Changes to 2 Pet 2, Part 3 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
This lesson is about changes in 2 Peter 2. Since 2 Peter 2 is about false teachers and how they beguile unstable souls, you can be sure that there will be some significant changes in the modern Bibles to disguise their work. Today we are going to identify the remaining things that have been changed in the NIV in this one chapter alone that make major doctrinal differences to the text.
Note these other serious changes in 2 Pet 2:
To be punished – 2 Pet 2:9 – changed to “while continuing their punishment” – the time that the unjust are spending in hell now is bad but it is as nothing compared to the punishment they are going to receive after the judgment – the Lord makes it clear that false teachers have yet “to be punished.”
Government – 2 Pet 2:10 – changed to “authority” – we already know that false teachers despise authority because they do not believe or obey the authority of the greatest governing document in the world, the King James Bible, by which they will not be governed – in their minds they are the authority, just like the Pharisees in Mk 7 – however, to despise “government” is to despise the God that put the government in office [Rom 13:1-8] – that’s why Peter said “Honour the king,” [1 Pet 2:17, the king was Nero in his day] – false teachers despise “government” – they rejected God’s reign in 1 Sam 8:7, they rejected Jesus’ reign in Jn 19:15, they rejected Nebuchadnezzar’s reign in Jer 42:13-27 [Nebuchadnezzar was put there by God, Jer 25:9] and they will continue to despise “government” until they lead this world into the reign of the devil himself [Rev 13:1-18] – by contrast, notice that Jesus did not despise Pilate [Jn 19:10-12], Paul did not despise the high priest [Acts 23:5], Moses did not despise Pharaoh [Rom 9:17] and Jeremiah did not despise Nebuchadnezzar [Jer 42:9-12].
Presumptuous… self-willed – 2 Pet 2:10 – changed to “bold… arrogant” – there is a substantial difference in the definitions of these words – presumptuous men overstep their bounds and take liberties [1 Sam 15:22-23] – self-willed men do as they please [Jud 17:6] – neither of these characterize a man under authority or in obedience to God’s will [contrast Jn 8:29] – false teachers are doing their own thing and taking many with them completely contrary to the will of God – their presumption and self-will are what make them deadly to the cause of Christ – the trouble with this change in the NIV is that God’s men are “bold” [Prov 28:1] and often must obey God rather than men [Acts 4:31, 5:29] – by following a false teacher you will end up turning away from the right men who are bold while following presumptuous, self-willed men just because they aren’t “bold” [see Rom 16:17-18] – and you won’t even know it.
Speak evil of dignities… railing accusations – 2 Pet 2:10-11 – changed to “slander celestial beings” and “slanderous accusations” – the NIV changed the word to “slander” meaning that it is okay to speak evil of dignities as long as you don’t slander them, that is to speak false charges against them – that’s not what the Bible says, at all – you are not to bring any railing accusation against them even if it is true – when Michael contended with the devil he would not bring against him a railing accusation [Jude 9] even though he knows that the devil is evil – Michael didn’t, why should you – the point is that we cannot speak evil of dignities whether they are here on earth on in the heavens – just look what happened to Hananiah in Jer 28:11-17 – he spoke against Nebuchadnezzar [God’s servant, Jer 25:9] – he spoke evil of things he didn’t understand [v.12] – this speech today in open vocal denouncement of dignities is dangerous [Acts 23:5] – yet you will hear false teachers breaking these two imperatives regularly!!
Deceivings – 2 Pet 2:13 – changed to “pleasures” – this change misses the whole point – the false teachers are “sporting” [showing off and amusing] themselves with their own deceivings – in other words, they are deceived and don’t even realize it [2 Tim 3:13] – changing the word to pleasures takes away your understanding that the false teachers don’t even realize that they have been deceived – they truly believe that they are right!!
Beguiling – 2 Pet 2:14 – changed to “seduce” – to beguile is to lead away by deception – the devil convinced Eve to sin by beguiling her [2 Cor 11:3] – and likewise, like their father the devil, false teachers use the same method of deception [2 Tim 3:6] – seduce, on the other hand, means to persuade into disobedience but doesn’t include deception in the definition – you probably would not let someone “seduce” you because you would recognize that they were trying to get you to disobey – but you could easily be “beguiled” because you wouldn’t even realize that you were being deceived, just like Eve.
Conclusion: There are more changes in this chapter than just these that we have listed. However, we have definitely exposed the cover-up of the false teachers by the changes in 2 Pet 2. Once you see the changes that have been made and you have studied what effect they have, you will recognize the false teachers that escaped your detection beforehand.