Finally, from Revelation 20:1-3, we are told of a one thousand year period where the Devil IS bound in chains:
So in a book of symbols, you read "one thousand" as literal. Interesting. In Psalms 50:10 does God not own the cattle on the 1001st hill? Given 1 Co 4:15, did the Church in Corinth really have 10,000 teachers? Better yet, given Ps 105:8, Dt 7:9 and most importantly 1 Ch 16:15 and given that a generation is often assumed to be forty years, wouldn't you conclude that the "rapture" will take place 35,000 years from now?
If the Devil is bound in everlasting darkness NOW, then he must have a long chain. ;o)
Fine, Peter and Jude are liars, and whoever came up with that insipid line sleeps well with the idea that the Bible can contradict itself.
The same Peter that wrote that Satan is presently in chains also said that he is like a roaring lion. Think about "roaring" and is that the behavior of a lion who is about to stalk, creep up and pounce on its prey?
Satan tempts under three forms: crafty serpent, angel of light, and here, a roaring lion - very much unlike the subtlety of the previous two, this form is violent and was quite descriptive of the persecution the readers of Peter's letter were under at Pontus.
No, I do not call Peter nor Jude liars nor do I ever say that the Bible contradicts itself. I have always admired your postings and said so on many occasions, so I am not sure where the animosity is coming from. I believe the entire Bible is God's inspired witness to us and the world.
I wholeheartedly agree that Satan is a toothless lion where believers are concerned. It was usually the old ones who went around roaring scaring up the place. My only point is I do not agree that Scripture says he is "bound" in deepest darkness at this point in time, that's all. I don't expect everyone to agree on everything - even if some expect we should - God has left certain issues unclear. As long as we are straight on the Gospel of salvation by grace through faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we are in agreement on what matters the most. The rest, like you say, we will one day know even as we are known.