What is the meaning of 2 Peter 2:21? It would have been better for them Peter opens with a startling evaluation of apostasy’s outcome. Why “better”? • Greater light brings greater accountability—“That servant who knew his master’s will and did not prepare…will be beaten with many blows” (Luke 12:47-48). • Jesus said, “If I had not spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse” (John 15:22). • The more clearly a person has seen Christ’s glory (2 Peter 1:16-18), the more solemn the judgment for refusing Him (Matthew 11:21-24). not to have known the way of righteousness “The way of righteousness” is the gospel path that leads to life in Christ. • Jesus called it the “narrow road that leads to life” (Matthew 7:14). • Peter earlier spoke of “the way of truth” (2 Peter 2:2); here he stresses righteousness because genuine faith produces holy living (1 John 2:29). • Knowing, in this context, means conscious exposure to saving truth—hearing, understanding, perhaps even assenting intellectually. It is not mere ignorance. than to have known it With knowledge comes heightened responsibility. • “If anyone knows the right thing to do yet fails to do it, he is guilty of sin” (James 4:17). • Hebrews describes those who “have tasted the heavenly gift…and then have fallen away” (Hebrews 6:4-6), underscoring how proximity to grace intensifies culpability when rejected. • Peter is especially targeting false teachers who once moved among believers, claiming insight while secretly harboring rebellion (2 Peter 2:1). and then to turn away The phrase depicts willful, decisive desertion. • “If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains” (Hebrews 10:26-27). • John observes of defectors, “They went out from us, but they did not belong to us” (1 John 2:19). • Such turning is not a stumble but a wholesale reversal—a repudiation of grace that reveals an unregenerate heart (2 Peter 2:22). from the holy commandment passed on to them The “holy commandment” is the entire gospel call, conveyed by the apostles, urging faith in Christ and obedience to His words. • Paul speaks of believers who “obeyed from the heart the pattern of teaching to which you were committed” (Romans 6:17). • Jesus framed the gospel itself as a command: “Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). • To abandon this commandment is to reject both the Savior and the sanctifying life He requires (John 14:15; 1 Thessalonians 4:2). summary Peter warns that rejecting the truth after clearly grasping it invites a stricter judgment than never hearing it at all. Exposure to the gospel carries privilege and weight: it unveils “the way of righteousness,” obligates the hearer to repent, and promises life to the obedient. Turning away from that holy commandment spurns God’s grace and magnifies guilt. Therefore, hold fast to the truth received, walking the narrow road with steadfast faith and holy obedience. |
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