2 Peter - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

Instead of obeying Him, "these servants continue to reject Him. They are apostate
Christians who have disowned their Master." (S. Kistemaker) This passage does not refer
to unbelievers, but to believers, to the saints who denying their Lord were in danger of
being removed and taken out prematurely for the sake of the body of believers whose
spiritual life they endangered. (A. Custance) The Christian is to fear temptations, the
dangers which menace him, the sin which indwells him, the warnings pointed out by
others who have made shipwreck of the faith and the severity of God in His dealings with
such. (A. Pink) This could be a reference to the past, an historical account - belief is not
an issue. (D. Wretlind) In all soteriological instances, agorazo always refers to believers;
it is never used in the sense of Christ buying unbelievers. This verse is not an exception
to the rule. (D. Wretlind) There is no doubt, though, about the Master that bought them,
nor that the buying refers to His dying for them on the cross. Here, as elsewhere, the
death of Jesus is regarded as effecting the salvation of men, as bringing them out of their
slavery to sin and making them all His own. (L. Morris)
Were the false teachers former members of the church? The answer to the question must
be affirmative ... With His blood Christ has bought His people that they may do His will.
But these false teachers who refuse to obey Him demonstrate the height of insolence
toward the sovereign Lord. Just as a master has bought slaves from whom he expects
obedience, so Jesus as sovereign Lord has bought His servants and demands obedience.
But instead of obeying Jesus, these servants reject Him. (S. Kistemaker) The double
usage of this word (apoleias) in our verse points more to the character of ruin and
destruction upon a person, not an eternal act. (A. Robertson) The author sees no purpose,
benefit, or comfort in a redemption that does not redeem, a propitiation that does not
propitiate, a reconciliation that does not reconcile; neither does he have any faith in a
hypothetical salvation for hypothetical believers. Rather, he has faith in a redemption
which infallibly secures the salvation of each and every one for whom it was designed,
namely "the children of God that were scattered abroad" (John 11:52), which is such a
multitude of sinners declared righteous that no man can number them. (G. Long)
“Denying the Lord that bought them” apparently teaches that some redeemed by the
death of the Lord Jesus eventually bring destruction on themselves. (T. Nettles) Justice
demands that those for whom it is paid shall be freed from any further obligation. God
would be unjust if He demanded this extreme penalty twice over, first from the substitute
and then from the persons themselves. (L. Boettner) These false teachers brought in their
errors by the side of the true doctrine; it implies also the secondary notion of secrecy ...
These heresies destroy the soul; they bring ruin both to those who are led astray and to
the false teachers themselves. (B. Caffin) Peter himself thrice denied the Lord; confident
in his own steadfastness, he had maintained that he at least would be faithful even unto
death; but his courage failed him in the hour of temptation. He must have remembered
his own great sin when he wrote these words. (B. Caffin) The metaphor is of spies or
traitors introducing themselves into an enemy’s camp. (M. Vincent) The tactic of the
Enemy in the NT era and the present day is for teachers of false doctrine to infiltrate the
church as respectable teachers and gradually introduce their destructive heresies once
they have gained acceptance. (W. Baker)