When Satan comes at you wielding the sword of his false doctrine, wielding the sword that wants to strike a death blow against you, what insulates you and protects you from the fatality of that blow is the helmet of salvation, the protection or the defense of knowing you are saved, knowing you belong to God. Welcome to Grace to You, featuring the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. There's no deception with more terrifying consequences than to believe that you're a Christian when you're really not. Yet that's the case for countless people.
How can you make sure you're not one of them? How can you have complete confidence that you're going to heaven? How can you be sure you're not falling for myths about salvation? That's the title of John MacArthur's study that's beginning today. As a way of launching this series, let's hear how John set it up once before.
We asked him whether these myths about salvation are things that even longtime believers might relate to and maybe even struggle with. And here's what John had to say. Of course, people struggle with some very, very important issues, and there's a direct reason why they do, and that's because. There's so much bad teaching. There's so much false teaching.
And there are many people who don't have the mechanisms, don't have the discernment to sort it out. I mean, one of the most dangerous things a person can do. is um go to church Really? That that could be absolutely devastating. in its danger.
Because you have no guarantee you're going to hear the truth. It may be equally dangerous to listen to the wrong thing on the radio. uh to listen to the wrong quote unquote Christian television program. And just because people say it's Christian certainly doesn't mean it's true. Look, the devil himself is disguised as an angel of light.
And so are his ministers. Deception is their game. And the reason there is so much confusion these days is because there is so much deception. And it's not by accident. It's what Satan does from the beginning in the garden.
when he began to hint to Eve that God didn't say that. Has God really said that? The devil has been deceiving people about the word of God. And when you talk about heresy, you talk about error. The worst possible error Is error about the gospel and about salvation?
You can be wrong about some things and go to heaven, not that.
So myths about salvation are always circulating and they are critical in the damage they do. Friend, these will be some important weeks of Bible study.
So stay here as we launch the series called Myths About Salvation. And with today's lesson, here is John MacArthur. Throughout Scripture, there are warnings against false teachers. You're very much aware of that. We talk about it from time to time.
These false teachers have been around since the very beginning, as it were, attempting to damn souls to hell by beguiling them, by deceiving them with lies masquerading as spiritual, divine-saving truth. That is always the ploy of false teachers. They are the emissaries of Satan. They are liars who are. Basically Motivated, moved by love of money, love of power, prestige, prominence, and so forth, but truly they are the pawns of spiritual entities, namely demons, who lead them to propagate satanic lies to deceive souls who will then perish in hell and populate Satan's eternal domain.
So, this kind of deception has been around all the way back in the garden. You see the beginning of it, where. Satan comes in the form of a serpent attempting to seduce man and woman. To turn against God. And he was successful then, and he is still successful with his lying deception.
Now, because this is an age-old problem, false teaching, false teachers, false prophets, false doctrines, heresies, and all. Because it is a constant problem, in every age, then, God has had his spiritual consumer protection advocates. God has always had those men and women who are around for the purpose of speaking his truth. Whether it be a faithful mother who speaks her truth to her children, a faithful father who speaks truth to his family, whether it be a prophet. Whether it be a priest, whether it be a king, whether it be a judge, whether it be some significant person within the framework of Israel, an elder of the nation, whoever it might be, or whether it be an apostle or a New Testament prophet or a pastor or a teacher or an elder or a deacon or whoever it might be, there are always those whose calling seems to be to warn about the deceivers and their deception.
No one stands out more in the New Testament. such regard than does Peter. Peter is an instrument of God to write this epistle as a warning letter. And it has as its purpose endeavoring to help us To be able to square up against this kind of deception, which is so. Very prevalent.
The letter is for the purpose of exposing Thwarting and defeating the invasion of false teachers into the church. It suited that purpose when he wrote it. It still suits that purpose today.
Now, Peter pulls no punches. It is a clear, Precise, direct. Presentation. And in chapter two is the heart of the description of the false teachers. And it is a generic description.
He never identifies any Labeled heresy. He doesn't identify some specific false religion. He doesn't identify some specific false cult or false system of teaching. It's very generic, but he says this in general about these false teachers. They teach destructive heresies.
They tend to deny the Lord Jesus Christ. They twist scripture to do so. They bring the true faith into disrepute. They despise authority. They are driven by lust and evil desire.
They arrogantly slander God's messengers. They are immoral. They are covetous exploiters. They are arrogant. They entice people with sensual pleasure.
They promise the good life, but they cannot deliver. They are filthy. Very direct descriptions. He talks about the fact that they have absolutely nothing to offer even though they pretend to offer everything. That their victims are unstable souls.
Who love all the wrong things, and thus they fall victim. to them selling them the wrong things.
Now, there is something very urgent in Peter's heart as he writes, because this is his last letter. You will notice in verse 12 of chapter 1. Therefore, I shall always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them and have been established in the truth which is present with you. And I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent.
So also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. I'm not going to live very long, and if there's one thing I want to do, it's make sure you remember these things.
So I will remind you and remind you and remind you so that when I'm gone, you'll have them in mind. These matters regarding false teachers and their deceiving lies.
Now, the terms in this epistle indicate that such false teachers were not just future, but they were already at work. They were already moving among the people to whom Peter wrote. No specific details behind this letter are revealed. There is no description of this heresy whatsoever. In fact, Peter's purpose here is not to deal with the doctrine of the heretics as much as to deal with their character.
He is concerned about the kind of people they are, as well as what they say. But the major thrust of chapter 2 describes them, not their doctrine. All he says about their doctrine is it is damnable or damning or destructive heresy. He says in chapter three about their doctrine that they mock. The coming judgment of God.
But beyond that, he really doesn't say much.
So he's more concerned to help us identify the character of their life because the doctrine may change, but the heretic's character doesn't change. The deceiver's character is the same. Even though we don't know the exact form of the false teaching that was coming at these people, and even though we don't know specific details about that, we can from this epistle learn how to spot a deceiver and how to spot a deceiver. is deception. But more than just being critical and analytical and viewing false teaching.
This particular epistle has a rather protectionistic perspective. Peter wants to protect the believer. He wants the church to be able to defend itself against this incessant onslaught. By the way, historically, the church has. uh had mixed success and failure.
For the most part, it seems to me that the church, at the widest possible definition, has fallen victim to deception. And it seems to me that throughout the history of the church, it's always a small remnant that are able to recognize it for what it is and stay true to the faith. That's Peter's concern. His concern is that people not fall prey or victim to the dangerous attack of false teachers.
Now There are basically three defenses you need. And Peter's going to open these to us. Number one, know your salvation. Number two, know your scripture. Number three, know your sanctification.
Those are the three things you need to know. Be sure you're saved. That's protection number one, verses one to eleven. Be sure your standing with the Lord is settled. That is a major line of defense.
Number two, know your scripture. Starting in chapter 1, verse 12, he moves through to chapter 3, verse 2, and the thrust there is about the scripture. which was from the Holy Spirit. We don't follow cleverly devised fables. Peter says, But were eyewitnesses and moved by the Spirit of God, we've written it down.
And you better be sure you follow that and not the destructive heresies of sensual false prophets.
So you must know your salvation, you must know your scripture. Be sure you're saved, number one. Be sure you understand the truth, number two. Protection number three is to know your sanctification. And that is the issue of having to deal with your own holiness.
Starting in chapter 3 and verse 3. He moves all the way through. Discussing The matter of holiness. in coming to perhaps a climax In verse 14, he says, Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, spotless and blameless. And then in verse 18, grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Now, that middle section which I left out, chapter 2, is the description of the false teachers. We could also say, know your salvation, know your scripture. And we could throw in, know your adversaries. That's really chapter two. But the three defense lines against them are salvation, scripture.
Sanctification.
Now please mark this, will you in your mind? In each of those three cases, Protection against false teachers involves knowing something. It involves knowing something. And if there's a key word in 2 Peter, it would be the word knowledge. You must know the condition of your salvation, your relationship to God.
You must know the scripture. You must know your spiritual Condition in terms of sanctification. That is protection one, two, and three. And you must also know your adversary. You must know how to recognize these people.
That, of course, is the heart of the epistle in chapter 2.
Now, the word knowledge then is very prominent in these three chapters.
So, it is what we know that protects us. We have to know the enemy, and he describes him for us very clearly in chapter 2, how they're going to come, what their character is going to be. We've got to be discerning, thoughtful, and analytical, and critical, and evaluate them. But then in order to protect ourselves, we have to know our salvation, we have to know scripture and know the condition of our spiritual life. Confidence in our salvation, its resources, the true knowledge of God through Jesus Christ with assurance is the first line of defense.
This, beloved, is the helmet of salvation. When Satan comes at you wielding the sword of his false doctrine, wielding the sword that wants to strike a death blow against you, what insulates you and protects you from the fatality of that blow is the helmet of salvation, the protection or the defense of knowing you are saved, knowing you belong to God. Your defense begins with a clear, confident comprehension of salvation relationship to God. With that in view, Peter spends the opening section on the issue of salvation. We're going to look at it in verses 1 through 11.
Here he wants to remove any doubt. He wants to remove any confusion from the believer who may be doubting or may be confused about his salvation. He wants him to know where he stands so that he can stand where he stands. An insecure, doubting, confused. Christian will become easy prey.
for false teachers. Anyone is vulnerable to false doctrine who is one not saved or too not sure of salvation. Because you don't know what you stand on. You don't understand your resources.
So, comprehending our true spiritual condition with regard to salvation is the first defense against the attack of satanic error. If you don't know you're in Christ, If you don't know what you are in Christ, And you are easy prey.
Now the tone for this discussion of salvation Comes right off the bat in the greeting. Let's look at verse 1. Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ. To those who have received faith Of the same kind as ours, or like precious faith, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God.
and of Jesus. Our Lord.
Now, before we begin the rich presentation of salvation that starts here in these. First two verses, just some. Introductory. Thoughts. Notice Simon Peter's name there.
The epistle begins with that name, Simon Peter. We end our letters with our name. In ancient times, they started with the name, which makes a lot more sense. When I get a letter, Dear John, I know it's addressed to me. I know it's coming to me.
Don't tell me that again. I always have to look at the end to find out who it's from. They did it right. Simon Peter. Both names, by the way, are very important.
Simon is the Greek Term Simeon Is the Hebrew. And in the ancient manuscripts that we have of 2 Peter, some have Simon and some have. Simeon. It was a very common name. It was a name after Simeon.
who is the head of one of the tribes of Israel. Simeon or Simon, same name. This name was given to this man from birth. His father named him Simeon, no doubt. The Greek world had identified it as Simon.
So in the manuscripts you have both. His own name In its Jewish form, Simeon Would not be enough to identify him. If you just said, Simeon wrote this, they would say, What Simeon? Simeon or Simon was as common a name in ancient times as any name. For example, in the New Testament, Nine people other than Peter are called Simon.
Nine other ones. Simon would not be enough to identify him. What Simon or Simeon?
Well, Simon Peter. He's the one. Peter means rock. In Aramaic. The Greek word Peter means rock.
In Aramaic, the word is Cephas.
So sometimes he's called Cephas in the Aramaic. He wanted his full identity to be expressed. He wanted everyone to be sure who was writing this. It wasn't Simon Magus, and it wasn't Simon the Just, and it wasn't any of the other seven Simons. It was Simon Peter who wrote this.
There's also another note in these two names. Simon was his name before he met Christ, and Peter was his name after he met Christ. Simon was his name of dishonor, and Peter was his name of honor. And because he was so much Simon Peter. In other words, he so often acted like his old self, as well as acting like his new self, he never seemed to be able to shake his first name.
In fact, when Jesus had caught him in his disobedience, he said to him three times, Simon, Simon, Simon. He called him by his old name when he acted like his old self in John 21. This combination, Simon Peter, occurs many times in the New Testament and referring to this man. In the early church, among the Gentiles who spoke Greek, he was combined. Commonly called Simon Peter.
Read the book of Acts, particularly in chapter 10 and chapter 11. Even the Gentiles called him Simon Peter. Then he further identifies himself. Simon Peter, a bond. Servant.
A bondservant and apostle. of Jesus Christ.
Now there is an excellent balance of humility and authority. humility and dignity. The perfect balance for a spiritual leader. He is a bond servant, first of all, doulas, that means a slave. He says, I'm a slave.
That puts him in the place of submission, that puts him in the place of duty, that puts him in the place of obedience, that puts him in the place of humility, that puts him on the level with, watch this, all other believers. Who serve the Lord Jesus Christ? We're all slaves. We're all servants. Strange as it might seem, This title of humiliation.
Was born by the greatest men in in the Word of God. Moses the great leader and lawgiver. Was the servant of God? Joshua, the great commander of Israel, was the servant of God. David, the greatest of the kings, was the servant of God.
Paul was the servant of Jesus Christ. James was the servant of Christ. Jude called himself the servant of Christ. According to Amos 3:7, all the prophets of the Old Testament were servants of God. And every believer in the New Testament.
becomes God's slave.
So Peter is identifying himself with all of us. He is Humble. As Christ's Slave. And though he was the greatest of the twelve and their spokesman, Though he was the greatest preacher of them all and the leader at Jerusalem, He was a slave to Jesus Christ. William Barclay has written To call the Christian the slave of God means that he is inalienably possessed by God.
In the ancient world, a master possessed his slaves in the same sense as he possessed his tools. The Christian inalienably belongs to God. To call the Christian the slave of God means that he is. unqualifiedly at the disposal of God. In the ancient world, the master could do what he liked with his slave.
He had the same power over his slave as he had over his inanimate possessions. The Christian belongs to God for God to send him where he will and to do with him what he will. The Christian is the man who has no rights of his own. To call the Christian the slave of God means that the Christian owes an unquestioning obedience to God. To call the Christian the slave of God means that he must be constantly in the service of God.
The slave had literally no time of his own, no holidays, no time off, no working hours settled by agreement, no leisure. All his time belonged to the master. The Christian is necessarily the man every moment of whose life and time is spent in the service of God. The slave was well known. In that ancient time, and for Peter to say he is a slave.
Of Jesus Christ. means he is a humble servant. bound by duty to do whatever his master told him, no matter what the cost. That was Peter. Read John 21.
That's the whole Essence. of what Jesus wanted from Peter. If you love me, then do what I tell you. Feed my sheep. Follow me.
It'll cost you your life. But obey me. Then he says, turning from humility to dignity, he is also an apostle of Jesus Christ.
So while on the one hand he humbles himself to be the equal of all believers, on the other hand he represents himself as a spokesman for Christ. This elevates him to the unique office as divinely called and commissioned as a witness of the resurrected Christ, Christ's personally chosen messenger of the gospel, to the place where he speaks officially. The term apostle means one officially sent forth. And an apostle of Jesus Christ is one officially sent forth by Jesus Christ.
So he had all of Christ's authority. with him. He served and yet He had authority. He was under Christ, and yet he was the representative of Christ. And there is the model for spiritual leadership: the submissive, sacrificial obedience of a slave joined with the strength, boldness, and courage of an apostle.
Finally. In these little introductory notes, Simon Peter, a bondservant or slave and apostle of Jesus Christ to those. Stop right there. Who are they? Those.
Well, chapter 3, verse 1, it said, the same ones who received the first letter. If you go back to chapter 1, verse 1 of the first letter, you find out who he's writing to: Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those. There they are again. What those? Those who reside as aliens?
Scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia. and Bithynia who are chosen. In other words, the elect church scattered in that Gentile world. We don't know who they are any more specifically than that. predominantly Gentiles.
But certainly some Jews were also in the fellowship. Probably. 2 Peter is written from Rome. as was 1 Peter. Nero died in 68 AD.
Peter died under Nero's persecution, tradition tells us. Peter must have died before 68, so this was likely penned in around 66 or so. It was a prison epistle. He was a prisoner? He was facing...
Death. As I read earlier, chapter 1, verse 14. He says, I know that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent. Tradition tells us he was crucified and he refused to be crucified like his Lord, and you asked to be crucified upside down. Final words to us from this bigger than life man.
about how to face false teachers triumphantly. You're listening to Grace to You with the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. John's current study is titled Myths About Salvation. Friend, it's crucial that you're sure of your salvation. If you struggle with assurance, if you want to make sure you're experiencing the blessings assurance has to offer, I'd urge you to download John's series, Myths About Salvation.
It's available in mp3 and transcript format at our website, gty.org. Download Myths About Salvation for free when you get in touch with us today. Our website again is gty.org. This is a great series to use in a midweek Bible study and again you can download all 11 sermons free of charge in mp3 and transcript format from our website gty.org. And keep in mind that there are thousands of Bible study resources at gty.org.
Besides our current study called Myths About Salvation, you'll find dozens of other topical studies as well as hundreds of sermons that you've never heard on radio. In fact, all of John's sermons from 56 years of his pulpit ministry are free to download. The MP3 audio and the written transcripts at gty.org. The website is also the place to purchase John's topical books, the MacArthur Study Bible, the systematic theology book called Biblical Doctrine, and much more. Our website, one more time, gty.org.
Now for the entire Grace to U staff, I'm Phoenson. Thanks for starting your week with us and be back tomorrow to learn three things about salvation you need to understand in order to know that your faith is genuine. We're continuing John MacArthur's series Myths About Salvation with another 30 minutes of unleashing God's Truth one verse at a time. Grace to you.
