2 Peter 2:21

21 What if they had not known the way of godliness? That would have been better than to have known it and then to have turned their backs on it. The way of godliness is the sacred command that was passed on to them.

2 Peter 2:21 Meaning and Commentary

2 Peter 2:21

For it had been better for them
Not that ignorance is good, or to be excused; but it would have been a lesser evil, and not so much aggravated:

not to have known the way of righteousness;
the same with "the way of truth", ( 2 Peter 2:2 ) , and "the right way", ( 2 Peter 2:15 ) , the Gospel, which points out the way and method of a sinner's justification before God, which is not by the works of the law, but by the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, and received by faith; and which teaches men to live soberly, righteously, and godly; and a large, notional, though not an experimental knowledge, these apostates had of the word and doctrine of righteousness, and indeed of the whole of the Christian religion, which may truly go by this name:

than after they have known [it];
owned, embraced, and professed it:

to turn:
the Vulgate Latin version, and some copies, as the Alexandrian and others, add, to that which is behind; to their former lusts, or errors, or worse, which they had turned their backs upon externally:

from the holy commandment delivered unto them;
by the commandment is meant the Gospel also, see ( 2 Peter 3:2 ) ( 1 Timothy 6:14 ) ; called holy, because of its nature and influence, and in opposition to the pollutions of the world; and which is the faith once delivered, ( Jude 1:3 ) , and which they received, as delivered to them; and, particularly, the ordinances of it, which they once submitted to, kept, and observed, as they were delivered to them, but now relinquished, or corrupted: wherefore, it would have been better for them to have been in their former ignorance, either in Judaism, or in Gentilism, since proportionate to a man's light is his guilt, and so his punishment, see ( Romans 2:12 ) ( Luke 12:47 Luke 12:48 ) .

2 Peter 2:21 In-Context

19 They promise to give freedom to the new believers. But they themselves are slaves to sinful living. A person is a slave to anything that controls him.

20 They may have escaped the sin of the world. They may have come to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But what if they are once again caught up in sin? And what if it has become their master? Then they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.

21 What if they had not known the way of godliness? That would have been better than to have known it and then to have turned their backs on it. The way of godliness is the sacred command that was passed on to them.

22 What the proverbs say about them is true. "A dog returns to where it has thrown up."(Proverbs 26:11) And, "A pig that is washed goes back to rolling in the mud."