November 2nd
“1But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them–bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
14With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed–an accursed brood! 15They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. 16But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey–a beast without speech–who spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
17These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity–for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 20If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”
2 Peter 2:1-3,14-22 NIV
This section of scripture addresses the false religious teachers who were leading Christians astray in the early church. Greed and sexual sin were two of the primary sins that these corrupt leaders practiced. They “loved the wages of wickedness” and had “eyes full of adultery.” They were “slaves of depravity,” and were actively seducing people into sin in various ways.
As I read through the passage I saw some parallels between the corrupt leaders’ condition and the condition that pornography addiction can lead to. Most notably is how pornography fills the eyes with adultery. Our eyes are the gateways to our souls, i.e. whatever we allow to fill our eyes will fill our thoughts. Jesus said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23 NIV). Just one look at a porn picture can ignite the fire of lust in our minds. If we continue to feed that fire with porn, it can quickly burn out of control and our thoughts will likely be permeated with sexual fantasy. Curiously, our eyes will also reflect what we’ve been thinking about. It’s not too hard to spot a person who is “checking people out” in public with a lustful eye.
Porn addiction can truly be slavery to depravity. It often leads people into increasingly graphic and perverted forms of sexual entertainment. It can even inspire people to commit violent sexual crimes, as they seek to act out the fantasies they’ve been viewing in porn. The added problem is that people who half-heartedly try to break free from the addiction may find themselves worse off than before.
If you have gotten involved in pornography addiction, God offers you hope of complete recovery through your faith in Jesus Christ. The road to freedom may be challenging, but it is possible if you keep your eyes on Jesus. His miracle-working power can restore the unrestorable and change the unchangeable. The steps may vary depending on circumstances, but generally will start with confession of sin, repentance and surrender to God through obedience. Please see our online course, Freedom Journey I for more details.
Questions for further thought:
Peter wrote that a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. Have you allowed anything to master you?
What were some of the other notable characteristics of the false teachers Peter described?
How can his “character profile” of the false teachers help us in the church today?
Prayer:
“Lord God, I desire to have pure eyes and a pure heart. Please forgive me for viewing any evil things for entertainment. Lord, I plead the blood of Jesus over the memories of sin and the corrupt thought patterns that I’ve practiced. Please cleanse and restore my mind. I have the mind of Christ and I will think pure thoughts. Help me to walk this walk of purity faithfully with you, without turning back to my former ways. Please fill me with your joy and peace today. Thank you, Lord! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”