What Controls You? - II Peter 2:19-20

"For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first." Peter speaks here of false teachers who "bring in destructive heresies" (II Peter 2:1) and the people they lead astray with these detrimental teachings. If you succumb to these false teachings or their teacher, then you are a slave to whatever is controlling you. So the point Peter is making is that if after Jesus Christ has set you free from the sin that had you enslaved, then you do not want to again become enslaved again by other sin. Once you have signed on with Jesus, it is a total commitment, a lifetime commitment. So what controls you? If Jesus is your Master, then you cannot have another master. Either Jesus is your Master or something else is, but not both! You don't have the option to try out Jesus for awhile and see if you like Him. Once you become His follower and His Spirit indwells you and if you become entangled in the sins of this world again, then the last state of your soul is worse off than if you never knew Jesus. Matthew Henry says, "A state of apostacy is worse than a state of ignorance." The Hebrews writer says this is so because when you received the gift of the Holy Spirit and thus shared in the goodness and power of God and then turn away or fall away, it is like crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace (Hebrews 6:4-6).