Angels and Salvation

God created all the angels holy and free of sin. Yet not all remained that way.

Those who personally chose to stay holy became irrevocably confirmed in their state of holiness. Angels who chose to rebel against God lost their holiness and became locked into an irrevocably fallen state of evil from which they cannot be redeemed. Scripture indicates God does not provide salvation for fallen angels.

Hebrews 2:14–16 implies the only way salvation can be provided for fallen beings is by the Savior taking on Himself the nature of those beings. He must become the same type of being as they. Christ became a human being to provide salvation for fallen humans; but He did not become an angel, indicating salvation is not available for fallen angels: “For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham” (v. 16).

Furthermore, the apostle Peter said angels are intrigued by salvation (1 Pet. 1:9–12). They continuously desire to understand how God provided redemption for fallen human beings. It is a mystery, something they “desire to look into” (v. 12), because they themselves can never personally experience salvation.

In 1894 Johnson Oatman, Jr. wrote the words for the hymn “Holy, Holy, Is What the Angels Sing.” The chorus expresses this truth:

Holy, holy, is what the angels sing,
And I expect to help them make the courts of heaven ring;
But when I sing redemption’s story, they will fold their wings,
For angels never felt the joys that our salvation brings.