9 FAQs ABOUT

ANGELS AND
DEMONS
1
1
WHEN THE TOPIC OF ANGELS COMES UP, particularly
in western countries, it’s not uncommon to hear others
express skepticism. Even Christians may doubt their exis-
tence. The modern scientific understanding of the world
doesn’t have a place for things that are not seen, felt, and
heard. Spiritual beings, like angels, fall into the same cate-
gory as goblins, ghouls, and the Greek gods: fantasy.
Are angels a myth? Should we take them literally, or are
they metaphors and symbols? While skepticism may seem
common, it appears that belief in angels isn’t all that rare.
In fact, a 2016 Gallup Poll found that 72% of Americans
believe in angels. 1 Around the world, belief in angels is
quite common, especially amongst Muslims in Asia and
North Africa.2 These statistics show that there is a global
interest in angels, and not just from Christians. Angelology,
the study of angels, existed throughout history and is today
a real area of theological and philosophical study. From
Plato to Augustine, John Calvin to John Locke, Friedrich
Schleiermacher to Karl Barth, many important philoso-
phers and theologians have recorded their thoughts and
beliefs about angels.
While there are many approaches to the study of angels, this
article operates based on two assumptions. First, the Bible is
God’s Word and it teaches that angels exist. Second, as God’s
Word, the Bible reliably teaches us the truth about angels.
There is undoubtedly a “mythic” element to angelology.
Like the Greek pantheon, angels are beings who are higher—
both literally and in terms of power—than humanity. They
exist above and beyond everyday experience. The angels of
the Bible bear resemblance to the divine councils of other
ancient myths and religions. This, however, does not mean
1 https://news.gallup.com/poll/193271/americans-believe-god.aspx
2 http://www.pewforum.org/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-3-articles-of-faith/
3 Stephen Noll, Angels of Light, Powers of Darkness: Thinking Biblically About Angels, Satan & Principalities, 204
DO ANGELS
REALLY EXIST?
they are not real. Stephen Noll writes, “Myth and metaphor
are real ways of describing beings who are hidden from us
above the firmament of heaven.”3 In other words, while
mythic elements are used to describe angels to humans, that
does not mean that the angels themselves are myth. There is
something real behind stories of spirits and pagan religious
beliefs. Angels are that reality, thus they can be thought of as
“true myth.” We learn the truth about these beings through
God’s inspired Word.
We can know both that angels exist and something of what
they are like through the Bible. While experience should not
be outright discredited, God’s inspired Word is infallible and
inerrant and has the final say. The Bible affirms the exis-
tence of angels as real, personal beings. On the one hand,
Christians should seek to understand and articulate every-
thing the Bible teaches about angels. However, on the other
hand, Christians must be careful to not go beyond the things
God has chosen to reveal. The topic of angels and demons
seems to invite speculation. Christians, on the contrary,
are called to be content that “the secret things belong to the
Lord” and not delve into that which God has chosen to keep
hidden (Deut. 29:29). In other words, the goal of angelology
should be to say as much as the Bible does about angels, no
more and no less.
Before we move on to more questions about angels and
demons, we should address why it is important to study
angels. Is it really worth time, energy, and focus? Aren’t angels
a secondary (or even tertiary) issue when compared to the
gospel or Christian discipleship? These are good questions,
and they show that a careful balance must be struck in the
study of angels. One theologian put it this way, “We must
ANGELS AND DEMONS | 2
avoid both the over-estimation of angels on the one side and
their under-estimation on the other. We contend for the sole
lordship and glory of God, but we contend for the lordship and
glory of God through the ministry of angels.”4 The study of
angels, if rightly done, should lead us past the angels to their
creator. It should inspire us to love and worship God: Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. If done correctly, angelology will lead
to a deeper understanding of God and his plan of salvation
for humanity.

4 Karl Barth qtd. in Stephen Noll, Angels of Light, Powers of Darkness: Thinking Biblically About Angels, Satan & Principalities, 172.

ANGELS AND DEMONS | 3

2
MEDIEVAL THEOLOGIANS ARE SOMETIMES RIDICULED
for an obsession with obscure or unknowable questions like,
“How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” It’s easy to
scoff at the absurdity of a question like this, but it misses the
point. The question is asking about what angels are. It is ask-
ing what they are made of, that is, what is their substance or
essence. This is a very good question and one that is difficult
to answer. The Bible gives us some information, but there is
no exhaustive exposition on angelic beings and their nature.
Let’s take a look at what the Bible does say.
First, the Scriptures teach that angels are creatures. The
Bible begins by drawing an absolute distinction between God
and his creation: “In the beginning, God created the heavens
and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). God was there before the universe;
this is taken as a given. God is there and, out of nothing, by the
power of his creative Word, he called everything in heaven and
earth into existence. This, of course, includes angels. Though
angels are sometimes called “gods” or “Sons of God,” they are
not divine. The Bible is clear that there is one eternal God
(Deut. 6:4). He is the maker of heaven, earth, and everything
in each realm. As the Psalmist writes, “Praise him, all his
angels; praise him all his hosts…. Let them praise the name of
the LORD! For he commanded and they were created” (Psalm
148:2, 5). Angels were made, like humans, to worship God
alone, and it would be wrong for them to accept the worship
that rightly belongs to the creator (Rev. 19:10, 22:9).
The second thing the Bible reveals about angels is that they
are a different kind of creature than humans. Wayne Grudem
describes angels as “spiritual beings with moral judgment and
high intelligence, but without physical bodies.” 5 There are some
5 Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, 397
WHAT ARE
ANGELS?
ways in which the angels are similar to humans, but there are
key differences. Angels are “spiritual” beings. The Bible uses
the term “spirit” to differentiate angels from the physical and
material (Luke 24:39; Heb. 1:14). This is why we can’t see
angels apart from God miraculously opening our eyes (see
2 Kings 6:8-17). This also, incidentally, is why the question of
how many angels can dance on the head of a pin isn’t totally
foolish. The question is asking whether or not angels, as spir-
its, take up any space. So, angels are a different kind of being
from corporeal humans; they are “without physical bodies.”
There are many questions we might want to ask about angelic
bodies, but the Bible simply doesn’t answer them. We simply
know that angelic bodies are different from the physical bod-
ies we have now (see question nine). It is important to note
that angels are not omnipresent or ubiquitous like God. They
are spirit, but they still exist in one place at a time (Dan. 9:21-
23; 10:10-14; Lk. 1:26).
Despite these differences, angels do have a key similarity
to humans: they are personal beings. Angels have intelligence
and a sense of morality, both marks of personhood. Angels
have knowledge and can grow in knowledge (1 Peter 1:12).
The Bible also indicates that angels have emotions (Lk. 15:10).
Angels have wills of their own (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6). They can
choose between worship and obedience to God and rebellion
(see questions five through seven). Some theologians infer
from these characteristics that angels are made in the image
of God; however, the Bible never explicitly makes that asser-
tion. In sum, angels are beings in some ways quite similar to
humans and in other ways radically different.
ANGELS AND DEMONS | 4
3
I’LL BREAK DOWN THE ANSWER to this question into
three sub-questions. First, when did God create angels? We
will look at what the Bible teaches about angels in relation to
the chronology of creation. Second, what is an angel’s place
in creation? We will study what the Bible reveals about the
heavens and the earth and where, spatially, angels fit into the
universe. Third, how do angels relate to one another? We will
see that Scripture reveals a hierarchy of angels.
The first thing to briefly consider is when God created
angels. God gives us a hint in the book of Job when he says,
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its mea-
surements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon
it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God
shouted for joy?” (Job 38: 4-7). It seems that the angels were
present at the very start of the earth’s creation, watching with
bated breath and bubbling over with joy at the sight of God’s
creativity and power.
Angels were most likely created before the earth, which
makes us wonder where they were. What is an angel’s place,
spatially, in creation? The simple answer is “heaven,” but to
understand this we must grasp the Bible’s blueprint of the
universe. The Bible splits creation into three areas: heaven,
the earth, and the underworld (i.e. Sheol, Hades). To say
that angels live in heaven is not simply to say that they are
up in the sky or floating in outer space somewhere. Heaven
is a realm beyond the material universe. We might borrow an
analogy from science fiction stories and think of it as another
6 Stephen Noll, Angels of Light, Powers of Darkness: Thinking Biblically About Angels, Satan & Principalities, 68.
7 Stephen Noll, Angels of Light, Powers of Darkness: Thinking Biblically About Angels, Satan & Principalities, 68.
WHERE DO
ANGELS FIT
IN CREATION?
dimension. This is seen in the first creation account. On the
second day God separated the “waters from the waters.” This
is not a horizontal separation but a vertical one. Between
the waters above and below God placed a barrier, depending
on the translation: an “expanse,” a “canopy,” or “the firma-
ment.” In this expanse God placed the sun, moon, and stars.
This heaven is what we would call outer space. But there is
a higher heaven, one beyond the material universe, which is
the dwelling place of angels (Gen. 21:17; Matt. 22:30, 24:36;
John 1:51). The firmament is the dividing line, it “represents
a metaphysical barrier between the transcendent throne of
God and the earth as his footstool.” 6 Yet even within heaven
there is a division; there is a highest heaven, the dwelling place
of God almighty (2 Cor. 12:2). It seems that some angels are
always before God in highest heaven (Is. 6:1-6; Rev. 4:6-11).
Our third question is how angels relate to one another. In
answering this question the first thing to note is: While the
Bible talks about angels living in different locations, the dis-
tinctions may have more to do with authority or power than
place. Stephen Noll explains it this way: “The angelic world
is ‘up there’ or ‘out there’ in the hierarchical, not the astro-
nomical, sense.” 7 The hierarchy of angels can be seen by the
fact that some are referred to as “princes” or “archangels,” aka
ruling-angels (Dan. 10:13; Jude 9). Angels seem to have differ-
ing levels of authority and responsibility as well as different
tasks. Angels are placed above man in this hierarchy, though
God chose to ignore this order when he gave man dominion
over the earth (Psalm 8:4-6). Angels, of course, are all below
and subservient to God the creator (Heb. 1:1-14, 2:5-9).
ANGELS AND DEMONS | 5
4
FIRST AND FOREMOST, GOD DECIDED TO MAKE ANGELS
for the same reason he created everything else: for his glory.
Angels were made to praise and worship God. In John’s vision
of heaven, angels proclaim, “Worthy are you, our Lord and
God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created
all things, and by your will they existed and were created”
(Rev. 4:11). In the same vision he saw angels who praise God
without ceasing, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God
Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Rev. 4:8) Angels
do not just praise God for who he is; they also praise him for
what he does to redeem sinners (Lk. 2:8-14, 15:10; Heb. 1:6).
In addition to praising God, angels carry out his purposes by
fulfilling the roles he has given them (Ps. 103:20).
The Hebrew word for angel, malak, and the Greek word,
angelos, both mean “messenger.” This role is probably the
most obvious one we find in Scripture. In the Old and New
Testament, angels arrive at critical moments with mes-
sages from God. Though the Bible contains a fair amount
of instances of angelic visits, they are not as common as we
might think when we recall the thousands of years that pass
from the time of Abraham to the Apostles. Stephen Noll says,
“Perhaps there were many more [angelic visits] that were
never recorded, but the Bible seems to suggest that angels tend
to appear at crisis times of history.”8 We might add that they
seem to appear at important moments in redemptive history.
To sum things up, God created angels to be his messengers and
convey his word to humanity, particularly during important
moments in the history of salvation.
Another role that has been given to angels is to rule and
judge the nations. Deuteronomy 32:8-9 says, “When the Most
High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided
8 Stephen Noll, Angels of Light, Powers of Darkness: Thinking Biblically About Angels, Satan & Principalities, 172
9 R.C. Sproul, Unseen Realities: Heaven, Hell, Angels and Demons, 105.
10 C. Fred Dickason, Angels: Elect & Evil, 62.
WHY DID
GOD MAKE
ANGELS?
mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to
the number of the sons of God. But the LORD’s portion is his
people, Jacob his allotted heritage.” God himself rules over his
people, but in his wisdom he has elected to rule the nations
through angels. This passage shows us that “one of the ways
in which God mediates His providential supervision and rule
over history and over creation is through the mission of these
creatures that He formed to carry out His will, namely, the
angels.”9 These angels whom God has allowed to rule over the
nations are what Paul, in the New Testament, refers to as “rul-
ers,” “authorities,” “cosmic powers,” and “spiritual forces of
evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). As Paul indicates, not
all of the angels are good and holy. The Bible promises God will
judge them one day (Ps. 82). In fact, though the final judgment
is yet to come, Christ has judged the corrupt and evil angelic
rulers of this world. Through his life, death, and resurrection,
Christ secured the final victory over evil. While Christians
must still engage in spiritual battle against the cosmic pow-
ers and forces of evil in the heavenly places, the outcome of
the war is sealed.
This leads us into the third role of angels: militants. God’s
holy angels are his army. God is sometimes called the Lord of
Hosts, a reference to his leadership over all the angels. The host
“encompasses the whole array of God’s heavenly army and sees
them employed as a military force to accomplish his will and
to do His battles.”10 Sometimes God deploys angels to assist
in physical warfare (Josh. 5:13-15; 2 Kings 19:35). However,
in the bigger picture of redemptive history, angelic military
victory is symbolic of salvation. The time of sending angels to
do battle ended when the kingdom of Israel disappeared, how-
ever when Christ returns to establish his kingdom the angels
ANGELS AND DEMONS | 6
will come with him. Stephen Noll explains this well when he
says, “Military victory therefore forms a central image of the
mighty acts of salvation throughout the Bible. Salvation in the
Bible is not merely salvation from an enemy, nor is God’s vic-
tory merely a display of overwhelming power. God’s victory is
always the vindication of his righteousness, and salvation is
always directed toward the establishment of his kingdom.” 11
In short, the militant role of angels is to serve God’s kingdom.
They fight against its enemies, guard its citizens, and if neces-
sary, mete out punishment on the unrighteous.

11 Stephen Noll, Angels of Light, Powers of Darkness: Thinking Biblically About Angels, Satan & Principalities, 157

ANGELS AND DEMONS | 7

5
S ATA N A P P E A R S V E RY E A R LY I N T H E H I STO RY of the
world. He “is an angelic being of wide and powerful influence,
a major character on the moral stage of God’s universe.” 12 As
we saw in question three, angels were created before the earth,
thus Satan must have existed for some time before Adam and
Eve met him in the Garden. Who was he? Where did he come
from? Why was he tempting them? There are many questions
about Satan that the Bible does not fully answer, but it does
reveal enough for us to know who Satan is, where he came
from, what he is attempting to accomplish, and how we can
resist and have victory over him through Christ.
To understand who Satan is, a good starting point is to look
at the names he is given in Scripture. To be more precise,
they are titles, not names. The only proper name potentially
attributed to Satan is Lucifer. This attribution is based off of
Isaiah 14:12, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star [i.e.
Lucifer], Son of dawn! How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!” This is only potentially a name
for Satan because in its context this verse is clearly talking
about the fall of the King of Babylon. Some think that is all it
references and Lucifer should not be seen as a reference to
Satan; others argue that only Satan is discussed in this verse.
Finally, there are some who see this verse as a reference to
both the king of Babylon and Satan.
In any case, the titles of Satan do a better job of revealing
his nature and character than any personal name and they are
what God has chosen to use in order to reveal who Satan is to
us. The first title to consider is “Satan.” Satan is not a proper
12 C. Fred Dickason, Angels Elect & Evil, 121
13 C. Fred Dickason, Angels Elect & Evil, 129
WHO IS
SATAN?
name, it is a title meaning “adversary,” “opposer,” “accuser” or
“opponent.” Satan is the enemy of God and his elect. He is full
of malice and seeks to condemn God’s people (Rev. 12:9-10). In
a similar vein his commonly-used title, “devil,” means “slan-
derer or one who trips up.” 13 Satan’s character is quite clear
when you begin to study his titles. Jesus says the devil “was
a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with
the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he
speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of
lies” (John 8:44). In this passage Jesus shows that Satan and
the serpent who tempted Eve and told the first recorded lie
in human history are one and the same. Satan is the “ancient
serpent, who is called the devil and Satan” (Rev. 12:9; see also
2 Cor. 11:3, 14).
Satan is also called “the evil one” (John 17:15; 1 John 5:18),
the “Destroyer” (Rev. 9:11), and the “tempter” (Matt. 4:3), just
to list a few additional titles. In addition to revealing his evil
nature, Satan’s titles show us that he has power. He is some-
times called the prince or ruler of this world (John 12:31,
16:11). Similarly Paul calls him “the prince of the power of the
air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience”
(Eph. 2:2). Paul also refers to him as “the god of this world”
(2 Cor. 4:4). It is important to note that this authority is not
something Satan possesses by right or by might. The book
of Job shows this clearly (Job 1:1-2:9). He has this authority
because God has allowed him to. God has given him permis-
sion to rule the earth and to rule in his evil manner only for a
set time.
ANGELS AND DEMONS | 8
6
NOW THAT WE KNOW A LITTLE ABOUT WHO SATAN IS
from his titles, it is only natural to wonder about his story. If
he is an angel created by God, how did he end up so evil? When
God finished creating the heavens and the earth, he surveyed
his handiwork and declared that everything was good. This
state did not last, not for humanity nor for the angels. When
the serpent shows up in Eden to tempt Adam and Eve, we
realize that something has happened in the heavenly realm.
Some angels have sinned and rebelled against the sovereignty
of God (2 Pet. 2:4). Jude writes, “And the angels who did not
stay within their own position of authority, but left their
proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy
darkness until the judgment of the great day” (Jude 6). We
can notice a few things here. First, the angels’ rebellion was
motivated by pride. Rather than accepting their God-given
position and power, they sought to raise themselves up and
overthrow God’s established order. Second, as a result, the
angels were no longer allowed to stay in God’s presence. It is
clear from his power and description in Scripture that Satan
was the ringleader of this rebellion (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 12:9).
The Bible does not reveal much about Satan’s rebellion.
The Scriptural references that potentially reveal the most
about it are actually not about Satan’s fall, but use that event
to describe the fall of nations. The quintessential passage that
does this by drawing parallels between the fall of Babylon and
Satan’s rebellion is Isaiah 14:12-15,
How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of
Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid
the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to
14 John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries Vol. 7, 442
15 Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 413
HOW DID
SATAN FALL?
heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the
north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will
make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down
to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.
A very straightforward reading would see this text as only
talking about Babylon. John Calvin wrote, “The exposition of
this passage, which some have given, as if it referred to Satan,
has arisen from ignorance; for the context plainly shows that
these statements must be understood in reference to the king
of the Babylonians.”14
However, others have put forth cogent arguments that a
comparison is being made: The pride of the Babylonian king
would lead to his downfall just as the pride of Satan led to his.
Wayne Grudem argues,
This language of ascending to heaven and setting his
throne on high and saying, ‘I will make myself like the
Most High,’ strongly suggests a rebellion by an angelic
creature of great power and dignity. It would not be
uncommon for Hebrew prophetic speech to pass from
descriptions of human events to descriptions of heavenly
events that are parallel to them and that the earthly events
picture in a limited way.15
Whichever way you take this particular passage, the overall
teaching of Scripture is that Satan was cast out of God’s presence
and awaits his final judgment because in his pride he sought to
overthrow God, his creator and Lord.
ANGELS AND DEMONS | 9
7
AS WE SAW IN QUESTION SIX, Satan did not rebel alone.
Some angels joined in with him and therefore fell with him.
Satan has a host of fallen angels that the Bible refers to as
“his” (Matthew 25:41; Rev. 12:7). In both the Old and New
Testament we find these angels described as “evil spirits” and
“demons.” They are Satan’s minions and do his evil bidding.
Satan is not omnipresent or omnipotent, so he must send out
these fallen angels in his attempts to work evil in this world.
They try to tempt humans into joining the rebellion, just as
Satan first did with Adam and Eve. Like Satan they are liars
and attempt to deceive men and women into indulging in idol-
atrous and immoral beliefs and practices. The Bible shows
they can impact both the body and mind and even possess
individuals. Demons have power today, but it was radically
curtailed by the coming of Christ:
By his ministry as exorcist and healer Jesus cleanses his peo-
ple from the bondage of the earth and underworld of demons. By
his death on the cross he casts Satan out of heaven as accuser
and nullifies the legal bond against God’s elect. By his ascen-
sion to God’s right hand he disarms the claims of the corrupted
world order to define and divide the life of the nations. By his
prophetic revelation through the Spirit he opens to his people
a vision of a purified heavenly regime that will endure forever.16
Jesus showed his absolute authority over the demons by cast-
ing them out of many people. The demons knew who he was and
obeyed his commands. On the cross by taking on the punishment
for our sin, Christ rendered Satan’s accusations impotent. He
rose from the grave and ascended to the position of ultimate
authority, the right hand of God the Father. Right now Christians
have the Holy Spirit indwelling them, calling them to holy lives
16 Stephen Noll, Angels of Light, Powers of Darkness: Thinking Biblically About Angels, Satan & Principalities, 148
17 C. Fred Dickason, Angels Elect & Evil, 198
18 Stephen Noll, Angels of Light, Powers of Darkness: Thinking Biblically About Angels, Satan & Principalities, 150
19 R.C. Sproul, Unseen Realities, 157
WHAT ABOUT
DEMONS?
as members of God’s kingdom and protecting and strengthening
them against the attacks of Satan and his demonic forces.
Though the defeat of Satan and his angels is certain, the final
battle is still in the future. This means that even now Christians
must still war against spiritual forces of evil. This leads many
Christians to wonder if they are susceptible to demonic powers
and if they can be possessed. To address this concern it is helpful
to begin by defining demon-possession. The word “possession”
does not indicate ownership, but control. For this reason some
suggest demonization as an alternate term. Demonization or
demon-possession is “the inhabiting of a human by one or more
demons who exercise various degrees of control with resul-
tant physical, psychological, and spiritual manifestations.” 17
Examples of these types of control can be found throughout the
Bible (Lk. 13:10-17; Matt. 12:22-29; Lk. 8:26-39).
Can a Christian be demonized? This question does not have
a crystal-clear answer in the Bible. For some, the lack of a spe-
cific denial of the possibility means that it can occur. However,
given the teaching of the New Testament this does not seem to
be the right conclusion. Stephen Noll writes, “It is true that the
apostolic writers never specifically deny that Christians can
have demons, but it is remarkable that not one case is men-
tioned in all the Epistles. Converted Christians will certainly
be tempted by Satan, but they should never be demonized.” 18
Christians are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and united to Christ.
This does not make us immune to spiritual attacks, but it does
mean that Satan and his minions cannot control us. As R. C.
Sproul said, “Demons can oppress us, they can harass us, they
can tempt us, attack us and so on, but thanks be to God, He who
is in us is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).19
ANGELS AND DEMONS | 10
8
THE IDEA THAT each individual believer is assigned a guard-
ian angel is a fairly popular one and it has been around for a
long time. The medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas wrote,
“Each man has an angel guardian appointed to him. This rests
upon the fact that the guardianship of angels belongs to the
execution of Divine providence concerning men.”20 Aquinas,
like many before him and many after him, is expressing the
belief God assigned angels to watch over each individual. While
the existence of guardian angels has been taught by many
throughout history, it is not something commonly discussed
in the Bible. In fact, there are only two passages that might lead
us to conclude that God gives each of us a guardian angel.
The first passage is found in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus
says, “See to it that you do not despise one of these little ones.
For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face
of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 18:10) As you can see,
Jesus makes reference to “their angels,” seeming to imply that
each “little one” has an angel assigned to them. In studying the
context to this verse, “Most commentators have concluded
that in principle all believers are little ones.”21 In a nutshell,
Jesus is teaching that all believers have honor and dignity,
which is exemplified by the fact that “their angels” always see
the face of God. It is clear that the saints have angels on their
side, however, it is less clear whether or not each individual
has a dedicated guardian angel.
For one, the idea of a guardian angel would be unique as
there is nothing like that in the Old Testament apart from
angels who guard entire nations (Dan. 10:21, 12:1; see question
four). If Jesus was teaching something new about guardian
angels we might expect a bit more explanation, if not from
Jesus then from the rest of the New Testament. Yet there is no
other passage that describes or teaches about guardian angels.
20 Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologia, Pt. 1 Q. 113 Art. 2
21 Stephen Noll, Angels of Light, Powers of Darkness: Thinking Biblically About Angels, Satan & Principalities, 170
DO CHRISTIANS
HAVE GUARDIAN
ANGELS?
In addition, the New Testament clearly teaches that Christ is
the perfect mediator between God and man, thus making an
angelic mediator superfluous (Heb. 8:1-2, 9:11-14).
Nevertheless, Jesus does reference “their angels” in relation
to believers. If it is unlikely that this is a reference to individual
guardian angels, then which angels is Jesus talking about? Some
have suggested that it may be the 24 elders John sees in his vision
of heaven. In Revelation we learn that these elders are in the
presence of God worshiping and that they each hold a harp “and
golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayer of the saints”
(Rev. 5:8). Perhaps these elders are a group of elite holy angels
who guard and intercede in some sense on behalf of Christians.
The other passage that is cited in favor of guardian angels
is found in Acts 12. This chapter records the story of Peter’s
imprisonment and escape. In fact, it is an angel that leads
him out of prison. Peter goes to a house where many are gath-
ered praying together and knocks on the door. A servant girl
answers the knock and when she hears Peter’s voice she is so
excited she runs to tell everyone, leaving Peter locked outside!
The believers tell the servant girl, “‘You are out of your mind.’
But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, ‘It
is his angel!’” (Acts 12:15). Does this prove early Christians
believed in guardians angels? It may. However, just because
they believed in them does not mean they are real. This is a
historical narrative describing what they said, not a Pauline
epistle prescribing what to believe. It is hard to make a defini-
tive case for the existence of guardian angels from this passage.
To sum things up, the Bible is almost completely silent on the
prospect of individual guardians. However, it does clearly teach
that God commissions his angels to protect and keep his people.
While you or I may not have an angel personally assigned to us,
we do have the help and assistance of the holy angels (Heb. 1:14).
ANGELS AND DEMONS | 11
9 at least
A CO M M O N P E R C E P T I O N O F T H E A F T E R L I F E ,
as depicted in cartoons, is that Christians float up into the sky
and become angels complete with wings and a halo. Eternity
is an ethereal existence spent flying from cloud to cloud,
pausing here and there to play the golden harp we all appar-
ently receive upon entrance into heaven. This is far from the
actual biblical picture of life in a new heavens and earth—a
universe very much like the one we inhabit now—with the
wonderful exception that the curse will be lifted and sin will
be no more!
The question is, what will we be like in this new world? Will
we become angels? Jesus told the Sadducees, “In the resur-
rection they [men and women] neither marry nor are given in
marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Matt. 22:30). When
Luke recounts the same story he says that in heaven people
“cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and
are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection” (Lk. 20:36).
It might seem that when Christians die they are destined to
become angels. However, a closer examination of the larger
context to these verses shows that this is not the case. One of
the central themes of Jesus’ ministry and the New Testament
is the adoption of believers. In other words, what we find in
these verses is the teaching that, “by God’s grace, the new
humanity has been made higher than the angels and has been
seated with Christ above all angelic powers.”22 To be a son of
God is to be elevated in status, to rise into the presence of God
in highest heaven because we are united to Christ and he is our
mediator (Eph. 2:6; Heb. 9:24, 10:19). To be “like” or “equal” to
the angels doesn’t refer to a metaphysical change but a hier-
archical shift upwards.
22 Stephen Noll, Angels of Light, Powers of Darkness: Thinking Biblically About Angels, Satan & Principalities, 186
WILL CHRISTIANS
BECOME ANGELS?
That being said, it is possible that there may be a change in
our bodies such that we are like angels. When Paul writes to
the Corinthians about the resurrection he describes our new
bodies in this way:
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is
perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in
dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it
is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised
a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a
spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam
became a living being”;[a] the last Adam became a life-giv-
ing spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the
natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from
the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.
As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the
dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who
are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man
of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
(1 Cor. 15:42-49)
When we are raised from the dead, our body will be like that
of Christ after the resurrection. It will be markedly different,
imperishable rather than perishable, glorious, powerful, and—
here’s an interesting descriptor—spiritual. The resurrection
body, it seems, may be something like the angels’ bodies (see
question two). To have a spiritual body does not mean we
become angels, but perhaps the little we know of angelic bod-
ies gives us a hint of what our glorified bodies will be like.
ANGELS AND DEMONS | 12

Dickason, C. Fred. Angels Elect & Evil. Chicago: Moody
Press, 1995.
Noll, Stephen. Angels of Light, Powers of Darkness:
Thinking Biblically About Angels, Satan & Principalities.
RECOMMENDED
READING
Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1998.
Sproul, R.C., Unseen Realities: Heaven, Hell, Angels and
Demons. Christian Focus, 2011.

ANGELS AND DEMONS | 13

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