"For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge
of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the
latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to
have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known [it], to turn from the
holy commandment delivered unto them." 2 PETER 2:20-21 (KJV)

This is one of many passages often set forth by my fellow believers who hold that a
Christian can "lose" their salvation. It is not my purpose to here
"prove" my own conviction – that believers are secure in Christ. What I will do
here is address this particular passage.

Those who use the passage in this way say that these verses represent true believers
who turn away from Christ and are lost again. I must admit that these verses, taken alone,
certainly seem to suggest this. But is this really the case?

Hardly.

First of all, let us note that Peter is speaking of ONE GROUP throughout the entire
chapter: false prophets/teachers. Please observe some of the things Peter states of these
men prior to our verses:

(1) They have "privily BROUGHT IN *damnable* heresies" (verse 1). In other
words, these teachers were in this condition from the very start! They brought these
heresies WITH THEM into the church, having a ‘secret agenda’ all along.
Furthermore, did you see the key word? They not only brought heresy with them, but
DAMNABLE heresies. Now, if the heresies are ‘damnable’ and these teachers
BROUGHT these teachings with them – in what possible sense could they be saved? In fact,
their ways are CONTRASTED with ‘the way of truth’ (v. 2).

(2) Notice who Peter compares these teachers to: fallen angels (v. 4), ‘the world
of the ungodly’ destroyed in the flood of Noah (v. 5), and Sodom and Gommorah. None
of these comparisons fit the idea that these teachers were ever true believers.

(3) Peter describes these as ‘natural brute beasts, MADE TO BE TAKEN AND
DESTROYED" (v. 12; cf. Prov. 16:4 and Rom. 9:21-22, referenced in 2 Peter 3:15-16).
The point is also made that they have no understanding of the truth.

(4) In verse 13, Peter clearly represents these men as INTRUDERS, as being
fundamentally DIFFERENT from the believers among which they mingle: "Spots [they are]
and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with
you."

(5) Verse 14 – they ‘CANNOT cease from sin’ – i.e., they have no new nature
(see comments on v. 22 below); they are *unregenerate*. These are ‘cursed
children’ (= ‘children of wrath’, as in Eph. 2:3).

(6) Verse 15 – they have ‘forsaken the right way’ – not after walking in it,
but from square one.

(7) They are "wells without water" (v. 17) and "servants of
corruption" (v. 19). They are NOT what they *appear* to be, they are EMPTY.

Now, before any of you start knocking my explanation, remember that such false converts
are clearly spoken of by Jesus:

"And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, ‘Behold, a sower
went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some [seeds] fell by the way side, and the fowls
came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and
forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up,
they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among
thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them … he that received the seed into stony
places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he
NO ROOT in himself, BUT ENDURETH FOR AWHILE: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth
because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns
is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches,
choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful." (Matthew 13:3-7,20-22).

That such are indeed FALSE converts is clearly set forth in Luke’s parallel:
"Therefore, take heed how you hear: for whoever has, to him shall be given: and
whoever has NOT, from him shall be taken even that which he SEEMS to have" (Luke
8:18).

Is there anything here in 2 Peter 2 that suggests that these are of such a class? Yes!
Verse 22, immediately following our verses, reads: "But it is happened unto them
according to the true proverb, The dog [is] turned to his own vomit again; and the sow
that was washed to her wallowing in the mire." Peter is here quoting Proverbs 26:11.

What is Peter saying? Quite simply, that these men are FAKES. Although they gave the
appearance of being genuine FOR A TIME, no REAL CHANGE IN NATURE ever took place – they
were always "pigs" and "dogs." In turning away, they have simply acted
according to their NATURE. These are FALSE PROPHETS, of which class the Apostle John was
very clear that they "went out from us, BUT THEY WERE NOT OF US, for if they had been
of us, THEY *WOULD* NO DOUBT HAVE *CONTINUED* WITH US" (1 John 2:19).

This is no different from what Jesus stated of false prophets, describing them as
"wolves IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING" (Matt. 7:15). Are they sheep? Well, no. Do
they APPEAR to be sheep? Yes they do!

The clincher comes when we consider Jude’s Epistle. See, Jude and 2 Peter 2 have
long been recognized as PARALLEL messages (if any doubt this, read them side-by-side
sometime). Jude’s words concerning this same group cannot be mistaken.

Jude addresses these "false teachers" in this way: "For there are
certain men CREPT IN UNAWARES, who were BEFORE OF OLD *ORDAINED* TO THIS CONDEMNATION,
*ungodly men* …. denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ" (Jude 4).

Then, as Peter, Jude compares these men to Egypt (note the words, "them that
believed NOT"), fallen angels, and Sodom & Gommorah. Verse 10 is decisive:
"these speak evil of THOSE THINGS WHICH THEY KNOW *NOT*, but what they know
NATURALLY, as brute beasts, IN THOSE THINGS they corrupt themselves."

Verses 11-12 are amazingly parallel to Peter’s description! Note especially:
‘without fruit’; ‘twice dead’; and ‘plucked up by the roots’
(see Matt. 15:13)! In verse 15, these are ‘ungodly sinners’; in verse 16, Jude
describes how they fool the elect in presenting their doctrines by taking advantage of
them.

Jude closes the case with verse 19, as he describes these as ‘having *not* the
Spirit.’ They are *lost* (cf. Rom. 8:9).

Thus, in verse 20, their ‘escape’ is only temporary, the
‘knowledge’ is the head knowledge, the ‘seed’ having ‘no
root’ (remember Luke?), they are again ‘entangled’ (again, as Jesus
described in Luke), their ‘latter end’ is ‘worse’ simply because of
the light which they have possessed and forsaken. In verse 21, they have turned away from
the ‘holy commandment’, a term never used of salvation. I suggest that ‘the
holy commandment’ was the commandment to submit themselves to Christ.

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