2 Peter - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

worries.” But these are precisely the believers that Satan attacks the most! In chess terms,
new converts are like pawns to Satan; believers in spiritual self-esteem are like knights,
those in spiritual autonomy are like bishops and rooks, while spiritually mature believers
are like kings and queens. The prize for defeating a superior foe is worth the extra effort.
Of course, they aren’t overcome all at once. The progressive present tense means the
false teachings and the lewd lifestyle have to be embraced gradually by the misguided
believer.
In this warning, the believer who once lived in the divine system has now succumbed to
life in the cosmic system. When he lived in the divine system, he learned doctrine on a
regular basis, acknowledged his sins to God, and was regularly filled with the Spirit.
When he sinned it was generally because something in the arrogance complex of sins
caused him to trip up temporarily. As he was growing, the doctrinal structure in the
mentality of his soul offered some protection from cosmic influence. Now, however, he
has become much worse than before (Consummative Perfect tense). His sins are
becoming more regular and he lives in them for longer duration before acknowledging
them to God – if he gets around to confessing them at all. In other words, the believer
who once had a stable spiritual life falls into reversionism from a greater height and will
receive more severe divine discipline.
RELEVANT OPINIONS
I am persuaded that in view of the flow of the entire chapter the subject is the false teachers
... Here in verse 20, he is describing the heretics who at one time forsook their world and its
corruption. There can be little doubt that the false teachers had once been orthodox
Christians. In the past, these people were members of the church and they became
acquainted with the teachings of the Christian faith ... Did the false teachers at one time
know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? The answer is yes. For example, when Jesus
commissioned His disciples two by two, He sent out Judas and another disciple. They went
out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed
many sick people with oil and healed them (Mark 6:12-13). Obvoiusly, Judas knew Jesus; in
the name of Jesus he preached and performed miracles. Yet Judas betrayed his Master. (S.
Kistemaker)
The knowledge (epignosis) of Christ is said to have enabled the Christian to escape the
defilements of the world. The audience is also exhorted to know certain doctrine. Peter
affirms that the promises of Christ enable the Christian to escape worldly corruption. (D.
Watson) Satan had them once; now he has them again; he will not let them go. They once
knew the way of righteousness, but alas, that knowledge, now lost, only serves to deepen
their guilt and to harden their heart all the more. For sin against light is more deadly far than
the sin of ignorance; and, the greater the light, the deeper is the sin of those who love
darkness rather than light. (B. Caffin) By naming the pollutions of the world, he shows that
we roll in filth and are wholly polluted, until we renounce the world. (J. Calvin)
Only a believer with a human spirit, can metabolize pneumatikos, spiritual information, that
becomes epignosis doctrine. (R.B. Thieme, Jr.) They do not use the Word of God except for