2 Peter 2:9, commentary and pictures

The Lord knows how to rescue those who obey Him out of temptation and to hold those who break His law for punishment at the judgment. The godly are those approved through obedience to all the commandments, while the unjust are those disloyal through transgression, following fleshly lust, false teaching, covetousness and contempt of authority like Balaam, the fallen angels, the old world, and Sodom. He is able to deliver because Jesus Himself in human nature was tempted in all points as people are yet without sin, met severer trial in the wilderness, and now lives to intercede and enable the tempted to resist and overcome. No trial is strange or beyond what can be borne, for God is faithful to proportion trial to strength and to make a way of escape, upholding each tempted person according to need and bringing the patient sufferer through purified and stronger in faith. This certainty was proved when He cast down the sinning angels in chains of darkness, cleansed the ungodly world by the Flood while saving Noah, and turned Sodom to ashes while delivering Lot, so believers are to trust God, resist temptation, and leave condemnation to Him as Lawgiver and Judge.

Godly and Unjust Defined

The verse divides humanity into two classes. The godly are those approved by God because obedient to all His commandments, whom the Lord delivers out of temptation, while the unjust are those disloyal to Him because they sin against Him by transgressing His law, for sin is the transgression of the law, whom the Lord reserves unto the day of judgment to be punished. The unjust as described in the following verses are fleshly, presumptuous, contemptuous of authority, slanderous, corrupt, pleasure-seeking, deceitful, adulterous, sinful, covetous, and astray like Balaam who loved the wages of unrighteousness. Seeking wealth by disobeying God's commandments, including working on the Sabbath, follows Balaam's way and brings the sure reward of transgression, which calls for self-examination over what unrighteousness earns.

The unjust are those who follow fleshly lusts and uncleanness. This applies to professed believers who break God's law through adultery and other impure conduct, and such conditions mark the state of things before Christ's coming. The unjust include false teachers who secretly bring in damnable heresies, deny the Lord, follow pernicious ways, cause the way of truth to be evil spoken of, and through covetousness with feigned words make merchandise of God's people. Their judgment does not linger and their damnation does not slumber, but brings swift destruction on themselves.

Past acts prove both sides of the verse are certain. He spared not the angels that sinned but cast them down to hell in chains of darkness reserved unto judgment. He spared not the old world but brought the Flood that cleansed the earth of wickedness upon the ungodly while in mercy saving Noah the eighth person and preacher of righteousness with his family, so that the faithful did not perish with the wicked. He turned Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes as an example to the ungodly while delivering just Lot vexed with the filthy conduct of the wicked, showing both that God can preserve the godly amid judgment and that judgment on the unjust is certain, so that false teachers who reject truth and lead others astray will face judgment.

The verse stands in the account in the second and third chapters of Second Peter of men who caused much trouble in the early church. Similar conditions must be met today so all must be on guard.

How God Delivers Tempted

The Lord Jesus knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations because He Himself in His human nature was tempted in all points like human beings are, having passed through every temptation they face so that He might know how to help those who shall be tempted. Alone in the wilderness as God's beloved Son He met temptations more severe than any brought against others, having passed over the same ground of trial that they tread. Those bowed down under trial and temptation who feel that friends have forsaken them are to think of Christ in that conflict, not to give up in despair but to reach out a trembling hand of faith to grasp the hand held out to save and to cast their helpless souls upon Jesus for deliverance.

By taking humanity and being subject to the temptations that beset people, as humanity's Defender He stood at the head of the fallen human race so that people could be enabled to stand on vantage ground. He delivers as a living Saviour in the heavenly courts, interceding and pleading for them so that through His merits they are enabled to resist the temptations of the enemy and be more than conquerors. He is able to do this because He was tempted in all points as humans are yet without sin and conquered in their behalf. The living and reigning God delivers with unlimited power and instrumentalities He can call into action at any moment and work by miraculous power, even taking a worm to thresh mountains.

He will not forsake one of His chosen who seeks to work out the will of God rather than the will of men, but delivers out of temptation and sustains afterward, keeping them not only for further duty but for further trial as He leads His people onward and upward. He faithfully answers the obedient soul that seeks His help, providing means to resist and overcome temptation and restraining the enemy's power, including when it comes through human agents. Temptations differ from person to person, but God knows how to uphold and deliver each godly person in temptation and trial, providing deliverance and strength for every one who is tempted and enabling each to move forward and upward.

No temptation is a strange thing, but only what is common to man, and trial is proportioned to human strength and never beyond ability to bear, because God is faithful and with the temptation makes a way to escape so it can be borne. Being easily jostled or stumbling shows small strength. He exercises providential care over those He calls to a work, surrounding them from the outset of life with favorable conditions for physical strength, intellectual vigor, and moral purity to prepare them. He preserves and delivers the godly out of temptation when trial comes in the way of duty as long as they keep their hold upon Him, which is man's only safeguard. But if under the influence of wicked associates they let go that hold and willfully place themselves under the power of temptation, they will be swept away by the tide of evil and will fall, sooner or later.

Though trial may seem overwhelmingly dark, even in darkest discouragement divine help is near and He will bring the tried one through it with firmer faith and a richer experience. The verse is a promise for tempted believers, even those young in the faith, to lay hold upon in order to endure heroically without failing or being discouraged. Trials are permitted to purify the godly from evil, earthliness, selfishness, harshness, and un-Christlike traits. Patient endurance and patient trust under trial brings them forth reflecting the divine character.

Judgment and Faithful Response

The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation and to keep the unjust for punishment on the day of judgment, and this assures believers that He will deliver the faithful amid the ongoing spiritual conflict while judgment of the unjust belongs to God. Believers are therefore to rely on God and resist temptation, leaving condemnation and judgment to Him rather than making severe accusations or railing against others. As Lawgiver and moral Governor He executes the penalties of His law, and human beings do not have the right to take that judgment into their own hands, for He may justly punish scoffers and transgressors even when a human servant would have no right to punish them. The examples of Noah and Lot show both sides of this truth, that God saved the righteous while bringing judgment on the ungodly. That assurance is a reason not to fear powerful human authorities, because God has supreme authority.

The certainty is proved by past acts: He did not spare the angels that sinned but cast them down to hell in chains of darkness reserved unto judgment, He did not spare the old world but brought the Flood upon the ungodly while saving Noah the eighth person and preacher of righteousness, and He turned Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes as an example to the ungodly while delivering just Lot vexed with the filthy conduct of the wicked. The same certainty falls on false teachers who secretly bring in damnable heresies, deny the Lord, follow pernicious ways, cause the way of truth to be evil spoken of, and through covetousness with feigned words make merchandise of God's people, whose judgment does not linger and whose damnation does not slumber but brings swift destruction on themselves. The verse is fulfilled in those who are given light and messages of warning yet will not receive them but exalt themselves.

Its deliverance means calling the godly out of darkness into marvelous light to understand His will concerning them, and this means everything. It requires seeking heaven with all the heart and understanding, being circumspect and making a business of knowing duty, receiving heaven's light and grace so as not to make mistakes, and when mistakes occur confessing them and becoming overcomers. It requires refusing to practice the sayings and customs of the world, and as a peculiar people showing forth the praises of Him who called them. The Scripture must be kept in view and searched to know duty, for in the Scriptures is eternal life and they testify of Christ, so none found deficient at last will have excuse. The Lord wants all to come into sacred relation to Himself, and by beholding the life and character of Jesus Christ they become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

The verse gives a rule to be carried out by choice. The Lord in grace has given Jesus as the Pattern for carrying it out. Jesus did not exalt Himself but was meek and lowly in heart, traveling on foot from place to place while being the greatest Teacher ever to step on the soil. Learning from Him means taking the position He appoints and being what He requires, doing God's work sensibly with men and women connected in the work and each carrying their part in a way that glorifies God.