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HAVING EYES FULL OF ADULTERY: ophthalmous echontes (PAPMPN) mestous
moichalidos:(2Sa 11:2-4;
Job 31:7,9;
Pr 6:25;
Mt 5:28;
1 Jn 2:16) (See
Torrey's Topic "Covetousness")
The literal Greek is continually having eyes full of an adulteress
which of course means that these false teachers
desire every woman they see,
viewing every female as a potential adulteress. Their thus
eyes serve as constant instruments of lust and Jesus explained the
importance of the eye --
The lamp of the body is the eye; if
therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But
if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If
therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the
darkness!" (see note
Matthew 6:23)
Having (2192)
(echo) means possessing or having and is present
tense which pictures these men walking around continually possessing
lascivious thoughts whenever they see a woman (see note
Matthew 5:28).
Eyes (3788)
(ophthalmos) is the same word which is transliterated to
give us our English word ophthalmic, etc. Their thirst for lechery,
disguised perhaps under the ministerial “cloth,” seems to be limitless.
Paul warned about similar men who would
enter
into
households and
captivate
weak
women
weighed
down with
sins,
led on by
various
impulses,
always
learning and
never
able to
come to the
knowledge of the
truth. (see note
2 Timothy 3:6).
More than one “minister” has used
religion as a cloak to cover his own lusts. Some women, in particular,
are vulnerable in “counseling sessions,” and these men are skilled at
taking advantage of them.
Adultery (3428)
(moichalis from moichos = an adulteress) describes one unfaithful to marriage
vows.
Rienecker adds that the
connotation is probably more general, meaning loose women
What's an adulteress? She's never committed or faithful to the person
she is betrothed to. She's always looking beyond that individual to see
if the grass is "greener" somewhere else, to see if there's pleasure
outside of her intended, committed relationships. These false teachers
are not faithful or committed to either the Lordship of Christ or to those who follow them.
Jesus used moichalis two times to characterize the
Jews who did not receive Him as those who were
"An
evil and adulterous generation (which) craves for a sign & yet no
sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet." (Mt 12:39,
16:4).
James use of moichalis in his epistle gives us a
practical definition of spiritual adultery --
You
adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is
hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the
world makes himself an enemy of God. (Js 4:4)
Who are we as believers to be faithful to...to the world
or to Jesus?
Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage
of the Lamb has come and His
bride has made
herself ready. It was given to her to
clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine
linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (see notes
Revelation 19:7;
19:8)
What a contrast with the false teachers who are "stains &
blemishes."!
Full
of (3324) (mestos)
refers to a quantity beyond what could or should be expected and so
literally these men are "very full" of licentious looks so to
speak.
Here mestos is used figuratively describing
these men as constantly preoccupied with or full of adulterous eyes,
similar to Jesus' description of the Pharisees (in a sense also false
teachers) who
"outwardly
appear
righteous to
men, but
inwardly you are
FULL OF (mestos)
hypocrisy and
lawlessness" (Mt
23.28)
The false teachers described here by Peter are also hypocrites,
not living out the Truth they profess to teach (albeit falsely).
Mestos then indicates just how completely their corrupt passions
have come to occupy their minds.
AND THAT NEVER CEASE FROM SIN: kai akatapaustous hamartias:
(Isa 1:16;
Jer 13:23;
Mt 12:34;
Jn 5:44)
(Study Torrey's
excellent topic "Sin")
Phillips put it this way
Their eyes cannot look at a woman without lust
The New
Jerusalem Bible says
with their eyes always looking for adultery, people with an insatiable
capacity for sinning.
Never cease (180)
(akatapaustos) means without cessation, not pausing,
unable to stop. These brute beasts never stop sinning and and in fact
their eyes cannot even be restrained from looking
lustfully. You know what Peter means here. Just watch a man's eyes when
a beautiful woman walks by. Notice where his eyes move? (cf
Job 31:1)
Sin
(266)
(hamartia) originally had the
idea of missing mark as when hunting with a bow and arrow. Later it came
to mean missing or falling short of any goal, standard, or purpose.
Hamartia in the Bible means to miss God's mark as an archer misses
the “bull’s eye” and ultimately to miss the true purpose and end of our
lives which is God Himself. Sin is any violation of God’s righteous
character. It is anything we say or do or think or imagine or plan that
does not meet God’s standard of perfection.
These men are Insatiable for sin
(NRSV, Amp) and are never
having enough of sin (BBE) being even unable to cease from sin.
Peter is
sparing no "punches" to expose
these evil men! By the way this pattern of "never cease from sin"
marks them as those who are not born of God
"no
one who is born of God (present tense = continually) practices sin,
because His seed abides in him; and he cannot (present tense =
continually) sin, because he is born of God."
(see
1Jn 3:9).
Furthermore Peter taught in (see note
1 Peter 4 :1)
that
"he who has
suffered in the
flesh has
ceased from
sin."
They
see every woman as an object with whom they might satisfy
their craving, their eyes being unable to be separated from the power of sin
(the old nature
inherited from Adam and which was made ineffective in "born again ones"
when our old self -- the unsaved person dominated by the totally
depraved nature & representing all we were in Adam before we were saved
-- was crucified with Christ - see note
Ro 6:6)
which enslaves and controls them as Peter describes in (see notes
2
Peter 2:18,
19). They don't have
the power because they have not escaped the corruption which is in the
world by lust (see note
2 Peter 1:4)
and so they do not posses the divine nature within. Beloved we may sin
and we may have a ''favorite'' sin and even a season of that sin,
but if we are never able to desist from that sin then we
need to take the apostle Paul's advice to "Test
yourselves to see
if you are in the
faith;
examine
yourselves!
Or do you not
recognize this about
yourselves, that
Jesus
Christ is in
you--unless indeed you
fail the
test?" (2Cor 13:5)
ENTICING
UNSTABLE SOULS: deleazontes (PAPMPN) psuchas asteriktous: (2
Peter 2;18;
3:16;
Mk 13:22;
Ro 16:18;
1 Cor 11:19;
Eph 4:14;
Col 2:18;
Ja 1:8;
Rev 12:9)
New Jerusalem Bible
says "they will seduce any but the most stable soul."
Soul (5590)
(psuche
or psyche
from psucho = to
breathe, blow, English = psychology, "study of the soul") is the
breath, then that which breathes, the individual, animated creature.
Here it
means a person as in (see note
1 Peter 3:20, cf
Acts 2:41).
Wuest says they are
skilled at "catching unstable souls with bait".
Enticing (1185)(deleazo
from delear = to bait, entrap) means to trap by using
bait, and so to entice, ensnare, lure and beguile. It pictures a
fisherman baiting a hook or a hunter baiting a trap.
James uses this
same word to teach how a man's own lust entices him and tempts him with
bait (Js 1:14)
and Peter uses deleazo one other time in this way (see note
2 Peter 2:18).
The image of bait to catch the unwary victim is an image that would
readily occur to Peter with his background as a fisherman. The picture
is men who are skilled
at attracting the unstable souls by artfully or adroitly setting the
trap with sensual bait that arouses the desires,
making "provision
for the
flesh in
regard to its
lusts." (cf note
Romans 13:14).
Remember that the "enticement" always
has a bait. And so these false teachers dangle the "baited lure" in front of
their unsteady victims causing them to look away from the Lord Jesus and
His Word.
Wiersbe comments on the "bait"
"Satan knows that he could
never trap us unless there is some fine bait to attract us in the
first place. Satan promised Eve that she and Adam would become
“like gods” if they ate of the forbidden tree (Ge 3:4–5), and they
“took the bait” and were trapped. What kind of “bait” do the
apostates use to catch people? For one thing, they offer them
“liberty” (2Pe 2:19). This probably means a perversion of the
grace of God, “turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness”
(Jude 4). “Since you are saved by grace,” they argued, “then you
have the freedom to sin. The more you sin, the more of God’s grace
you will experience!” Paul answered their false arguments in
Romans 6, a portion of Scripture that every believer ought to
master. Along with “freedom” they also bait the trap with
“fulfillment.” This is one of the “buzz words” of our generation,
and it goes right along with “doing your own thing” and “having it
your way.” They say, “The Christian life that the church offers is
old-fashioned and outdated. We have a new lifestyle that makes you
feel fulfilled and helps you find your true self!” Alas, like the
prodigal son, these unstable souls try to find themselves, but
they end up losing themselves (Lu 15:11–24). In their search for
fulfillment they become very self-centered and lose the
opportunities for growth that come from serving others. There can
be no freedom or fulfillment apart from submission to Jesus
Christ. “The purpose of life,” said P. T. Forsyth, “is not to find
your freedom, but to find your master.” Just as a gifted musician
finds freedom and fulfillment putting himself or herself under the
discipline of a great artist, or an athlete under the discipline
of a great coach, so the believer finds true freedom and
fulfillment under the authority of Jesus Christ." (Wiersbe,
W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor
or
Logos)
(bolding added)
Unstable
(793)
(asterizo from "a" = without + "sterizo"
= to confirm or
establish) means unsettled, unsteady, unstable (Webster
UNSTABLE = wavering in purpose or
intent & implies an incapacity for remaining in a fixed position or
steady course and applies especially to a lack of emotional balance).
The unstable
are those with no foundation. They lack a firm foundation in the faith
and discipline necessary for godliness (see note
1Timothy 4:7)
and so are a "set up" to be unsettled by the erroneous teaching and
scandalous conduct of these crafty deceivers. They are unable to resist
the allurements and are toppled into sin because they not planted their
feet firmly in Christ (Compare
to Paul's defense against "empty deception" in
Colossians 2:7 [note];
2:8 [note]).
In
(2
Peter 1:12 [note])
Peter assures those who are believers that they "have been
established (sterizo)
in the
truth which is
present with" them, and yet note
that he still warns them of the danger in this verse. Peter undoubtedly
knew the warning that Paul
had given the church at Corinth "let him who
thinks he
stands
take
heed that he does not
fall." (1Cor 10:12).
Stability
is an important factor in a successful Christian life. Just as a child
must learn to stand before he can walk or run, so the Christian must
learn to “stand firm in the Lord.” Paul and the other Apostles sought to
establish their converts in the faith (See notes
Romans 1:11;
Romans 16:25;
1Thessalonians 3:2;
3:13;
2Th2:17,
2Th3:3).
In (1
Peter 5:10 [note])
Peter fully conscious of own instability in times past (probably never
forgetting Jesus' command -- "when
once you have
turned
again,
strengthen your
brothers."
Lu 22:32)
uses
sterizo
again to encourage all
God's saints who are suffering (and we all are either in the valley,
have just come out of the valley or are getting ready to pass into the
valley) that after we have
suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, Who called (us) to
His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, CONFIRM (sterizo),
strengthen and establish (us). (see note
1 Peter 5:10)
In (2
Peter 3:16)
the only other NT use of asterizo, Peter instructs us that
the
untaught and
unstable
distort (Paul's writings) as they do
also the
rest of the
Scriptures, to their
own
destruction (see note
2 Peter 3:16)
Paul contrasts unstable
souls in (Ephesians
4:14)
where he describes those who are being equipped with the stabilizing
Truth of the Word as those who
are no longer to be children, tossed
here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by
the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming. (see
note
Ephesians 4:14)
Hiebert feels that
unstable
souls is a
reference to
potential
converts...who have shown an interest in the gospel message and
have taken their first step toward Christ but are not yet grounded
in Him." (ref)
HAVING A HEART TRAINED IN GREED: kardian
gegumnasmenen (RPPFSA) pleonexias echontes (PAPMPN): (See
Torrey's Topic Characteristics
of an Unregenerate Heart & Covetousness)
their techniques of getting what they want is, through long practice,
highly developed (Phillips)
Where greed is concerned they are at their peak of fitness (New
Jerusalem Bible )
Having (2192)
(echo) means possessing or having and is in the
present tense
indicating that this was not occasional attitude but reflected their
habitual attitude and a lifestyle dominated by greed.
Heart
(2588) (kardia)
(click study of
kardia)
is not the physical organ but has the much broader figurative sense of
the center of a person's thoughts, emotions, actions, etc. Scripturally
the heart of man is analogous to the cockpit of a jumbo jet, receiving
and monitoring input (contrast
Pr 6:25
Pr 4:23) and responding accordingly. So
their problem was not only with their eyes, which are the channel, but
with the heart being the fountain head of lust as taught in (Job 31:7)
who denied that his "heart
followed (his)
eyes".
If you have time and desire a
greater understanding of "heart"
I would strongly suggest studying the Scriptural cross references in R.
A. Torrey's excellent topic called simply
The
Heart, a critically important concept that literally
permeates the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation.
Barclay
adds that
These people have actually
trained their minds to concentrate on nothing but the forbidden
desire. They have deliberately fought with conscience until they
have destroyed it; they have deliberately struggled with their
finer feelings until they have strangled them. (Barclay,
W: The Daily Study Bible Series. The Westminster Press
or
Logos)
Trained (1128) (gumnazo
or gymnazo
from
gumnós = "naked" or minimally clothed and descriptive
of the common practice of males in the Greco Roman "gymnasia"
source of English "gymnasium", "gymnastics")
literally meant to exercise naked in the palaestra (a school in ancient Greece or Rome for sports). Vine
says it means to “to strive with the body stripped,” i.e.,
strenuously."
Gumnazo (gymnazo) is used 4 times in the NT
(1 Timothy,
Hebrews
2x,
2 Peter)
and is translated: discipline, 1; trained, 3. All 4 uses in the KJV are
translated "exercise". There are no uses in the non-apocryphal
Septuagint.
Gumnazo means to exercise bodily and described an athlete
exercising in the gym. Figuratively gumnazo means to exercise so
as to discipline oneself (in the moral or ethical "gym") or to exercise
vigorously, in any way, either the body or the mind. It describes the
rigorous, strenuous, self-sacrificing training an athlete undergoes.
What a lurid picture Peter paints
sparing no word picture to expose these charlatans! The Greek word
conveys the idea of rigorous, strenuous
training that Olympic hopefuls were willing to endure in
order to qualify to compete for the coveted prize.
These false teachers
have taken their wicked unredeemed hearts (their standing for the
reason, the will, and the emotions) to the "gym of evil thoughts
and deeds" and like dedicated athletes have exercised themselves
diligently to achieve their goal, in this case to be professionals in
the arena of greed! (contrast "godliness"
the "prize" believers are to be "training" for 1Timothy
4:7 [note])
The NIV says these men are "they are experts in greed." Their motive
was not to serve others but to procure more and more for themselves
through others.
Trained
is in the
perfect tense indicating a past completed action
with ongoing effect and thus clearly speaks of the permanence of their state
of greed! These false teachers had lived in a heart atmosphere of
covetousness for so long that their heart condition was one of a
permanent state.
The Jewish historian Josephus uses
gymnazo in his description of the Roman soldier writing that...
their military exercises differ
not at all from the real use of their arms, but every soldier is every
day exercised (gymnazo), and that with great diligence, as
if it were in time of war which is the reason why they bear the fatigue
of battles so easily. (Josephus, F. The Works of Josephus. Wars 3.73)
The writer of Hebrews uses the
"gumnazo" calling saints to train themselves
not for
greed
but for growth in discernment writing that
solid
food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses
trained (gymnazo) to discern good and evil. (see note
Hebrews 5:14)
The
vitality of your spiritual life depends on your "diet". Are you
taking in solid food so that you will be able to recognize these false
teachers and not "be carried away by varied and strange teachings" (see
note
Hebrews 13:9)
remembering that Peter has already warned us that these "snakes" will
not walk in the fellowship and declare
I am a false teacher" but will "slither" in and "secretly introduce
destructive heresies. (see note
2 Peter 2:1)
Paul uses gymnazo in his first epistle
to Timothy drawing on
the athletic metaphor to exhort his young disciple to...
"have
nothing to do with (continually refuse, shun, reject) worldly (profane
in contrast to sacred, void of piety, opposite of holy that which is set
apart to God) fables
(myths) fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline (gymnazo
=
present tense
calls for rigorous, strenuous,
self-sacrificing training like an athlete) yourself for the purpose of
godliness (NIV = "train yourself to be godly") for bodily discipline is
only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since
it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." (see
notes
1Timothy 4:7;
1Timothy 4:8)
The last use of gymnazo is
found in Hebrews where we find the encouraging truth that...
"All discipline for the moment seems
not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained
(gymnazo) by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of
righteousness." (see note
Hebrews 12:11)
Kenneth Wuest comments on the use
of gymnazo in relation to discipline explaining that
"Here (gymnazo) refers to
the spiritual exercise which the recipients went through as a result of
the persecutions which in the last analysis were the chastening hand of
God. That spiritual exercise consisted of the struggles of the soul, the
battle between the determination to go back to the (Jewish) temple
sacrifices and thus escape the persecutions, or to go on to faith in the
High Priest of the New Testament in spite of them.
(Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans
or
Logos)
There is one use of gymnazo
in the apocrypha (2 Maccabees 10:15) in which which is used to mean
harass, wear out or distress
Besides this, the Idumeans, who had
control of important strongholds, were harassing the Jews; they
received those who were banished from Jerusalem, and endeavored to keep
up the war.
Greed
(4124) (pleonexia
from pleíon = more + écho = have) (see use in
2 Peter 2:3)
means literally to have more and describes a strong desire to acquire
more and more material possessions, especially that which is forbidden
(in this context someone else's wife!). It is a desire to have more
irrespective of one's need and is always used in bad sense. It describes
an insatiable selfishness.
Note that immorality
is always implied when there is idolatry which is putting
anything first in place of God and as (see note
Colossians 3:5)
teaches is "greed" which is the heart and soul of these men. Therefore
don't be surprised when the televangelists fall from immorality, because
when they don't preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ (sin, denial of self,
taking up of one's cross, and the coming judgment in the lake of fire),
they are idolaters to begin with and once a person is in idolatry
he's always immoral. (excerpted and paraphrased from Dr Wayne
Barber).
We all train our
hearts in something, either training them in covetousness and lust or in godliness (see
note
1Timothy 4:7,
Pr 4:23). Which "gym" are you attending
for training?
ACCURSED
CHILDREN: kataras tekna: (Isa 34:5;
65:20;
Mt 25:41;
Eph 2:3)
Accursed (2671) (katara
from katá = against + ará = a curse) means a
imprecation on these men. Paul used katara twice in Galatians ("as
many as are of the
works of the
Law are
under a
curse"
Gal 3:10 and in
Gal 3:13 describing the solution for
the curse "Christ
redeemed us from the
curse of the
Law, having
become a
curse for us--for it is
written,
"CURSED IS
EVERYONE WHO
HANGS ON A
TREE" )
Children (5043)
(teknon) is literally a "born one" and so refers to a child as viewed in
relation to his or her parents or family. Teknon takes on
special theological significance when the Bible calls believers the "children
(teknon) of God" (cf
Jn 1:12).
These false teachers are literally children of a curse
(Young's Literal) who live
under a curse (TCNT) because God's curse is on them
(NEB).
Peter does not yet himself
pronounce a curse on them but does appeal to this Hebrew idiom which
means that they are worthy of the curse of God (cf
Isa 57:4).
Peter uses the opposite "Hebraism"
in (1
Peter 1:14 [note])
calling believers obedient children (tekna hupakoes
literally children of obedience a radical contrast to accursed
children).
There are only 2 spiritual
families on earth for all are either still "in Adam" (and
your father is the devil
Jn 8:44) or have been transferred
by grace through faith and placed "in Christ" for as Paul
teaches "in
Adam
all
die,
so
also in
Christ
all will be
made
alive." (1Cor 15:22,
cf
1Jn 3:4-10)
Dear reader ask yourself the
most important question in all eternity..."Am I still
under
the curse or am I
in the "Ark" of Christ
Jesus &
under His blood?
(Some excellent Scripture on this vital subject are at the following
links
Part 1,
Part 2,
Part 3) |