Just when I think I have finally understood and accepted OSAS, someone comes along and throws me a curve ball and steals my joy. Please help me understand 2 Peter 3:17, as that is the most recent curve ball thrown at me!!!
Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. –2 Peter 3:17
The Bible being the word of God cannot contradict itself. God doesn’t say something in one place and then something different in another. Therefore you can’t take one verse whose meaning is not clear to you and use it to negate all the others whose meanings are. There are a dozen or so clear verses on Eternal Security. Two of the clearest are Ephesians 1:13-14 and 2 Cor. 1:21-22. I suggest you study them until you understand them fully and can repeat them from memory. Then when someone throws you a curveball you can compare what they give you with what you know to be true.
Peter was speaking of false teachers who cause people to doubt their faith. They would sew confusion among the people by claiming to know things the people hadn’t heard before. A couple of verses earlier Peter had said that he and Paul were in agreement on the matter of salvation, and these teachers were distorting what they both taught. In verse 17 Peter said in effect, “you already know the truth so don’t let the errors in this false teaching cause you to doubt your security in the Lord.” In verse 18 he gave us the same advice I just gave you. “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Knowledge is the best defense against error.