What is the meaning of 2 Peter 2:14? Their eyes are full of adultery • Peter paints a picture of false teachers whose very gaze is polluted. “Everyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). • Their unchecked interior lust spills outward, affecting all they see—like the “worthless fellows” of Judges 19:22 whose eyes were set on evil. • The phrase exposes a heart captured by sensuality, making it impossible for them to shepherd others in purity (1 Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:6). • Literal, habitual immorality marks them, proving that “no immoral or impure person… has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Ephesians 5:5). their desire for sin is never satisfied • Much like those in Proverbs 27:20—“Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man”—these individuals have an unquenchable appetite for wrongdoing. • Romans 1:24-32 explains how repeated rejection of truth leads to God giving people over to insatiable passions. • The continual craving shows slavery, not freedom: “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). • This relentless hunger contrasts sharply with believers who find contentment in Christ (Philippians 4:11-13). they seduce the unstable • Like the serpent in Genesis 3:1, they prey on those not yet rooted. Paul warns that “by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive” (Romans 16:18). • New believers, pictured as infants in Ephesians 4:14, can be “tossed by the waves and carried about by every wind of teaching.” • The tactic is intentional: “They secretly introduce destructive heresies” (2 Peter 2:1). • Protection comes through steadfast doctrine and fellowship (Acts 2:42) and testing every spirit (1 John 4:1). They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed • The label “accursed children” echoes Galatians 1:8-9, where anyone preaching a false gospel is “under a curse.” • “Trained” suggests rigorous practice—opposite of Hebrews 5:14, where believers are trained to discern good. • Greed dominates their motives; 1 Timothy 6:10 warns that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” • Balaam is their prototype (2 Peter 2:15; Numbers 22-24), chasing profit at the expense of righteousness. • Judgment is certain: “Woe to them! For they have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam for profit” (Jude 11). summary Peter exposes false teachers as morally corrupt, insatiably sinful, manipulative toward the weak, and driven by greed. Their visible actions reveal hearts under God’s curse, offering a sober warning: guard your eyes, curb sinful desires, grow stable through sound doctrine, and refuse the lure of greed. |