Lesson 33: Backsliding
If one escapes the corruption of the world through knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and then becomes entangled in it and overcome, he is worse off at the end than he was at the beginning. Better not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then rejected the sacred command that was passed on to him from the beginning. For a person to fall completely away means that he had not been completely regenerated. Knowledge of the way of righteousness carries increased responsibility, and increased hardness of heart if we then reject it. The sacred command is the full message of Christianity, which we are commanded to receive. Try to live a life that is spotless and blameless so that we may have peace with God. We have a certain amount of peace already because we have been justified through faith, but if we don’t live as he desires, we may fail to receive his commendation or his reward.