2 Peter - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

The sovereign grace of God which accomplishes salvation by utilizing a mere instrument
of man's faith has now been changed to the faith of man accomplishing salvation by
utilizing the mere instrument of God's sovereign grace! To me this is a scary conclusion,
and it reminds me of how false teachers "infiltrate by flanking attacks and by
underground tunnellings," propagating their peculiar twists on scripture. The literature on
this hotly-debated subject is multitudinous. I don't presume to try to cover all the pros,
cons, problem verses, etc. in this short study. I highly recommend a book by Gary Long
called Definite Atonement. I like his approach because he explains how all of the
soteriological and Christological terms around the atonement have been emptied of their
meaning by Arminian (Greek, Gnostic) philosophy. The outcome of unlimited atonement
is that the substitution of Christ on the Cross no longer substitutes, redemption no longer
redeems, propitiation no longer propitiates, and reconciliation no longer reconciles. All of
these terms demand a completed work, not one which is waiting for man's decision to
fulfill.
"The first and most direct tendency of this doctrine is to lead men to dilute and explain
away the scriptural statements with respect to the true nature and import of the
substitution and satisfaction of Christ, and their bearing upon the redemption and
reconciliation of sinners. And this introduces serious error into a most fundamental
department of Christian truth. They do not fully comprehend their own principles, and
follow them out consistently; and of course, their tenure even of the truth they hold rests
upon a very insecure foundation." (G. Long) What proponents of unlimited atonement
end up saying is that "God saves us with our help," our believing being the deciding
factor. But what this is really saying is that "we save ourselves with God's help." To the
contrary, the death of Christ is not merely a provisional work waiting for us to complete -
it actually purchased a particular people, it actually satisfied God the Father, it was
actually efficacious in and of itself.
RELEVANT OPINIONS
The comparison of the false prophets of Israel and the Christian false teachers in 2 Peter
2:1 seems to bear every mark of having been created for its context. It is designed to link
the preceding and succeeding material and creates the chiastic structure. The chiastic
structure of 1:16-2:3 makes the false teachers the counterpart of the apostles. (R.
Bauckham) Christ redeemed us to have us as a people separated from all the iniquities of
the world, devoted to holiness and purity. Those who throw over the traces and plunge
themselves into every kind of license are not unjustly said to deny Christ, by Whom they
were redeemed ... only a few remain in pure obedience of Christ ... a huge number are led
astray. Scarcely one in ten ... keep the purity of their faith to the very end. (J. Calvin) In
the phrase “denying the Master who bought them” is a metaphor of a slave master who
purchased slaves, a common metaphor for Christ’s work in redemption. By adding that
the master is the “one having bought them,” 2 Peter has shown why the master is owed
allegiance and has in essence called the false teachers renegade slaves, apostate
Christians. (D. Watson) It is important to remember that Peter himself denied the Lord.
(B. Caffin)