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15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.(A)

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III. Condemnation of the False Teachers

Chapter 2

False Teachers.[a] There were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will introduce destructive heresies and even deny the Master who ransomed them, bringing swift destruction on themselves.(A) Many will follow their licentious ways, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled.(B) In their greed they will exploit you with fabrications, but from of old their condemnation has not been idle and their destruction does not sleep.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 2:1–3 The pattern of false prophets among the Old Testament people of God will recur through false teachers in the church. Such destructive opinions of heretical sects bring loss of faith in Christ, contempt for the way of salvation (cf. 2 Pt 2:21), and immorality.

Antichrists. 18 Children, it is the last hour;[a] and just as you heard that the antichrist was coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. Thus we know this is the last hour.(A) 19 They went out from us, but they were not really of our number;[b] if they had been, they would have remained with us. Their desertion shows that none of them was of our number.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:18 It is the last hour: literally, “a last hour,” the period between the death and resurrection of Christ and his second coming. The antichrist: opponent or adversary of Christ; the term appears only in 1 John–2 John, but “pseudochrists” (translated “false messiahs”) in Mt 24:24 and Mk 13:22, and Paul’s “lawless one” in 2 Thes 2:3, are similar figures. Many antichrists: Matthew, Mark, and Revelation seem to indicate a collectivity of persons, here related to the false teachers.
  2. 2:19 Not really of our number: the apostate teachers only proved their lack of faith by leaving the community.