Be Wary of Plastic Words
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. (2 Peter 2:1-3 ESV)
“They will exploit you with false words.” The word translated false is the Greek word plasso, “to form, fashion, mold,” from which we get the word plastic. False teachers will seek to profit by the use of plastic words. They will use words that can be easily formed to any shape that suits their purposes.
Why would anyone listen to those who deny the One who saved them? Peter tells us. Many will follow their sensuality, that is, their absence of restraint, their insatiable desire for pleasure. We often equate sensuality with sexual immorality but, as the root of the word implies, it can involve pleasing our senses in any excessive way.
This is the oldest trick in the book. Satan came to Eve with plastic words: “Did God really say?”
When Eve replies that God has told her and Adam they will die if they disobey him, Satan says, “Nuh uh! God didn’t tell you the whole truth. But I will.”
Besides Satan’s appeal to Eve’s desire for wisdom, her senses are also involved in her decision to listen to the serpent. “She saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes” (Gen. 3:6 ESV).
Peter’s concern about the deception of false teachers is his stated reason for writing a second letter (3:1). He has already said that as long as he lives he intends to make every effort to wake up the Master’s people, and do what he can to make sure they can recall everything after he’s gone (2:13-15).
Peter goes into great detail describing the kinds of people of whom to beware. He likens them to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. They are bold and willful. They don’t fear the things they should be afraid of. They blaspheme things they know nothing about. They are insatiable for sin with hearts trained in greed, and they promise freedom while they themselves are slaves to sin.
Don’t these sound like the sort of people who would be easily recognized? If they were, Peter wouldn’t have taken so much time to warn us about them. Besides exploiting you with plastic words, these people revel in deception. They use sensual pleasure to entice. To entice is to bait and entrap. A good trap is difficult to detect, and the bait is chosen with a specific victim in mind.
Like waterless springs, these people promise many things they can’t deliver. A thirsty person may have to get close enough to fall into the empty hole before he realizes there is no water.
Peter doesn’t want us to be passively aware of danger. He wants us to actively resist. All of his instructions involve some exertion on our part. “Make every effort to supplement your faith” by adding virtue on virtue. “Be all the more diligent,” “practice these qualities,” “take care,” and “pay attention.” Paying attention isn’t simply a matter of sitting up and looking around. The Greek word is a nautical term that means to keep a ship on a course toward a specific place. Stay the course!
Does Peter expect us to do all these things in our own power? Certainly not. He has already told us:
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 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 Pet. 1:3-4 ESV)
“Through our knowledge of him who called us.” He continues, “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.”
Peter opened this letter with the prayer, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and in Jesus our Lord.” He closes by entreating that we “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
The warnings about plastic words are sandwiched between exhortations to know and grow in knowing. The more we know about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the more difficult it will be for deceivers to use plastic words against us.
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Eph. 3:16-19 NLT)
We must arm ourselves with the knowledge of what Jesus said and did.
Through the gift of a faithful mother and grandmother, grew up knowing Jesus as a friend. Married for nearly two-thirds of her life, there has been time for several seasons, from homeschooling to owning a coffee shop. She has three grown children and eight grandchildren. An element of this season is writing about literature and life at Plumfield and Paideia.
Photograph © Aaron Burden, used with permission
Thank you for this timely word. Te thing that stood out to me is that our writing, like Peter’s, can remind our children- and our grandchildren- what is truly important in life. You have captured so much truth in this post. Thanks for the gift of writing you share with us.