Yes, many times Jesus said
YOU'RE FAITH HAS SAVED YOU.
But what if we lose that faith?
2 Peter 2:20-22
20For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
21For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.
22It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returnsto wallowing in the mire.”
Those who are truly born of God have received a new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17), a divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), and now have new appetites and desires. They have made the transformation from pigs and dogs into sheep. The change is more than just cosmetic, as in 2 Peter 2:20. *These cleaned up on the outside dogs and pigs were never sheep.
Compare 2 Peter 1:4 -
"partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption - Strongs #5356 that is in the world through lust with 2 Peter 2:20 - with they
escaped the pollutions - Strongs #3356 (different Greek word) of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, yet they are again entangled therein, and overcome.
*Notice that 2 Peter 2:20
did not mention them being "partakers of the divine nature."
Corruption (Strongs #5356)
Strong's Concordance
phthora: destruction, corruption
Original Word: φθορά, ᾶς, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: phthora
Phonetic Spelling: (fthor-ah')
Definition: destruction, corruption
Usage:
corruption, destruction, decay, rottenness, decomposition.
HELPS Word-studies
Cognate: 5356 phthorá (from
5351 /phtheírō) –
destruction from internal corruption (deterioration, decay); "rottenness, perishableness, corruption, decay, decomposition" (Souter). -
https://biblehub.com/greek/5356.htm
Pollutions/Defilements (Strongs #3393) ("pollutions", "filthy things", "contaminations", "world's filth") describes the state of being tainted or stained by evil and refers to impurity, impure, tainted, defilement, foulness or pollution.
Strong's Concordance
miasma: a stain, defilement
Original Word: μίασμα, ατος, τό
Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter
Transliteration: miasma
Phonetic Spelling: (mee'-as-mah)
Definition:
a stain, defilement
Usage:
pollution, defilement; a stain.
HELPS Word-studies
Cognate: 3393 míasma(from
3392 /miaínō)
– pollution (spiritual stain) that results from vice, i.e. spiritually contaminating a person (used only in 2 Pet 2:20). -
https://biblehub.com/greek/3393.htm
Pollutions/Defilement refers to what is on the
outside (2 Peter 2:20). But genuine believers have
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Peter 1:4). Corruption is
deeper than pollutions/defilements on the outside: it is decay on the inside.
Having the knowledge of Jesus Christ does not save a person if there is
no heart submission to that knowledge. The latter end is worse than the beginning for these men because rejecting this knowledge will make them more accountable at the judgment.