigned words.' The Greek word is plastos, from which we get our English word plastic. Plastic words! Words that can be twisted to mean anything you want them to mean! The false teachers use our vocabulary, but they do not use our dictionary. They talk about salvation,' inspiration,' and the great words of the Christian faith, but they do not mean what we mean. Immature and untaught believers hear these preachers or read their books and think that these men are sound in the faith, but they are not."82
"There are also plastic preachers who can be molded and shaped by the people that they serve."83
Peter personified their "judgment"and "destruction."His point was that God is never late or asleep in executing justice, though He is patient (cf. 3:9).
"We can argue that the danger of false teaching is greater in our day than it has ever been. Why? Because we live in an era that is deeply suspicious of absolute truth."84
