Three Truths Never to Forget

JUDE 6 is one of the most difficult verses in the Bible to interpret. Who is Jude talking about? Who was Peter talking about in the parallel text in 2 Peter 2:4? Three views have been set forth:

In my opinion the third option is most convincing, though for many years I resisted it. Here are the reasons I changed my mind (Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, 447–51):

While the interpretation of this text is obviously significant, we must not lose sight of the text’s plain meaning in terms of application. These fallen angels rejected at least two principles for life that we should learn to respect.

These angels were not satisfied with God’s plan for them. They were convinced there was something better and God’s way was not the best way. First, they “did not keep their own position” (NIV, “positions of authority”). Second, they “abandoned their proper dwelling.” Their place and position in God’s plan was not enough. They wanted something more, a different position of prominence, a better place of activity. This sounds much like many ministers of the gospel today. Through self-deception men—like these angels—rationalize their lust for position, power, prestige, and possessions. With an inflated sense of self-worth and importance, they cannot trust in the providence of God and rest in his plan.

Not content with heaven, these angels get hell instead. Think about what their rebellion cost them:

If revelation brings responsibility, their responsibility was greater than any. And because of God’s gracious revelation in Christ Jesus through his Spirit-inspired Scriptures, our responsibility is likewise great. God is God and we are not, and we must accept his plan for and power over our lives. As the demonic prisoners show, the Lord will receive his due respect one way or another.

JUDE 7

No story impacted the people of God like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is referenced one way or another more than twenty times in the Bible. The devastation of these cities, along with Admah and Zeboiim (note “the surrounding towns”), was so horrific they stand as a perpetual reminder of God’s just condemnation of sin, especially sexual sin. Sodom and Gomorrah were known for their pride and disregard for the poor (Ezek 16:49), their arrogance, injustice, and bigotry. But their sexual perversion marked them most of all. Finally a time came when God said, “Enough!” Genesis 19 records the cataclysmic judgment as “out of the sky the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah burning sulfur from the Lord” (Gen 19:24). Jude is specific in his brief analysis of the judgment God brought.

Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities acted in a manner similar to the fallen angels of verse 6. They committed sexual immorality (ekporneuo) and went after sarkos heteras. This reference to strange flesh is not the flesh of angels but the flesh of other men. Their sin was homosexuality. At this point I should make note of several things.

First, the Bible is clear in its treatment of homosexuality as sin. This is made plain in texts like Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; and 1 Timothy 1:9-10. Second, the Bible is equally clear that any sexual activity, heterosexual or homosexual, outside the marriage covenant between a man and a woman is sin. Jesus himself said a man and woman in marriage become one flesh. Jesus was clear on the sex question. Third, those in slavery to sexual sin need to be loved, including those who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and any others. We do not hatefully bash them; we graciously speak the truth in love and reach out to them with grace, mercy, and kindness. And finally, rampant sexual sin is not the worst sin, but it is the clearest evidence of a society that has rejected God’s truth and has been given over to his judgment (Rom 1:24-28).

The cities of the plains are a perpetual reminder that sin is serious to God and that God will judge it. The Bible tells us in Matthew 25:41 that hell was prepared for the devil and his angels. JUDE 6 backs this up. JUDE 7, however, affirms that unbelieving, rebellious, and immoral humans will also be there.

Hell is real, and hell is eternal. It is a place of suffering, sadness, and separation. It helps explain the necessity of the cross, and why, of the twelve times the word gehenna (hell) appears in the Bible, eleven are on the lips of Jesus. So terrible is its reality that Jesus said in Matthew 5:27-30 it would be better to enter the kingdom with only one eye or one hand than to have your whole body cast into hell.

Hell is a bad place. Eternity is a long time. The unbelieving, rebellious, and immoral will unfortunately find their destiny in this place.

Let me close on a positive note; it is found in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. If any New Testament city approached the wickedness and immorality of Sodom and Gomorrah, it was Corinth. Idolatry, greed, pagan philosophy, and immorality filled the air. But Paul brought the gospel, determining “to know nothing among [them] except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). What was the result of his witness? Paul wrote the following later in his letter:

Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor 6:9-11)

Yes, God will condemn unbelievers, the rebellious, and the immoral. But he will also forgive them gladly if they are washed in the cleansing blood of the Lord Jesus.