Does 2 Peter 2:1 Say There Will Be False Teachers Among Believers?

Summary

Grace in Focus
Episode: Does 2 Peter 2:1 Say There Will Be False Teachers Among Believers?
Date: March 9, 2026
Host: Bob Wilkin with guest Ken Yates

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Episode Overview

In this concise yet thought-provoking episode, Bob Wilkin and Ken Yates address a listener question concerning 2 Peter 2:1 and its implications for the presence of false teachers within the church. The hosts deeply explore whether these “false teachers” are believers or unbelievers, and what the consequences are for believers who are misled. Their discussion also ventures into related Free Grace perspectives, the dangers facing theological education today, and the importance of discernment in the Christian walk.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Listener Question & Scriptural Context

Timestamp: 01:16–02:54

• The question comes from a listener, Richard, who read Bob's blog series critiquing Calvinism. Richard asks how to interpret "there will be false teachers among you" in 2 Peter 2:1.
• Bob affirms that 2 Peter is written to believers, leading to the key question: Are the false teachers mentioned in this verse inside or outside the church?
  • Ken clarifies: The context shows that Peter is referring to false teachers who are “among you,” i.e., within the church community.

Quote:
“Peter sees these false teachers as unbelievers, but they are unbelieving false teachers who are within the church, who are influencing those within the church.”
—Bob Wilkin (02:41)

2. Are False Teachers Believers or Unbelievers?

Timestamp: 02:54–04:41

• Ken and Bob cite 2 Peter 2:17 to show that Peter characterizes false teachers as open unbelievers, destined for “the blackness of darkness forever.”
• However, Bob adds nuance: Not all false teachers everywhere are unregenerate; even believers can become confused and teach falsely.
• The conversation shifts to theological education’s pitfalls, as Bob warns:

Quote:
“My personal thinking is seminary is very dangerous today because a lot of people...end up going backwards in their spiritual maturity.”
—Bob Wilkin (03:11)

3. False Teachers Can Dupe Believers

Timestamp: 04:41–06:30

• Both hosts emphasize that believers can be misled by false teachers operating within the church.
• Ken introduces the idea of “the dupes”—those believers who were growing spiritually but fall victim to teachers’ persuasive but empty promises.
• Bob references his writing on 2 Peter 2:18–22, noting a distinction between the false teachers and the believers they mislead.
• The text’s “they and them” pronouns refer to two groups: the teachers (unbelievers) and the duped believers.

Quote:
“These false teachers can bring born again people into bondage.”
—Ken Yates (08:00)

4. Illustrating the Danger for Maturing Believers

Timestamp: 07:07–10:35

• Ken and Bob read through and interpret 2 Peter 2:18–22 to show that these “duped” believers had already “escaped the pollutions of the world” and grown in their faith.
• Ken compares spiritual decline to descent from a mountain, sharing a personal anecdote about a seminarian who fell from maturity to moral collapse.
• Both hosts conclude that falling away after spiritual growth can result in a worse state than before conversion.

Quote:
“There are people who are worse after falling as a Christian than before they began growing as a Christian.”
—Ken Yates (09:10)

5. Application: Being Berean and Practically Discerning

Timestamp: 10:32–11:25

• The hosts highlight the prevalence of false teaching in contemporary Christian media and urge listeners to follow the example of the Bereans (Acts 17), searching the Scriptures and practicing discernment with all teaching—including their own.

Quote:
“You need to be careful what everybody says because we’re to be Bereans who search the Scriptures and see what matches up with Scripture.”
—Ken Yates (11:16)

6. Clarifying the Salvation Status of the Groups

Timestamp: 11:25–12:20

• The hosts clarify: In 2 Peter 2:1, the “false teachers” are unbelievers within the church who influence believers.
• However, believers who are led astray do not forfeit their salvation.

Quote:
“Once you’re saved, you’re always saved. We call that OSAS [Once Saved, Always Saved] or once you believe in Him, you’ll never perish.”
—Bob Wilkin (12:01)

7. Summary and Exhortation

Timestamp: 12:14–end

• Ken and Bob summarize: False teachers can be either believers or unbelievers, but 2 Peter 2:1 is describing unbelievers within the church.
• Listeners are urged to remain vigilant, anchored to Scripture, and to seek out sound Bible teaching.

Quote:
“I strongly urge you to be in a solid Bible teaching church; that’s so important.”
—Ken Yates (12:29)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “Jesus’ Kingdom is not a kingdom of darkness but Satan’s kingdom. The lake of fire is going to be a kingdom of darkness, not light.”
  —Ken Yates (03:11)
• “It’s kind of like the phrase we have, how the mighty have fallen.”
  —Bob Wilkin (10:32)
• “Check us out, check the Scriptures out, see what they say.”
  —Bob Wilkin (12:48)

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Key Timestamps

| Timestamp | Key Segment | |-------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:16–02:54 | Listener’s question, introduction to the topic | | 02:54–04:41 | False teachers: believers or unbelievers? | | 04:41–06:30 | Can believers be duped? Discussion of “dupes” in 2 Peter 2:18–22 | | 07:07–10:35 | Detailed reading/discussion of 2 Peter 2:18–22, spiritual regression | | 10:32–11:25 | Need for discernment: Being a Berean | | 11:25–12:20 | Salvation status: Once Saved, Always Saved | | 12:29–end | Final exhortation: Stick with solid Bible teaching and personal study |

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Final Takeaways

• 2 Peter 2:1 is addressing the presence of unbelieving false teachers within the church who can mislead genuine believers.
• While 2 Peter specifically labels these teachers as unbelievers, the broader principle is that both believers and unbelievers can teach falsely.
• Believers led astray may fall into deeper bondage, but their eternal salvation—according to Free Grace theology—remains secure.
• The episode underscores the importance of scriptural discernment and community grounded in solid teaching.

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For more, visit faithalone.org and check out ongoing resources from the Grace Evangelical Society.

Transcript

[A]

The following is a listener supported ministry from the Grace evangelical society. Does 2 Peter 2 say there will be false teachers among believers? Is it possible for there to be false teachers who are believers and what happens when believers are duped by false teachers? This is Grace and Focus and let's talk about this topic today here on Grace and Focus. Thank you friend for joining us. We are a ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. Learn more about [e-mail] Bob Wilkins latest book is available there in our bookstore. It is the Gospel is still under siege and we want to invite you to our national annual conference May 18th through the 21st this year. It will be a great three and a half days of fellowship, learning, meals together and recreation and friend making for your kids at vbs. We have a great free grace curriculum for them they'll really enjoy, so bring them along too. And everything you need to get registered [e-mail] events. Come and see us there. Now with today's question and answer discussion, here are Bob Wilkin and Ken Yates.

[B]

Bob, we got a question from Richard and he read one of your outstanding blogs.

[C]

Oh, I'm glad he read one of those, not the other ones.

[B]

There you go. That's right. He says that you wrote a blog series of blogs about what's wrong with Calvinism and he was reading these blogs and he had a question about two Peter two one and I'm going to read the verse for you. Then I'll ask the question Peter says in 2 Peter 2:1 but there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And his question is, he believes that 2 Peter was written for believers, and that's true. But he says based upon your blog, how do we interpret the phrase there will be false teachers among you in this verse? And then he goes on to say, will there be false teachers among believers? I think the answer is, well, we'll talk about that. Yes. And then does among you refer to somebody within the church or outside the church? I know you wrote the blog. And in second, Peter Peter is talking about false teachers among the believers.

[C]

Right?

[B]

Peter sees these false teachers as unbelievers, but they are unbelieving false teachers who are within the church, who are influencing those within the church. And we can expand on that.

[C]

And we know they're unbelieving false teachers because of verse 17. Right?

[B]

Right. It says in verse 17 he's describing them These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

[C]

Now, I've never heard anybody call Jesus Kingdom the blackness of darkness forever. God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. So Jesus Kingdom is not a kingdom of darkness, but Satan's kingdom. The lake of fire is going to be a kingdom of darkness, not light. And so verse 17 establishes. These are unbelieving. Now, as you said, this doesn't mean that all false teachers are unregenerate. A believer can be duped and confused and become a false teacher. In fact, my personal thinking is seminary is very dangerous today because a lot of people who go to seminary end up going backwards in their spiritual maturity. They often lose assurance of salvation. They often become post modern and begin to think that we don't know anything for sure. So lots of bad things can happen when people go to higher Christian education. Having said that, I think it is important that our next generation of pastors and missionaries and teachers get training. That's why we have our own online seminary. Right. It's a free online seminary and unaccredited. But we think accreditation brings with it problems that lead you to become doctrinally questionable because they require you to get doctorates from, you know, these liberal schools.

[B]

Right? And I remember when I was young and I told he was a missionary and I said that I was going to go to seminary. And he said, well, you know, we call it cemetery. You got to be careful where you go go to school, especially today. And of course, when I went, that was a long time ago. So it's even worse today. Believers can be duped. That's what 2 Peter's talking about. In fact, even starting in verse 18 of chapter 2, Peter starts talking about, you need to watch out, because these guys who Peter says are unbelievers and they're influencing the church. He says they can lead believers astray. And there's many people today who teach false doctrine, even false gospels, who are believers.

[C]

Absolutely. Maybe you could read. I wrote an article on this. You can go to faithalone.org on 2nd Peter 2, 1822. A lot of people say that these people in these verses are unbelievers. But I think it's clear there's two separate groups. And if you follow the third person plural, they and them, you'll see that there's the false teachers and then there are the people I call the dupes. So maybe we could just take a minute and read. Ken, would you read, start, read verse 18. Then we'll make a comment, 19, we'll make a comment, etc.

[B]

Sure. He's talking about these false teachers. It says for when they speak swelling words.

[C]

When they speak swelling words. That's the false teachers.

[B]

I love this. Of emptiness. There's nothing there. In the previous verses, he talks about clouds without water, right? There's no value in what they're saying.

[C]

No rain.

[B]

You know when it's hot out there and you see a cloud and you think, oh, this is going to be great. It's going to be great. The rain is going to come down. But they promise things, but then they don't produce, right? And that's what these guys are.

[A]

It's coming. It'll be here before you know it. What am I talking about? The Grace Evangelical Society's National Conference 2026, May 18th through the 21st at Camp Kopas, an absolutely beautiful campground in North Texas. Right on the lake with lots of recreation, great food, a great place to stay, wonderful fellowship and wonderful free Grace Bible teaching information and online reg [e-mail] events first timers waive registration fees. Faithalone.org events they allure through the lust

[B]

of the flesh, through lewdness. The ones who have actually escaped.

[C]

Okay, the ones who have actually escaped is a separate group. That's the believers, right?

[B]

From those who live in error. And it even seems like these are believers who have been taught how to live morally.

[C]

And we're gonna see this. They've not only been taught how to live morally, but they have begun on the path of righteousness. So when it says they have escaped, it doesn't mean they've escaped in their position. He means they have escaped in their experience, right? They have become spiritually mature believers. Now keep going.

[B]

And in verse 19, these false teachers promise them. So another group that promise them as the dupes liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption.

[C]

They themselves as the false teachers, right?

[B]

For by whom a person is overcome by him also he is brought into bondage.

[C]

Okay? So the false teachers can bring born again people into bondage.

[B]

These who have escaped, who've already escaped

[C]

that bondage, but now they're falling back. And then what does he say?

[B]

For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

[C]

okay, notice they've escaped the pollutions of the world.

[B]

That's not. They've escaped the lake of fire, they've escaped the pollutions of the world. So they've been taught, they've grown, they've

[C]

matured and when it says knowledge, that doesn't mean some people say, well, when you believe in Christ, then you know him well. Not necessarily. In Scripture, knowing is a flexible term. Jesus said to Philip, have I been with you so long and yet you don't know me? John 14:9. Knowing in John's first epistle refers to being in intimate fellowship with Jesus. And I would say the same thing is true here. They've come to know God in their

[B]

experience and it says, and they are. This is again those who are duped. They are again entangled in them and overcome. The latter end is worse for them than the beginning.

[C]

So these are people who you ever been on switchbacks where you go back and forth on a mountain and going up and up and up. So basically what Peter is describing is someone who has climbed up the mountain of righteousness or the path of righteousness, and they now fall from their exalted position. And their position after they fall and hit the bottom is worse than before they began growing as a Christian. I've known examples of this. There are people who are worse after falling as a Christian than before they began growing as a Christian. I remember a guy, my first year in seminary, he was a fourth year student and he ended up leaving his wife, who was eight months pregnant, for another woman while he was a fourth year student at Dallas Seminary, about to graduate. Before he came to faith, he was a very nice person. And when he was a new believer, before he grew in the faith, he was a very nice person. He never would have done that kind of thing. But over the course of time he changed and became worse. And it's possible, you know, some of the people on skid row are former doctors or former lawyers. And these are people who may have been very strong believers, but through various circumstances, they fall away.

[B]

It's kind of like the phrase we have how the mighty have fallen.

[C]

Exactly right. So in answer to his question, when he says, will these false teachers be among born again people? Yes, that's exactly what he's saying. And don't we see this today on the radio? Don't we see it on YouTube, don't we see it on Christian TV? Don't we see it in Christian books? There's a whole lot of people who are promoting a false saving message, they're promoting a false sanctifying message. They've got all kinds of heresies, all kinds of false teachings. People need to be careful today. And of course, I realize some of you listening may go, yeah, you need to be careful with what Ken And Bob are saying. And our answer would be that's right.

[B]

That's right.

[C]

You need to be careful what everybody says because we're to be bereans who search the scriptures and see what matches up with scripture.

[B]

Yeah. So here when Richard asked the question, does among you refer to someone within the church? The answer is yes.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah, these are within the church. And then he also asked, do these false teachers retain their salvation? Well, we're arguing that the false teachers that Peter is addressing are unbelievers.

[C]

They were never believers.

[B]

They were never believers. But they certainly could dupe people. As they've said, those people dupe could

[C]

become false teachers themselves.

[B]

Right. And then they probably would if they started teaching, if they were following them. And would they retain their salvation? The answer is obviously yes. Obviously yes.

[C]

Because once you're saved, you're always saved. We call that OSAs or once you believe in him, you'll never perish. Right. John 3:16.

[B]

Right. And so if we could summarize it, false teachers can either be believers or unbelievers.

[C]

Right.

[B]

But you asked specifically about two Peter 2:1, the way Peter describes them, he knows that these guys are unbelievers and that's what he's saying.

[C]

But we should all be aware of being duped because there's lots of false teachers today. So you need to be bereans and search the scriptures and I strongly urge you to be in a solid Bible teaching church that's so important.

[B]

And listen to ges.

[C]

Now we're not a church but we do try to help churches. And so I agree with Ken. Check us out, check the scriptures out, see what they say.

[B]

And when you check whoever you check out, remember, keep grace in focus.

[A]

We invite you to check out our Monday, Wednesday and Friday five minute YouTube videos at YouTube Grace Evangelical Society. You will love the content and learn a lot. There are a lot of costs involved in staying on the air. That's why we so much appreciate our financial partners. If you'd like to learn how to become one, you can find out more by going to faithalone.org and on our next episode. Will God judge us for sins he has forgiven? Join us again next time and until then, let's keep grace in focus.

[B]

The proceeding has been a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society.