such as Hymenaeus and Alexander who have fallen away. I have delivered them both over to Satan to be rid of them and to teach them to no longer blaspheme!
They are lost to the truth and teach gross error when they teach that the resurrection of the dead has already passed. They are guilty of subverting the faith of some believers.
He consistently speaks of these things in all of his letters, even though he writes some concepts that are overwhelming to our understanding, which the unlearned and unstable love to twist to their spiritual ruin, as they do to other Scriptures.
For even though they were once a part of us, they withdrew from us because they were never really of our number. For if they had truly belonged to us they would have continued with us. By leaving our community of believers they made it obvious that they never really belonged to us.
So the great dragon was thrown down once and for all. He was the serpent, the ancient snake called the devil, and Satan, who deceives the whole earth. He was cast down into the earth and his angels along with him.