If God did not spare angels, the ancient world, Sodom and Gomorrah...

2 Peter 2 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. ² Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; ³ and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

⁴ For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; ⁵ and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; ⁶ and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; ⁷ and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men ⁸ (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), ⁹ then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority.

Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, ¹¹ whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord. ¹² But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, ¹³ suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, ¹⁴ having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; ¹⁵ forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; ¹⁶ but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.

¹⁷ These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, ¹⁹ promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. ²⁰ For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. ²² It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

Previously Peter addressed one of the greatest misconceptions in the world and the church in our time. In first Peter 5:8 it says:  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. At that time we looked at the word may, a permission word and recognized that while we are in Christ the devil really has no power over us. We are the only ones who can empower him, give him permission to devour us by stepping out of the protective covering of the grace of God, which is in His will. Still it is a dangerous deception to believe there is no devil. Deception and trickery is his forte. Catching people unaware is one of his greatest ploys.  So it is critical that we are aware and that we remain “sober and vigilant.”

In today’s text, Peter addresses another misconception or false teaching that is also prevalent today. Many people question how a loving God could possibly allow anyone to experience the eternal suffering of Hell. Peter gives examples of the judgment of God against the ungodly:

if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; ⁵ and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; ⁶ and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; ⁷ and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men ⁸ (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), ⁹ then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority.

How could a loving God do such things? The psalmist provides some insight in Psalm 89:13-14: You have a strong arm; Your hand is mighty, Your right hand is exalted. 14Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You.        Because righteousness and justice are foundational characteristics of God, He must, in order to be just, separate the righteous from the unrighteous. Because God is eternal, the separation between righteous and unrighteous is also eternal. The psalmist does say though that: “Lovingkindness and truth go before You.” In the examples Peter gives of the eternal judgment in the Old Testament, entire cities, nations or the whole world was collectively judged for it’s unrighteousness. God, because of His lovingkindness, knowing that man could not himself live righteously;   He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.(John 3:16) Cities, nations, the world are no longer judged according to their own righteousness alone. Each individual has a choice to be judged on their own or to receive Christ and be judged according to the work of the cross. Judgment will come. Hebrews 9:27-28 says: it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, ²⁸ so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many…

Peter describes those destined for eternal judgment apart from God. He says they are: Daring, self-willed…. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you,  having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children;  forsaking the right way, they have gone astray… These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved.  For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error,  promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.     This certainly sounds like many in our current society and culture. Ours is a culture so focused on self satisfaction, greed and lust, a culture that motivates and manipulates others to join, to accept the politically correct attitudes and beliefs of our time or be judged as intolerant, a hater, weak minded even a lunatic. Certainly Peter accurately describes the unrighteous in our day.

We as believers need to be careful though. Look at what Peter says:  For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.  For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.  It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”    He is speaking here of those who have received, been given the revelation of who Jesus is, the Christ, the Lord and Savior.

As believers we should not quickly judge the world for its unrighteousness. Neither though should those outside the church, Christ’s body, judge those who are in it.   The eternal judgment of each individual will have nothing to do with being identified as being part of any man made institutional church. Each individual will be judged for righteousness, either the righteousness of our own lives and actions or the righteousness of Christ and His act of compassion and restoration on the cross.

We are not to judge the world and neither can the world’s judgment affect us. Hebrews 4:12 rightly says: There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy. Jesus alone is the one who saves, He alone will judge. The world may choose its own judgment,  as believers we should not judge but rather; "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) If we will be the light and they will see the light, then we can both be judged by the light.

 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit; the righteous judge, the one who saves, the revealer of truth, the Light of the world.   Amen.