"And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" 1 Peter 4:18
The future sufferings of the ungodly will be more intense than our present sufferings no matter how severe and painful they may be. In this passage, Peter was not saying that the righteous barely gets saved, rather, he meant that the sufferings of the righteous in this present time, resulting from persecutions, or divine discipline, make his journey into the next age difficult. In the words of Jesus Christ, straight is the way that leads to life, but broad is the way that leads to destruction. This must not be understood as implying that we suffer to get saved, but rather, that we are saved into a life that has suffering trailing its path.
When Peter wrote that the righteous is scarcely saved, he was not writing about justification, but rather, sanctification, which is the process of being saved from the power of sin. The believer in Christ Jesus is saved and made righteous in a moment having been delivered from slavery to sin, but he is being saved from the power of sin, and will finally be saved from the presence of sin at the return of Jesus Christ.
If the righteous will suffer in the process of being saved here on earth, as he journeys to the next age, Peter wonders how the ungodly, who has rejected God's free offer of salvation will fare when he is judged by God for his sins. This was Apostle Peter's point when he wrote, "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" In other words, if gold rusts, what will happen to iron?
The future sufferings of the ungodly will be more intense than our present sufferings no matter how severe and painful they may be. In this passage, Peter was not saying that the righteous barely gets saved, rather, he meant that the sufferings of the righteous in this present time, resulting from persecutions, or divine discipline, make his journey into the next age difficult. In the words of Jesus Christ, straight is the way that leads to life, but broad is the way that leads to destruction. This must not be understood as implying that we suffer to get saved, but rather, that we are saved into a life that has suffering trailing its path.
When Peter wrote that the righteous is scarcely saved, he was not writing about justification, but rather, sanctification, which is the process of being saved from the power of sin. The believer in Christ Jesus is saved and made righteous in a moment having been delivered from slavery to sin, but he is being saved from the power of sin, and will finally be saved from the presence of sin at the return of Jesus Christ.
If the righteous will suffer in the process of being saved here on earth, as he journeys to the next age, Peter wonders how the ungodly, who has rejected God's free offer of salvation will fare when he is judged by God for his sins. This was Apostle Peter's point when he wrote, "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" In other words, if gold rusts, what will happen to iron?
Toni
