Verses 1-11
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Don't be fooled. There are and will be evil men and false teachers who will lead many people astray. They will be punished by God in the end, but for now, we must be careful.
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Right now we live in a world full of evil, and it sometimes causes turmoil in our minds to deal with it (verse 8). But God is greater.
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The world will continue to grow worse and worse (2 Timothy 3:13), but just as God was able to preserve and deliver Noah and Lot, who were the only righteous men surrounded by myriads of wicked men, God is able to preserve us and keep us from sin.
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So, do not be discouraged by the evil around you, nor make the excuse for sin that it's always around you. No matter how much sin there is in the world, we can always choose righteousness. Just avoid false teaching and stay in the Word, so that you aren't weakened, and you will be safe.
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Verses 12-19
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Teachers can become false teachers because they lack understanding of the Word.
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Always work to grow your understanding by studying with a sincere and loving heart (1 Timothy 1:5-7), and by receiving teaching and correction from other wise believers (2 Peter 3:16, Proverbs 4:7,13); and then you will learn well.
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False teachers often are gathering with the church, unnoticed because of the ignorance of the church. Signs to identify them are that they do not respect authority, they practice sin (often trying to hide it), and they flatter with words to entice others.
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They will often try to hide their sin, so be wary and discerning.
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Do not let just anyone come into your fellowship. Protect yourself and your community by being very careful about who you let into the church.
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- These false teachers follow the way of Balaam: According to Numbers 22, Balak king of Moab hired Balaam to attempt to curse Israel. Balaam was a genuine prophet who heard from God, but he loved sin, and so misused his gift. You'll notice from the story (Numbers 22:18-22) that Balaam wanted to go with the princes of Moab to curse Israel, and he twisted God's Word into permission to follow the princes of Moab hastily. God even sent an angel and made Balaam's donkey speak in order to restrain him!
- False teachers today will do the same, twisting the scriptures to give them permission to remain in their sins to excuse the sins of others.
Verses 20-22
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False teachers are so dangerous because they can cause believers to stray from the truth and fall back into a life of sin and disbelief.
- The danger is that false teaching allures believers through the falsity that following Christ is too restrictive, and that there is more freedom by living more loosely. As a result, people may feel more free, but end up becoming a slave of sin again.
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If this happens to a believer, the end will be worse than the beginning (pre-salvation). If a believer denies their salvation, their judgment will be worse than if they had died before becoming a believer. This also means that judgment for sin is worse when you have more knowledge of the truth. More knowledge means less grace (Hebrews 10:28-29). Overall, it's better to have not been saved at all, than to be saved and fall back into bondage to sin.
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Do your best to stay away from unbiblical teaching, as it is very destructive to one's faith.
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