Is Peter saying that a person can lose their Salvation in this passage?
“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. 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.” (2 Peter 2:20-21 KJV)
Reading this passage alone it does seem like Peter is talking about a believers loss of Salvation and some use these two verses to push their agenda that Once Saved Always Saved is not Biblical. Yet they fail to use proper context and make this Scripture to say what it is not saying at all.
In proper context, it is in this passage that Peter is talking about False Prophets and not believers. There are those that know the knowledge of the truth and understand how a person is to be saved, yet they will not believe. Look at Judas Iscariot who walked with Christ in His ministry yet in the end did not belief on Christ for his Salvation. No one is saved by the knowledge of the truth in itself. No one is saved by understanding what the Bible teaches is the way to Salvation. It is only by BELIEF in the Gospel of Christ that a person becomes redeemed and saved!
“He that BELIEVETH ON HIM is not condemned: but he that BELIEVETH NOT is condemned ALREADY, because he hath not BELIEVED in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18 KJV)
Being born again and saved from our punishment for sin hinges solely on faith and belief in the finished work of Christ.
There are those who have not yet HEARD the knowledge of the truth, that is the Gospel of our Salvation through Christ crucified. We need to reach them for Christ and God will.
This Scripture in 2 Peter 2 is just stating that some have enough knowledge about how to be saved that they can teach it to others, yet they do not even believe on the Gospel of Christ themselves. Without such belief, the Holy Spirit is not working through them to reach others for Salvation. In fact, they are false prophets headed for greater judgement.
We can see these false teachers all around us today. False Prosperity gospels and false works based Salvation gospels are just a couple of examples.
