THE TERRIBLE END OF TURNING BACK
If one believes the doctrine of “once saved, always saved” as it is often taught, then the words of Peter in his second letter make no sense at all. For Peter writes of those who “have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” but are “again entangled in them and overcome” (2 Peter 2:20). He does not say they almost escaped, or that they pretended to. He says they escaped. That is the language of salvation—of deliverance and cleansing through Christ. Yet they turned back.
Peter goes further: “The latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them” (2 Peter 2:20–21). If these were never truly saved, why would it be worse for them afterward? How can it be worse to fall from something you never possessed? Only the one who has truly known Christ, and then turned away from Him, fits this warning. Their condemnation is deeper because their rejection is deliberate. They have despised the grace that once rescued them.
Those who teach that no Christian can ever fall away remove the force of Peter’s warning. They must say, “These people were never saved,” though the text says they “escaped the pollutions of the world” and “knew the way of righteousness.” The Bible does not warn hypocrites of becoming worse; it warns believers of departing from the faith (1 Timothy 4:1). Such warnings have no meaning if apostasy is impossible.
Peter’s solemn conclusion is clear: “It has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire’” (2 Peter 2:22). These are not unconverted dogs or unwashed sows—they have been cleansed, but have gone back. Grace was offered, cleansing received, but sin reclaimed them. It is a dreadful truth, yet a merciful warning. The believer must walk humbly and faithfully, lest the heart grow cold and the old nature return. For to turn from Christ after knowing Him is to choose darkness after seeing the light—and that darkness is indeed greater than before.
BDD
