2 Peter 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;”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read Full Chapter →Peter offers the first proof that judgment is certain: God did not spare even the angels who sinned but bound them for judgment.
What Does 2 Peter 2:4 Mean?
Peter begins a series of historical examples proving God judges the wicked. The first: "the angels that sinned" were not spared but "cast... down to hell" and held "into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment." Even beings of great power did not escape when they rebelled. They are kept, bound, awaiting the final reckoning.
If exalted angels were not spared, how much less those who deny Christ. Peter's logic is from the greater to the lesser: God's justice reaches even the heavenly realm. The rebellious are not free but "reserved" — held in custody under darkness until judgment day. This sobers the false teachers and steadies the faithful. No created power stands above God's judgment, and no rebellion goes unanswered. Yet the same God who binds the wicked for judgment also delivers the godly, as the following verses will show. Certainty of judgment is, for the believer, also the assurance that evil will not have the last word.