Systematic Theology (Volume 2 of 3)Strong, Augustus Hopkins
Religion
Systematic Theology (Volume 2 of 3)
Strong, Augustus Hopkins
Baptists -- Doctrines; Theology, Doctrinal
“They never sank so low, They are not raised so high; They never
knew such depths of woe, Such heights of majesty. The Savior did
not join Their nature to his own; For them he shed no blood
divine. Nor heaved a single groan.” If no redemption has been
provided for them, it may be because: 1. sin originated with them;
2. the sin which they committed was “_an eternal sin_” (_cf._
_Mark 3:29_); 3. they sinned with clearer intellect and fuller
knowledge than ours (_cf._ _Luke 23:34_); 4. their incorporeal
being aggravated their sin and made it analogous to our sinning
against the Holy Spirit (_cf._ _Mat. 12:31, 32_); 5. this
incorporeal being gave no opportunity for Christ to objectify his
grace and visibly to join himself to them (_cf._ _Heb. 2:16_); 6.
their persistence in evil, in spite of their growing knowledge of
the character of God as exhibited in human history, has resulted
in a hardening of heart which is not susceptible of salvation.
Yet angels were created in Christ (_Col. 1:16_); they consist in
him (_Col. 1:17_); he must suffer in their sin; God would save
them, if he consistently could. Dr. G. W. Samson held that the
Logos became an angel before he became man, and that this explains
his appearances as “_the angel of Jehovah_” in the Old Testament
(_Gen. 22:11_). It is not asserted that _all_ fallen angels shall
be eternally tormented (_Rev. 14:10_). In terms equally strong
(_Mat. 25:41_; _Rev. 20:10_) the existence of a place of eternal
punishment for wicked men is declared, but nevertheless we do not
believe that all men will go there, in spite of the fact that all
men are wicked. The silence of Scripture with regard to a
provision of salvation for fallen angels does not prove that there
is no such provision. _2 Pet. 2:4_ shows that evil angels have not
received _final_ judgment, but are in a temporary state of
existence, and their final state is yet to be revealed. If God has
not already provided, may he not yet provide redemption for them,
and the “_elect angels_” (_1 Tim. 5:21_) be those whom God has
predestinated to stand this future probation and be saved, while
only those who persist in their rebellion will be consigned to the
lake of fire and brimstone (_Rev. 20:10_)?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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