“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.”
2 Peter 2:1 (NIV)
This entire chapter is devoted to warning us about false prophets and giving us identifiers by which we can identify them.
Let us not miss the obvious truth that in order for false prophets to exist in New Testament days, there must have been true prophets in the New Testament churches. These prophets were not prophets like the prophets whose writings we have in the bible, rather they were prophets as Paul describes prophets in 1 Corinthians 12 thru 14.
False prophets live depraved lives, they exploit people, use people for their own gain, and boast a lot. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing and they stand beside the true prophets who speak the true gospel, deceiving seekers of God and leading them into destruction.
I love verse 9 for it tells us that God knows how to rescue the godly from trials- praise the Lord!
Once again, we can ask WHY?
Why does God allow there to be false prophets alongside true prophets?
Our time would be better sent examining the words and lives of those who speak God’s Words to us, trying to identify the false prophets so that we can be careful not to listen to them, but listen to the true prophets, and allow their words to impact our lives, for they speak God's Words.
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