Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Peter 2:20

"For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first." — 2 Peter 2:20 (ASV)

Of whom is Peter speaking in vv.20–22—i. e., who does the pronoun “they” refer to? Does it refer (1) to the false teachers of v.19, (2) to the unstable people of v.18 or (3) more generally to both but particularly to the false teachers? In my opinion, it refers basically to false teachers because (1) proximity makes the false teachers (spoken of in v.19) the normal antecedent of “they,” (2) v.19 and v.20 are connected by the word “for” (untranslated in NIV), (3) “mastered” in v.19 has the same verbal root as “overcome” in v.20, and (4) the teachers are the main subject of the whole chapter. Verse 20 mentions the possibility of reverting to the old paganism after having “escaped the corruptions of the world” through knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Is it possible, then, for Christians to lose their salvation? Many would answer affirmatively on the basis of this and similar texts (e.g., Hebrews 6:4– 6; 10:26).

But this verse asserts only that false teachers who have for a time escaped from worldly corruption through knowing Christ and then turn away from the light of the Christian faith are worse off than they were before knowing Christ. It uses no terminology affirming that they were Christians in reality (e.g., “children of God,” “born again,” "regenerate,” “redeemed”). The NT makes a distinction between those who are in the churches and those who are regenerate (cf. 2 Corinthians 13:5; 2 Timothy 2:18–19; 2 Timothy 2:19). So when Peter says, “They are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning,” the reference is to a lost apostate.