2 Peter 2:4-9

2Pe 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;  Here is an example of where men fail to read and divide the scriptures. Verses 4-9, while complex and multi-faceted, represent one sentence. 

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:  (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: 

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; Modern man says if someone rejects God, they are doomed to hell when they die.  It puts them in torment before even the fallen angels have been judged.  Does Peter suggest that these evil angels are in their suffering prison of burning hell now? 

Or by cast down does he mean that their final fate is certain? Given that the judgment has not yet transpired, perhaps he means they are chained by limit of the trouble and difficulty they can cause.  Regardless, we know that in the mind and purpose of God, who sees all things which be not as if they be, these angels have already been delivered. 

2Pe 2:5  And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; Sparing Noah, and his household, who is only here called a preacher of righteousness in all of scripture.  Peter is unique in doing so, but the world takes this verse and twists it, making Noah a street evangelist, begging the heathen to join him on his ark.  I think Noah’s preaching began with the surviving family, before they overspread the Earth.  I suspect Noah’s group heard much from the elder Noah about the grace and mercies of God and his laws and how to live right before Him. As for trying to fill God’s Ark, we note that even Noah’s siblings were recorded in Genesis as being alive at the time of the flood.  They were not permitted in the vessel.  The ark was made for eight, and no more.  It speaks of God’s eternal election. 

2Pe 2:6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;  For years and years the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha were testimony to God’s judgment.  They were known locations, forever uninhabitable by the ashes and sulfur that destroyed the five cities of the plains.  To this day, life cannot be supported in the area where those former cities were found.  They are a testimony to God’s eternal judgment. 

2Pe 2:7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:  While more could have been spared, only Lot and his wife and daughters made it out of the city before the destruction. 

2Pe 2:8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)  Bad choices often come back to haunt us.  Lot chose where he would dwell when he parted ways with Abraham.  He found himself isolated within an evil community.

2Pe 2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:  Ironically I suppose, many children of God wander about not looking to be delivered from their temptations, but rather take their fill of sin.  Paul describes these who follow the flesh, remaining in condemnation.  Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  The text and context tells us that if there is no condemnation to those who are now following the spirit, then in contrast, those who walk after the flesh are under a timely condemnation.  This verse and those surrounding it are speaking to disobedient children.  We have a choice of whether we will serve and thank God in this lifetime or continue to walk in ways displeasing.  Man calls this free will, but abuses the term. 

The words ‘free will’ do not appear together in scripture, yet the religious world makes that the cornerstone of their eternal salvation, saying that man has free will to choose the when and where of how he is saved to heaven and immortal glory.  

It’s nonsense.  There is no free will choice in our new birth or eternal status.  While the concept of free will is suggested throughout the book, and Peter and Paul make allusions to it, it’s the free will of timely service under consideration.

It is only because God has already done the work in us that even makes this a possibility. And, at some point, perhaps hearing the gospel truth and obtaining some understanding of it, the child of God begins to put aside those sins and temptations, and desires entrance to the kingdom.  

(1Co 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, :10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. :11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.)   

Those who seek God in spirit and truth are delivered from the manifold temptations that once plagued him in the flesh.  We remind you that our context for Chapter 2 is repentance and as Peter states, it is the ‘godly’ who are delivered from temptations, not the disobedient children.

and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:  As before stated, the judgment of the unjust – unjustified, the forever wicked, the non-elect, is to take place at the end of time.  While the religious world will have them in hell, now, suffering pre-judgment, the scriptures will not support such a position. 1Ti 5:24 Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after. Paul tells us the elect’s sins were open beforehand, judged at Calvary, and the wicked are to be judged at the end.