Results 1 - 7 of 7
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | the angels that sinned | 2 Pet 2:4 | Makarios | 96757 | ||
Greetings New Creature, One thing that would help us to understand what or why angels would fall from their eternal station of service to the Lord to an eternal station of darkness, would be to examine the nature of angels themselves. Angels are spirits (Eph. 3:10; Col. 1:16) who are created by God (Gen. 2:1; Neh. 9:6; Col. 1:16). They are immortal (Luke 20:36), do not marry (Matt. 22:30; Mark 12:25; Luke 20:35), are obedient (Psalm 103:20; 1 Pet. 3:22) and worship God (Phil. 2:9-11; Heb. 1:6). If angels are in their very nature "spiritual" beings, since they are spirits, then I believe that some therefore committed a "spiritual" sin, and fell away from God (Jude 1:6, 2 Pet. 2:4). Sins of the spirit (pride, envy, and anger) are generally more dangerous than the sins of the flesh (sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust), since sins of the spirit causes the greatest deviation from the spirit of Christ. When we look at Jesus and His dealings with people's sins, we discover that his mildest reproach was for the people with sins of the flesh. Take for example the woman caught in adultery (John 8). Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more." But to the people who were prideful and self-righteous, He had the harshest and most condemning words possible. He called them "broods of vipers," "hypocrites," and "whitewashed tombs ... full of dead men's bones" (Matt. 23:27,33), and He told them that in no way would they enter the kingdom of heaven. But you must understand, I am not saying that other sins are "greater" or more grevious to our Lord than others, since all sin is repugnant to the Lord (Gen. 6:5-7). It is of no coincidence then, that the one sin that is 'unforgivable' is a sin that is spiritual in nature (Matt. 12:31; Mark 3:29; Luke 12:10; 1 John 5:16,17; Num. 14:26-45; 1 Sam. 3:14). Therefore, if the angels then committed a 'spiritual' sin that forever separated them from God, then would could that sin be? Of those mentioned, pride, envy and anger, pride most fits the description of a sin that has moved God to swift judgment more often than any other sin in all of Scripture. C.S. Lewis likened pride to 'spiritual cancer.' Daniel 4:30-33 gives us a clear view of how God views the sin of pride. Proverbs 16:18 most certainly proved true of King Herod, who declared himself to be God and immediately paid for it (Acts 12:19-23). I believe that the angels that fell, along with Satan himself, fell from their stations in heaven because of their pride (Isaiah 14:13-14; Ezekiel 28). And Satan deceived a third of the angels of heaven (Revelation 12:4) into participating in a massive angelic revolt against God, all due to pride. And God cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment (2 Pet. 2:4). If you are wondering whether God's angels can still "fall" today, the answer is no. Following the massive angelic revolt, God "elected" or permanently confirmed the holiness of the angels who chose to remain loyal to Him (1 Timothy 5:21). To answer your questions: 1. Pride (Isaiah 14:13-14) 2. "..The Greek for "hell" is "Tartarus," the term used by the Greeks to designate the place where the most wicked spirits were sent to be punished. Why some evil angels are imprisoned and others are free to serve Satan as demons is not explained in Scripture." (1) 3. Yes (2 Pet. 2:4, Jude 1:6) Blessings to you, Makarios (1) The Zondervan NASB Study Bible, 1999, the Zondervan Corporation, Kenneth Barker, pg. 1824 |
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2 | the angels that sinned | 2 Pet 2:4 | TheCurtMan | 96821 | ||
Greetings Makarios, I was wondering if you'd explain something to me, this is a line in your post, "If you are wondering whether God's angels can still "fall" today, the answer is no. Following the massive angelic revolt, God "elected" or permanently confirmed the holiness of the angels who chose to remain loyal to Him (1 Timothy 5:21)." Is this an indication that angles today do not have the freedom of choice that Lucifer and other angles had at one time?? The CurtMan |
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3 | the angels that sinned | 2 Pet 2:4 | Makarios | 96854 | ||
Greetings The CurtMan! I would say "Yes!" Makarios |
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4 | the angels that sinned | 2 Pet 2:4 | TheCurtMan | 97368 | ||
Makarios, Good Morning. Sorry it took me so long to respond to you but I’ve had a very interesting weekend. A friend of mind gave me a Dell. V.D.T; C.P.U; Printer, the whole nine yards. I took the system home and sat it in the middle of my Living Room until I was ready for it. Two hours later my ceiling wrapped itself around it. It came down like a ton of bricks. Missed me by maybe four or five inches. I looked at my system, looked in the mirror, then looked at my wife and told her better the computer than me. Praise God I’m able to walk around and joke about it. So now I’m back to square one, systemless. I’ve read the scriptures provided by you to New Creature and I fail to see the basis for this belief, what am I missing?? I’ve always been under the impression that God did not want mindless followers, but those who followed Him by choice, is that not a principle that can be seen in John 3:16 and 18?? Didn’t Isaiah say something like, “choose this day whom you will follow”?? The Lords Prayer in Matt. 6:10 indicate that God’s will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. If His will in Heaven is to strip the angles of their freedom of choice, then why do I wrestle with sin?? This is how I see it. If I’m wrong, you mind showing me my error?? The CurtMan |
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5 | the angels that sinned | 2 Pet 2:4 | Makarios | 97373 | ||
Greetings The CurtMan! I'm sorry to hear about what happened this weekend, although I am thankful that noone was hurt! Doesn't everyone use an Apple Macintosh? Just kidding.. :-) Now about Angels.. One thing to keep in mind is is that Angels and Human Beings are two very different parts of God's creation. Scripture tells us that God created the angels as angels (Colossians 1:16). We see a distinction between humans and angels in a number of biblical passages. For example, Psalm 8:5 indicates that man was made lower than the angels. In Hebrews 12:22-23 the "myriads of angels" are clearly distinguished from the "spirits of righteous men made perfect". 1 Cor. 6:3 tells us that there is a time coming when believers (in the afterlife) will judge angels (Jude 6; 2 Pet. 2:4,9). Moreover, 1 Cor. 13:1 draws a distinction between the languages of humans and angels. Clearly, human beings and angels are portrayed as different classes of beings in the Bible. How else are angels different from humans? Angels do not have fleshly bodies as we do, but are immortal (Luke 20:36). Therefore, angels do not have this body of death (Rom. 7:5,24; 8:13) that we have. Angels do not have an 'inherited depraved nature' as we do, because of our flesh (Romans 3:9-19; Ephesians 2:1-3). Angels do not have need of a Reedemer (Rom. 8:3) as we do, since they were created as His angels (Psalm 91:11). In Scripture, angels are most often described in relation to God as His angels. It is of great significance that the two angelic names mentioned in the Bible- Michael and Gabriel- emphasize this relationship (as His angels) with God with the 'el' at the end of their names, which in Hebrew, means "God." Psalm 103:20 makes reference to God's angels "who do his bidding, who obey his word." Therefore, if angels do not have a fleshly body as we do, and cannot die as we can, then they also are not tempted with "sins of the flesh" as we are. What are sins of the flesh? Galatians 5:19-21 states that they are: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.. Therefore, angels cannot commit these types of sins, since they do not have a "body of flesh" that is tempting them to do so, as we do. But the sin that Satan and his co-conspirators (angels) did commit was the sin of pride, which is a "spiritual sin" in nature with God (Isaiah 14:14). Envy is related to pride, and is also a sin that could be spiritual in nature. Anger is a byproduct of both pride and envy, and it could also be a sin that is spiritual in nature. Matthew 27:18 tells us that it was because of envy that the people handed Jesus over to be crucified. Therefore, while the sins of the flesh are outside of the capacity for angels to commit, they were capable of committing a sin of pride, envy and anger towards God. But all of the angels who would rebel against God and commit sin joined Satan in his revolt (Rev. 12:4). All of the angels that are left remain loyal to Him and are His for all eternity (1 Tim. 5:21). The angels would not want to sin against Him, even if they were given another chance to do so! Therefore, they remain perfect in their stature and in the Lord's service for all eternity. They have no need of a "freedom of choice" as we do. They do not "wrestle with sin" as we do, since they do not have a "flesh" that they have to "wrestle" with. They are completely free of these fleshly sins that we find ourselves being tempted with, and they will never sin against Him. Blessings to you, Makarios |
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6 | the angels that sinned | 2 Pet 2:4 | TheCurtMan | 97449 | ||
Greetings Makarios, I will mediate on the things you've said. Thanks I just can't help but to feel that at one time they had this "Freedom of Choice", misused it, and then had it stripped from them. It's not like God didn't know what was going to happen. That in itself leaves me with a dozen of other questions, like for one: Why give it to them in the first place?? Did all this take place before God called everything in the garden 'good'?? I realize that God's ways are as high above our ways as the Heavens are above the Earth, but that doesn't stop me from having a number of questions. Nevertheless, thanks again. The CurtMan |
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7 | the angels that sinned | 2 Pet 2:4 | Makarios | 97453 | ||
Greetings my friend, Hopefully some of what was written on this thread will help! Blessings to you, Makarios |
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