False Teachers
Category: Failure of truth
Could endure: Hold fast to the prophetic word.
“We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable.” (2 Peter 1:19)
Cross-Refs: 2 Timothy 3:16; Jude 3.
Chose wrongly: Introduced destructive heresies.
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.” (2 Peter 2:1)
Cross-Refs: Matthew 7:15; Acts 20:29–30.
Endured (negatively): Exploited others, led many astray.
“Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.” (2 Peter 2:2)
Cross-Refs: Jeremiah 23:16; Jude 4.
Why (wrong motive): Greed and lust.
“In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories.” (2 Peter 2:3)
Cross-Refs: Micah 3:11; 1 Timothy 6:5.
Result: Swift destruction.
“Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” (2 Peter 2:3)
Cross-Refs: Jude 11; Revelation 21:8.
Scoffers of the Last Days
Category: Failure of faith
Could endure: Remember God’s promises and be watchful.
“You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God.” (2 Peter 3:11–12)
Cross-Refs: Matthew 24:42; 1 Thessalonians 5:6.
Chose wrongly: Mocked the promise of Christ’s coming.
“They will say, ‘Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?’” (2 Peter 3:4)
Cross-Refs: Isaiah 5:19; Jude 18.
Endured (negatively): Willfully forgot God’s past judgment.
“They deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed.” (2 Peter 3:5)
Cross-Refs: Psalm 14:1; Romans 1:21.
Why (wrong motive): Followed evil desires.
“You must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.” (2 Peter 3:3)
Cross-Refs: Proverbs 21:24; Jude 16.
Result: Destroyed by the day of the Lord.
“But they deliberately forget… By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.” (2 Peter 3:5–6)
Cross-Refs: Matthew 24:37–39; Revelation 20:12–15.
Corruption of the World
Category: Failure of holiness
Could endure: Escape corruption through Christ’s promises.
“Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:4)
Cross-Refs: Galatians 5:16; Titus 2:12.
Chose wrongly: Returned to sin after knowing the truth.
“Of them the proverbs are true: ‘A dog returns to its vomit,’ and, ‘A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.’” (2 Peter 2:22)
Cross-Refs: Proverbs 26:11; Hebrews 10:26–27.
Endured (negatively): Became worse than before.
“It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs.” (2 Peter 2:21)
Cross-Refs: Luke 12:47–48; Matthew 12:43–45.
Why (wrong motive): Enticed by lust and greed.
“They lure the unstable… by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh.” (2 Peter 2:18)
Cross-Refs: James 1:14–15; Jude 10.
Result: Enslaved and destroyed.
“For people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” (2 Peter 2:19)
Cross-Refs: John 8:34; Romans 6:16.