Dogs and Pigs

Peter writes in his second epistle about false teachers who "after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them" (2 Peter 2:20-22). The text might be taken as an example of someone who lost their salvation. I mean, they did have "the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," right? They did escape the defilements of the world, right? Surely that's lost salvation. Peter goes on to say, "... the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them" (2 Peter 2:20-21). So, what are we looking at here? Lost salvation?

Let's look. First, you must admit that knowing the truth is not the equivalent of being saved. James points out, "You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder" (James 2:19). As someone once noted, "Believing in God merely qualifies you to be a demon." In Paul's indictment of the human race, he says that God made His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature known through creation, but "even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened" (Rom 1:20-21). Knowledge without salvation. In fact, the knowledge was their indictment. They couldn't plead ignorance. Nor can these false teachers. They know the way to genuine salvation; repent and believe. They know what genuine believers are supposed to look like. And they start out even affirming and acting the role. No, the text doesn't require actually saved people to fit this description. Further, Peter uses a couple of illustrations from the animal kingdom to make his point. "What the true proverb says has happened to them: 'The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire'" (2 Peter 2:22). Now, let me ask you ... what makes the dog return to its vomit and the pig roll in the mud? The answer is simple. That is their nature. For those creatures to stop being like that, they have to ... become new creations (2 Cor 5:17). Instead of proving that salvation can be lost, the text actually argues thus: if you know the truth and reject it, it's because your nature hasn't changed. Of these people Peter wrote they had "eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin" (2 Peter 2:14). But John wrote, "No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (1 John 3:9). If John is accurate, those who "never cease from sin" would be described as not born of God. Those who are born of God don't make a constant practice of sin, even though they commit it.

This doesn't answer the question of whether or not you can lose your salvation. Those answers are elsewhere. I think it does show that the text does not claim anything about salvation, lost or otherwise. And that was not Peter's point in talking about this. Peter wanted to warn his readers against false teachers. They are marked by sin -- sensuality and greed and false words. They malign the truth. So the point is two-fold. First, keep an eye out. False teachers are promised and present. Second, you need to keep an eye on yourself. Do these describe you? Because the most dangerous false teacher is not the atheist on the corner or the Satanist in his pulpit; it's the one among us who seems to resemble us. Is that you?