2 Peter 2:20

To whom does "they" refer? Some interpreters believe the antecedent is the new Christians Peter mentioned at the end of 2 Peter 2:18. [Note: E.g., Duane A. Dunham, "An Exegetical Study of 2 Peter 2:18-22," Bibliotheca Sacra 140:557 (January-March 1983):40-54.] Others think they are the unstable, unsaved people who were listening to the gospel. [Note: Gangel, p. 874.] Most commentators have concluded, however, that "they" are the false teachers who have been the main subject of Peter’s warning throughout this chapter and in the immediately preceding verses (2 Peter 2:18-19). What Peter said of them in 2 Peter 2:20-22 seems to bear this out.

"If the allusions in 2 Peter 2:20-22 are to recent converts whom they lead astray, the description of hopelessness and ruin seems almost incredible. In the case of the teachers . . . such a description of utter ruin is entirely appropriate." [Note: Thomas, p. 273.]

How could Peter say the false teachers had escaped the defilements of the world by the "full knowledge" (Gr. epignosei) of the "Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?" One answer is that they did not. In this view Peter’s "if" introduces a hypothetical possibility that is not true to reality. However, his other uses of "if" in this chapter (2 Peter 2:4; 2 Peter 2:6-7) all introduce situations that really took place. The situation he described in 2 Peter 2:20 seems to be a real situation too.

Another answer is that Peter was referring to false teachers who were Christians. Peter’s other descriptions of the false teachers in this epistle, especially in chapter 2, seem to portray unbelievers primarily. It seems very unlikely that now, at the climax of his exhortation, he would focus on the few false teachers that might have been Christians.

I think it is more likely that the false teachers in view here, as in the rest of the chapter, were unsaved. [Note: Cf. Blum, p. 282.] They had evidently heard the gospel preached and fully understood the apostles’ teaching that Jesus Christ was both Lord and Savior, but had rejected it. They escaped the defilements of the world in the sense that they had understood the gospel, acceptance of which liberates the sinner. In other words, the gospel is the key to escape. Their escape was possible because they had heard the gospel. To illustrate, suppose I have the cure for cancer in a pill, and you have cancer. If I give you the pill, one could say you escape your disease even though you choose not to swallow the pill.

The false teachers had thrown their key to deliverance away and had thereby become entangled and overcome again by the defilements of the world (cf. 2 Peter 2:19 b). Their "first" state was eternal damnation without having heard the gospel, but their "last" worse state was eternal damnation having rejected the gospel. Greater privilege results in greater responsibility, and greater punishment if one rejects the privilege. Scripture teaches degrees of punishment as well as differences in rewards (cf. 2 Peter 2:21; Matthew 11:20-24; Luke 16:24; 2 Corinthians 9:6; Galatians 6:7).

If new Christians are in view here, their earlier worldly life contrasts with their later worldly life under God’s discipline. It is their condition in this mortal life and at the judgment seat of Christ that is in view, not their eternal damnation. [Note: Dillow, p. 468.]

Those who believe that loss of salvation is what Peter was talking about in this verse and in 2 Peter 2:21-22 have to deal with an insuperable problem. The problem is that such an interpretation makes Scripture contradict Scripture (cf. John 3:16; John 5:24; John 10:28-29; et al.).

"This passage [2 Peter 2:20-22] is often quoted to prove the ’possibility of falling from grace, and from a very high degree of it too.’ But it is one of the last passages in the Bible that should be addressed to prove that doctrine. The true point of this passage is to show that the persons referred to never were changed; that whatever external reformation might have occurred, their nature remained the same; and that when they apostatized from their outward profession, they merely acted out their nature, and showed in fact there had been no real change." [Note: Albert Barnes, Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament, p. 1454.]