Discerning False Doctrine: 2 Peter 1:3-11

How do you discern false doctrine? Well, first of all you have to be looking for it, and that may feel like a very dour approach to life. But the gospel is so important and the susceptibility of humans to distorting the gospel is so great that we need to be on guard.

False doctrine is best discovered by a solid grasp on true doctrine, which makes the false doctrine stand out as untenable. But the second way to discover it is to look at the kind of life the teachers of our faith are living. And, of course, we should be living holy lives also.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 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. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3-11, ESV)

There has been an act of God’s power that has provided life and godliness to us, and there has been a dissemination of knowledge by God in the form of promises that enables us to acquire life and godliness. What God did powerfully in the rescue secured by Jesus Christ through his death and resurrection, we have embraced by faith when we heard the proclamation of the rescue. In order to have life and godliness we have to know God in a way that makes us partakers of His divine nature. We cannot manufacture life and godliness from our own nature. The apostle Paul would say it this way,

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4, ESV).

It is the person of the Holy Spirit in our lives who imparts to us something of the divine nature to enact an escape from the corruption that is in the world.

That escape from corruption is in one sense a done deal and in another sense a continuing saga. If I supplement my saving faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love in an increasing manner, I will demonstrate that I was called and elected to salvation and that I will never fall away from it. If I do not supplement my faith with these qualities there is no confirmation of my calling and election possible. I am acting as though I forgot I was cleansed, as if I am blind once again. I may not in fact be saved at all. Godliness is the evidence of divine life in me. The lack of this evidence suggests that His life or divine nature may not be in me.

Peter is affirming this because false prophets typically do not demonstrate a godliness that stems from life, God’s life. They are not saved and so cannot remain unstained by the world’s corruption. A test of true doctrine is the godly character of the person who preaches it and the lack of godly character is a potential sign of false doctrine.

So we must “make every effort” to grow in godliness and so give evidence of our calling and election to salvation. This effort is enabled by the Holy Spirit in us who makes us partakers of God’s nature. We find it our truest desire to be like Him. The “efforts” we make will include spending time with Him, spending time with His people, and learning from Him and one another about just who He is. The more time you spend with someone, the more like them you become.

Leo Widrich, a self-described life hacker who wants to be “incredibly successful, incredibly happy, and doing no matter what it takes to chase” his dreams, quotes a mentor:

‘You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.’ Jim Rohn

The apostle Paul says it this way:

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18, ESV)

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33, ESV)

Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. (Philippians 3:17, ESV)