21 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.
And when the righteous turneth from his righteousness and practiseth what is wrong, [and] doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked doeth, shall he live? None of his righteous acts which he hath done shall be remembered: in his unfaithfulness which he hath wrought, and in his sin which he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
For it is impossible to renew again to repentance those once enlightened, and who have tasted of the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of [the] Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God, and [the] works of power of [the] age to come, and have fallen away, crucifying for themselves [as they do] the Son of God, and making a show of [him].
To him therefore who knows how to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin.
If I had not come and spoken to them, they had not had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
and them that turn back from after Jehovah, and that do not seek Jehovah, nor inquire for him.
And when a righteous [man] doth turn from his righteousness, and do what is wrong, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die; because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous acts which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand.
The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, to do good. He deviseth wickedness up on his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good: he abhorreth not evil.
For ye know what charges we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
And *thou*, Capernaum, who hast been raised up to heaven, shalt be brought down even to hades. For if the works of power which have taken place in thee, had taken place in Sodom, it had remained until this day. But I say to you, that it shall be more tolerable for [the] land of Sodom in judgment-day than for thee.
In the path of righteousness is life, and in the pathway thereof there is no death.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Peter 2
Commentary on 2 Peter 2 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 2
The apostle, having in the foregoing chapter exhorted them to proceed and advance in the Christian race, now comes to remove, as much as in him lay, what he could not but apprehend would hinder their complying with his exhortation. He therefore gives them fair warning of false teachers, by whom they might be in danger of being seduced. To prevent this,
2Pe 2:1-3
2Pe 2:3-6
Men are apt to think that a reprieve is the forerunner of a pardon, and that if judgment be not speedily executed it is, or will be, certainly reversed. But the apostle tells us that how successful and prosperous soever false teachers may be, and that for a time, yet their judgment lingereth not. God has determined long ago how he will deal with them. Such unbelievers, who endeavour to turn others from the faith, are condemned already, and the wrath of God abideth on them. The righteous Judge will speedily take vengeance; the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. To prove this assertion, here are several examples of the righteous judgment of God, in taking vengeance on sinners, proposed to our serious consideration.
2Pe 2:7-9
When God sends destruction on the ungodly, he commands deliverance for the righteous; and, if he rain fire and brimstone on the wicked, he will cover the head of the just, and they shall be hid in the day of his anger. This we have an instance of in his preserving Lot. Here observe,
2Pe 2:10-22
The apostle's design being to warn us of, and arm us against, seducers, he now returns to discourse more particularly of them, and give us an account of their character and conduct, which abundantly justifies the righteous Judge of the world in reserving them in an especial manner for the most severe and heavy doom, as Cain is taken under special protection that he might be kept for uncommon vengeance. But why will God thus deal with these false teachers? This he shows in what follows.