2 Peter 2:12-22
12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. 17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.
In this passage Peter condemns the false teachers who lead people astray. In verse 14 Peter uses the word picture, "eyes full of adultery". Someone with "eyes full of adultery" is someone who is always looking for sex, constantly checking out the people they meet, a "player" in modern slang. It is a mindset which we can easily fall into, where we are always thinking about sex ("insatiable for sin" verse 14). This kind of person ends up seducing others ("entice unsteady souls" verse 14). Verse 13 says that they "count it pleasure to revel in the daytime" - in other words, they want public approval of their sexual obsession. Thus they try to convince others, as they "promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved" (verse 19). This is a pattern that we should recognize, where we rationalize sin as a measure of a freedom but become enslaved by the very sin that was promising freedom. Why be constrained by outdated sexual morality, we argue, not realizing that the new sexual revolution ends up trapping us in a new kind of prison. The result is that we end up being trapped in a cycle of sin, like how a "dog returns to its own vomit" (verse 22). God does not tell us to avoid sexual immorality just to punish us, but He knows what the outcome will be if we give in to it.
Lord, thank you for the true freedom that is found in following Your will. Help me to keep my eyes full of You and Your kingdom.
12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. 17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.
In this passage Peter condemns the false teachers who lead people astray. In verse 14 Peter uses the word picture, "eyes full of adultery". Someone with "eyes full of adultery" is someone who is always looking for sex, constantly checking out the people they meet, a "player" in modern slang. It is a mindset which we can easily fall into, where we are always thinking about sex ("insatiable for sin" verse 14). This kind of person ends up seducing others ("entice unsteady souls" verse 14). Verse 13 says that they "count it pleasure to revel in the daytime" - in other words, they want public approval of their sexual obsession. Thus they try to convince others, as they "promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved" (verse 19). This is a pattern that we should recognize, where we rationalize sin as a measure of a freedom but become enslaved by the very sin that was promising freedom. Why be constrained by outdated sexual morality, we argue, not realizing that the new sexual revolution ends up trapping us in a new kind of prison. The result is that we end up being trapped in a cycle of sin, like how a "dog returns to its own vomit" (verse 22). God does not tell us to avoid sexual immorality just to punish us, but He knows what the outcome will be if we give in to it.
Lord, thank you for the true freedom that is found in following Your will. Help me to keep my eyes full of You and Your kingdom.