“…and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you…”
We are in a section of Second Peter that describes false teachers (2 Pe 2:10-22). This is a detailed description of false teachers who infiltrated the first-century church.
and will receive the wages of unrighteousness
False teachers will face the result of their false teaching one day.
Ro 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
as those who count it pleasure
These people love pleasure and sensation. They operate in the sphere of sensual pleasures. Pleasure is what gratifies them.
to carouse in the daytime.
Most people use the nighttime to live it up. The word “carouse” means breaking down, especially of the mind, thus making effeminate. The word comes to mean luxury or indulgence. These people esteem daytime luxury a pleasure. This marks greater degeneracy. They think life should be entirely and totally entertainment. Their mind is so broke down that they constantly live in indulgence. They hold the opinion that people should not have to work. These false teachers are “swingers.”
They are spots
A “spot” is a moral blemish. In the first century, people had deplorable table manners. They did not use utensils as we do today. They generally used their hands to eat except for a knife. They dropped food on the front of their clothing and carried many stains on their clothes. Today’s movie industry depicts people of the first century as glamorous, which is not an accurate view of that day’s lifestyle. Also, their clothes carried odor from the spots of food.
Here the idea is a person who lives a lascivious lifestyle. False teachers have a stain on their character.
and blemishes
A “blemish” is a stain. It carries the idea of blame, shame, and disgrace. If we go to a formal gathering with gravy stains on our white shirt, this is a “blemish.” This is a moral disgrace. False teachers are a disgrace and shame to society.
carousing in their own deceptions
The word “carousing” carries the idea of revel or sport. These false teachers are caught in the web of their own lies and revel in their own web.
False teachers deceive, especially by false statements. They try to get away with their false lifestyles by deception. They break you down by wining and dining you. They love to woo you.
while they feast with you
To “feast” means to entertain sumptuously with. While they advocate false doctrine by wooing you into their system, they laugh up their sleeves. Often people with money go for false teachers because they cater to their depravity.
PRINCIPLE:
People love false teaching because much false teaching justifies sinful lifestyles.
APPLICATION:
People who go into false teaching to justify their sin ultimately end in misery. They think that they are having a ball, but the results of sin take their toll. To gain greater pleasure, they go deeper and deeper into sin. Whether it is gambling, booze, or immorality, they need more and more to satisfy themselves. They finally reach a stage where nothing satisfies them. Some commit suicide. They have nothing or no one for which they live.
It isn’t easy to distinguish sheep from goats anymore. Saved sheep wear goatskins, and unsaved goats wear sheepskins. It is difficult to tell the difference between saints and sinners anymore.
