2 Peter 2:1 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.
Agorazo (to buy; redeem, acquire, by a ransom or price paid) is used 30 times in the New Testament. It can be used to refer to being bought in the sense of redemption (1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Cor. 7:23; Rev. 5:9; 14:3, 4). However, in the other 25 uses in the NASB it is translated in a secular sense meaning to purchase an item such as a field (Matt. 13:44), a pearl (Matt. 13:46), or food (Luke 9:13), (cf. Matt. 21:12; 25:9; Mark 15:46; Luke 22:36; John 6:5 Rev. 13:17, etc.). The overwhelming number of uses in the New Testament are non-redemptive in scope.
In addition, in conjunction with each redemptive use 'above' (1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Cor. 7:23; Rev. 5:9; 14:3, 4) a descriptor - "price" or "blood" - is used. 2 Peter 2:1 does not use such a descriptor! Dr. Gary Long in Definite Atonement states:
...of its thirty occurrences in the New Testament, agorazo is never used in a salvation context (unless 2 Peter 2:1 is the exception) without the technical term "price" (times - a technical term for the blood of Christ) or its equivalent being stated or made explicit in the context (cf. I Cor. 6:20; 7:23; Rev. 5:9; 14:3, 4).
While this is significant, the use of the term "Master" or "Lord" is as well.
Peter intentionally alludes to Deuteronomy 32:6 when he refers to the false teachers as "denying the Master who bought them." Deuteronomy 32:6 states:
Do you thus repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?
(note that Peter also alludes to Deut. 32:5 in 2 Pet. 2:13 making this connection even clearer).
The use of "Lord" (Master) as the one who "created," "made," and "established" is significant. As seen from its context, this word emphasizes God (or Christ) as sovereign ruler over the earth and the one who creates and establishes all things. This connection also seems to be consistent with the fact that Peter refers to the one denied as "Lord" (Greek: despotes meaning Lord, or Master), not "kurios" (Greek: Lord) as we might expect if spiritual redemption by the blood of Christ were in view.
Thus, the term is referring to God (Christ) who owns all people in general, but not that he has redeemed all people. At issue then is not election, regeneration, calling, perseverance, etc., but sovereign God who is owner of all. Peter is not addressing the extent of the atonement, but is providing an illustration (cf. Deut. 32:5-6) of a sovereign Master (despotes, not kurios) who had purchased slaves and hence commanded their allegiance. Grudem says it like this:
'Is not he your Father who has bought you?'... Peter is drawing an analogy between the past false prophets who arose among the Jews and those who will be false teachers within the churches to which he writes... From the time of the exodus onward, any Jewish person would have considered himself or herself one who was 'bought' by God in the exodus and therefore a person of God's own possession... So the text means not that Christ had redeemed these false prophets, but simply that they were rebellious Jewish people (or church attenders in the same position as rebellious Jews) who were rightly owned by God because they had been bought out of the land of Egypt (or their forefathers had), but they were ungrateful to him.
Jesus, the Shepherd of the sheep, will lose no genuine sheep (John 10), but there are also wolves among the sheep (Matt. 7:15; Acts 20:29). By false teaching and practicing immorality (2 Pet. 2:2, 10, 13-15, 18-19), these false teachers continue to treat with disdain, scorn, and contempt the lordship of Christ and thus belied their own spurious profession of faith (1 John 2:3-6, 19). They are condemned goats, not sheep (Matt 25:31-46).
Calvinism and 2 Peter 2:1?
Agorazo (to buy; redeem, acquire, by a ransom or price paid) is used 30 times in the New Testament. It can be used to refer to being bought in the sense of redemption (1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Cor. 7:23; Rev. 5:9; 14:3, 4). However, in the other 25 uses in the NASB it is translated in a secular sense meaning to purchase an item such as a field (Matt. 13:44), a pearl (Matt. 13:46), or food (Luke 9:13), (cf. Matt. 21:12; 25:9; Mark 15:46; Luke 22:36; John 6:5 Rev. 13:17, etc.). The overwhelming number of uses in the New Testament are non-redemptive in scope.
In addition, in conjunction with each redemptive use 'above' (1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Cor. 7:23; Rev. 5:9; 14:3, 4) a descriptor - "price" or "blood" - is used. 2 Peter 2:1 does not use such a descriptor! Dr. Gary Long in Definite Atonement states:
...of its thirty occurrences in the New Testament, agorazo is never used in a salvation context (unless 2 Peter 2:1 is the exception) without the technical term "price" (times - a technical term for the blood of Christ) or its equivalent being stated or made explicit in the context (cf. I Cor. 6:20; 7:23; Rev. 5:9; 14:3, 4).
While this is significant, the use of the term "Master" or "Lord" is as well.
Peter intentionally alludes to Deuteronomy 32:6 when he refers to the false teachers as "denying the Master who bought them." Deuteronomy 32:6 states:
Do you thus repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?
(note that Peter also alludes to Deut. 32:5 in 2 Pet. 2:13 making this connection even clearer).
The use of "Lord" (Master) as the one who "created," "made," and "established" is significant. As seen from its context, this word emphasizes God (or Christ) as sovereign ruler over the earth and the one who creates and establishes all things. This connection also seems to be consistent with the fact that Peter refers to the one denied as "Lord" (Greek: despotes meaning Lord, or Master), not "kurios" (Greek: Lord) as we might expect if spiritual redemption by the blood of Christ were in view.
Thus, the term is referring to God (Christ) who owns all people in general, but not that he has redeemed all people. At issue then is not election, regeneration, calling, perseverance, etc., but sovereign God who is owner of all. Peter is not addressing the extent of the atonement, but is providing an illustration (cf. Deut. 32:5-6) of a sovereign Master (despotes, not kurios) who had purchased slaves and hence commanded their allegiance. Grudem says it like this:
'Is not he your Father who has bought you?'... Peter is drawing an analogy between the past false prophets who arose among the Jews and those who will be false teachers within the churches to which he writes... From the time of the exodus onward, any Jewish person would have considered himself or herself one who was 'bought' by God in the exodus and therefore a person of God's own possession... So the text means not that Christ had redeemed these false prophets, but simply that they were rebellious Jewish people (or church attenders in the same position as rebellious Jews) who were rightly owned by God because they had been bought out of the land of Egypt (or their forefathers had), but they were ungrateful to him.
Jesus, the Shepherd of the sheep, will lose no genuine sheep (John 10), but there are also wolves among the sheep (Matt. 7:15; Acts 20:29). By false teaching and practicing immorality (2 Pet. 2:2, 10, 13-15, 18-19), these false teachers continue to treat with disdain, scorn, and contempt the lordship of Christ and thus belied their own spurious profession of faith (1 John 2:3-6, 19). They are condemned goats, not sheep (Matt 25:31-46).
Calvinism and 2 Peter 2:1?
