15     They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. 17 These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18  For 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.  19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity-- for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 

These false teachers have distorted the grace of God through the gospel they preach so that, rather than seeing the gospel as God's provision for man's freedom from sin, it is viewed as God's provision for man's freedom to sin. False teachers still strive to introduce destructive heresies into the church.    

Peter says they offer water, but it is not from the living water of truth. They are springs that are dry. They do not produce what they promise. Mists driven by a storm are here and gone with lots of turmoil and activity for a short time.

I think of many who started strong in a traditional church and began to lead people to complete falsehood.  For example, Sun Myung Moon, Jim Jones, Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses, Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism attended studies at the Presbyterian and Methodist churches. All these people strayed from the Christian faith.    

Elsewhere in Scripture, we are given more specific examples as to how the gospel was perverted by false teachers, but here, Peter is very general in his description of the doctrinal errors of the false teachers, but much more specific in his description of their moral failures. Perhaps it would seem Peter is suggesting that it may take considerable time for the false doctrines to become evident, while the moral failures of these folk are much more readily and quickly seen.        

We need to be on alert with those reinvent interpretations and twist the Bible to adjust to their thinking, instead of changing their thinking to fit the Bible.

I pity people searching for God and coming away empty. It is because many leaders want to follow man's reasoning instead of God's Word. There is no other way to know the Lord except by putting your faith and trust in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, who came to our world to pay the price for our sin. We cannot be saved by good works, church membership or holy living, for all our righteousness is as filthy rags to God. We must humbly and sincerely turn from our own way and confess our sins before God and give Him our lives. We must invite Jesus into our lives by prayer and ask Him to save us. Promises other than that are empty.  They are like rain clouds that are blown away by the winds, and nothing comes during the dry season.        

One last word of caution - there are many who preach the Bible but live a lie. And likewise, there are people who live very moral and respectful lives, but what they say is of man and not God.

Prayer:  Father, give me a spirit of discernment to know truth.