17For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner? 19Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.
Judgment is not all bad. Peter uses this word to refer to the suffering Christians experience for doing what is right. Earlier, he wrote about our faith being tested, proved genuine, and refined through fiery persecutions. As believers, we have been saved from eternal judgment, but God is continually at work in us to make us more Christlike. Our eternal security does not give us a free pass from the temporal judgment of God that prepares us now for the future Bema seat judgment (Rom. 14:10) of our works. While we praise God that our eternal standing before God does not hang in the balance, our rewards are most definitely contingent upon our obedience to Him.
In context, the judgment on the household of God, then, refers to the persecution from the world that God uses to purify believers in this life. How much more, arguing from the lesser to the greater, will God’s eternal judgment come on unbelievers in the life to come. In this, Peter quotes in verse 18, from Proverbs 11:31 (taken from the Septuagint-Greek translation of the OT in everyday use during Peter’s time). Peter seems to be identifying the righteous as believers and asserting that it is only by God’s miraculous grace that they are saved and preserved (see Acts. 14:22). Those who persist in their unbelief and sin have an extremely bleak future!
However, Peter is writing to believers, not unbelievers, so his point is to challenge his readers to live faithfully amidst their persecution. Still, unbelievers who may be reading this should take notice. If they resist repenting and following Christ because they perceive the hardship would be too great, they should consider the hardship to come at the final judgment of God!
For Christians, God is doubly our Creator; He created us as living beings, and He re-created us in our salvation (2 Cor. 5:17). We are to set before our Creator our good works, not out of pride, but as an act of trust. This is why we were created and re-created: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). We resolve that no persecution or difficulty of any kind will cause any interruption in our trusting God.
Lord, difficult as it is, I trust You when You take me through refining fire.
0 Comments