Article V – Angelology – The Study of Angels
Section 1 Their History and Beginnings
We believe that God created a vast company of sinless, spiritual beings, known as angels; that one, “Lucifer, son of the morning” – the highest in rank – sinned through pride, thereby becoming Satan; that a great company of the angels followed Lucifer in his moral fall, some of whom became demons and are active as his agents and associates in the prosecution of his unholy purposes, while others who fell are “reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19; 2nd Peter 2:4; Jude 6). There remains, however, a great company of angelic hosts who did not follow Satan during the time of angelic testing, but who have remained faithful to God (Matthew 26:53; Luke 15:10).
Section 2 Their Activity in the Affairs of Men
We believe that Satan, the father of lies, deceived and tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, initiating the sequence of events that lead to the fall of Adam and his posterity, subjecting Adam’s race to strife, sickness, physical death, and eternal punishment (Genesis 3:1-24; Romans 5:12-14; Revelation 20:11-15).
We believe that Satan appears as an angel of light (2nd Corinthians 11:14), that he can counterfeit certain works of God (2nd Thessalonians 2:9-12), and that one of his primary goals in every age is to destroy mankind in general, and the Jewish people in particular (Revelation 12:13-17). We believe that it is a primary goal of Satan to undermine the gospel, both to prevent the unsaved from believing on Christ (Luke 8:4-5 & 12; 2nd Corinthians 4:4) and to undermine the truth, or the effectiveness of the gospel among those who have believed (1st Timothy 3:6; Ephesians 6:11-17; 1st Peter 5:8).
We believe that the angels who kept their holy estate and are before the throne of God are sent forth as ministering spirits to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14).
Section 3 Their Future
We believe that the angels who kept their holy estate will, together with redeemed man, worship for eternity the Lamb that was slain (Revelation 7:9-12). We believe that Satan will continue the pursuit of his delusional ambition to “be like the most High,” and that this delusional ambition and jealousy will culminate in history with his establishing a counterfeit-trinity comprising himself, the false prophet, and the antichrist or “beast” (Isaiah 14:13-14; Revelation 13:1-18; 2nd Thessalonians 2:3-4). At his final judgment, Satan will be case into the Lake of Fire with all fallen angels and unbelieving humans. There they will experience everlasting conscious torment (Revelation 20:10).