"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction." (II Peter 2: 1)
Dr. John Gill wrote:
"and even denying the Lord that bought them; not the Lord Jesus Christ, but God the father; for the word kuriov is not here used, which always is where Christ is spoken of as the Lord, but despothv; and which is expressive of the power which masters have over their servants {i}, and which God has over all mankind; and wherever this word is elsewhere used, it is spoken of God the Father, whenever applied to a divine person, as in Lu 2:29 and especially this appears to be the sense, from the parallel text in Jude 1:4 where the Lord God denied by those men is manifestly distinguished from our Lord Jesus Christ, and by whom these persons are said to be bought: the meaning is not that they were redeemed by the blood of Christ, for Christ is not intended; and besides, whenever redemption by Christ is spoken of, the price is usually mentioned, or some circumstance or another which fully determines the sense...Moses aggravates the ingratitude of the Jews in De 32:6 from whence this phrase is borrowed, and to which it manifestly refers: "do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise! is not he thy Father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?" nor is this the only place the apostle refers to in this chapter, see 2Pe 2:12 compared with De 32:5 and it is to be observed, that the persons he writes to were Jews, who were called the people the Lord had redeemed and purchased, Ex 15:13 and so were the first false teachers that rose up among them; and therefore this phrase is very applicable to them..." (Commentary)
With this analysis by Dr. Gill, there is no justification for advocates of general atonement to cite II Peter 2: 1 and affirm that it clearly and plainly teaches that Christ died for everyone without. Though the passage is clearly referring to that purchase of Israel by God the Father, and referenced by Moses in the Deuteronomy passage, nevertheless there is clear teaching elsewhere in the new testament that Christ did purchase all men and all things. Wrote Paul:
"For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living." (Rom. 14: 8-9)
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." (Acts 2: 36)
"...he is Lord of all..." (Acts 10: 36)
Paul affirms that Christ "died, and rose, and revived," all for the purpose "that he might be Lord" of all. What does it mean to be a lord? It means to own, to possess, and then to have authority over. Christ, by his victorious death and resurrection, purchased all men and all things. This does not mean, however, that all things are purchased for salvation. Because all things now belong to Christ, Paul could write this to believers:
"Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are your's; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your's; And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's." (I Cor. 3: 21-23)
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