Sometimes You Have to Go Deeper

2 Peter 2v1

23^rd February 2024

This study is of a rather technical nature and may not be of great interest to those who don't share a deep passion for theology. Some readers might want to give it a miss. I will return to my more usual style next time.

We've been thinking about this verse:

2 Peter 2v1
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them — bringing swift destruction on themselves.

I find this a difficult verse. Let me explain why.

For four hundred years, there has been an important difference of belief between good evangelicals. The different parties in that dispute are usually referred to as "Reformed" (or "Calvinist") on one side and as "Arminian" on the other. Reformed Christians have a higher view of God's sovereignty, whereas Arminians tend to focus more on man's free will. This difference between us is illustrated by the question, "Did we choose God because God chose us, or did God choose us because we chose Him?". Perhaps the clearest way to distinguish between these different viewpoints is by considering the truth or falsehood of what are called the "Doctrines of Grace", otherwise known as the "Five Points of Calvinism":

• Total Depravity
• Unconditional Election
• Limited Atonement
• Irrepressible Grace
• Perseverance of the Saints

I don't have space to explain or justify these doctrines here. Very briefly, however, I can say that:

• The doctrine of Limited Atonement states that Christ died to make atonement for the elect, and only the elect, not for all of humanity.
• The doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints states that the elect will remain elect. That is, a Christian will not lose his salvation.

If either of these ideas, or the idea of an "elect" people, scandalises you, I would only suggest that you research them carefully before rejecting them, bearing in mind that many great Christian thinkers and leaders believe them to be true.

The reason I mention these doctrines is that 2 Peter 2v1 appears to say that there are people whose sins have been atoned for by the blood of Christ but whose destiny is eternal damnation. Thus it appears to disprove one of the Doctrines of Grace. This makes it a favourite verse among Arminian apologists. The case against Calvinism presented by this verse (phrased in my own way) is:

• If the false teachers are Christians then, since they are heading for eternal destruction, the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints is false.
• If the false teachers are not Christians then, since the master - Christ - bought them, the doctrine of Limited Atonement is false.

I hold to Reformed theology. That is, I am a Calvinist. It has been proved to my absolute satisfaction that all the Doctrines of Grace are true. Therefore, I have a challenge. I am not, of course, willing to suggest that this part of the word of God is imperfect (2 Timothy 3v16). Consequently, I need to believe that either the false teachers are not Christians or that they will not be rejected on the Day of Judgement.

This means I must believe that either the teaching that the master bought the false teachers does not refer to the Atonement, or that the destruction that the false teachers are bringing on themselves is not eternal destruction. Neither is easy.

The usual Reformed (Calvinist) position is that the false teachers are not Christians. There are a possible interpretations of the phrase "the Master who bought them" that do not require us to believe that they're saved.

1. The Greek word translated "bought" is agorazo, which means "purchased" and comes from the word agora, which means "marketplace". Although it's true that this word refers to the work of Christ on the cross in 1 Corinthians 6:20 and 7:23, which are usually spoken of by preachers as referring to the Atonement, agorazo doesn't necessarily mean "atoned for". It can refer to the price paid to set a slave free, and so it may refer here to being set free from some sort of addiction to a substance or a habit, a sinful lifestyle or a false philosophy, without being born again.
2. As we saw last time, the Greek word translated "master" here is "despoten", which means "owner" or "ruler". This is not the word usually used in the New Testament when referring to Christ as Lord, which is "kyrios". Thus 1 Peter 2v12 is probably not referring to Christ but to God the Father or to the Trinity.
3. Exodus 15v16 refers to the Israelites as "the people you bought". Also, Deuteronomy 32v6, which is usually translated as describing the Lord as "your Father, your Creator" can equally well be translated as "your Father, who bought you". Thus we have either one or two passages in the Old Testament which say the Israelites were bought by God in the Exodus.
4. Thus it can be argued that, if the false teachers were Jewish, then the "master" "bought" them in the sense that they were beneficiaries of the Exodus.
5. Whether or not the false teachers were Jews, it could also be argued that the "master" "bought" them in the sense that God delivered them from some sort of slavery, analogous to the ancient Israelites' slavery in Egypt, which does not necessarily imply atoning for their sin.
6. The Lord who bought the Israelites in the Exodus was the Trinity, not Jesus.
7. If it was God the Father, or God the Trinity, who "bought" the false teachers, then Peter cannot be referring to the Atonement, since it was Jesus Christ who made atonement to God.

All that suggests that the false teachers were not born again, not Christians.

It is also sometimes suggested that Peter meant that the false teachers denied the master who they claimed bought them. That is, they taught in the church, and thus assumed the position of Christians, born again through faith in the blood of Jesus. The people may have trusted that their false teachers were Christians (as may do in the church today) but their denial of the truth about God demonstrates the unreality of their claims.

On the other hand, it's possible that these false teachers were truly born again, truly Christian, and the swift destruction that they were bringing... on themselves was an earthly destruction, not eternal damnation. 2 Peter 2v3 says "Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping" but the Greek word translated as "condemnation" here is krima, which is better translated as "judgement". It is not katakrima, which means "judgement against" or "judgement down" and is translated as "condemnation" in Romans 5:16, 5:18 and 8:1. So perhaps Peter was prophesying that they would receive an earthly judgement, such as death or simply that their heretical movement would be humiliated and ejected from the churches, but not that they would lose their salvation.

I know all this is a bit complicated. I also acknowledge that I have not proved either assertion. But I think I have demonstrated that either assertion could be true. Furthermore, there may well be a way to reconcile 2 Peter 2v1 with the Doctrines of Grace than I am not aware of. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. If you think I have failed to prove that the Doctrines of Grace are consistent with 2 Peter 2v1, that does not demonstrate that there is no way to do so, only that I haven't found it.

Evangelicals often say that the best way to interpret a passage of Scripture is to assume that the most obvious interpretation of the words of the text is correct. This is most unwise. The best way to interpret a passage of Scripture is to read it in the context of the whole Bible. If this study has served at least to illustrate that fact, I think it has been worthwhile.

If anybody has any further thoughts about this, please email me.