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ALWAYS READY · A VERIFIED ANSWER

In 2 Peter 1:9, was the man who 'hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins' ever really saved?

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SHORT ANSWER

Whosoever Will, The Man Who Forgot He Was Clean: Now read what Peter actually wrote. The Greek is not a verb at all. It is a noun with the article standing on it, tou katharismou, the cleansing, and it is the cleansing of the sins that used to be his. One definite purgation, named as an event, belonging to a period Peter marks as long past. It is the same noun the writer to the Hebrews reaches for when he says that Christ had by himself purged our sins. There is blood behind that noun. And Peter does not say this man appeared to be cleansed. He does not say he professed cleansing. He names the cleansing as a thing that happened, and then says the man forgot it. You cannot forget something that never occurred. The whole force of the warning depends on the cleansing being real. Peter is not exposing a fraud who was never washed. He is grieving over a believer who was genuinely, historically washed and is now living in total amnesia about it. Scripture, King James Version: 2 Peter 1:9, "But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.".

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THE MAN WHO FORGOT HE WAS CLEAN: THE TWO WAYS TO READ THE MAN WHO DOESN'T →2 PETER 1:9 →
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Verified. Every scripture quotation on this page has been checked word-for-word against the King James text. Last reviewed 2026-10-18.

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In 2 Peter 1:9, was the man who 'hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins' ever really saved? → wsb.bible/answers/in-2-peter-1-9-was-the-man-who-hath-forgotten-that-he-was-purged-from

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This answer is the short form. The argument is made at length in The Man Who Forgot He Was Clean: The Two Ways to Read the Man Who Doesn't.

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