Matthew 25:41—“… the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels”

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41).

ARMINIAN / WELL-MEANT OFFER ARGUMENT:

This text has been used to deny the Reformed doctrine of reprobation and to support the idea that God desires or at least had originally intended for all mankind to be saved. The argument is that since the verse mentions only Satan and his angels, but not the reprobate, therefore the reprobate were not originally ordained to hell. Rather, Hell was originally created by God not for human beings, but for “the devil and his angels.”

(I)

Rev. Angus Stewart

The point of this verse is to emphasize how horrible Hell is: those who reject Christ are going to the same place God prepared for Satan and his evil demons!

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(II)

Arthur W. Pink

[Source: The Sovereignty of God (Baker Book House, 1994), p. 103]

Matt. 25:41 is often quoted to show that God has not fitted certain vessels to destruction … This is, in fact, one of the principal verses relied upon to disprove the doctrine of Reprobation. But we submit that the emphatic word here is not “for” but “Devil.” This verse (see context) sets forth the severity of the judgment which awaits the lost. In other words, the above scripture expresses the awfulness of the everlasting fire rather than the subjects of it—if the fire be “prepared for the Devil and his angels” then how intolerable it will be! If the place of eternal torment into which the damned shall be cast is the same as that in which God’s arch-enemy will suffer, how dreadful must that place be!

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(III)

More to come! (DV)