PHOTOPHILIC

 II Peter 2:19
    While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption; for of who a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.    KJV

    They promise them liberty, when they themselves are the slaves of depravity and defilement -for by whatever anyone is made inferior or worse or is overcome, to that (person or thing) he is enslaved.  AMP


1) promise - n - an assurance that one will do or refrain from
           doing a specific thing.  V - to assure someone that he will
           receive, to give cause for expectation.  (fr. L. promittere)

2) liberty - n - the condition of being free to choose, esp. as
           between ways of acting or living, with an implication of
           wisdom and voluntary restraint.  - the right to do as one
           pleases. (F. liberte’)

3) corruption - n - a corrupting - the state of being or becoming
           decayed - a spoiling, deteriorating, perversion.  (F.)

4) overcome - v.t. - to conquer - to get the better of - to overpower
           or overwhelm physically. (O.E. ofercuman)

5) brought - past part. - of bring, Bring - v.t. - to carry, lead,
           convey or otherwise cause to come along with oneself,
           to cause to be effective,  I.e. to bring into play.  (O.E.
           bringan)

6) bondage - n - historical - slavery - subjection to the constraint
           of duty or some strong desire, etc.

7) depravity - n - moral corruption, perversion, wickedness  (fr. L.
          depravare)

8) defilement - n - being desecrated or being ritually unclean -
          being corrupt morally (fr. O.F. defouler rel. to O.E. ful -
          foul)

9) inferior - adj. of poor quality - of low or lower rank, status, etc.
          (L. comp. of inferus, low)

10) enslaved - v.t. to make a slave of.


1) promise - 1861 - epaggello - ep-ang-el’-lo - from 1909 - to
          announce upon, to engage to do something, to assert
          something respecting oneself - profess - make a promise.
               1909 - ep - ep-ee’ - prim root - superimposition to time,
               place, order, as a relation of distribution,  (In
               compounds it retains essentially the same import, at
               upon, etc.)

2) liberty - 1657 - eleutheria - el-yoo’-ther-ee’-ah - from 1658 -
           freedom - liberty
                1658 - prob. from 2064 - unrestrained - to go at
                pleasure - a citizen not a slave
                     2064 - erchomai - er’-khom-ahee - to come or go -
                     (in a great many applications)

3)corruption - 5356 - phthora - fthor-ah’ - from 5351 - decay i.e.
           ruin, corruption, destroy, perish.
                5351 - phtheiro - fthi’-ro - prob. Strength from phthio -
                to pine or waste, to spoil, to ruin, defile.

4) overcome - 2274 - hettao - hayt-tah’-o - 2276 - to make worse -
           i.e. to vanquish. 
                2276 - hetton - hate’-ton - worse - less.
5) brought - douloo - doo-lo’-o - from 1401 - to enslave - to bring
           into bondage - become or make a slave. 
                1401 - doulos - doo’los - from 1210 - frequently,
                therefore, in a qualified sense of subjection.
                     1210 - des -deh’-o - prim root - to bind in various
                     applications - to be in bonds, knit, tie.

6) bondage - 1402 - same as above.


    I found this verse to be very challenging.  First off I had to decide who the “they” was.  When taken in context the “they” is false teachers.  This section of II Peter deals with false doctrine and false teachers.  The idea of false means that the information presented is not based on facts.  This information is used to persuade and conjoul.   The purpose of the false teacher is to influence a person away from the truth.  There is plenty of that in this world.  Peter’s concern is that believers would remain faithful to the Lord and His teachings.
    One of the appealing aspects of false teachers is that they are so very convincing when they present their information.  They know that eventually the people will find out that what they are “selling” will be found out to be a lie.  They make promises that seem to lead a person towards freedom and liberty.   They entice with promising things they cannot deliver. On the outside or on the surface what they are saying and teaching looks so very good.  The package must be appealing enough to grab the buyers attention.  The sad thing is that they too are bound by lies and corruption. 
    Once I had cleared up who was being spoken of, I took a look at the specific words used to describe the false teachers.  The words helped me to understand the seriousness of what Peter was trying to convey.  The first word was our English word promise.  Sit on any school playground or in any gathering of children and you will hear that one word used a lot.  Children chunk that word at each other all the time.  They don’t have a complete understanding of what they are saying.  For them it is a tool to obtain something that they desire.  Rarely do they ever intend to follow through and keep the promise they have just pledged.  So what does the word promise mean.  In the Webster Dictionary it means to assure someone that he will receive the thing promised.  The Greek is not much different.  It is a professing, a committing to accomplish a task.  Here Peter is trying to tell the believers that the false teachers are promising something they can not possible follow through on.  They can not deliver on their promise.
    The next word is liberty.  I found this word to be interesting in both the English and Greek.  Liberty in Webster’s Dictionary is defined to mean the condition of being free to choose, the right to do as one pleases.  The Greek says that liberty means unrestrained, to do as one pleases.  An additional concept is that of citizen verses slave.  Liberty implies that a person is a citizen, free, and not a slave.  When connected with the word promise I believe that Peter is trying to impress the believers with the idea that the false prophets are promising something they can not possibly provide.  In truth only the Lord can give true liberty.  Only God is able to give to use the status of citizen and not a slave.  This is done through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  True liberty can only be found in Christ.  Only His promise of liberty can be assured.
    The third word is corruption.  Webster’s defines it as the state of being or becoming decayed.  It also says the state of spoiling, rotting.  What a picture.  I see something that was perfectly good, was usable, and possibly precious being destroyed, decayed and allowed to rot.  The Greek is similar in that it is also talking about decay but it can also mean to pine away, to perish.   The simple matter is that corruption leads to death not to life.  It defiles and destroys everything it touches.  I found it interesting that Peter was telling the believers that these false teachers while promising good fortune and liberty are themselves slaves and servants of corruption.  An old phrase comes to mind.  Misery loves company.  They don’t want to face their future alone.  So they will bring as many along with them as possible.
    The next word is overcome.  Most of us have a general understand of what overcome means.  We use it to describe someone that is taken down by sorrow, heat, hunger, and illness.  We say they were overcome by those things.  Webster’s says that to be overcome means to be gotten the best of.  The Greek implies that when a person is overcome they are made worse.  There is even a part of the word that conveys the idea that when we are overcome we are less than what we were.   Here Peter is saying that who or what overcomes a person also enslaves that person. 
    The last two words really were very interesting.  In the Greek they have the exact reference numbers.  In the English they are two different words.  But the Greek makes almost no distinction between being enslaved and being in bondage.  One is the act of getting there and the other is the actual condition itself.  Webster’s defines brought as the past participle of bring.  This carried the idea of something already having been done.  Bondage is the condition, brought is the action that brings us to bondage.   The action of getting there is just as bad as the condition.
    The next question I had to ask myself is how does this verse apply to weight loss and overcoming food addiction?  What false prophets would I be listening to?  I came to the conclusion that for me it is the voices in my head.  Those voices that would try and persuade me away from what I know to be the truth.  Those voices would not want to acknowledge that the Lord is to be my Lord and master.  That I am not to be bound to food or a food addiction.  I am to worship and praise the Creator only.  My sinful nature does not want me to live in victory.  It will use whatever tools it can to defeat me, including my own thoughts.  I can only find salvation in one person.  He alone has the ability to free me from the bondage that food addiction have placed on my life. 
    I am finding that total surrender to the will of the Father for my health is the only way to defeat this beast.  The Father breaks the bondage, He completely undoes the power that brought me to bondage to food.   All that Peter was trying to say is that anything outside of the Lord will take you back into slavery.  The blood of Christ was shed that you don’t have to live that way.  The blood of Christ freed you from sin and all the effects of it in your life.  My job now is to learn how to live in the new life without bringing the old life with me.  It is dead and yet I drag it around with me all the time.
    In conclusion,  God’s promises are always sure, God’s liberty is true freedom, life in the Lord is the opposite of corruption, through the power of the Lord I can overcome the stronghold of sin that binds me and that means I will not be brought down into bondage to this food addiction.

   

II Peter 2:19

    While they promise (to assure someone that he will receive) them liberty (the condition of being free to choose, the right to do as one pleases, a citizen not a slave), they themselves are the servants of corruption (in the state of being or becoming decayed ) for of whom a man is overcome (conquered, gotten the better of) of the same is he brought (to carry, lead, cause to come along with, to enslave) in bondage (subjection to the constraint of duty or some strong desire)