Greetings!<\/p>\n
I have a question concerning II Peter 2:20. Is it teaching that backsliding cannot be forgiven or is the “overcome” part speaking of someone who has completely fallen away and, in this case, they were overcome through the deception of these false teachers?<\/p>\n
Thank you!<\/p>\n\t
“For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. For if, 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 and are overcome, 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<\/em>” (II Peter 2:18-21).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
There are three groups of people being discussed in this passage: false teachers, followers of false teachers, and the worldly.<\/p>\n
“For speaking out arrogant words of vanity<\/em> [false teachers]<\/strong> entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality,<\/em> [followers]<\/strong> who barely escape from the<\/em> [worldly]<\/strong> who <\/em>live in error, promising <\/em>[followers]<\/strong> freedom while <\/em>[false teachers]<\/strong> themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. For if, after <\/em>[followers]<\/strong> have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, <\/em>[followers]<\/strong> are again entangled in <\/em>[the world]<\/strong> and are overcome, the last state has become worse for <\/em>[followers]<\/strong> than the first. For it would be better for <\/em>[followers]<\/strong> not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to <\/em>[followers]<\/strong>” (II Peter 2:18-21).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
False teachers use pompous, empty words as they use sensuality to entice the weakest members – the ones who have not been Christians long enough to grow strong. There is a pretense of wisdom but none actually exists. The Greek word huperonka<\/em>\u00a0refers to excessive, bombastic, or verbose speech (I Corinthians 8:1). They give people what they want to hear (II Timothy 4:3-4). They promise freedom, but the false teachers are themselves slaves of sin (Romans 6:16-22;\u00a08:15;\u00a0Galatians 5:13). It sounds great to be free from moral laws but the shackles of sin are worse.<\/p>\n
Anyone who escapes the corruption in the world through knowing Jesus and then returns to the world he left and is overcome by the world is now in a worse state (Matthew 12:43-45). He left the truth to return to the world and there is nothing else by which to save him (Romans 10:17). Someone who has never heard the gospel has a better chance of being saved than a person who had accepted the truth and then later rejected it (Hebrews 6:4-6;\u00a010:26-39).<\/p>\n
However, notice that Peter never said that fallen Christians can never be forgiven. He merely stated that they are in a more difficult position to return to God.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Greetings! I have a question concerning II Peter 2:20. Is it teaching that backsliding cannot be forgiven or is the “overcome” part speaking of someone who has completely fallen away and, in this case, they were overcome through the deception of these false teachers? Thank you! Answer: “For speaking out arrogant words of vanity…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1308,1139],"class_list":["post-55550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-falling-away","tag-ii-peter"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":93492,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-someone-be-born-with-a-sin-that-cannot-be-forgiven\/","url_meta":{"origin":55550,"position":0},"title":"Can someone be born with a sin that cannot be forgiven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 26, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, First, I would like to thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I do appreciate your knowledge. I have an interesting question about the topic of \"saveability\" (not an actual word). Does God allow for someone to be born with sin that they cannot be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34994,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-did-peter-know-that-it-was-moses-and-elijah-having-never-seen-either-of-them-before\/","url_meta":{"origin":55550,"position":1},"title":"How did Peter know that it was Moses and Elijah having never seen either of them before?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How did Peter know that it was Moses and Elijah having never seen either of them before? Thank you. Answer: \"Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while He was praying, the appearance\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7649,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-anyone-be-forgiven\/","url_meta":{"origin":55550,"position":2},"title":"Can anyone be forgiven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Tell me if this is correct: No matter what sin you commit, even if someone had sold their soul to the devil, they could be forgiven for this or any other act no matter what? On the terms that they repent and ask forgiveness, could they still go to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13470,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-overcome-my-evil-thoughts-even-though-i-am-christian-already\/","url_meta":{"origin":55550,"position":3},"title":"How can I overcome my evil thoughts even though I am Christian already?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 27, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How can I overcome my evil thoughts even though I am Christian already? Answer: I've always been amazed at how many people think that Satan gives up and goes away just because a person has become a Christian. Satan isn't going to stop tempting you with sin (evil thoughts),\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93998,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dont-be-overcome\/","url_meta":{"origin":55550,"position":4},"title":"Don’t Be Overcome","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edwin Crozier As we continue our walk through II Peter, we will do something a little out of the ordinary. We will begin by commenting on the end of the chapter. We do this because we need to know where Peter is going and what is at stake in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45746,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-really-return-after-backsliding\/","url_meta":{"origin":55550,"position":5},"title":"Can we really return after backsliding?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I was reading your articles. Thank you. I will get straight to my questions: If we live life wrong after knowing the truth, can we sincerely stop and replant our seed in good ground and not be choked by the weeds again? 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