2 Peter 2:20-22 “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.[SUP]21 [/SUP]For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.[SUP]22 [/SUP]But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”
Having the knowledge of Jesus Christ does not save a person if there is
no heart submission to that knowledge. For this knowledge to be of any spiritual value, there
must be a heart submission to that knowledge. A person who rejects this knowledge will be more accountable at the judgment. The latter end is worse than the beginning. The "way of righteousness" and "holy commandment" emphasize the ethical content of the knowledge the false teachers had. They knew what was right and holy, but they deliberately chose to reject it. They had knowledge of salvation, but they lacked that true saving experience with the Lord. Just like in Hebrews 10:39, they had the
knowledge of the truth (vs. 26)
but chose to draw back to perdition and did not believe to the saving of the soul.
Compare 2 Peter 1:4 - "partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the
corruption - Strongs #5356 that is in the world through lust with 2 Peter 2:20 - they escaped the
pollutions - Strongs #3356 (different Greek word) of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, yet they are again entangled therein, and overcome. Notice that 2 Peter 2:20
did not mention them being "partakers of the divine nature."
Corruption (Strongs #5356) (to shrivel or wither, spoil , ruin , deprave, corrupt , defile, to destroy by means of corrupting, to spoil as does milk). Corruption - describes decomposition or rotting of an organism and the accompanying stench. The utter depravity of the fallen flesh and the resultant moral decomposition of the world opposed to God is driven by it sinful lusts or evil desires.
Internal corruption.
Pollutions/Defilements (Strongs #3393) ("pollutions", "filthy things", "contaminations", "world's filth") describes the state of being tainted or stained by evil and refers to impurity, impure, tainted, defilement, foulness or pollution. Pollutions/Defilement refers to what is
on the outside (2 Peter 2:20). But genuine believers have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Peter 1:4).
Corruption is deeper than pollutions/defilements on the outside: it is decay on the inside. True believers have received a new nature, a divine nature, and they have new and different appetites and desires. They have been transformed from pigs and dogs into sheep. The change is more than just cosmetic, as in 2 Peter 2:20.
OSAS'er don't like that one.
I don't mind that one at all. Look a little deeper. False teachers are the main subject of the whole chapter. 2 Peter 2:1 But
false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be
false teachers among you, who will
secretly introduce destructive heresies, even
denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them
the way of the truth will be maligned; 3 and in their greed they will
exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and
their destruction is not asleep.
Notice that Peter
did not mention that those who escaped the "pollutions of the world" were "Christians," "born again" or "saved."