Sep. 20, 2026

  “WATCH OUT”

                                                       “FALSE FREEDOM”

                                                          2 PETER 2:17-22

The freedom  that the false teachers offer is a false freedom, and Peter gives three reasons that explains why it is false:

1.  It Is Based On False Promises-2 Pet. 2:17-18

Faith is only as good as the object.

I King 8:56. "Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses.”

Peter uses three vivid illustrations to emphasize the emptiness of the false apostates promises:

*One, Wells Without Water- 2 Peter 2:17

2 Peter 2:17 “These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.” 

The Greek word actually means a flowing spring rather them a tranquil well. It is the word our Lord used when he ministered to the Samaritan women: 

John 4:13-14 “Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

And that John used this in describing the satisfaction the saints will experience for all eternity: 

Revelation 7:17 “for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Revelation 21:6 “And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.”

Only Jesus Christ can give inner peace and satisfaction.

John 4:13-14

*Secondly, Clouds That Are Carried With A Tempest- 2 Peter 2:17

2 Peter 2:17 “…clouds carried by a tempest…” 

Jude 1:12 “These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots.”

*Thirdly, “The Blackness of Darkness”- 2 Peter 2:17

2 Peter 2:17 “…for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”

The word translated “blackness” means mist, gloom, so the blackness of darkness, is an accurate translation:

2 Peter 2:4 “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment.” 

Since these false teachers really have nothing to give, how are they able to attract followers? The reasons are found in 2 Peter 2:18.

2 Peter 2:18 “For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error.”

First, the teachers are eloquent promoters of their doctrines.

The Second reason the false teachers are so successful is that they appeal to the base appetites of the old nature.

2 Peter 2:14 “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.”

Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

The Third reason they are successful is that they appeal to immature people people who have very recently escaped from their old ways. 

The freedom the false teacher offers is a false freedom because it is based on false promises.

2.  It Is Offered By False Christians- 2 Peter 2:19-20

2 Peter 2:19-20 “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. 20For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.”

The tense of the verbs in verse 19 are present: “While they promised them liberty, they themselves are the slaves of corruption.”

False teachers were in bondage to money (vs.3,14). They were in bondage to fleshly lust (vs l0, 14). They were also enslaved by pride (vs l0-12) They promoted themselves and derided everybody else.

Sin always promises freedom but in the end it brings bondage. It promises life but instead it brings death.

The apostates brought their followers into bondage by means of lies, but our lord brings us into freedom by means of truth. 

John 8:32 “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

John 17:17 “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”

Through the Word of God, we discover the truth about ourselves, our world, and our God.

Matthew 12:43-45 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. 44Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

Not just a profession but a possession.

3.  It Involves A False Experience- 2 Pet. 2:21-22

2 Peter 2:21-22 “For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

It is important that we understand that the pronoun “they" in

(vs.17-22) refers to the false teachers and not to their converts.

Romans 8:9 “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”

There is no indication that the false teachers had ever experienced the new birth. They had knowledge of salvation and could use the language of the church, but they lacked the true saving experience with the Lord.

These men could point to “an experience", but it was a false experience.

According to (vs.20) these false teachers "escaped the pollutions of the world." Pollution is defilement on the outside.

Now we can appreciate Peter's admonition in 2 Pet 1:10 "Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble.”

Christ is the truth: 

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

I like the way someone summed it up by saying, “When you say Christ died, that's history. But when you say Christ died for me, that's salvation!” 

1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us; but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us”