The Apostolic Bible Commentary series is a verse-by-verse look at key books of the Bible. This commentary on Second Peter and Jude was written by Daniel Segraves.
II Peter and Jude share a concern about the infiltration of the church by false teachers. The attitude of the false teachers is quite similar to the freewheeling immorality or amorality of our day. It is popularly thought that morality is what one makes it and that each person is his or her own own authority. A bumper sticker that encouraged people to "Question Authority" seemed radical in the 60s, but now this philosophy is a way of life for many.
Just as was the case with the false teachers exposed by Peter and Jude, those today who promote a permissive, hedonistic lifestyle labor under the illusion that they are rejecting bondage for liberty. In reality they reject liberty for enslaving addictive behavior that viciously controls their lives.
As society becomes increasingly characterized by enslavement to lust - whether it is expressed in sexual immorality, drug abuse, alcoholism, violence, greed, or any other addictive behavior - believers will stand in starker contrast. Those whose faith is in Christ Jesus have "escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust". Because the same errors promoted by false teachers in the first century are common today, II Peter and Jude are particularly relevant for the church of the 21st-century.
