"But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction." (2 Peter 2:1 ESV)
Arminians commonly use this verse to prove either one of two things:
1) That Christ died for all men (including the "false prophets" as they are named in this verse, who are obviously not among the elect) because they verse says they deny the Lord who "bought" them.
2) That true believers can fall away, assuming that these false prophets were such types of people.
So, what should we make of this? In this article, I hope to offer a reasonable solution based on some research I have done on this particular text.
I want to make a few points in response to the Arminian argument right here.
1) It is not certain that "Lord" in this verse is talking about Jesus Christ. Why is this? Because in the New Testament, when the title "Lord" is ascribed to Jesus, it almost always uses the word κύριος. However, in this text it uses a different word: Δεσπότης. This word is seldom, if ever, used for Christ in the NT. In other places were Δεσπότης is used (Luke 2:29; Acts 4:24; 2 Timothy 2:21; Jude 4; Revelation 6:10), it is clearly in reference to God the Father, not to the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
2) What is the meaning of Peter when he says that the Lord "bought them"? Is he referring to actual complete salvation by the blood of the Lord Jesus (as Arminians have interpreted it, and some Calvinists in their other solutions to this text), or to temporal historical privileges. I think a good case can be made for the latter option.
First, when christological redemption language is used in the NT, it always mentions the price of that redemption (Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 6:20; Ephesians 1:7; Revelation 5:9). That is not the case here. No price is mentioned. If Christ's atonement was in reference here, we would expect Peter to say something along the lines "...denying the master who bought them with his own blood", which obviously does not occur here.
Second, it is useful for us to investigate the OT language of redemption to see if it always used in a spiritual and salvific sense. The word for "buy" used in the Hebrew Bible is פָּדָה (padah). The other word sometimes used is qanah.
Notice the language of Deuteronomy 32:6:
"Is this what you do to the LORD, You foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father who has purchased you? He has made you and established you." (Deuteronomy 32:6)
"Purchased" here refers to the deliverance of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. We know that many of them were not saved in a spiritual sense, due to their being barred from entering the promised land (Psalm 95:11, cf. Hebrews 4:1-13).
For more on the OT usage of "bought", see Deuteronomy 7:8; 15:15; Jeremiah 15:21.
In summary, my solution to this problem would be this: This is talking about false prophets denying the LORD who bought them out of Egypt.
To be fair, there are other solutions. Here is one given by Thomas R. Schreiner, a Reformed NT scholar:
"The easiest solution, in some ways, would be to take the verse straightforwardly. Some who submit to Christ’s lordship subsequently deny him and are therefore damned forever. This is now the view of most commentators, and it has the virtue of providing a lucid and uncomplicated understanding of the text. At one level the proposed interpretation is correct. Some members of the Christian community had departed from the Christian faith. The issue is whether those who are genuinely Christians can commit apostasy. Peter taught elsewhere that those who are called by God’s grace are effectually called by his own glory and excellence (2 Pet 1:3), and 1 Pet 1:5 clearly says that those who belong to God will be preserved by his power through faith so that they will possess eschatological salvation. When we add to this many other texts that teach that those whom God has called will never perish (e.g., Rom 8:28–39; 1 Cor 1:8–9; Phil 1:6; 1 Thess 5:23–24), it suggests that we should consider another interpretation. I would suggest that Peter used phenomenological language. In other words, he described the false teachers as believers because they made a profession of faith and gave every appearance initially of being genuine believers. Peter did not refer to those who had been outside the community of faith but to those who were part of the church and perhaps even leaders among God’s people. Their denial of Jesus Christ reveals that they did not truly belong to God, even though they professed faith. Peter said that they were bought by Jesus Christ, in the sense that they gave every indication initially of genuine faith. In every church there are members who appear to be believers and who should be accepted as believers according to the judgment of charity. As time elapses and difficulties arise, it becomes apparent that they are wolves in the flock (Acts 20:29–30), that though they called on Jesus as Lord their disobedience shows that he never knew them (Matt 7:21–23), that they are like the seed sown on rocky or thorny ground that initially bears fruit but dries up and dies when hard times come (Matt 13:20–22)." (Thomas R. Schreiner, The New American Commentary - 1,2 Peter, Jude)
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