“For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.”
For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world
The “they” of verse nineteen (false teachers) is the “they” of this verse. These are also the false teachers of verse one.
The word “escaped” occurs three times in the New Testament and all three times in this little book (2 Pe 1:4; 2:18). Those who “escaped” here are people who were at one time positive to Christianity but never embraced it. They had significant exposure to the gospel but were never true converts.
We get our English word “miasma” from this Greek word. The Greeks used the word “pollutions” for the odors that came off a swamp. The Greeks used “pollutions,” especially for cultic pollution of pagan practices. What is the nature of this sin? Some think that Christians can lose their salvation by reverting to their lifestyle before they became Christians. However, both the context and explicit statements (2 Pe 2:22) portray these people as those who completely reject Christ.
through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
For a time, these people were exposed to the truth. The word “knowledge” implies that they had full exposure to the “Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” This unique word for “knowledge” means full and intimate knowledge. Ancient Greek uses “knowledge” in legal contexts, referring to careful investigation and interrogation. Amazingly, these false teachers could gain a full dose of Jesus and His work and still reject Him as their Savior.
they are again entangled in them
The word “entangled” means to weave in. These false teachers relapsed back into religion. They went back to the pollutions of paganism. They forsook religion for a while when they came to exposure to Christ and then became entangled again in it. They left religion for a time only to return to it again.
and overcome
“Overcome” carries the ideas of subjection and enslavement. Therefore, false teaching controls them. They were enslaved to religion. Religion defeated them, and they led away into a prison of false teaching.
the latter end is worse for them than the beginning
To hear the truth and revert to religion, it is worse than never hearing it at all (Mt 12:45).
Mt 12:14, “Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”
Peter’s point is that to receive “full” exposure to Jesus and His work, and to reject it finally, is a worse condition than having never heard of Jesus in the first place. They repudiate the Lord Jesus in the face of knowing fully who He is and what He did.
The “beginning” here is the point of exposure to salvation in Christ. The “latter end” is their condition in the corruption of reversion to paganism. To receive full exposure to Jesus and to reject Him, in the end, is worse because they fly in the face of truth. The more light that we sin against, the more responsibility we carry. It is amazing how much of the Bible you can know and still go to hell.
PRINCIPLE:
Negative volition finds security in false teaching.
APPLICATION:
False teachers prey on unstable people. They cannot get away with their deceptive with anyone but the naïve previously described as “unstable” earlier in the chapter.
Not everyone who hears the gospels believes the gospel. You must believe after you hear. If you hear it and do not believe it, it did not do you any good to hear it. In fact, it may do you harm.
Ac 18:8, “Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.”
knowledge……2 Pi. 1,3 and knowledge 2 Pi.2,20…… first it applies to christians…..then to false prophets……don’t understand……..these verses that could show a loss of salvation are tough.. heb 6 heb 10 etc……and others…..are we re -interpreting because of a pre-. conveived view……of course …..the loss of salvation people would be doing the sqme thing in reverse……why hasn’t God made it more simple for us….every time I come to a verse like these I have to stop and convince myself…..it isn’t really what the text is saying…..it looks like you lose your salvation…….but we must interpret in light of other texts that we have decided are stronger…..could it be like the predestination and free will arguments….a bit of both are true…. I don’t like the loss of salvation doctrine….but why are these verses confusing the issue…..
Brian, Interpretation of any book of the Bible begins with the argument of the book as a whole (See Introduction by going to “Read Introduction to 2 Peter” at the top of each page).
Note the argument from the outline:
I. EXHORTATION TO GROW BASED ON TRUE KNOWLEDGE (1:3-11)
A. God’s provision (1:3-4)
B. Our responsibility (1:5-11)
II. BASIS FOR GROWTH — CERTAINTY OF KNOWLEDGE (1:12-21)
A. Experience of the apostles (1:12-18)
B. Ground for certainty (1:19-21)
III. WARNING AGAINST FALSE KNOWLEDGE (2:1-22)
A. Incursion of false teachers (2:1-3)
B. Judgment of false teachers (2:4-19)
C. Danger of false teachers (2:20-22)
It appears that ????????? has been misunderstood as applying ONLY to believers, and that is the point of confusion, is it not? Even the warning passages in Hebrews 6 & 10 have often been interpreted by well-known seminary professors as referring ONLY to immature believers. This was the pivot point of the battle, NOT the careful interpretive scrutiny of these Scriptures.
After many years of having to “overcome” these erroneous conclusions of some of our teachers, and in light of John 6:66, I have fully convinced the fault was not in whether a believer could lose his salvation and relapse (subject to God’s discipline–sometimes to the point of death), but in underestimating the length to which unregenerated inquirers can progress in their knowledge and understanding of the person and work of Christ, and STILL reject it all by turning their backs on Him when challenged by persecution, hardship or conflicting ideologies.
The confusion, therefore, is not with the Biblical text, BUT WITH OUR PRECONDITIONED ATTITUDES TOWARD IT WITHOUT ADEQUATE EXPOSURE TO WHAT IT ACTUALLY SAYS, knowing that all Scripture is self-consistent and self-authenticating.
The word in question marks is in English transliteration, epiginosko.
Don, what a privilege to have you blog on this site (a wonderful Bible teacher and friend of decades).
Your interpretation is at the heart of this passage.
Don, you may want to go to the last commenatary that I have done–Romans 1:18-21 to this point.
Don, did you get my email (I received a bounce when I replied)?
How about a commentary on the significance of “worse than” in vs. 20? It is found in Hebrews 10:29, “Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” This was one of the cross references in Bagster’s Analytical Greek Lexicon, p. 436. Isn’t it amazing how many times the Scriptures dovetails in explaining itself with clarity and potency?
Yes, I got your email. They are passed on to me. Earthlink has a glitch which has been repeated for a number of people I’ve written to. I do not know how to eliminate it. Do you?
I don’t know about this Don.
It is interesting to see how believers strong with Bible text that shows of the possibility of one falling from Faith. I believe that rather than struggle with the text, we did better struggle and fight and win the sins that wants to re-enter us after Salvation.
What are we saved from if after we say we are saved, we still live and do what we were doing before we say we are saved. We are the light of the world but if the light is no longer shining then there is nothing that they world can see… Are you still a light?
Passages like this sure should make us analyze our own hearts. One of the characterizes these false teachers is that they are self deceived. Sin blinds us to the truths of God (Matthew 7). The Bible is not a message that is to be understood by intellectual reasoning but through revelation through the Holy Spirit. This is why I am reluctant to accept someone's scholarly theological conclusion as authoritative. I do not know their spiritual condition.
I'm not entirely convinced 2 peter 2 is talking about those that have never come to Christ. The Greek word "knowledge" is epignosis. I do not know if one can posses this "correct and precise knowledge" without special revelation by the Holy Spirit.
Also Romans 6 is talking about an apparent , 1) which we can either choose to reckon ourselves "dead" to sin living in the resurrection life in obedience unto eternal life or 2) we can choose to obey sin unto death.
2 peter 2 would suggest to me at first glance that indeed for one to choose to walk after the flesh would result in slavery to that sin resulting in self deception as the power of sin rules. So I'm not sure that choosing to religious is the correct interpretation, but choosing to live after the flesh not reckoning ourselves dead to sin.
With this being said, I'd love to hear comment regarding what was just said and I'm surprised I don't see more commentaries linking this together.
God bless and let us check our own heart. This is important to understand for all that wish to serve the Lord in teaching His Word,
Mike, thanks for your blog.
I agree that a person's heart has to be right in interpreting Scripture. The interpreter must ask God to teach truth. The Spirit is the illuminator of Scripture, not the revealer of Scripture to people today. Revelation of Scripture closed with the closing of the canon. If that were not true then Mormons and others who claim further revelation would be a possibility. I presume you mean illumination as per 1 Co 2:4ff.
Having agreed that the Spirit must illumine Scripture to the individual, no matter how Spirit-filled a person may be, if they use eisegesis, pretexting, or any other erronous systems of interpretation, they will not come to a proper interpretation of Scripture.
Hello all…
I cant say that I am a new Christian, as I first began to know the Lord in the late seventies. And with each reading of the passages being spoken of here I become more confused,and,I do know that our God is not one of confusion. I guess you might say that I backslid for quite a few years after being saved, and just over the last 3 years I've been led back to the Lord….I would have to say that He led me back. But verses such as these are really giving me fits as Im really determined not to fall back into my old ways again. Though not perfect I still have a few sins I am fighting to overcome, but if anyone can help me thru these verses it'd be a help, as often I find myself in the desert, though it seems God always brings me to Him with a new revelation of one thing or another…and I agree with the writer who mentioned thse verses should be more self explanatory. Thanks to anyone for any answers that may help……In His Love….Frank
Verse 1-16 speaks of the false teachers. Verse 17 onwards speaks of the saved victim of the false teaching. They cannot loose their salvation but they will be worse off. It would be better for them ( saved ) not to have known their walk of holiness and them to walk in lasciviousness.
If a mature Christian, returns to corrupt behavior after walking in the path of righteousness, his time on that righteous pathway will prove counterproductive. Since a fall from that pathway leads to deeper degradation in sin, the time spent on the Christian road has led to a worse result than otherwise would have been the case.
Thanks for your comment Kenneth. Are you the Kenneth of 1 Jn 1:9?
Yes Grant.
The Lord bless and keep you.
Apologies Grant. The victims of these false teachers starts from verse 18 through to verse 22. These false teachers are clearly not saved as we can see from verse 17 "to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever"
Verse 18 focuses on the saved victims of these false teachers. I don't believe these are babes or carnal believers in Christ. These are saved saints that have erred and have fallen back into the sins of the flesh that they had been delivered from. Notice what it says in verse 21 "For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness " (A righteous lifestyle). It does not say "For it had been better for them not to have known the way of salvation "
Blessings and Peace.
Kenneth, I appreciate your careful approach to scripture.
It seems to me that if one presumes that verse 18 focuses on believer victims of false teachers then there needs to be some clear transition from the false teachers to believers in the text. It does not appear to me that “the way of righteousness” is enough of an indication that this passage is directed toward the Christians. The Greek word “righteousness” has a broader meaning than doing good in God’s eyes. It carries ideas of standard, justice, etc. in addition to a moral idea.
Verse 18 talks about the ones who have ESCAPED from them (false teachers) in error. Verse 20 says For if they have ESCAPED (the escaped ones) the pollutions of this world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them then the beginning.
They are still saved but have reverted to unrighteous living in some way. It is worse then when they were unsaved because now that they have been enlightened that what they are doing is against God’s ways they are tormented in their conscience at the same time as facing earthly consequences of their sin, whatever that sin may be that has overcome them. They have not lost their salvation but it will be harder to live with themselves knowing they are going against Gods ways…it could actually give them so much guilt they will not want to live.
Gina, it is important to understand that the context from verse 1 is talking about false teachers who at one time were open to Christianity without fully embracing it for themselves. To be exposed to the truth, and to see its value, and still reject it makes them worse than those that have never heard.
I’m looking at these versus again and another interpretation might be worth noting. In the first verse Peter says “to them who have obtained like precious faith with US.” So it sounds like he is addressing the newly converted gentile nations from his Jewish perspective. He wants these nations to increase in grace and peace THROUGH the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ. Remember the Jews are the ones who had the Law and prophets and the gentiles were in the dark in times past. So he warns them about false prophets comming into the gentile nations just like they did to the Jewish nation. “But there were false Prophets ALSO among the people(Israel), even as there shall be false teachers among YOU” (gentiles)2 peter 2:1.
So when he talks in verse 20 about “for after they have escaped the pollutions of the world THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE (the gospel?)of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein (with their pagan ways), and overcome, the latter end is worse with them then the beginning.
It seems it is kind of like searching for a 100 dollar bill then receiving a counterfeit 100 dollar bill. They go out and spend it and end up thrown in jail because they thought it was real. It would have been better if they didn’t receive the counterfeit bill and there was still a chance to receive a real one. These gentile nations may be receiving a counterfeit gospel and stop looking for the way of salvation because they think they have it. Turns out their end is destruction. Not sure if this is a correct interpretation or not.
To continue from my above comment…The gentile nation may have received the unadulterated gospel but it was quickly taken and corrupted. Being a nation who hasn’t yet received the gospel would be in a better condition then a whole nation having received it but the corruption of it taking the nation over from the teaching of these false people. It kind of reminds me of America. Lots of people thinking themselves Christians but in fact are believing another gospel that preaches another Jesus. It would be better for these people to have heard the true simplicity of the gospel of grace instead of having been feed the gospel that you works plus Jesus saves you.
Gina, it is important to keep the argument of Second Peter in view. Note the Introduction at the top of the page. The argument or motif has to do with the stability of the Asia Minor church. Chapter 1 argues for stability of the church. Chapter two warns against heretics that actually entered the church. These were people who were originally exposed to the gospel. Instead of embracing the pure gospel they twisted it into something other than what it was. Cerinthus who was from Asia Minor may have been one of them. He denied the deity of Christ. Early church fathers warned of his teaching. He may have been the subject of the warning of incipient Gnosticism in First John which denied the true humanity and perfect deity of Christ.