A woman at the church I attend (I’ll call her Betty) recently told me about a conversation she had with a friend. It put a bit of an unusual spin on Jas 2:19, which says, “even the demons believe and tremble.” Most often, people erroneously use that verse to say that faith in Jesus alone is not enough to be saved from the lake of fire. You have to do good works. (For an outstanding treatment of this often-misunderstood passage of Scripture, the reader cannot do better than to consult the book by Zane C. Hodges, The Epistle of James. It is available on the GES website.)

Betty said that during the conversation her friend mentioned an acquaintance who was mistreating her mother by, among other things, forcing her into a nursing home. The friend said that such a person would certainly go to hell.

Betty pointed out that she could not know that. Perhaps the woman who is mistreating her mother has believed in Jesus for eternal life. If so, she will be in the kingdom.

Her friend, however, said that was impossible. She told Betty that believing is not enough. The demons believe. But that is not enough to save them from hell. If they want to go to heaven, they must do good works. And if demons need to do good works in order to go to heaven, we do too. The woman who is being mean to her mother deserves to go to hell, and her evil deeds will ensure that she winds up there.

First of all, Betty’s response to her friend thrilled me. She understood that eternal life is a free gift that can never be lost, even if the recipient of that wonderful gift mistreats her mother. But she wanted to know how to respond to her friend’s contention that, since they already believe, the demons would go to heaven were they to do good works.

I remember that a long time ago my college roommate made a similar statement. He didn’t know anything about James 2, but he said that God is so good and gracious that even the Devil would go to heaven if he would “repent and live right.” At the time, I didn’t know what to say. It sure sounded good. It seemed to magnify the grace of God, and everybody knows God is gracious.

Of course, that statement does not magnify the grace of God. It would mean that somebody, including the Devil, could earn eternal salvation by doing good works. That is the exact opposite of grace (Rom 11:6).

If the Devil could receive eternal life, it would be by grace through faith. But he can’t. The author of Hebrews says that Christ did not die for angels, and Satan is a fallen angel (Heb 2:16). Christ’s death paid for the sins of the world, removing the barrier to any human being’s ability to receive eternal life by believing in Him for it.

Since Christ did not die for the sins of the Devil or any other fallen angel, they are ineligible to receive that gift. All fallen angels believe that Jesus gives eternal life to every human who believes in Him for it. But they also know they do not have it. If the Devil could decide to turn over a new leaf and act straight, he would still not have eternal life.

That is the answer to Betty’s friend’s contention. Some would say it is unfair that fallen angels can’t win everlasting life through repentance and good works. They might even feel sorry for them. I don’t know why Jesus didn’t die for fallen angels. But if He had, they could only be born again by believing in Him for everlasting life, not by repentance and good works.

I also know that when I consider such truths and think about what God has done for us in Christ, the grace of our Lord towards the believer shines even brighter.