2 Peter 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware lest, being carried away with the error of the wicked, ye fall from your own stedfastness.

Expanded Translation

You therefore, loved ones, knowing ahead of time that these men treat the scripture in this manner, be on the watch! Keep guard! Lest, having been carried away (led astray) by the error (wrong opinion, misleading doctrines) of the wicked, lawless and unrestrained, you fall from (and thus lose) your own stedfastness and firmness.

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Ye therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand

To be forewarned is to be forearmed, and so should it be with Christians today. False teachers are still torturing the truth, and such torturing ought to be painful to the heart of all who have a love for genuine, saving knowledge. But more than that, Peter exhorts us to

beware lest, being carried away with the error of the wicked, ye fall from your own stedfastness

The word rendered beware (phulasso) means to be on watch, keep guard, protect. But it appears here in the middle voice, and means specifically to be on one's guard (against), keep oneself from. And being in the aorist tense and imperative mode, we have here a very pointed command to be heeded at once! How it is needed in this day when false teachings (and the conveyors of such) are everywhere! They may fairly carry us away (sunapago). See also Galatians 2:13.

Their teachings are clearly labelled by the apostle, who terms them error (plane), literally, a wandering, straying about. The word here signifies teachings that cause one to wander or stray from the right way, i.e., those doctrines which mislead one. Christian, keep your guard up! Be on the watch! (Compare 1 Peter 5:8.)

We again find here (as in 2 Peter 2:1-3; 2 Peter 2:19) that the false teacher himself is living in sin. The word wicked (athesmos) is made up of the alpha negative plus thesmos, law custom. It therefore describes one who breaks through the restraints of law and conscience and gratifies his lustsa lawless, unrestrained, licentious individual. Its only other New Testament occurrence is in 2 Peter 2:7, where the above definition is also borne out by the context.

The next step is only natural if we begin to cater to these men.

lest ye fall from your own stedfastness

In 2 Peter 3:16 the unstedfast (asteriktos) were those headed for destruction. Here Christians are warned to be on guard lest they fall from their stedfastness and be found in the same plight as the false teacher. We are reminded of the exhortation of our Lord, Let them alone: they are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both shall fall into a pit (Matthew 15:14).

To be in a state of stedfastness (sterigmos) is to be in a settled or firm state of mind; therefore fixed and stable in fulfilling spiritual responsibilities. From this condition we may fall (ekpipto, fall out of, fall from, fall off). This very same word appears in 1 Peter 1:24, the flower falleth. It takes time to become a truly stedfast Christian, and the false teachers were successful in enticing unstedfast souls (2 Peter 2:14) and those who are just escaping from them that live in error (2 Peter 2:18). But those here described are now stedfast. Are they therefore out of danger? No! Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall (1 Corinthians 10:12).

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