Introduction:  You cannot set someone free if you are in bondage yourself, and these false teachers were in bondage. Sin leads to bondage and the bondage that sin creates is deceitful, for the people who are bound actually think they are free. All too late they discover that they are prisoners of their own appetites and habits. Jesus brings freedom, but that does not mean "doing your own thing" or "having it your way". That attitude is the very essence of sin. The freedom that Jesus Christ offers means enjoying fulfillment in the will of God. It means achieving your greatest potential to the glory of God. Jesus Christ frees us to become our very best in this life, and then to be like Him in the next. (Jn.8:32) "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

I.          THE PROMISES (V. l9)

A.        Reveals They Are Prisoners (l9a)

Again, they offer that which they can't produce.

B.        Reveals A Principle (l9b)

(Rom. 6:l6) "Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servant ye are whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" A man becomes a slave of whatever overpowers (masters) him. It is bad enough to be a slave, but when sin is your master, you are in the worst possible condition a person can experience. What was their bondage?

·         v.3, l4  money

·         v.l0,l4  fleshly lust

·         v.l0-l2  pride

Notice the scriptural comparison: Noah - he lived a pure and separated life; Lot - he lived pure but not separated and lost his family; Balamm - followed sin and lost his life.

Hebrews l3:3 reminds us of the "deceitfulness of sin." Sin always promises freedom but in the end brings bondage. It promises life; but instead, brings death.

Remember:  Sin thrills, but then kills; Sin fascinates, but "assassinates"; If you play, you will pay. Sin has a way of binding a person until there is no way of escape, apart from the gracious intervention of the Lord Jesus.

II.        THE POLLUTION. (V.20)

A.        Their Escape (20a)

"Pollution" - is defilement on the outside. Compare with II Peter l:l4,"escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." Corruption is decay on the inside, much deeper than defilement.

B.        Their Experience (20b)

These false teachers had a religious experience. But, like their promises, it was false. They had knowledge of salvation and could use the language of the church, but they lacked that true saving experience with the Lord.

C.        Their Entaglement (20c)

(Illus: Matt.l2:43-45 Temporary reformation without true repentance and rebirth only leads to greater sin and judgment.) Reformation cleans us on the outside, but regeneration changes the inside. Sinful tendencies do not disappear when a person reforms, they merely hibernate and get stronger. ALSO REMEMBER:  Holiness is not simply refusing to do evil things, for even unsaved people can practice self-control. True holiness is more than conquering temptation, it is conquering even the desire to disobey God.

D.        Their End (20d)

The last state of "willful rejection" is worse than the initial state of uninformed ignorance.

III.       PROFESSION, NO POSSESSION (V.2l)

They and them in verses l7-22 refer to false teachers, not new converts.

They had, at one time, known and received the Word of God, but then they turned away from it.

They were associated with Christianity, yet had not been changed by it. It is not profession of spirituality that marks a true believer, but possession of the Spirit of God. (Rom. 8:9) "But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of us." Jude l9, "These are they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit."

·         "Better for them"

(Lk.l2:47-48) "And that servant, who knew his lord's will and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes." "But he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required; and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more."

IV.       THE PROVERB (V.22)

A.        The Dog (22a)

Then Jesus called the Gentiles "dogs" because a dog was nothing but a filthy scavenger who lived on garbage. Notice: Dog was "cleaned up" on the inside, but remained a dog.

B.        The Hog (22b)

Jews despised swine. The hog was washed on the outside, but remained a hog. The hog "looked" better and the dog "felt" better, but neither one had been changed. This passage demonstrates that there never had been any real change of heart, and of course there had been no falling away from true faith. It dose not prove that true Christians may fall from grace and perish. The dog and the swine had never been anything else than the dog and the swine, and these persons had never been anything else than sinners. Satan is the Counterfeiter

Has a false gospel  Gal. 6:l-9

Has false ministers  II Cor. ll:l3-l5

Has false Christians  II Cor. ll:26

Conclusion:  Why is this freedom offered by false teachers a false freedom that only leads to bondage?  It is based on false promises, empty words that sound exciting but that have no divine authority behind them. II Peter l:l0, "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.” Perhaps some look better (like the hog) and feel better (like the dog), but have not been made better as "partakers of the divine nature". John l4:6 Jesus Christ is the TRUTH and following Him leads to freedom.