But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.

2 Peter 2:1-2

How is it that people are susceptible to such teachings? Often, we become more likely to rationalize a lie when someone close to us makes the choice to go their own way, ignoring the clear teaching of Scripture. It’ an inside job.

“When those in our innermost circle openly defy God’s righteous decrees and we offer no objection, we take the first step down a slippery moral slope. The bottom of that slope is often full apostasy. Because if you cannot trust God’s verifiably objective and beneficial standards concerning gender, sex, and marriage, why would you trust the harder to verify claims like the resurrection, virgin birth, and his promise to come again to judge the living and the dead?”

Katy Faust, president of Them Before Us

More than once, I’ve sat across the table from someone else who was facing the challenge. I remember one man who insisted his family member “loved the Lord” while openly rebelling against God’s truth. I understand the challenge, but the slippery moral slope is real even when others deny it even exists.

Certainly Peter was aware of the challenge presented by the Roman culture in the first century, but when he wrote those words he was well aware that the problem inside the church was false teaching from within. Unfortunately, “many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.”

Let us remain committed to the truth.

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