The Big Baddies
- There are teachers and then there are false teachers.
- False teachers teach people to believe things that are completely wrong—like that the world isn't going to end and God isn't going to judge everyone. They're just ignoring stuff that Jesus said, and God won't be pleased when he gets a hold of them.
- The worst part is that tons of folks fall for it. Don't let these guys drag you down with them, says Peter. They'll try to trick you with their lies about the end times, but don't believe it for a minute. God has judged them and he's going to annihilate them in the end.
- Look, when a bunch of angels disobeyed God, he didn't just shrug it off. He cast them down into Hell. Naysayers will be seeing them soon.
- When God saw the world was wicked, he flooded it and killed everyone. Well, everyone except Noah and family.
- And when he saw those sinners behaving badly in Sodom and Gomorrah, he burned their town to the ground. Luckily,
- was able to escape in time.
- The moral of the story? God does not play.
- He will bring an end to this world and judge folks. But like he did with Noah and Lot, God will show mercy anyone who does what's right and follows him. Hey, God's not a total meanie.
- These false teachers though? They're sinners. They want things they shouldn't have. They hate the folks in charge. And they're also not beneath telling lies.
- They're kind of like stupid animals in a slaughterhouse. They're on a conveyer belt to their death and they don't even know it.
- And the hating continues: false teachers are like a cancer that eats away at the Christian community. They're adulterous and sinful. They lead the faithful astray. Oh, and they're super greedy.
- They're kind of like Balaam, this guy from the Hebrew Bible. He loved money so much that he went against God. Bad move.
- God has reserved a dark corner in Hell just for these folks. They spit out all kinds of nonsense and try to lure people in with the promise of "freedom."
- People can only really be free if they give themselves over to God. These false teachers want Christians to tie themselves to the world and keep on sinning.
- They might promise freedom, but they're actually slaves to sin. They won't be able to deliver on that promise.
- The worst part about this all is that these guys know what is right. They were sinful pagans before they started following Jesus. Now they're going back to their evil ways even though they know it's wrong.
- They might as well have never heard of Jesus. At least then they could plead ignorance when God came knocking.