Sharper Iron — The Imperishable Inheritance: God Rescues His People from False Teachers

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Rev. Matt Ulmer, pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Bishop, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 2 Peter 2:1-10a.

As false prophets once lied to the people of Israel, so false teachers still seek to bring eternal harm to Christians. St. Peter writes against false teachers who cast aside God’s commandments in favor of their own sensuality and greed. The Apostle exposes this lie for what it truly is: a denial of Jesus as Lord. In order to bring comfort and strength to Christians in the midst of false teaching, St. Peter uses the example of God’s judgment against the evil angels, the world in Noah’s day, and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. At the same time, he also highlights God’s salvation for Noah and Lot. Christians can be certain, therefore, that God will bring false teachers to judgment and rescue His own people as He has promised.

“The Imperishable Inheritance” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the epistles of 1 and 2 Peter and Jude. The life of the Christian Church right now is life in exile. We endure attacks from various trials and from false teachers. Such suffering makes us long for the eternal home that will be ours at the resurrection of the dead. In Jesus, we have this promise of eternal life that can never be snatched away. These three epistles strengthen us to hold fast to Christ in the midst of suffering and to give witness to the hope that is ours in Him.

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen.

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund, where your investments help support the work of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Visit lcef.org.

2 Peter 2:1-10a

False Prophets and Teachers

2 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell[a] and committed them to chains[b] of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;[c] 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials,[d] and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge[e] in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

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Footnotes

2 Peter 2:4 Greek Tartarus

2 Peter 2:4 Some manuscripts pits

2 Peter 2:6 Some manuscripts an example to those who were to be ungodly

2 Peter 2:9 Or temptations

2 Peter 2:10 Greek who go after the flesh

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.