Steadfast Day 13: 2 Peter 2:20-22

Read 2 Peter 2:20-22. 

Ponder

Peter ended this section of his letter with a warning aimed at those who hear and understand the gospel and reject it. These verses can be confusing and even frightening, so let’s take a closer look, verse by verse. 

Verse 20:

• “Having escaped the world’s impurity”: This means that the people had heard and understood the gospel. Because these false teachers were working inside the church, they had at one point professed to be Christians. 

• “Through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”: This is the gospel. The people had heard and seemingly accepted the gospel, which offered a new way of life that wasn’t ruled by passions and worldly desires. 

• “Entangled in these things”: The people had heard the gospel and recognized the power Christ gives us to live differently, but they had now returned to the sinful way of living they’d once repudiated. Sin has entangled and defeated them. 

• “The last state is worse for them than the first”: Before they heard and understood the gospel, these people had been lost with no hope of choosing anything but sin. But now, they’ve returned back to that sinful way of life even though they knew and understood the gospel. When you know about Christ and how to be saved and reject it? It’s a dangerous, hopeless place to be. 

Verse 21: 

• “For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness …”: Here, Peter explained why the “last state is worse than the first” (v. 20).  Before the people heard the gospel, sin ruled every aspect of their lives. But, they had heard and understood the gospel and the absolute transformation it creates in the lives of believers. Yet now, after all of that, they have turned back to a lifestyle that was characterized only by sin. What Peter is referencing here is apostasy, the abandonment of the faith. 

This is not referencing a believer who makes a sinful choice from time to time as we all do, but rather those who have heard and understood the gospel and turned their backs on it. The Christian life is characterized by the fruit of the Spirit (5:22-23) and enduring obedience, returning to Christ again and again as you recognize sin in your life. While there may be instances and even seasons of sin, it is not the overarching characteristic of the Christian’s lifestyle. 

Verse 22: 

• “It has happened to them according to the true proverb”: Peter uses two proverbs featuring dogs and pigs to underscore his point. Both animals were considered unclean for the Jews, and as Peter had stressed earlier in the chapter when describing the false teachers as no better than wild animals, were ruled entirely by their passions. The idea at work behind both proverbs is that the animals delight in something that is disgusting, finding it more attractive than “the way of righteousness” and the “holy command” (v. 21). To return to the words of Eugene Peterson, true faith is characterized by “a long obedience in the same direction,” meaning while believers may sin and make mistakes, their lives are marked by a persevering desire to know Christ more and live a godly life. 

  
  

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Journal

• Who do you know who is living a life characterized by persevering faith? What have you learned about following Christ from that person’s example? 

• Why is it dangerous to know and understand the power of the gospel and reject it? Explain. 

• True faith is characterized by a deepening desire to know Christ and live in obedience, pursuing godliness. How do you see those desires at play in your own life?

• Are you trying to compartmentalize any areas of your life, believing you don’t have to be entirely obedient or godly in that area? What steps will you take today to confess those beliefs and let the Holy Spirit guide and change you in those areas?