Idolatry refers to the worship of idols, that is, non-real gods that exist only in the human imagination. The Roman world of Peter’s day numbered hundreds of idols, different gods served by different people in different circumstances. None of these idols or their religions was exclusivist, insisting they themselves alone were correct and all other gods or religions false. This is where Christianity was fundamentally different. The God of the Bible was real in the sense that he objectively exists, and so alone is worthy of worship. All false, non-real gods are a lie. That’s why idolatry (worship of idols) is “lawless,” that is, illegal, criminal before God.
3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.