1 Peter 4:17
I heard this verse quoted a lot when as I grew up in the church. It was preached as a way to warn the saints that they needed to clean up the way that they were living for when God’s judgment begins it will begin at the house of God. We went through several waves of this in the churches, as every time a Christian leader would fail, this verse would be brought up that God was beginning His judgment, and He was starting with the church.
This instills fear in the reader and in the hearer, for it sets God at a distance, always ready to rain down judgment and quick to begin doing so in the local church. Before we panic, perhaps we should investigate both the context of the scripture, and the meaning of God’s judgment.
Peter has been writing about saints undergoing persecution and sufferings. He encourages the Christian not to be ashamed of their sufferings and to “glorify God on this behalf” (1 Peter 4:16). He deflects any glory away from the saint for suffering and points it heavenward towards God because all glory for should go to Him for any victory on our behalf.
The time of God’s judgment has already come, which Peter bears out. This is not a threat of future judgment, which modern churches should preach is around the corner, but rather one that began at Calvary against sin and will ultimately end in the final Day. Judgment began with the house of God for it is there that Christ is crucified on the brazen altar. We rest beneath that judgment against our sins; a price so steep that Peter says the righteous “scarcely be saved” or “saved with much difficulty” (4:18).
The price that Jesus paid at the cross was with “much difficulty”. Please know that salvation came neither easily or cheap. What Jesus did at Calvary was an absolute necessity for our soul’s salvation, and it came at the highest cost in the universe. Jesus had to be robed in the likeness of sinful flesh and then be condemned for all of the sins of the world. This caused a temporary separation between the Father and the Son, and all of it was done for us!
If you and I are saved with great difficulty, how can a sinner and an ungodly man expect to appear before God with any hope for salvation? God allows certain “judgments” to come upon His people in order to make us who we are. Just as a parent allows difficult moments to arrive in the lives of their children without stepping in and stopping them all, God watches with a loving eye to see our development in the midst of a troubled world. We are not always quick to jump in with our children because we want them to have proper development; such is God’s chastening in His church.
Rest assured; God’s chastening is not found in breaking your legs and giving you cancer for your actions. He judges based on the finished work of Jesus, not upon your works. His chastening is instruction; just as you would give to your child. You can be firm but fair, and your Heavenly Father can do even better. We are who we are because of Jesus, but we become what we become by walking this walk every day. Do not fear the judgment which begins at the house of God, but welcome it, for by this are you saved.
I heard this verse quoted a lot when as I grew up in the church. It was preached as a way to warn the saints that they needed to clean up the way that they were living for when God’s judgment begins it will begin at the house of God. We went through several waves of this in the churches, as every time a Christian leader would fail, this verse would be brought up that God was beginning His judgment, and He was starting with the church.
This instills fear in the reader and in the hearer, for it sets God at a distance, always ready to rain down judgment and quick to begin doing so in the local church. Before we panic, perhaps we should investigate both the context of the scripture, and the meaning of God’s judgment.
Peter has been writing about saints undergoing persecution and sufferings. He encourages the Christian not to be ashamed of their sufferings and to “glorify God on this behalf” (1 Peter 4:16). He deflects any glory away from the saint for suffering and points it heavenward towards God because all glory for should go to Him for any victory on our behalf.
The time of God’s judgment has already come, which Peter bears out. This is not a threat of future judgment, which modern churches should preach is around the corner, but rather one that began at Calvary against sin and will ultimately end in the final Day. Judgment began with the house of God for it is there that Christ is crucified on the brazen altar. We rest beneath that judgment against our sins; a price so steep that Peter says the righteous “scarcely be saved” or “saved with much difficulty” (4:18).
The price that Jesus paid at the cross was with “much difficulty”. Please know that salvation came neither easily or cheap. What Jesus did at Calvary was an absolute necessity for our soul’s salvation, and it came at the highest cost in the universe. Jesus had to be robed in the likeness of sinful flesh and then be condemned for all of the sins of the world. This caused a temporary separation between the Father and the Son, and all of it was done for us!
If you and I are saved with great difficulty, how can a sinner and an ungodly man expect to appear before God with any hope for salvation? God allows certain “judgments” to come upon His people in order to make us who we are. Just as a parent allows difficult moments to arrive in the lives of their children without stepping in and stopping them all, God watches with a loving eye to see our development in the midst of a troubled world. We are not always quick to jump in with our children because we want them to have proper development; such is God’s chastening in His church.
Rest assured; God’s chastening is not found in breaking your legs and giving you cancer for your actions. He judges based on the finished work of Jesus, not upon your works. His chastening is instruction; just as you would give to your child. You can be firm but fair, and your Heavenly Father can do even better. We are who we are because of Jesus, but we become what we become by walking this walk every day. Do not fear the judgment which begins at the house of God, but welcome it, for by this are you saved.
