2 Peter 2:20
“If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord Jesus Christ, and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed down to them. Of the Proverbs are true, a dog returns to his vomit and a sow that has washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”
Father God, bless this message right now Lord. I pray that everyone receives it, that they receive their forgiveness, that they receive the gift of no condemnation, and that you bless it and show them the fallacy of using this scripture out of context. In Jesus name.
All right, let’s begin. Context is key. Context, context, context! We must receive scripture in the totality of the Bible Context and through the lens of the New Covenant promises of God that are regarding us, his children, AND work our way backwards from there. We MUST be assured and fully know what God has promised us, and be sure of what is clear in the Bible, and never allow obscure passages that potentially could be insinuated or could be interpreted in a fear based way override the CLARITY of all the promises we have for eternal life. With that being said, I submit to you today, that most people that quote this scripture do it out of context, and with the intent to prove a forfeiting of salvation.
This scripture DOES NOT apply to the children of God. It is gross negligence and false teaching to take this scripture out of context and to try to fit it and apply it to the children of God so that they would fear losing something that’s been given to them by grace through faith, and is a gift. But don’t just trust my word, let’s get into the full word, and bring this scripture into its proper context for the covenant children of God.
Peter Chapter 2, verse 20 is the end of this chapter, but there are 20 verses prior to verse 20, and the context of this scripture MUST BE READ!
2 Peter 2:1-3
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
Verse 1, “But there were also false prophets.”
The context of that scripture is in the context of false prophets.
Not true prophets, not the children of God.
Not the good trees that cannot bear bad fruit and always bear good fruit.
Not everyone, not the people who are born again who overcome the world.
Not the children of God who are appointed unto salvation.
Not the children of God who have been sealed with a guarantee of the Holy Spirit, a guarantee of their inheritance.
Not them! But false prophets!
Verse 1, It says, “just there also will be false teachers among you.”
He is talking about false teachers. This scripture, the entire chapter, does not talk about born again children of God. To use it outside of the context is gross negligence and is a false teaching that is fear based and is a works-based teaching. No matter how you try to spin it, or try to mix works with grace, they do not mix.
Verse 1, “They will secretly introduce destructive heresies.”
This is not the children of God, we do not secretly introduce destructive heresies.
Verse 1, “Even denying the sovereign who bought them.”
Denying the sovereign Lord? You have not denied the Lord, nor will you ever deny the Lord! You have accepted the Lord unto salvation and you have received ETERNAL LIFE. Everyone born of God overcomes the world!
Verse 1, “Bringing swift destruction on themselves.”
That is not children of God.
Verse 2, “Many follow depraved conduct,” and “will bring the way of truth and disrepute.”
This is not the children of God.
Verse 3, “In their greed these teachers exploit you with fabricated stories.”
These are false teachers, not true genuine children of God! They are FALSE, but not TRUE CHILDREN.
Verse 3,
“Their condemnation has long been hanging over them and their destruction has not been sleeping.”
You are not condemned! There is now, NO CONDEMNATION FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS! ROMANS 8:1
We’re only on verse three!!! We haven’t even gotten into verse 4 through 20 through the rest of the verses. Gross negligence!
Verse 3, “Now who bought them.”
I want you to know Christ bought everybody. Christ died for everybody. Whenever the Bible talks about the finished work of Jesus Christ, it always speaks of it in past tense. He did it for everybody and for all. I’ll prove it.
Hebrews 9:26
“But he has appeared once for all.” (past tense, for all)
1 John 2:2
“He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,
and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (all)
Christ came for the entire world. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, for the sins of the whole world. When you tell an unsaved person that Christ died for their sins, it doesn’t mean that they’ve received it, it just means that He did His part. Up here, verse 2, it says “who bought them.” Christ did his part. He bought them, but they did not receive the purchase. They did not receive the fullness of what He did, by grace through faith.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave
his one and only Son (gave the world, past tense)
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.” He gave his son. He gave his life. He died for everybody. He made available everything. He redeemed them, he purchased them, he ransomed them, but not everybody is going to receive the work of Jesus Christ and the finished work of Jesus Christ. When it says who bought them, it doesn’t say and they received it. It says God did his part, he bought them. It always speaks in past tense. This is not speaking of the children of God. Let’s go on.
2 Peter 2:6
6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes,
& made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
This is not referring to you. For Romans 8:1 says, Therefore there is now no condemnation for everyone who was in Christ Jesus.” This is YOUR PROMISE! Do not apply scriptures that apply to unsaved people to yourself!
Ephesians 1:13-14
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit GUARANTEEING our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
The bible says, “everyone who receives him and believes in Him shall be born of God (John 1:12) and they are sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. He, the Holy Spirit, is a pledge that guarantees our inheritance. You see, the Holy Spirit is a pledge, and is a deposit of what the fullness is guaranteed to come! What God started he’s going to finish in your life until the redemption of those who are God’s possession. So when 2 Peter 2:1-22 refers to, “destruction” in this context it does not apply to the children of God. Let’s go on.
2 Peter 2:7
and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, …
9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials
and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.
Verse 7 “If he rescued a righteous man,”
You have been made righteous through faith. You are just like Lot and Abraham. You are not of those who are cursed and destroyed and going to be destroyed. You are of those who are going to be saved through faith in what Christ has done, and not faith in what you’re doing. ” Romans 5:17 says we, “receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!”
Righteousness is your right standing with God. You’re being approved and accepted by God is a gift that comes when you receive his son, when you receive what he’s done. By grace through faith, lest any man should boast. It is about what he has done, not what you can do for him. Everything that you do for him should be with an attitude that HE’S ALREADY DONE IT!
We buy into the notion that, if I can forfeit my salvation, then I might. If I might, then I will. All of a sudden, the devil starts playing games with that notion because we’re not rooted in love, and the love of the Father, and not made perfect in love because a perfect love casts out all fear because fear has to do with punishment and Jesus Christ himself took upon himself the punishment for your sins, your past sins, present sins, and future. In Jesus name, amen!!
Let’s go on. That’s all debatable too. False teachers will debate it because they want you to be in fear.
2 Peter 2:12
They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.
Verse 12, “They are like unreasoning animals.”
Does the Bible ever refer to the children of God as animals? No. This scripture is not talking about born again children of God!
Verse 12, “Creatures of instinct born only to be caught and destroyed.”
Were you born to be caught and destroyed? No, you were born to be saved. He chose you before the foundations of the earth. In him you are predestined, and those he has chosen he has also glorified! The Bible says those he’s justified he’s also glorified (Romans 8:30). Receive the gift of no condemnation. Receive your destiny. Everyone born of God overcomes the world. Receive it right now in Jesus name. “And I give unto them eternal life.”
Now watch this. He’s talking about they were born and caught to be destroyed, but yet the children of God he says, “I give them eternal life. (John 4:14)” Eternal means eternal. It doesn’t mean eternal death. It doesn’t mean that they shall perish like animals. It doesn’t mean that.
They are children of God who have received salvation and are born literally of God unto salvation. He has given us eternal life, and nobody can take that eternal life. Watch this, and “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall NEVER PERISH and NO ONE shall snatch them out of my hand (John 10:28).”
They’ll say well you know what, God has given you free will and you can jump out of God’s hand. In Jeremiah 32:40 it says, “I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to worship me, so that they will never turn away from me.” They will NEVER TURN, because I will love them, and I will overwhelm them with my goodness, and they will be motivated MY GOODNESS, says the Lord! Their life will become so good that going back will be asinine and will make absolutely no sense because he will overwhelm us with his love because he is a good, good father, and a good, good dad. Everything he does is good, and He is able to keep you!
If one goes out of the fold, will he not leave the 99 and go after the one that is lost??!! That is the father we serve. That is the good God. That is the father of the children. This scripture is not talking about children of God!
Verse 16, “They are experts in greed-an accursed brood.”
You are not accursed, you are saved! “
Verse 17, “These people are springs without water.”
Oh, don’t even get me started.
Verse 17, “Blackest darkness is reserved for them.”
Listen, the Lord has redeemed you from the curse! You’re not a cursed person.
“Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst,” the Bible says. “Indeed the water I give them,”” the spirit of God through a born again spirit it says, “will become in them a spring.” It will become a spring that will well up into eternal life. I guarantee that if you receive the Holy Spirit, that spirit will well up into eternal life and will wash you and cleanse you. I guarantee that your body, and your mind, and your life, you will never thirst.
Now the forfeiting of salvation proponents will tell you well this scripture applies to the children of God, because they take it out of context, total context, 19 verses out of context! It says here, “The people are springs without water.” Lie, lie, lie. You are spring with water, and you will never thirst. It will well up to eternal life. Not possibly eternal life, to eternal life. It says it will never thirst. Never means never.
Verse 17, “Blackest darkness is reserved for them.”
Lie, lie, lie. The Lord says eternal life is reserved for you and a mansion is reserved for you. A mansion is RESERVED for you!!! John 14:3
2 Peter 2:20-21
“If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord Jesus Christ.”
they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.
Now we’re actually getting into the actual scripture itself. Now I want you to know, watch this, “and are again entangled in it and overcome.” The Bible NIV and New Living Translation are paraphrased translations, first off. The rest of all the major translations, I’m talking 18 out of 20, say the knowledge of(17), or acknowledge (1). If you go look at the word, the Greek word, for “know” here is epignosis, and it means have a knowledge of. It doesn’t mean knowing intimately, it means have a knowledge of the way. They have a knowledge of the Lord, or have been taught by the Lord, or know the way, but it doesn’t mean that they knew him intimately, or ARE THE COVENANT BORN AGAIN CHILDREN OF GOD.
Now for example, Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven.” He’ll say get away from me evil doers, I never knew you. That knew you word is different than the know word here. This is epiginosko. They’re similar, but the word that actually means I never “knew” you is actually gnosko 1097. It’s real similar, but this particular word means sexual intimacy, which means he has implanted in you the seed of the Holy Spirit, which is in the seed of salvation, which is imperishable. Not perishable, it is imperishable, the seed you’ve had. You’ve known him so intimately that he planted a seed in you. He’s given you his seed. He’s given you his spirit. He’s given you his life. Not only that, but he’s come to live inside of you and you shall never thirst. He is not speaking of the children of God in this verse nor any verse in 2 Peter Chapter 20, or 2 Peter Chapter 2.
They have received knowledge of the way. Not know him through sexual intimacy, through an intimate relationship, but have received a knowledge. By knowledge they’ve recognized. They’ve had discernment, but they didn’t receive him. This is not the children of God. Do not take this scripture out of context. Do not try to, in a fear based way, try to apply to this to Christians as if though they can forfeit their salvation and plant that seed of fear and worry and doubt in their lives. You should be planting seeds of faith, and planting the good news about what Christ is able to do in their lives.
You must decide either Christ is able to save you completely or he’s not. Either the cross was able to do it, or now you need to add to the cross and you need to do something IN ADDITION TO WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE, BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE IT’S NOT ENOUGH, IT’S UP TO YOU.
Verse 20, “They are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.”
It is possible for person to be working in the church and literally using the Word of God, and the principles of God, in a selfish way, and still not “know the Lord.” I had a dream about a pastor who was taking blood transfusions from a witch. In other words, through witchcraft he was manipulating and using the gospel for his own selfish gain. That’s who they’re talking about, false teachers who are introducing it, and who are manipulating it, and through their greed are using the gospel. These are not born again children of God and not the sheep. Those whom God has chosen HE HAS GIVEN eternal life.
Verse 20, “They are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.”
If a person does not know the way,” there’s literally more grace on their life than if they do know the way and then reject the life of Christ. Literally their hearts are hardened. Because their hearts are hardened, they literally will experience more of Satan and less of God in the atmosphere, their flesh, and in their lives. Literally their life will be in the end worse off than it was at the beginning because now they’ve accepted the life Satan offers, which is the rejection of Christ, with a firmer more obstinate mental stance. Literally the grace that they had, they refused to accept it, and they walk away from the grace of God.
Verse 21, “It would have been better for them to have known the way of righteousness.”
It doesn’t say ever received Jesus Christ and become born again. Period.
Verse 22, “Of them the proverbs are true, a dog returns to his vomit and a sow cursed that is washed returns to her wallow in the mud.”
Listen, I submit to you today there’s literally people, pastors, teachers and there’s people in the congregation that can literally receive from the Holy Spirit an external washing. You can literally go in and be washed by the power and presence of God, and literally not receive him inside and receive and be born again and regenerated in your spirit, but still can receive from the external manifestations of the Spirit, and even be used by God, and even be washed externally because you’re sitting in God’s presence, but never truly ever received him.
Verse 22, “Of them the proverbs are true, a dog returns to his vomit and a sow cursed that is washed returns to her wallow in the mud.”
But are we, the born-again children of God, ever referred to as “dogs,” or “sows”??
Matthew 15:26
he replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to dogs.”
This scripture is not talking about the children of God, but it is referring to those who are outside of the covenant, who do not have a covenant, have not been born again, have not been regenerated of the spirit, have not been given eternal life, have not received the Holy Spirit, have not received Jesus, and not received the Father.
Those who are using this scripture to JUSTIFY AND PERPETUATE THE FORFEITING YOUR SALVATION DOCTRINE AND INTERPRETATION, are knowingly, or unknowingly manipulating the gospel, and are potentially the very false teachers, they claim to judge correctly about. They, through their greed are manipulating the things of God, but they have never been born of God. This scripture is totally taken out of context when applied to forfeiting your salvation, and does not apply because no scripture applies because it is a false doctrine and it is a false teaching that was inspired by Satan himself.
Matthew 15:26, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to dogs.”
In other words, he refers to children versus dogs. That means an unsaved person will return to his vomit. That means a sow, you can’t change a sow into a child. A pig is also uncleaned in the Bible. A sow who is cursed, even though he got washed, is still going to return to her wallowing in the mud.
In conclusion, 2 Peter 2:20-22 is taken out of context, by the proponents of “forfeiting your salvation,” and this scripture is CLEARLY NOT talking about the children of God. If anybody teaches this, IT IS A BIBLICAL HERESY. That person has literally entered into a false teaching and received a false teaching, and this scripture does not apply, IN FACT NONE DO, FOR THE COVENANT CHILDREN OF GOD.
Receive your salvation, receive what Christ has done for you, receive the Holy Spirit by faith and what he’s done and not what you’ve done, and do not allow a fear based teaching to enter your heart.
Receive the gift of no condemnation today, AND LET’S UTTERLY DESTROY EVERY RADIOACTIVE FEAR!
and then