The Last State Is Worse Than The First

The Last State Is Worse than the First

Alex D. Ogden

Last week we considered briefly how repulsive it must be to the Lord for us to return to sin again. We based our comments on the words of Peter in 2 Peter 2:20-22. This week, let’s notice something else from that passage.

“20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first. 21 For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 22 It has happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog turning to his own vomit again, and the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire.”

If we have obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ only to return to a life of sin again, the last state is worse than the first. But what does Peter mean? How is it worse to be an erring Christian than to be one who has never known the way of righteousness? How is apostasy worse than ignorance?

We must first understand Peter’s comments are in no way intended to say that those who have never obeyed the gospel are in a good state. In the end Jesus will return “rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus: who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thess.1:7-9). The one who has never known the way of righteousness is doomed to eternal torment. They are not, therefore, in a better state as far as where they will spend eternity. Both the apostate and the ignorant alike will spend eternity in the place of punishment we know as Hell.

The last state is worse than the first because “there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins” (Heb.10:26). They have turned their back on the sacrifice and blood of Jesus Christ (Heb.10:29). “And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). It is only through the sacrifice of Jesus that we have hope of salvation. There is none other but Jesus to turn to for salvation. So, if we turn our back on Him and the sacrifice He made of Himself for us, “there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins.” All we have then to look forward to is “a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries” (Heb.10:27). The one who has never obeyed the gospel has Christ to look to. If we then reject Christ, we have nothing to look to. The last state is worse than the first.

Another reason the last state is worse than the first is because “it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance” (Heb.6:6). We must understand that the impossibility of the situation is with man, not with God. God is “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet.3:9). They knew the way of righteousness, yet chose to turn their back on it in favor of the pleasures of sin. Persons acting in that manner, in opposition to all the evidences of the gospel, can not, ordinarily, be converted a second time. Indeed, it is far more difficult to restore someone who has brazenly and shamelessly turned from the Lord than it is to convert someone in the first place. The last state is worse than the first.

Yet another reason the last state is worse than the first is because God expects more from the Christian and thus the apostate will, in some way, receive a worse punishment. We see this taught by our Lord in Luke 12: “47 And that servant, who knew his lord's will, and made not ready, nor did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes; 48 but he that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. And to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required: and to whom they commit much, of him will they ask the more.” Both the unbeliever and the apostate will be punished in Hell. In some way, however, the apostate will receive a worse punishment. James alluded to it in James 3:1: “Be not many of you teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment.” As Christians we have the added responsibility of using in His service the talents the Lord has blessed us with. When we choose to go back to a life of sin we not only become guilty of those sins of the flesh, but we also sin in not accomplishing those things the Lord expects of us. “To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). I may not fully understand how the apostate will receive a worse punishment, but apparently that is yet another reason why the last state is worse than the first.

All of this should encourage us to put forth every effort to remain faithful. We’ve set out to live a faithful life to the Lord so we can spend eternity with Him. It would be a shame for us to turn our backs on it now, finding ourselves in a worse state than before we began.