Daily Devotions
2 Peter
"Slaves of corruption"
Text: 2 Peter 2:19
POWERLESS WORDS
The false teachers promised many things to those who followed them. The grim reality was that their words had no power at all.
“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.”
2 Peter 2:19
1. “While they promise them liberty”
a) The false teachers promised their adherents “liberty”.
i) The concept would be appealing.
ii) The human heart would grab anything that promised liberty.
b) The Lord Jesus Christ was the One who talked about “liberty”.
i) The word that He taught would free a person from the bondage of sin.
ii) True freedom (liberty) would come from the Lord and His word
(John 8:32, 36).
2. “They themselves are slaves of corruption”
a) The false teachers had not found the liberty they proclaimed.
i) They had denied the Lord.
ii) They did not have the word of the Lord.
b) They were slaves of corruption.
i) Corruption was their master.
ii) They could not get out of the grip of their corruption.
3. “For by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage”
a) This was Peter’s analysis of the problem.
b) The false teachers could not overcome their sin-problem (corruption).
c) They were, in fact, overcome by their sin.
d) As a result, they were enslaved.
i) They had been enslaved by their sin (corruption).
ii) They continue to remain enslaved.
iii) How could they offer liberty when they knew nothing about it?