Peter's main points in 2 Peter 2 regarding false teachers teaching heresies is that these teachers act stealthily, are motivated by greed, and use their teachings to create a lucrative following.
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
2 Peter 2:1-3 (KJV).
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. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
2 Peter 2:1-3 (NIV).
This is the last passage that uses the word “heresy” in the New Testament—one again in the plural. It is also the only one of these passages in which modern translations generally agree with the KJV in the use of the (apparently) technical term, “heresies”. It is also one of the main passages dealing with “false teachers,” as opposed to people who are merely divisive, and it makes three main points, which will be discussed in some detail in the sections of this work which immediately follow: 1) false teachers act stealthily, 2) their primary motivation is greed and 3) they attract many followers.
Although the word “heresies” is only used in verse 1, Peter’s description of the false teachers who create them goes on throughout the chapter. Peter describes false teachers in a number of ways, but they all flow from being totally self-centered. The people of whom Peter warns despise the thought of being under the control of anyone, especially God11, and therefore indulge their every desire, their every foul lust12. They are bold, presumptuous, arrogant, and totally unafraid to speak evil of powers greater than themselves or, indeed, of anything they cannot understand13. Because they follow their lusts, they cannot keep their eyes from adultery14 , though usually secretly. These teachers have known the right way, but have left it to pursue what they want instead, in the same way Balaam did15. Balaam’s bad example will be discussed in detail in the next post, and the remainder of 2 Peter chapter 2 after that.
I will opine, that for a large number of centuries, the most significant heretics have not been stealthy. Constantine. All of the so-called “Holy Roman” Emperors. Many groups of Anabaptists (look up a place called Munster) whose leaders behaved like the man who called himself David Koresh. Everyone who has claimed that their favorite nation of this world is somehow “Christian”. Everyone who has identified God with the description of Santa Claus, very publicly whiting-out the entire Old Testament and much of the New.
But what is even more interesting to me, is how “heretical” many famous “champions of the faith” were. Martin Luther wrote some “heresies” which openly and categorically encouraged people to do awful things to each other. Ditto John Calvin. The very name “protestant” is itself a heresy, a division, of the church, a word which does not describe faithfulness to God, but instead merely refers to endless vain complaining. There are and have been many proud protestants. But the Lord does not devote people to protestation, or any kind of protestism, He devotes people to His stated purposes: helping rescue people from this world to the Kingdom of God.
There is, of course, only one church. But this is not any institution of men, or of this world. Rome arrogated itself as its crown, and this is proven to be arrogation because it did so without making itself the most humble as the Lord said shall occur. Even the Twelve were not the collective crown, because the Lord did not respect their expectation (Mark 9:38-39), the crown is His alone and does not pass to His Apostles and anyone on any alleged seat of Peter. In identical fashion there are many who claim “apostolic” authority, but this too is another heresy, because concerning we who have the Word of God, He authorizes us.
So one could suggest, and this may possibly be quite accurate, that the Lord has empowered many heresies, in order to wreck the human empires that lied to the world in order to deceive many whom they deliberately kept ignorant of the Word of God. And I think He is still doing this.
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