AND MANY WILL FOLLOW:
kai polloi exakolouethesousin (3PFAI) auton:
(Mt 24:10-13;
Mt 24:24
Mk 13:22;
1Jn 4:5,
Acts 20:30
1Jn 2:18,19;
Rev 12:9;
13:8,14)
Many (4183)
(polus) refers to much in regard to number, quantity,
amount. Peter pictures the "success" of the false teachers in
attracting and leading astray "great crowds" of people. Keep in mind that
these "great crowds" are not from among the pagans but from the Church,
where heresies and cults usually have their greatest impact. Someone has
said that most of the new members to Mormonism come out of conservative
churches!
Follow
(1811) (exakoloutheo from ek = out or an
intensifier + akolouthéo = follow) means to follow out,
yield to, copy, imitate. The preposition "ek" in the
compound verb gives the force of following out, of close pursuance of.
THEIR
SENSUALITY: tais aselgeiais:
Sensuality (766)(aselgeia
from aselges
= licentious <> a = negates next word + selges =
continent) originally referred to any excess or lack of restraint but
came to convey the idea of shameless excess and the absence of
restraint, especially with sexual excess. Thus like
koite, aselgeia was used
almost exclusively of especially lewd sexual immorality, of uninhibited
and unabashed lasciviousness. It refers to the kind of sexual debauchery
and abandonment that characterizes much of modern society and that is
often flaunted almost as a badge of distinction! Aselgeia refers to
uninhibited sexual indulgence without shame and without concern for what
others think or how they may be affected (or infected).
Aselgeia
is clearly a "key word" in
this chapter as Peter uses it 3x (of
10 NT uses -- in the present verse, see notes
2 Peter 2:7,
2:18)
Barclay says that Plato described aselgeia as
“impudence” and another writer as
“preparedness for every pleasure.” Basil said it was “a disposition of
the soul incapable of bearing the pain of discipline.” The great
characteristic of aselgeia is this—the bad man usually tries to hide his
sin; but the man who has aselgeia in his soul does not care how much he
shocks public opinion so long as he can gratify his desires. Sin can get
such a grip of a man that he is lost to decency and shame. He is like a
drug taker who first takes the drug in secret, but comes to a stage when
he openly pleads for the drug on which he has become dependent. A man
can become such a slave of liquor that he does not care who sees him
drunk. A man can let his sexual desires so master him that he does not
care who sees him satisfy them....Josephus ascribed it to Jezebel when
she built a temple to Baal in Jerusalem." (Barclay,
W: The Daily Study Bible Series. The Westminster Press
or
Logos)
Licentious individuals think only
of satisfying their lusts and whatever they touch is stained by this
base, animalistic appetite.
MacArthur
writes that...
Aselgeia (sensuality) refers
to total licentiousness, the absence of all moral restraint, especially
in the area of sexual sins. One commentator says the term relates to “a
disposition of the soul incapable of bearing the pain of discipline.”
The idea is that of unbridled self–indulgence and undisciplined
obscenity... All people initially recognize at least some standard of
right and wrong and have a certain sense of shame when they act against
that standard. Consequently, they usually try to hide their wrongdoing.
They may continually fall back into it but still recognize it as wrong,
as something they should not be doing; and conscience will not let them
remain comfortable. But as they continue to overrule conscience and
train themselves to do evil and to ignore guilt, they eventually reject
those standards and determine to live solely by their own desires,
thereby revealing an already seared conscience. Having rejected all
divine guidelines and protection, they become depraved in mind and give
themselves over to sensuality. Such a person cares nothing about what
other people think—not to mention about what God thinks—but only about
what gratifies the cravings of his own warped mind. (MacArthur,
J: Ephesians. Chicago: Moody Press)
To summarize,
aselgeia pictures a man dominated by shameless greed and
animal lusts, the sheer self-indulgence to which he is so enslaved that
he has lost all sense of shame. It reminds one of Jeremiah's description
of the faithless in Judah:
"Were they
ashamed
because of the
abomination they had
done? They
certainly were not
ashamed, and they did not
know how to
blush" (Jer 6:15,
8:12).
These men acknowledge no
restraints and dare to do whatsoever their caprice desires or their
petulance suggests.
Scripture defines "sensuality"
as one of the
the
deeds of the
flesh (see note
Galatians 5:19)
Sensuality's
source proceeds from
"from
within out of the
heart of
men" and the effect is to "defile
the
man." (Mk 7:22-24).
Believers are
instructed to
behave properly as in the day...not in sexual promiscuity and
sensuality. (see note
Romans 13:13)
On the other hand the Gentiles
having become callous have given
themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity
with greediness" (see note
Ephesians 4:19)
This verse clearly
shows the controlling effect sensual
thoughts can have on one's behavior.
Jude's description
parallels Peter's, describing
certain persons (who) have crept in unnoticed, those who were long
beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn
the grace of our God into licentiousness (aselgeia) and deny our
only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude
1:4)
Hiebert
comments that...
it is apparent that these false
teachers were antinomians (Ed note: "against the law" or "instead of the
law") who relaxed the moral restraints of the gospel on the cravings of
the flesh. heretical teaching does not always lead to immoral conduct,
but there is often a connection...Because of the evil nature of the
unregenerate heart, such antinomian teaching can spread its contagion
almost anywhere....It is sadly true that ''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
(quoting Lillie).'
Note that the KJV
reading "their pernicious ways" reflects the Textus Receptus
manuscript but this reading has little support among most modern
scholars.
AND BECAUSE OF THEM
THE WAY OF THE TRUTH: di ous he hodos tes aletheias: (2
Peter 2:15,21;
Ps 18:21;
Ps 119:30,
139:24,Isa 35:8;
Jer 6:16;Jer 18:15
Mt 7:14;
22:16;
Mk 12:14;
Jn 14:6;
Acts 9:2
Acts 13:10;
16:17;
18:26;
19:9;
19:9
22:4
24:14
24:22)
Their disciples will be like the false
teachers and, bringing their sexual immorality into the churches, will
cause "the way of truth" to be defamed.
The
Way (3598) (hodos)
has the definite article ("he") in the Greek which defines this as a
very specific Way
not just any way. Compare Jesus declaration that...
I am the way (Greek = he
hodos = the specific way), and the truth, and the life; no one comes
to the Father, but through Me. (John 14:6) (Comment: There are
not many "ways" to God, but one exclusive way, graciously available to
those who have ears to hear and eyes to see).
The
Way was a common early name for the Christian faith. Luke first
alludes to the Way in Acts 9...
Now Saul, still breathing threats and
murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and
asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he
found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might
bring them bound to Jerusalem. (Acts 9:1-2 cp the Way in
Acts 19:9, 23, 24:14, 22)
Truth (225)
(aletheia from a =
without + lêthô = conceal which means that which is hidden)
describes that which is out in open, which is true & which contains
nothing that hidden that will cause it to self destruct.
The Christian faith is "the way of truth"
and Jesus is the Way, the Truth. It is not only a correct thought or "truth"
but it is the "Highway (to Heaven)", the road, route, mode & means of
true life which is ultimately the ONLY life which gives lasting eternal meaning to our
present earthly existence. True
(righteous) doctrine must issue in true (righteous) living. True
knowledge of God should lead to a God honoring lifestyle. The Christian
faith has an intellectual aspect that must find practical expression in
daily life. A living knowledge of God's truth must result in godly
living.
WILL BE MALIGNED: blasphemethesetai [FPI]:
(2
Peter 2:12;
Acts 14:2;
Jude 1:10,
15)
Maligned
(987)
(blasphemeo) (Click
word study of
blasphemeo) means
to speak in a disrespectful way that demeans, denigrates, maligns or
hurts the reputation of another.
Peter says that
because of the lascivious lifestyles of "so called saints" and "church
goers", the watching world will judge the whole church based on their
evil behavior with the result that the reputation of Christianity and
God Himself are slandered and denigrated. Not only that, but the lost
world smugly justifies (at least in their warped way of thinking) their
own licentious behavior. They mock and scoff at the gospel of Jesus
Christ because of nominal "Christians" who do not follow the Lord Whom
they claim as Savior. Such men and women are like
salt (that) has become tasteless...no longer good for anything except to
be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. (see note
Matthew 5:13).
These licentious
men and women are like the Jews Paul described as
You who boast in the Law through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor
God? For "THE NAME OF GOD IS
BLASPHEMED
AMONG THE
GENTILES
BECAUSE OF YOU,"
just as it is
written." (see notes
Romans 2:23;
2:24)
(cf see notes
Titus 1:16;
Titus 2:5)
In his first epistle Peter said that
if we claim Christ as Lord the way we behave is important and so he
instructs all genuine believers:
Keep your behavior excellent among
the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as
evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them,
glorify God in the day of visitation." (see note
1 Peter 2:12,
cf
1 Peter 3:16,
1 Peter 4:15)
