positive statement: TEV “And then they abandoned their faith!” (cf. Sproule, who translates “who have fallen away”; cf. NJB, NRSV, REB). The second extreme would lead also to a distortion of → v. 9, which probably means, not “I have confidence about you, though not about others,” but “you are in danger, but I have confidence that you will escape.” The author, here as earlier, maintains a balance between describing his readers as sharing in Christ and in the blessings of faith (3:1, 14), and
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