April 3, 2023: 2 Peter 2:14 - False Teachers Entice Unstable Souls

“…having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.” - 2 Peter 2:14

The apostle Peter holds nothing back when he describes the damage that false teachers cause to those who listen to them. Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, he wrote an entire chapter warning those who heard him at that time and to those of us who read God’s word now, nearly two thousand years later, about being aware of false prophets and false teachers and the smooth, lying words they will preach to appease the masses so that we are ourselves would not be deceived.

Another apostle, James wrote of men who desire to become teachers:

“My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment…Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.” (James 3:1, 5-6)

In this epistle by Peter, he is specifically discussing false teachers, those who are not saved by believing in Jesus and are purposely teaching false doctrine in order to deceive people and turn them away from God or from even seeking Him.

Just as the serpent Satan enticed Eve by causing her to doubt God’s commandment to Adam when Satan asked Eve, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’” (Genesis 3:1), so do false teachers entice with their deceptive words, causing unstable souls to doubt the word of God, that all of it is from inspiration of Him, and that all of it is applicable today. When there are false teachers in churches, they preach that which is from sinful man and not from God. What does the Bible tell us about man? Jesus discussed this with the Pharisees and scribes when He told them that defilement comes from within us, within our sinful heart:

“And He said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.’” (Jesus Christ; Mark 7:20-23)

It is only when we turn to Jesus Christ, recognizing that we are sinners in need of a Savior, and that only He can save us from our sins, that we are forgiven of all our sins, we are saved by His grace, by His precious blood.

Something is deadly wrong in our churches today that would cause the shocking results of a May 10, 2022 survey conducted by Dr. George Barna, Director of Research at the Cultural Research Center. In this survey, he reported on the percentage of American pastors and teachers that hold a biblical worldview, which he defined previously on December 3, 2003 as shown below. (See: https://www.barna.com/research/a-biblical-worldview-has-a-radical-effect-on-a-persons-life/):

“For the purposes of the research, a biblical worldview was defined as believing that absolute moral truths exist; that such truth is defined by the Bible; and firm belief in six specific religious views. Those views were that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life; God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and He stills rules it today; salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned; Satan is real; a Christian has a responsibility to share their faith in Christ with other people; and the Bible is accurate in all of its teachings."

The following are some of the statistics reported in the May 10, 2022 survey. (See: https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/AWVI2022_Release05_Digital.pdf):

• “Among all Christian pastors in the United States, slightly more than one out of every three (37%) possess a biblical worldview.”

• “Among Senior Pastors, four out of 10 (41%) have a biblical worldview - the highest incidence among any of the five pastoral positions studied.”

• Worse yet was only 13% of teaching pastors and 12% of children’s/youth pastors hold a biblical worldview (reference the table titled “The Percentage of Christian Pastors That Possess a Biblical Worldview” on page 2 of the aforementioned survey).“

• “The lowest level of biblical worldview was among Executive Pastors - only 4% have consistently biblical beliefs and behaviors.”

• Regarding pastors who do not have a biblical worldview, “their prevailing worldview is best described as Syncretism, the blending of ideas and applications from a variety of holistic worldviews into a unique but inconsistent combination that represents their personal preferences. More than six out of 10 pastors (62%) have a predominantly syncretistic worldview.”

• Only 29% of teaching pastors have a biblical worldview regarding God, creation, and history; 18% regarding matters of sin, salvation, and one’s relationship with God; and only 21% regarding the Bible, truth, and morals. (See the table titled “Percentage of Pastors Who Have a Biblical Worldview in Relation to Categories of Belief and Behavior” on page 3 of the aforementioned survey.

George Barna’s comments on the survey results raise grave concerns not only for the church but for the future of the United States:

“A person’s worldview primarily develops before the age of 13, then goes through a period of refinement during their teens and twenties. Therefore, from a worldview development perspective, a church’s most important ministers are the Children’s Pastor and the Youth Pastor,” Barna said.

“Discovering that seven out of every eight of those pastors lack a biblical worldview helps to explain why so few among the nation’s youngest generations are developing a heart and mind for biblical principles and ways of life, and why our society seems to have run wild over the last decade,” Barna explained.

It is no wonder that when Jesus’ disciples asked Him, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” that He answered them, saying, “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” (Matthew 24:3-5) It is clear by the statistics in the survey mentioned above that the majority of pastors and teachers in churches today are preaching a false Christ, twisting the words of Scripture so that it “represents their personal preferences” instead of preaching the word of God, no matter who it offends.

Persecution of Christians in America is on the rise, and it will increase as the love of many grows cold in the end of the age, as Jesus foretold. The time is now to wake up from the slumber that many in the church have been in and realize that deception is all around us. The time is now to pray to God for discernment, to be able to recognize a man of deception from a man called by God to preach and teach His word. The time is now to take the blinders off of our eyes and to understand why God gave us warning after warning of what is to come, and realize that we are in those days now. We truly are living in perilous times, and Satan is doing all that he can to entice you, to deceive you, and to turn you from God. He won’t do it in a red suit with a pitchfork tail and horns on his head; rather, he will do it as a “pastor” or “teacher” in a church, blending in and undiscernable to those who are not standing firmly on the firm foundation of God.