1) 2 Peter 2:1; False teachers, secretly introduce destructive heresies.
Conclusions: 1) “Secretly
introduce” is the triple compound word
pareisago. Par = beside,
eis = in, ago = to lead. A literal translation is:
‘to lead in beside.’
The idea is to come along side someone and be with
them and then to lead them
into something. Because of the following
verse context, considerable
trickery is included in the definition. 2)
“Heresies” are where the false
teachers are leading. “Heresies” is the
Greek word hairesis and literally
means “to choose.” Compare the root
word haireomai in Philippians
1:22b (“to choose”). The “destructive
heresies” are literally “choices.”
This is very subtle, but if you are going
to effectively trick people
it usually needs to be subtle. For contrast, I will
pick ‘obedience’ as a single
word to describe true Biblical spiritual things.
Which is more appealing, ‘choices’
or ‘obedience?’ 3) In the following
contexts of 2 Peter, are examples
of the false teachers’ leading (“secretly
introduce”), choices
(“heresies”) and motivations.
Final conclusion: Look for examples of the false teachers’ leading
(“secretly introduce”),
choices (“heresies”) and motivations.
2) Jude 4; “For certain persons
have crept in unnoticed, those who were
long beforehand
marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons
who turn
the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only
Master
and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Conclusions: 1) “Have
crept in unnoticed” is the triple compound
verb pareisduno. Par
= beside, eis = in and duno = to enter. A literal
translation is: to enter in
beside. Taking into account the very strongly
negative spiritual context
of the rest of the verse, and pareisduno
describes an “entering in
beside” with a spiritually malevolent attitude.
2) ‘Turning grace into licentiousness’
describes the ‘infiltrators’ first
spiritual goal. According
to Romans 5:1-2 and Acts 20:32, grace is God's
beneficial opportunity for
mankind to approach Him for eternal salvation
and spiritual growth based
on the Person and work of Jesus Christ. Grace
provides opportunity to spiritually
improve not spiritually misuse. 3)
“Deny our only Master and
Lord, Jesus Christ” states the next spiritual
goal of the ‘infiltrators.’
Attacking the eternal Divinity, co-equality, virgin
birth, bodily resurrection
and sole salvation of Jesus Christ is common to
various religions, cults and
Christian cults. 4) In the following Jude
context, are more examples
of the motivations and techniques of these
‘infiltrators.’
3) Galatians 2:4; “But it was
because of the false brethren who had
sneaked
in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in
order to
bring us into bondage.”
Conclusions: 1)
The NASB translation appears to have combined
two separate, but similar
Greek words in the translation. The first word is
the triple compound word pareisaktos,
and is found in the Greek text
right before the words “false
brethren.” Par = beside, ei = in and skatos
= secret. The idea is
to be ‘secretly in a place and beside someone.’
Not an easy translation.
Perhaps it is best to just add “secret” before
“false brethren.” The
other Greek word is the triple compound
pareiserchomai. Par
= beside, eis = in and erchomai = to enter. The
NASB has translated it well,
considering the context, “had sneaked in.”
2) The goal of their
‘sneaking in’ is stated in 4:b as: “to spy out our
liberty” and “bondage.”
3) Who are the ‘secret false brethren’? Later, in
Galatians 2:12, Paul describes
“the coming of certain men from James”
who were of “the party of
the circumcision.” Because the context of 2:4
also concerns circumcision
(see verse 3), perhaps Paul was also thinking
of “the party of the circumcision”
with the phrase ‘secret false brethren.’
During this time of the infant
Church, there were debates about the
relationship of the Church
to the Mosaic Law, and in particular
circumcision. There
were those of the party of circumcision who
believed that circumcision
was necessary for salvation (Acts 15:1), and
some who believed that circumcision
was necessary for living the
Christian life after salvation
(Acts 15:5). 4) Paul stated in Galatians 2:5
how he dealt with the ‘secret
false brethren’ who attacked the Gospel of
salvation and the Gospel of
the Christian life after salvation: “But we did
not yield in subjection to
them for even an hour, so that the truth of the
gospel might remain with you.”
5) These ‘infiltrating heretics’ were
motivated by religious power
lust (“to bring us into bondage,” verse 4b).