“For if after having escaped the pollutions of the worldThe word is used with different meanings. It can mean the whole of humanity (Gen 41:57) or the created world (Rom 1:20), but also a moral system that is opposed... More through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus ChristA title of the Lord Jesus, which is also used as an epithet; Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) mean "anointed one". The title refers to the fact that Jesus is... More, again entangled, they are subdued by these, their last state is worse than the first. For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. But that word of the true proverb has happened to them: The dog has turned back to his own vomit; and, The washed sow to her rolling in mud” (2 Pet. 2:20–22).

These verses form the end of a passage that begins with the warning against the false teachers just discussed. Terrible things are said about their behaviour in the intervening verses. It is quite clear that they must be unbelievers, especially since it is expressly stated in contrast to them that “the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of trialA trial is a test of the authenticity, value, or durability of something. God uses trials in the lives of believers to test and confirm their faith and perseverance and... More” (v. 9).

In the verses of the Epistle to the Hebrews that have already been dealt with, we have also seen ‘professors’ or ‘followers’ who had experienced many things, but had had never possessedA possessed person has a demon inside of them, which means that this evil, satanic spirit (demons are servants of Satan) controls the body and wreaks havoc and destruction. Sometimes,... More true faith. Here it is not much different. We read of the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus ChristA title of the Lord Jesus, which is also used as an epithet; Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) mean "anointed one". The title refers to the fact that Jesus is... More and of the way of righteousness, but not a word that these people really repented and believed in the Lord Jesus.

At the conclusion two images are used to describe a returning to sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More, which are probably taken from common proverbs, but in the context of the Word of God they contain a particularly serious meaning. Peter is not speaking here of “sheep” as the Lord Jesus does in John 10, but of a “dog” and a “sow”. Now we know from the Old and New Testaments that these two kinds of animal were unclean to Israel, and that they also have a clearly negative meaning in a figurative spiritual sense (see Lev. 11:7; Deut. 23:18; Matt. 7:6; Phil. 3:2; Rev. 22:15). They are pictures of unbelieving people. They may have been deeply impressed by Christian doctrine and practice for a while, but then they turned away again. Although they had seen and perhaps understood how terrible sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More is in God’s eyes, they did not repent but turned away after a certain time to be lost forever! Hence the harsh words, which are not meant for stumbling children of God, but for Christian professors without true faith.