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2PETER CHAPTER 2 KJV WEB See previous page 2Pet 2,1-22 (40l) Judgment >> God is glorified >> God defends His righteousness through judgment (56b) Paradox >> Lose by gaining >> Lose your place by seeking the first place (64f) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Limits of God >> God cannot directly violate the will of man (145i) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Demon possession >> Human state >> Filthiness >> Rejecting the opportunity to be holy – God gave it to Peter, their own mascot, to rebuke the Catholic Church. They claim to be the final authority, thus despising all other authorities, even when called to stop raping their parishioner’s children. They despise authority to the point of reaching the lowest level of human depravity, interacting with demons. We see them on movies reviling angelic majesties, performing their exorcisms, unlike Jesus who cast them out with a word. Jesus had a relationship with God, while the Catholic Church scantily knows the Bible through their twisted doctrines, invented by the demons they attempt to exorcise. Not even the angels of God would dare speak to these demonic entities the way the Catholic priests do, who claim they have been given divine authority, but they haven't. Why don't they confess their century-old sins of running Christianity into the ground, and what did Jesus say in Lk 11-18,19? How can someone infested with demons cast out demons? The Pharisees accused Jesus of being Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. Although the Pharisees were certainly wrong about this, yet it suggests that Satan had an agreement with the Pharisees, whose contemporary equal is the Catholic Church. The priests and their leaders cut covenant with demons, and they will be judged with them and sent to the same hell. Peter called the leaders of the Catholic Church “unreasoning animals,” along with anyone who would distort the truth for sordid gain, “born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed.” Although the Catholic Church has studied exorcism for centuries, they have no true knowledge on the subject, for the demons themselves have led them to their beliefs. See also: Catholic Church; 173c / Hell; 2Pet 2,1-9; 217g / Paul going to Rome encouraged the formation of the Catholic Church; Act 27,20-25; 227g (157g) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being hell-bound >> Deceiving and being deceived >> Deceiving (173c) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Scripture that contradicts the Catholic faith >> Catholic doctrine versus the Bible – Peter devoted this chapter as a prophetic exposé against the heresies of the Catholic Church. What an irony that Peter of all people leveled these charges against them. In Mat 16,15-18 Jesus testified, “I say that you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” The Catholics seized upon this statement and built their entire belief system around the apostle Peter. Believing that Jesus would build the foundation of His Church on him is absurd enough, but the Catholic Church literally built the Basilica of Rome on his supposed bones. They totally misinterpreted Scripture, for the foundation of the Church is Christ, not Peter or anyone else. Nevertheless, Peter, the supposed foundation of the Catholic Church has turned against them and in a spirit of prophecy testified that they made multiple covenants with satanic entities. Peter doesn’t just imply that the Catholic Church is a belief system of demonic doctrines; he proves they have been serving demons throughout their blood-laden legacy of greed throughout the centuries. The Catholic Church has martyred some of the greatest saints that have ever lived, who stood in their way and against their many fallacies, such as John Wycliffe, John Huss and William Tyndale to name a few. See also: Catholic Church; 2Pet 2,1-3; 173g (179f) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >> False prophets >> False prophets preach works and deny Christ 2Pet 2,1-18 (186h) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> Being unable to repent 2Pet 2,1-9 (217g) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> God gives up on you >> When God gives up on you, you are already in hell – This second chapter of Second Peter is scathing. He doesn’t pull any punches about the ungodly as those without excuse, who are not innocent victims of their rebellion. The only reason God pities us is that we are victims of our own sinful nature in that we were born into it through no fault of our own. Once we become adults and are able to think for ourselves, He expects us to repent and believe in Jesus' blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin, but if we refuse, will make us accountable for our actions. Lucifer sinned against God in full knowledge, and if we die in our sins, God will send us to the devil's hell, because we are guilty of the same sin of rebellion against God. See also: Hell; 2Pet 2,4-22; 181a (218a) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> You cannot control the judgment of God >> You cannot control how God responds to rejection -- These verses go with verses 20-22 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 2Pet 2,1-3 (16j) Sin >> Continuing in sin to avoid the light >> Having hidden motives (17j) Sin >> Unrighteous judgment >> Ignorance >> Distorting the facts (26ba) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Death is hell >> Rejecting Christ has the sentence of hell (26m) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Curse >> Deeds that return to the doer >> False doctrine (47d) Judgment >> God Judges the world >> Hell is a place of destruction (64k) Paradox >> Anomalies >> God helps Satan >> God’s judgments accomplish the devil’s will -- These verses go with verses 10-12 (75j) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Being manipulative >> Controlling people by abusing authority -- These verses go with verses 18&19 (167i) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil (Conspiracy) >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind does not receive the things of God >> It rejects God (168h) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world listens to itself >> The world hears it’s own words (169l) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Seeking the glory of man >> Stepping on people to get to the bottom >> Those who seek their own glory idolize men (173g) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Unholy sacrifice (Penance) >> Offering sacrifice without God’s approval >> Sacrifice against the will of God – It says that these false teachers have gone as far as denying their own master who bought them with His own blood. What has the Catholic Church done to deny the blood of Christ? They have instituted a heretical manner of communion that claims the bread and wine literally transform into the body and the blood of Christ through the blessing of the priest, thereby making the parishioners beholden to the Catholic Church. This is called transubstantiation or the Holy Eucharist, that participating in this rite makes our sins forgiven, so that God will welcome us into His heaven. This heresy is destructive enough so that anyone who believes this can't be forgiven, because they are not trusting in Jesus blood sacrifice anymore but a ceremony, a religious tradition that merely symbolizes the cross. The Catholics have put themselves in the place of Christ, and have made the people seek Jesus through them, for without the blessing of the priest on the bread and the wine (all he does is wave his hand and chant a liturgical phrase over it) transubstantiation supposedly cannot occur. Imagine what the world thinks of this juvenal preoccupation; imagine what God thinks of it. In fact, it is witchcraft! The most insidious part of this doctrine is that it does away with the need for faith. All we need do is come to church and partake of this sacrament and our sins are wiped away, and while we are at church make sure to tithe, which is the point of all heresies. The Catholic religion entices some people because it does away with the need for a genuine relationship with Jesus. They only need to come to Church and trust the priest, who promises to manage their faith in Christ for them. When we go to see the doctor we don’t want to leave without a prescription or a shot in arm or something that will give us hope for better health. The Catholic Church has set up a clinic in our town where we can go and get inoculated from the consequences of sin by taking communion like a pill. It is enticing for some who want only to escape the flames of hell without actually having to believe in God; they just take communion and give their money to the Church as insurance against eternal damnation. We can take communion without a speck of faith, but we cannot be born again without faith, which is a prerequisite to getting to heaven. This is something the Catholic Church doesn't teach. See also: Catholic Church; 2Pet 2,4-22; 166j (177b) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >> Distorting Scripture >> Distorting Scripture to avoid the truth (181e) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Lawlessness >> Lawlessness is no excuse for sin >> Lawlessness does not cancel the power of sin -- These verses go with verses 7-22 (182g) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Three causes of interpreting Scripture falsely >> Because they want to be approved by men (185d) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Mystery of lawlessness >> Denying Christ in spite of His proven identity -- These verses go with verses 19-22 (194k) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Yielding >> Antithesis: Yielding to sin (198g) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Ordained by man >> Having evil motives for seeking leadership positions >> In the ministry for personal gain -- These verses go with verses 18&19. A false shepherd is someone who wants to be a leader of God's Church for all the wrong reasons, not bothering with His grace. Such people are dangerous to Christendom in general and specifically to our faith when we meet people like this, and they are easy to spot; they have no anointing. As the day of Christ draws near they will be even easier to spot, because God will bestow greater anointings on His people who obey Him, excluding the false shepherds, who will expose themselves by their duplicity, who absorb the graciousness of God’s people instead of offering it to them. (215g) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> Suddenly >> The judgments of God come suddenly >> Without warning (240j) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Hindering the kingdom >> Taking away the key of knowledge >> Suppressing the truth 2Pet 2-1,2 (179e) False Prophets (Key verse) 2Pet 2-1 (186g) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> After they reject God’s faith how can they believe? (199f) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> Throwing God away >> Rejecting Christ to steal His glory (204b) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Back-slider >> Practicing sin >> Going astray -- This verse goes with verse 15 (213k) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >> His will becomes our will >> We are bought with a price KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 2Pet 2-2 (92i) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> What kind of trail is this? >> All other paths are crooked -- This verse goes with verse 15 (93m) Thy kingdom come >> Following Jesus >> Exception >> Following evil along the broad way -- This verse goes with verse 15 (142g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Reputation exposed to slander >> Your reputation under attack 2Pet 2-3 (81i) Thy kingdom come >> Pray without ceasing >> Sinning from a lack of prayer -- This verse goes with verse 14 (84j) Thy kingdom come >> Your words can lead to your own demise >> Lying – Peter is talking about those in the Church who claim to be Christians but are spiritual liars. Peter would not have mentioned unsaved people in the world who are of no account to the Church. These spiritual narcissists target the Christian for exploitation, considering them easy prey. Christians have big hearts; they’re trusting people; when they go to church, they let down their guard, assuming everyone in assembly is brothers and sisters in the faith, and so they are more willing to believe whatever someone tells them in church. Christians are taught to give to the poor and help those who are less fortunate than them, and so charlatans commonly victimize them. To those who consider themselves religious, whose real motive for seeking leadership positions in the church is to exploit the people, Peter prophesies their fate: “Their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” They were predestined for judgment and prepared for destruction for touching the apple of God’s eye. The Bible teaches they have a reprobate mind with no potential for salvation, and after this life they go to their place in a dark pit where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, where they will remain forever, because they thought they could outsmart God by taking advantage of His people. (220b) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >> Predestined according to the sovereignty of God -- This verse goes with verse 17 2Pet 2,4-22 (166j) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind cannot discern between good and evil >> The carnal mind agrees with the devil – Peter's conversation turns very dark, exposing the true nature of the Catholic Church and attributing their unbelief systems and their false doctrines to demonic activity, saying that their false teachings have corrupted mankind over the centuries. Peter uses a number of examples in the Old Testament where God judged the world for certain unrepentant sin and unbelief, insinuating that the Catholic Church is guilty of the same sins. Peter compares the Catholic Church to demons, and then compares demons to the world as it was in the days of Noah, when the Nephilim walked the earth. Man at that time was profoundly evil, probably from interacting with demons, which God sees as crossing the line for any generation. After comparing the Catholic Church to the days of Noah, Peter then compares them to homosexuals, reducing the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, which brings to mind Catholicism's recent history, that of homosexual Catholic priests having sex with children, which has probably happened throughout the history of the Catholic Church. Peter prophesied these things during the fledgling days of the early church, not so much from disobedience but from unbelief, in that disobedience is a mere action, whereas unbelief is a spirit. See also: Catholic Church; 2Pet 2,4-9; 32g (181a) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Rebellion >> Rebelling against God >> Rebelling against the authority of God – Those who challenge man’s authority get their hand slapped, compared to challenging God’s authority—they find their place in hell. There they will learn about God, instead of learning about Him in His heavenly kingdom, which will most certainly blacken their view of Him. The subject of God's judgment is too deep to understand, unsearchable, unfathomable (Rom 11,33-36). We don’t understand why God is so offended when we challenge His authority, but He is and we need to accept that about Him. He is sovereign; He alone is God, and He jealously defends first place among His creation. We jealously defend our place and then scoff at God when He defends His place, revealing our hypocrisy. Anyone who would usurp God’s authority would do so in heaven too, and that is why they will not be going there. See also: Hell; 2Pet 2,4-9; 154g 2Pet 2,4-9 (12e) Servant >> Bad examples (32g) Gift of God >> Father will honor you if you die to self >> Your faithfulness – In the dark ages those with a genuine faith in God were forced by the Church to be Catholic or else lose their souls, or so they were told. The Catholic Church was all they knew. They may have believed many fallacies of the Church, yet God saw their faith and rewarded them with eternal life to spite the Church. See also: Catholic Church; 2Pet 2,13-22; 163a (154g) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> God bears witness against the world >> Witness that the world is rebellious against God >> Witness against sin – God used Israel after the exile from Egypt through the promise He made to the fathers that they should become His chosen people to perform His works, whom he sent into the land of Canaan to destroy its inhabitants, because they were corrupting the earth. This was another act of mercy to preserve the earth, cleansing it from sin instead of destroying it as He did in the days of Noah. God treats mankind the way He treats demons, sending them both to the same hell, for in an unredeemed state they are no different. There is not a hell for man and a hell for demons; there is one hell for both, because they committed the same sin of rebellion against God. See also: Hell; 2Pet 2-4; 46h 2Pet 2-4 (46h) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Satan falls from heaven -- This verse goes with verses 11&12. God wants to prove to the devil that he was wrong in what he did. The devil is not willing to admit that he tried to overthrow God’s throne so many eons ago; nor is he willing to admit that he is evil or deserves any amount of punishment, much less to be thrown into the lake of fire. Meanwhile, God wants to prove the devil's real motive, so he cannot deny it. God does not take His foreknowledge and omniscience into account when judging His creation. It is not good enough that the devil knows that God knows the truth; God wants the devil to admit that he was wrong, and to do that He needs to put Him in a position where He cannot deny the truth. For God to tell the devil that He knew he was lying when he denied that he encroached His throne would be pointless, so God must prove to the devil that this was his intension, and He proved it on the cross (Col 2,15-17). Satan was equally responsible for the death of God’s Son as man, and God is holding both man and demon accountable for this ultimate atrocity, so when the devil tries to tell God that so many eons ago he wasn’t trying to take His throne (he was just going to ask Him a question), God can point at the cross as proof that he is lying. While he is down there burning in hell forever, he could have been thinking that all of this is unfair, but now that Satan was directly involved in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, He cannot deny anything. Now when God throws the devil into the lake of fire, the devil knows he belongs there. See also: Hell; 2Pet 2-4; 47h / God is committed to proving the devil wrong; Rev 8-1; 250g (47h) Judgment >> God Judges the world >> Prison of the bottomless pit – Hell is one of those topics that is far beyond anyone’s understanding, because we have never personally met God. There are many mysteries about Him that we have yet to understand, and there are some that we will never understand, such as why His judgment is so severe. Part of understanding this is that God doesn’t see why He has to renege on His word and on His original design and annihilate certain entities who refuse to serve Him after He created them to be eternal souls. There are other things about hell that we don’t understand that God has already considered in eternity past that this is the only solution to rebellion against His throne. In other words, hell exists because of the very nature of God. Hell acts as a deterrent to rebellion, and any less punishment would be insufficient. These are considerations that God concluded long before He created anything, because He knew that His creation would in fact rebel against Him, and He knew that hell would have to exist for them. He couldn’t just banish them to their own planet; he has already done that, and they would eventually turn that planet into hell, and so in this way hell is a shortcut to getting there. Give man another 200 years, and he will destroy the earth and make it uninhabitable, which is a description of hell. The planet Mars in uninhabitable, yet man is trying to go there, because he knows that by the time he gets there earth will be just like Mars. Man in his sinful nature will turn anything into hell that God gives him, so He created a hell for them that they cannot destroy, being a place of destruction. See also: Hell; 184d (53k) Paradox >> Opposites >> What I used to think >> I thought the devil liked darkness (184d) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Darkness >> God controls darkness >> God hides unbelief in darkness – This is what God does to those who refuse to believe the truth: He casts them into pits of darkness. Jesus taught His parables in the presence of unbelievers, who would not receive His word even if He told them plainly. In His Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces” (Mat 7-6). He taught in parables so unbelievers couldn't outright reject God's truth that they should have treasured. When God cast the angels that sinned into hell, it was a literal manifestation of their spiritual darkness in all the things they knew but rejected. God’s attitude about willful ignorance is that since they love spiritual darkness so much, He has reserved a place of literal darkness for them when this life has ended, and they ought to love it. Since they desire to remain in the dark about God and want nothing to do with Him, they ought to feel right at home in hell, though it is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. See also: Hell; 2Pet 2-9; 47f (245g) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Manifestation of God’s righteous judgment >> Manifestation of God’s justice -- This verse goes with verse 17 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 2Pet 2,5-9 (28c) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> God protects the Church from the world – If keeping the godly from temptation refers to this life, then keeping the unrighteous under punishment refers to this life too. We read this verse, and immediately envisage demons chained in a bottomless pit awaiting judgment. This may be the experience of some fallen angels, and we know that Hades is a place of the damned where human souls await the White Throne Judgment at the end of time, but this passage refers also to this life. That is, the wickedness of the wicked often overcomes them (v20). These examples of God’s judgment both in Noah’s time and in the days of Lot testify of God’s ability to preserve the world by condemning sinners who would corrupt the world and bring about the destruction of the human race before the time. Some think God was evil for destroying the world in Noah’s day, but had He not stepped in, eventually man would have destroyed himself to the point of extinction; that is where he was headed, and it is where we are headed today (Mat 24-22). (29a) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> Delivered from our persecutors 2Pet 2,5-8 (151h) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> New Testament bears witness of the Old >> Men of faith 2Pet 2-5 (70k) Authority >> Believer’s authority >> We are the salt of the earth (Preservative) – Back in Noah’s day when God sent a flood on the world of the ungodly, the word of God did not exist among men; God had not spoken to anyone, except Adam who was long dead, yet God held the world accountable for its disobedience and unbelief. In Noah’s day, God’s big complaint against mankind was that every thought in his mind was evil continuously. What we think, we will eventually say; and what we say, we will eventually do. Enoch was an exception (Genesis 5-24); he recognized the fact that God had to exist in order for everything to come into being, and he worshipped Him for that. Enoch was like a grain of salt on a plate of food; he could not savor the world on his own. (111j) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Word and the judgment of God -- This verse goes with verse 21 2Pet 2-6 (104c) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Purified by fire >> Purified through fiery judgment – In Genesis 6-5 God said about mankind in Noah’s day: “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6-5). In the case of Noah's flood God was provoked by man's evil thoughts, but in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah He was incensed by their deeds. What did they do? They were sexually immoral and lived against nature. Had they been immoral with the opposite sex, God may have had a different attitude, since He created those desires, though they misused them; but when men go after men and women after women, this defies God’s design. They were rebelling against the natural order of His creation; that is, they rebelled directly against God Himself, who created that natural order. In other words, they were not having sex for pleasure; they are having sex to rebel against God. Homosexuality shows blatant contempt for God and His creation. Nonetheless, there are many homosexuals today who would say they don’t feel this way about God at all, but it doesn’t matter how they feel; it only matters what they do, and homosexuality conveys this message. God perceives it as an affront to His design, as it says in Genesis 1-27, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” See also: Homosexuality; Jd-3,4; 183k KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 2Pet 2,7-22 (181e) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Lawlessness >> Lawlessness is no excuse for sin >> Lawlessness does not cancel the power of sin -- These verses go with verses 1-3 2Pet 2,7-14 (145g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Demon possession >> Human state >> Filthiness >> That which Is unclean 2Pet 2,7-12 (84l) Thy kingdom come >> Your words can lead to your own demise >> They can be destructive -- These verses go with verses 18&19 2Pet 2,7-9 (98m) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Endurance invites the Holy Spirit into your life >> Endurance invites the judgment of God – Christians have always suffered under the hands of wicked men, and Peter is saying to remain steadfast in our circumstances, because eventually God will deliver us and place those under punishment who persecuted us. It has regularly happened since time began throughout the world that some have forced others under their oppression, seemingly getting away with it until one day it becomes their turn to suffer. They will meet God and He will hold them accountable for every sin they committed, sending them to a place called Hades, the place in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16,19-31). In that story the rich man testified that he would do anything for a single drop of water, saying that the flames were tormenting him. This is what God does: He keeps the wicked under punishment until the Day of Judgment. When the time comes, He will throw them into the lake of fire, where they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Until then, God requires His faithful children who love righteousness and hate lawlessness to remain steadfast and endure their circumstances at the hands of unprincipled men. Notice that there is no mention of evangelism, for this sort is not open to the gospel, and they are not anyone’s mission field. (160l) Works of the devil >> Temptation >> Tempted to act like an animal -- These verses go with verses 13&14 2Pet 2-7,8 (70e) Authority >> Sin of familiarity >> Familia rity-enemy of discernment >> Spirit grieves over sin – Lot’s soul was tormented day after day by their lawless deeds. This is something most people in the world have not experienced to the degree that Christians have, vexation of soul. This happens to Christians on a daily basis. They awake in the morning and are grieved that they must spend another day in a world that hates God and persecutes faith in Jesus Christ, instead of enjoying the Kingdom of Heaven. Lot was never known to be a righteous and holy man, but neither was He known to be evil; by comparison to the residents of Sodom and Gomorra he was righteous. Lot received the testimony of being righteous by the fact that he never turned toward the wretched city as he fled from its judgment, as did his wife and was turned to a pillar of salt. God knew if anyone turned and faced the city, it would not be to watch the fireworks but to grieve for the burning city. God’s attitude toward Sodom and Gomorra is well documented; if she missed that place, she deserved to become a pillar of salt. 2Pet 2,9-11 (38j) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Resurrection of the wicked – Peter didn’t have a problem with God's rendition of judgment but was in full agreement with Him. It said that God intends to “keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.” How does the Bible define the “unrighteous”? We know how the righteous are defined; they are worshippers of God. He sent His Son to be the propitiation for man’s sin and we have received His blood sacrifice and have been forgiven, and now Christ is our righteousness. We define the wicked, then, in contrast to the righteous: they are in rebellion against God; that is, the one thing that defines the wicked is that they despise authority. He calls them idolaters who worship and serve the creation rather than the creator. We who believe in Jesus once rebelled against God’s authority too, but we recognized the error of our ways and repented. We did not believe in the way we were going; nor did we believe in the world or what it offers or what it told us about God. The world is very dissatisfying to the believer; only God’s truth can quench our thirst, who is Jesus. We have come to believe these things and have received Him, but the wicked have rejected Christ, and they seek their own righteousness and seek to be their own god and worship themselves and determine their own truth and live by their own authority. They consider this life the only one that exists. They don’t want another life; they don’t care about heaven; they don’t want to live with God or meet Him or know Him. 2Pet 2-9 (47f) Judgment >> God Judges the world >> Hell is a place of torment – Peter is drawing on the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16,19-31), where Lazarus died and went to heaven and the rich man died and was buried. The rich man suddenly discovered his soul in Hades, which is a waterless place of fire and torment. People get confused about what happens to people when they die, and the reason for this confusion is that a change has occurred since the new covenant for those who die in faith believing in Jesus, but for the wicked and unbelieving nothing has changed. Prior to Jesus dying for our sins, the angels took God’s worshippers to a place called Abraham’s bosom, another name for paradise. Today when Christians die, they are immediately escorted to God's heavenly presence to enjoy their stay as they await the First Resurrection. Heaven of the new covenant, then, is the New Jerusalem, the city of God. Abraham’s bosom has thus been evacuated and its contents taken to be with the Lord, but Hades remains unchanged, a prison of the damned awaiting their sentence at the White Throne Judgment. See also: Hell; 2Pet 2,1-22; 145i KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 2Pet 2,10-22 (16f) Sin >> Man’s willingness to be evil >> Using sin to achieve your goals – They are not using corruption to accomplish their goals; rather, their goal is corruption. (17g) Sin >> Judging in the flesh >> Perceiving reality according to the flesh (Satanic world view) (153h) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> God bears witness against the world >> Shame >> Walking in condemnation >> Walking in rebellion – The wicked are blasphemers, whereas heavenly angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against the world of demons. Godless people rebel against the god of this world, the devil, whom they worship instead of the God of heaven. They rebel against all forms of authority and submit to nothing. No one can tell them what to do; like Satan he is in rebellion against even himself (Rev 17-16,17), against man and against God, against everything. The wicked are like him; they live by their own authority and by nothing else, but they will find their place in the lake of fire that burns with fire and brimstone, and in the smoke of a great furnace, they will be tormented day and night. (183i) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >> Spirit of the broad road >> Spirit of error will lead you astray 2Pet 2,10-19 (217d) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> God gives up on you >> When you give yourself over to sin 2Pet 2,10-18 (185e) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Mystery of lawlessness >> The mystery of sin – We know that teenagers are rebellious, but they are supposed to be rebellious. They are trying to find themselves in the world, and so they question everything and rail against all forms of authority in search of answers before they make decisions about their personal reality and how to change the world in ways they think would better everyone. They fear they will not develop the life-skills they need to live a successful and daring life. Teenagers are rebellious for reasons that are not linked to the kind of rebellion that God condemns. He condemns rebellion that pertains to the mystery of lawlessness, the mystery of wanting to commit sin through our knowledge of it. See also: Rebellion (Disobeying Jesus' word); Mk 3,7-10; 143l 2Pet 2,10-14 (18l) Sin >> Twisted thinking >> Evil is good >> Loving bondage (243b) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Mocking >> Mocking Christ 2Pet 2,10-12 (55d) Paradox >> Opposites >> People who sin in the likeness of demons (64k) Paradox >> Anomalies >> God helps Satan >> God’s judgments accomplish the devil’s will -- These verses go with verses 1-3 (160e) Works of the devil >> Led by the devil into sin (164e) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >> Satan’s system of authority >> Satan’s hierarchy of evil -- These verses go with verses 20-22 2Pet 2-10 (23c) Sin >> Pride is defensive (170b) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Seeking the glory of man >> Pursuing the glory of man turns us in the wrong direction >> It’s the reason we don’t die to self -- This verse goes with verses 13&14 (180g) Rebellion (Key verse) (201i) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from God >> Man’s will over God >> Man is unwilling to repent -- This verse goes with verses 20-22 2Pet 2-11,12 (46h) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Satan falls from heaven -- These verses go with verse 4 2Pet 2-11 (15k) Servant >> Angels >> Limitations of angels 2Pet 2-12 (26g) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Death is Satan’s nature -- This verse goes with verse 19 (170f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Temporary >> Whatever is temporary will perish -- This verse goes with verses 17&18 (186f) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> The fool >> The heart of a fool – Scientists have done studies on the mind of psychopaths and have developed a list of traits that they all possess, and what is prominently missing on the list is compassion; they all lack empathy. They are incapable of imagining the difficulties of other people’s circumstances or how they must feel, because they don’t care. The only person who matters to them is themselves. They have done studies and discovered that when people don’t exercise certain regions of the brain, they start to atrophy. There is an area of the brain called the supramarginal gyrus; it is part of the cerebral cortex that is dedicated to compassion. If a person lacks empathy, this area may shrink, or it may become inactive, or it may be monopolized by neighboring regions of the brain, making it that much harder, if not impossible, to have positive emotions of empathy and compassion. Some psychopaths are married with children, knowing how to fake interest in other people. They know what caring looks like and so they mimic many of the traits they have seen in other people, but in their hearts they don’t feel these emotions. Jesus was the exact opposite of a psychopath; He felt genuine empathy for people and acted upon it. The antichrist will be the ultimate psychopath, and he will use his power of darkness for evil. “Psychopath” is the secular term for reprobate, which describes someone who cannot be saved. The Pharisees who condemned Jesus were psychopaths, who were able to distort their minds to believe anything they wanted, knowing they had just contrived their ideas from their own vain imaginations. See also: religious psychopaths; 2Pet 2-14; 74i / Reprobate versus the psychopath; Jn 12,4-8; 195e KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 2Pet 2,13-22 (163a) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> Being slaves of men >> In bondage to peoples’ expectations of you – Before God actually commits His judgment against the wicked He holds them in prison until that day. Their own sin holds them in bondage to disobedience and unbelief, so even if they wanted to repent they couldn’t. In this way they have been ratcheting up judgment to themselves without interruption, so on the Day of Judgment God might deliver a full sentence without mercy to those who for centuries have mercilessly held the whole world in bondage to their false religion, referring to the Catholic Church. These are the ways of God against the wicked; He holds them in prison of their own making before He releases his judgment against them. When sin overcomes a person, the demons behind the sin have won the right to place him in bondage, for the slave of sin has forfeited his will to choose, being in bondage to living a lie that he cannot escape, unless he gives his heart to Jesus. Those in such bondage promise freedom to their parishioners while they themselves are slaves of corruption. This goes back to what Jesus said about demon possession; a person can be released from demons, but if he doesn’t ask Jesus in his heart and be saved, the demons will return and find the place vacant, swept and put in order, and will take seven others more evil than itself and enter that person, and the man's last state is worse than the first (Mat 12,43-45). Sin has the power to do this, and demons use sin as their favored environment to wreak havoc on a person, making it impossible to tell whether it is sin or demons holding him in bondage, for the two are one. There is a spirit of error, just like there is a Spirit of truth. The person who had been exorcised but never let Jesus in his heart would be better if he never sought freedom, than to find it and lose it again to the demons that put him in bondage in the first place. Peter is explaining the process of a person or an institution or a religion going from bad to worse (2Tim 3-13). No doubt there were times during the infancy of the Catholic Church when prophets and wise men explained to them a more accurate version of the gospel, and they ultimately rejected it, causing the Catholic Church to go from bad to worse throughout the ages. See also: Catholic Church; 2Pet 2,1-22; 145i / Demon possession; 2Pet 2,20-22; 207d / Demon Possession (Playing with a Ouija Board); Lk 8,26-28; 146d 2Pet 2,13-19 (218j) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> Reaping the harvest >> Reaping the harvest in eternity 2Pet 2-13,14 (26i) Curse (Key verse) (26j) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Curse >> Deeds that return to the doer >> Sin backfires on you (134j) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the body >> Immorality >> Adultery >> Physical adultery (160l) Works of the devil >> Temptation >> Tempted to act like an animal -- These verses go with verse 18 (170b) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Seeking the glory of man >> Pursuing the glory of man turns us in the wrong direction >> It’s the reason we don’t die to self -- These verses go with verse 10 2Pet 2-13 (172d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Tares among the wheat >> Communion between the world and the Church >> Worldliness in the Church – Why would Peter write such an explicit description of people since we already know the world is evil? The fact that these are church people makes this passage even more relevant and shocking (see the epistle of Jude). When we do wrong to others in response to people doing wrong to us, turning both parties more bitter and hateful against each other, we partake in a vicious, downward cycle of revenge. This is why Paul told us not to repay evil for evil (Rom 12-17). Such Christians are imposters of the faith, and there is no indication in Peter’s writing that they are capable of repentance or genuine faith toward God, though they may be regular attendants at the local church. Maybe they sit next to us in the service and blend in the crowd, giving no reason to doubt their faith, though we only see them once a week, and they are on their best behavior. Peter is saying there are people among us who are not saved but appear as fellow Christians, but they are false brethren and a hazard to the true saints. See also: Spiritual warfare; 2Pet 2-14; 74i (181k) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Self deception >> Deceiving and being deceived 2Pet 2-14 (74i) Thy kingdom come >> Heart of man is sinful >> It is deceitful and desperately wicked – False brethren look at Christian women in the Church with evil intent, disregarding their marriage status. They go from sin to sin, bucking against the sheep, spiritually, mentally and emotionally inflicting injuries on their fellow parishioners. The bigger question is why they even go to church; what attracts them? They see Christians as a soft touch, easy targets to their exploitations as they surmise our trusting nature, using our compassion and generosity against us. They blend among us; wielding their personality traits of narcissism. Charming, they warm their way into people's hearts and worm their way through the assembly like viruses, putting everybody at ease, neutralizing their suspicions and then pick a target and trap the person and tap his/her life-source. By the time the victim realizes their true motives, it’s too late; they have already drained their victim, leaving a hollow shell of his/her former self in a pit of misery and emptiness, and then search for another victim. This causes shock and disbelief to ripple through the congregation that a fellow brother would do this, so they deny it actually happened, so they don’t sound the alarm. When the body count becomes undeniable, they simply pick up their tent stakes and move to the next church or town. We say our church couldn’t possibly be littered with them, but think again. They had them in the first century, being the reason Peter is warning us about them now, and Paul said that apostasy was coming, so their infiltrations have only gotten worse. Their numbers have multiplied in our day to the point that they have crowded out the true Christians from our churches! The pastor must be vigilant to protect the sheep from their exploitations. See also: religious psychopaths; 2Pet 2-15; 93m / Spiritual warfare; 2Pet 2-15; 93m (81i) Thy kingdom come >> Pray without ceasing >> Sinning from a lack of prayer -- This verse goes with verse 3 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 2Pet 2,15-22 (2n) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Get out of His way >> Do not abuse His grace 2Pet 2-15,16 (63k) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Sarcasm >> Answering a fool according to his folly (147d) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> God exercises authority over every living thing 2Pet 2-15 (92i) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> What kind of trail is this? >> All other paths are crooked -- This verse goes with verse 2 (93m) Thy kingdom come >> Following Jesus >> Exception >> Following evil along the broad way -- This verse goes with verse 2. As Balaam intended to exploit the people of God, so there are some in our churches who are a curse to God’s household. They are narcissistic, self-proclaimed prophets, boasting great powers and anointings above their fellows, but none of them are destined for heaven, as Jesus said in Mat 7-23,23, “Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” They were literally prepared for destruction and there is no way to divert it. They are incapable of faith or salvation of those who are adept at religiosity and learning the vernacular of Christianity. We can hardly distinguish them from the true saints, except by their fruit. If they prod uce the fruit of the kingdom, they are born of God, but if not, they belong to the world the flesh and the devil. They are springs without water as Solomon said, “Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of his gifts falsely” (Proverbs 25-14). The sky may have all the appearance of rain, but not a drop is given to the earth, who have the appearance of faith, who are blustery but have no substance to their giftedness. See also: religious psychopaths; 2Pet 2-12; 186f / Spiritual warfare; 2Pet 2-17,18; 170f (161b) Works of the devil >> Wandering from the character of God >> Wander from the faith -- This verse goes with verses 20-22 (199e) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> Throwing God away >> Renouncing your faith -- This verse goes with verses 19-22 (204b) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Back-slider >> Practicing sin >> Going astray -- This verse goes with verse 1 2Pet 2-16 (85d) Thy kingdom come >> Words that are spoken in faith >> Powerful when spoken by the Spirit >> The spoken word of God 2Pet 2,17-22 (40k) Judgment >> Judgment of Christ >> God’s word judges the Church – This passage does not correlate with “once saved always saved” theology. Such teachings allow those who believe in them to feel secure, though God is certainly able to keep that which we have entrusted to Him until that day (2 Tim 1-12) and to keep us from the evil one (Mat 6-13), so what do we do with passages that speak of those who once believed and now they don’t? Easy-believism does not fit in the Scriptures; those who benefit from such teachings are religious liars who like to prey on God’s people, using their generous spirit against them. Those who are born of God know they are saved, so they don’t need to believe in Eternal Security because they already feel secure in their faith. The person who is faithful in Jesus and loves God with all his heart, whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, will never fall away from the faith. They have eternal security within them; they don’t need to trust in easy to believe doctrines. Contrary to the solid teachings of Scripture, if a person feels saved one day, it means he is saved for the rest of his life, and he couldn’t reverse his salvation even if he tried. Those who are planning to fall away need to believe that when they do, they are still going to heaven. Most false doctrine actually tempts its adherents to fall away. If they understood Scripture as it was written, they would know that if they leave the faith, they are breaking covenant with God. They seem to think that if they actually fell away from the faith they could still lean on the fact that they once believed, and that should be good enough for God. (177c) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >> Distorting Scripture >> Distorting Scripture for personal gain 2Pet 2-17,18 (170f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Temporary >> Whatever is temporary will perish -- These verses go with verse 12. We know what it is like to drive through fog. Spending any amount of time with people of Peter's description has a blinding effect on our faith; the spirit they emulate makes it almost impossible to speak a word of truth from God. We had so much faith and confidence in the Lord, then we met this person, who makes us feel spiritually retarded. They are mists driven by a storm, so their presence drives away our faith. Suddenly the Scriptures seem distant as though it were just another book, and when we try to tell them about our faith in Jesus, the sound of our voice is swallowed by their void, as we defend ourselves from an unseen enemy, the spirit of unbelief. See also: Spiritual warfare; 2Pet 2-18,19; 182a 2Pet 2-17 (23i) Sin >> Poverty (Oppression) >> God’s perspective on the poor (47g) Judgment >> God Judges the world >> Hell is a place of darkness (220b) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >> Predestined according to the sovereignty of God -- This verse goes with verse 3 (245g) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Manifestation of God’s righteous judgment >> Manifestation of God’s justice -- This verse goes with verse 4 2Pet 2,18-22 (99j) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance >> Enduring circumstances >> Endurance that fails – Peter describes a Christian who has retracted his faith, which is something that Eternal Security advocates don’t believe can happen. In order to believe it is impossible, they can’t read passages like this, or they must explain them away with a barrage of words, while we who actually believe the Bible merely read what it says. Peter is not talking about somebody who has never known the Lord; he’s talking about somebody who did know the Lord, who “escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” but then they “are again entangled in it and overcome.” According to Hebrews, after the person has come to know the Lord and then has fallen-away, it is impossible to renew him again to repentance (Heb 6,4-6). People who once believed and then fell-away often become jealous of those who still believe and attempt to dissuade them from their faith. They do this to feel better about the decision to abandon their own faith. This is a level of darkness and evil that is unheard-of in any other venue. God sees no greater sin than those who cause one of these little ones to stumble, better a millstone be hung around his neck and be cast into the depths of the sea (Mat 18-6), meaning hell is a lot worse than that. Why do they fall-away from the faith? Christians who believe in the heresy of Eternal Security would say that they were never saved in the first place, but they are the same people who believe in the sinner’s prayer, that if they speak this over their lives they will be saved with no possibility of changing their minds. They asked Jesus to come into their heart with every intension of following Him forever, but a few years down the road doubts began to crowd out their faith, and they realize one day that they no longer believe in Jesus. Salvation is a marriage covenant (1Cor 11-25), based on a promise; we exchange vows with our spouse, and if down the road we regret getting married, we write a certificate of divorce. That is essentially what people do who fall-away from the faith: they divorce the Lord. Some couples remarry, but the Lord is unwilling to take back the person who rejects Him in full knowledge; He believes in Himself too much. Keep in mind, though, that there is such a thing as “backsliding”; but if his backsliding metastasizes to developing contempt for the God of the Bible, that is the case Peter is addressing. Whatever the person was doing before he got saved, he goes back to it, like a dog returns to its vomit. He misses plotting his own destiny. He doesn’t want God telling him what to do. We all occasionally fall to temptation and repent and return, sometimes daily, and the Lord forgives and forgets, but once a person fully commits to unbelief, he is incapable of repentance, because the devil will hold him to it. Peter used the word “arrogance”. These people are very arrogant, and they display an air of superiority. Imagine this person coming to a brother in the faith and offering him freedom from Christ’s yoke; meanwhile he is in seven times more bondage than Christ would ever impose on him. The reason the true brethren in the faith do not fall from their own steadfastness is that they were miserable without the Lord, there is nothing behind them they miss. They hated their lives and this world; nothing satisfied them, because they didn’t know Jesus, so they came to Him with joy and were born-again, and nothing can ever separate them from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, except themselves. We are our own biggest enemy. 2Pet 2-18,19 (75j) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Being manipulative >> Controlling people by abusing authority -- These verses go with verses 1-3 (84l) Thy kingdom come >> Your words can lead to your own demise >> They can be destructive -- These verses go with verses 7-12 (182a) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Self deception >> Believing the darkness within you is light – We are to avoid carnal and worldly people, for every minute we spend with them is a minute the devil has to undo the work that God has achieved in our lives. If we associate with them, they will draw us into their world, and our faith will die. They will try to make us like them, unbelievers with a hardened heart that cannot believe. Light and darkness cannot coexist. We have nothing in common with them, and so they will isolate us from fellow believers in effort to destroy our faith, making us like them. Their motive is to bolster their pride and appease their demented conscience, put a feather in their cap and win a victory over our faith. Our backsliding reinforces their arrogant unbelief as they tell us that if God really loved His people (if He exists at all), He would not allow them to fall away from the faith, discounting the fact that they had a hand in it. See also: Spiritual warfare; 2Pet 2-18; 209d (198g) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Ordained by man >> Having evil motives for seeking leadership positions >> In the ministry for personal gain -- These verses go with verses 1-3 2Pet 2-18 (160l) Works of the devil >> Temptation >> Tempted to act like an animal -- This verse goes with verses 7-9 (193k) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Run to God >> Run to God to avoid running from Him (209d) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Righteous saved with difficulty >> Righteous saved with hardship >> Righteous saved with adversity – Peter says we “barely escape from the ones who live in error.” This shows our weakness and susceptibility to sin and false teachers, who have a blinding affect on our faith, like a cloudy day that stretches across the sky from horizon to horizon, coloring our world with a gray, cold mood, making it appear as though the sun isn’t shining. When we compare the influence of the world with the influence of the Holy Spirit, His quiet voice reminds us of God’s truth, while the world blares in opposition to Christ 24/7 in satanic delusions, making us feel like fools for wasting our lives on a faith that may never materialize. However, we know there is a God; we know He loves us, and we know he died for our sins; meanwhile, the world appeals to our flesh with sensual desires that compete against our faith and tempt us to commit spiritual suicide. God’s truth is eternal, whereas the world is temporary. God promises to replace the present circumstances of this fallen world with a new creation filled with people who know and love the Lord and will gladly serve Him, and they rejoice in His presence and in His knowledge and wisdom, but for now, this hour and the power of darkness belong to Satan and those who serve him (Lk 22-53). There is One who is mightier than darkness; He is the Light of the world, who shines through the clouds and dispels the world’s lies and deceptions. In this spiritual war we barely escape from the ones who live in error; therefore, it is necessary to separate ourselves from certain people who would attempt to lead us astray. They may claim to be our friends, but if they don’t love God, we cannot trust them. They tell us their naturalistic worldviews that make sense to our flesh. We can see with our eyes and hear with our ears that what they are telling us is essentially true, but their truth is only temporary, whereas God’s truth is eternal. People in bondage to this temporal reality are dangerous to our faith, and though we cannot avoid them altogether, we can protect ourselves from their messages that appeal to our flesh, but our spirit rejects. There are two realities occurring at the same time: God’s reality and the world's reality. It is tempting to follow that which is obvious, rather than hope for something better that may never come true, but those who know God also know that the world's truth will time-out one day, but God's truth will remain forever. See also: Spiritual warfare; 2Pet 2-13; 172d / Spiritual warfare (Contrast of two natures); Rom 7,14-25; 227g KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 2Pet 2,19-22 (20m) Sin >> Disobedience >> Demonstrating unbelief in the validity of God’s word (185d) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Mystery of lawlessness >> Denying Christ in spite of His proven identity -- These verses go with verses 1-3. If our faith is strong enough and we met one of these people, and we wanted to know their tactics and their real motives and the true nature of darkness and wanted to see them in action trying to destroy our faith, we could spend some time with them and watch them at work and learn their methods separating God’s lambs from their faith using the power of darkness. We must remember what we learned, because we would never want to repeat this lesson again, though probably we will go through it again because their numbers are increasing, and we can hardly avoid them. (185l) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> Blasphemy >> Unwilling to obey the revelation from heaven >> Unwilling to walk in God’s freedom (199e) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> Throwing God away >> Renouncing your faith -- These verses go with verse 15. The man to whom Peter is referring never applied his knowledge, and it became stagnant like a swamp. Instead of it producing the fruit of the kingdom, it grew bacteria and parasites and began to stink like his old life. The swine wallows in the mire of its own making, using the knowledge of Scripture to blaspheme God. He once was born-again but since has become defiled-again. This passage supplements Hebrews chapters six & ten that speak about losing the faith. Those who get saved and have “once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.” Many Christians try to interpret this in ways other than what it says, but the Bible speaks plainly, not mincing words. The way to tell if someone is misinterpreting Scripture is if his explanation is longer than the passage itself. People have written books about these passages trying to explain them away, but if we fall away from the faith, we will lose our salvation, and no one can renew us to repentance. (204a) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Back-slider >> Practicing sin >> Dying in sin 2Pet 2-19 (26g) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Death is Satan’s nature -- This verse goes with verse 12 2Pet 2,20-22 (45i) Judgment >> Of believer’s sin >> God will judge us for trampling on His son (80b) Thy kingdom come >> Know the word in spiritual warfare >> To deliver yourself from bondage – If we think the knowledge of God is valuable, then it must also be useful. For example, the knowledge of science is practical; people use it to make things. Not everyone is a philosopher, yet everyone has a philosophy about life, and if a person denies having a philosophy, an acute observer could extrapolate his “subliminal” philosophy based on the way he lives. If we study technology or the various disciplines of biology or anthropology, these all have practical applications, and so why shouldn’t Christianity also have a practical application? Peter is not just talking about knowledge but the application of it. The person who comes into the knowledge of Christ but never does anything with it is like the servant in the parable of the minas. The one who received the one mina, put it in a handkerchief and buried it (Lk 19,20-26). He tried to give back the mina to his Master, but He said, ‘I want it back with interest.’ The mina in this case represents knowledge. (96l) Thy kingdom come >> Having a negative attitude about sin >> Having an attitude of unbelief (109f) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelation of God >> Revelation of God's word is true knowledge (161b) Works of the devil >> Wandering from the character of God >> Wander from the faith -- These verses go with verse 15 (164e) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >> Satan’s system of authority >> Satan’s hierarchy of evil -- These verses go with verses 10-12 (201i) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from God >> Man’s will over God >> Man is unwilling to repent -- These verses go with verse 10 (207d) Salvation >> God makes promises on His terms >> Eternal security? >> You can get lost again – We must not allow our faith to slip, since our hope of eternal life depends on it. What makes this a dire warning is that we would forfeit any hope of repentance and become a greater wreck of a person than before we believed. If we allow our faith to slip to the point of losing our salvation, we could not get it back. We are under obligation to obey the Holy Spirit, and not to obey the flesh (Rom 8-12,13). When he said their last state becomes worse than their first, it refers to what Jesus said about demon possession (Mat 12,43-45), and demons are surely involved in the process of lapsing from the faith. See also: Demon possession; 2Pet 2-20; 159f (217e) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> God gives up on you >> After you are no longer able to repent (218a) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> You cannot control the judgment of God >> You cannot control how God responds to rejection -- These verses go with verses 1-9 (218g) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> Reaping the harvest >> Reaping the harvest of obedience >> The harvest from the word of God (222b) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Do not give what is holy to dogs >> God does not entrust his treasures to dogs >> God retrieves his treasures when sheep revert to dogs (232d) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Count the cost >> If Jesus cost too much, then you aren’t worth much – Falling away is different from backsliding; we shouldn’t be too hard on backsliders. Those who fall away are far more rare than the common backslider, for we all backslide occasionally. Neither Peter nor the writer of Hebrews was talking about backsliders, but about those who recommit to sin. They can't believe the teachings of the Bible, and they can’t live the Christian life, so they walk away from it all. That is different from backsliders who believe another life is coming and God has personally invited them to partake of it, and they live for the sake of eternity rather than for the temporal benefits of this life, but they have a problem with sin and occasionally fall to its charms. There is a world of difference between the one who believes in God but struggles with sin, and the one who gives up on God, who feels he has made a mistake by becoming a Christian, who previously made a commitment to Christ but never valued it and returns to his unbelief. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 2Pet 2-20 (159f) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >> Counterfeit godliness >> Counterfeit freedom – Jesus taught about this in much the same way when He spoke about demon possession, and Hebrews speaks of it too. Jesus taught that when someone is demon possessed, and the demon is cast from him, it returns, and if the person is unsaved, “unoccupied, swept and put in order... it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first” (Mat 12,43-45). This very thing occurs in the same way to nations as it does to individuals, and who is to say it won’t happen to America if we don’t repent? The book of Hebrews teaches that when someone gets saved and then returns to his unbelief, “it is impossible to renew him again to repentance” (Heb 6-6). The person is doomed; he cannot get saved again, and if demons were involved prior to his enlightenment, after the person falls from grace the demons return. This is why we say Christianity is a fight for the human soul, and the stakes are very high; yet trying to make people care about their soul is like pulling teeth. Even Christians mostly conduct their faith with one hand behind their back and the other hand full of their pet sins. Too few of us take our faith seriously, so it is no wonder the world so often returns to war and its atrocities. See also: Demon possession; 2Pet 2,13-22; 163a 2Pet 2-21 (111j) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Word and the judgment of God -- This verse goes with verse 5 (133d) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holiness >> God is holy >> The word of God is holy 2Pet 2-22 (141j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> Old Testament is for our instruction >> It reflects the nature of man in the law See next page