2 Peter 2:17-22: a reflection

17These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever. 18For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error; 19promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him. 20For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog turns to his own vomit again,” and “the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire.”

Peter warns sternly about false teachers, describing them as wells without water, clouds driven by a storm, promising freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption. And he issues a sober warning about those who have known the way of righteousness and then turned back from it: their last state has become worse than the first. It would have been better, he says, not to have known the way, than to know it and turn back from the holy commandment.

Notice the sober warning Peter gives about turning back after knowing the way. He is not speaking of those who never knew, but of those who had escaped the corruption of the world through knowing Christ, and then became entangled in it again and overcome. For such, he says, the last state is worse than the first. To know the way of righteousness and then deliberately turn back from it is a grave thing, worse than never having known it at all.

That is a warning worth taking seriously, guarding us against drifting back into what we were saved from. Having known Christ and the way of righteousness, we can be tempted to turn back, to become entangled again in the very things we escaped. But Peter warns that turning back after knowing the way is a grave danger, leaving one worse off than before. Do not treat lightly the way of righteousness you have come to know; do not drift back into what Christ delivered you from. Guard against the entanglement that would pull you back; hold fast to the way you have known, and do not turn back from the holy commandment. What you have escaped through knowing Christ, do not return to; keep pressing forward in the way of righteousness, rather than turning back to what once held you.

Lord, Peter warns sternly about false teachers, and about those who, having known the way of righteousness, turn back from it, so that their last state is worse than the first; better not to have known the way than to know it and turn back. Let that sober warning guard me against drifting back into what I was saved from. Having known Christ and the way of righteousness, I can be tempted to turn back, to become entangled again in the very things I escaped. But you warn that turning back after knowing the way is a grave danger, leaving one worse off than before. Keep me from treating lightly the way of righteousness I have come to know; keep me from drifting back into what Christ delivered me from. Guard me against the entanglement that would pull me back; help me hold fast to the way I have known, and not turn back from the holy commandment. What I have escaped through knowing Christ, help me not to return to; keep me pressing forward in the way of righteousness, rather than turning back to what once held me. Hold me fast in the way, Lord.