PART FOUR: JUDGMENT BEGINS WITH THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD

2. A Thematic and Contextual Overview of the Epistle Itself as a Whole

             As we consider an overview of this first epistle, Peter has a clear theme throughout. It could be summed up in the following manner:

God's chosen people in Christ, be holy as He is holy. And don't be surprised at the trials and sufferings you are going through for Jesus' sake. He said this would happen. He went through it and so must you. Keep in mind, also, that the Spirit of blessing and glory rests (and will rest) on you as you suffer because you are doing God's will.  This is precisely what a life of following Christ looks like. In all your suffering, entrust yourselves to a faithful God who will strengthen, confirm, and establish you no matter how great the conflict or from what quarter it comes.    

Along with this summary for gaining an overview of the epistle, notice as well how Peter addresses himself to his recipients at the beginning of this letter. Peter says they are "elect exiles of the dispersion." That is, no matter how dispersed they are in various places in the world, no matter how seemingly rejected and insignificant they may feel or appear to be in the eyes of others, they are held together in a unity created by God's own choice. God knows who they are and where they are. They are significant and highly honored. That is, they aren't scattered nobodies in God's eyes. They live together in the Land of Promise where God dwells, the heavenly Jerusalem, seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. From God's perspective, they are all there in "one accord."

 Notice, too, that they are "elect" according to what? Their own religious choice? Their hard work or willpower? No. They are "elect" in this way: "According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood" (1 Peter 1:1-2). God is doing the work here. God chose them; they did not choose God. That is, they chose God because God first chose them. The arm of man cannot diminish the identity of God's people or dislocate them from God as their dwelling place. In all the wanderings of the nation of Israel on the way to Canaan, Moses rightly says, "Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations" (Psalm 90:1).

 Consider that this involves nothing less than God the Father's foreknowledge which brings about the sanctification of the Spirit for obedience to Christ and sprinkling with Christ's blood. That is, God is the author and finisher of this faith. In Christ, God begins the work and completes it. This is why Peter says, as he ends his greeting in chapter one, "May grace and peace be multiplied to you" (v. 2). He is praying according to the purpose and action of God already demonstrated in Christ to abundantly bless His people .

Now let us pause here for a moment and think again about the legalistic understanding of 1 Peter 4:17-18 which we just considered. Are God's people "barely" or "scarcely" saved? No way. Because of the way which is Jesus, no way. Jesus is our stand in for righteousness. He is our representative to the Father. Now I ask, did Jesus "barely" come forth from the grave? Did Jesus "scarcely" keep the Law on our behalf? Did Jesus "barely" pay for sin? Did Jesus "scarcely" give Himself that we might live? Is there any scarcity, any slenderness, either in the Father's love or the work of Christ for our salvation? No, beloved! There is only largeness, wideness, bigness of love and mercy in Christ! Why else would Paul teach the saints to pray that they would know how high, how long, how wide, and how deep the love of Christ is? If the love of the Father or of Christ were "barely" or "scarcely" given it would definitely be measurable. We could point out its limits. We could comprehend it easily. We would see its boundary lines. Specify its dimensions. We would be able to say, "Oh, it is this high, this wide, this deep. It it starts here and ends there. Yes, there is one side and over there is the other side."

There is no "barely" or "scarcely" in God's redemption, God's gift of His Son for our salvation.  Stand on the shore, look at the ocean before you, and tell me if you can see where the ocean ends. That's a little of what it is like to measure God's love. If you are more daring, go the deepest part of the ocean, dive into the deep and see if you can touch bottom. Why does the Word of God point to oceans and mountains and skies when it speaks of God? Because of His vastness, His majesty, the greatness of His steadfast love and mercy. He cannot be measured in His love for us.

Do we, therefore, we who trust in Jesus "barely" or "scarcely" have acceptance with God — "barely" or "scarcely" go to heaven? A thousand times no! Did we not hear His Spirit teach our hearts to say for Jesus' sake, "Abba, Father"? Do you not know that your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life? Do you not know that you are always on His mind? That He has your name engraved on His hands? That He is counting the days until He sees you? That He knows how to finish what He starts? That no one and nothing can separate you from God's love? That no one can take you from your Father's hand? Just let them try! 

Oh, no, beloved! You are not "barely" or "scarcely" saved. I tell you in Jesus' name that yours is an abundant salvation. The cross which saves you is an overwhelming victory over sin. The empty tomb stands for an astounding and decisive defeat of death and all the powers of hell. The Christ at God's right hand has all authority in heaven and on earth. This is an amazing grace which we have in Jesus. When He comes, there will be a trumpet blast and the shout of an archangel and you will yourselves go up to heaven shouting, "Glory! Glory! Glory! Glory to God in the highest!"

PART THREE: JUDGMENT BEGINS WITH THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD

 So now that we have considered a legalistically wrong understanding of 1 Peter 4:17-18, what is the graciously right understanding? Let us approach this question, first, by seeing briefly what the rest of Scripture says about God's judgment in the lives of Christians; second, by getting a thematic and contextual overview of the epistle itself as a whole; and third, by looking at the more immediate context in which the passage occurs.

 1. What the Rest of Scripture Says about God's

Judgment in the Lives of Christians

On this first point, there is perhaps no better place to start than John's statement from his Gospel (3:17-18), "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." What John is saying here is that God's judgment in the sense of His condemnation of people for their sin was already here on earth. In Romans 5, Paul traces this condemnation back to Adam's first sin — the eating of the forbidden fruit. Adam was our representative before God, and therefore, Adam's sin was counted as our sin. The judgment of death, the curse for sin, that came as a result of Adam's sin came both on him and all his posterity — i.e., the entire human race. Both physical and spiritual death came to humanity through Adam. 

Hence, when Jesus came into the world, the world was already under God's judgment, God's condemnation, God's wrath because of sin. Jesus did not come to remind us of how lost and condemned we are. He did not come to rub that in. Also, He did not come for the purpose of giving us a set of commandments which would teach us how hard it is to get to heaven. He did not say things to make our hearts fearful about whether or not we can be saved. His name, I would remind us, is Jesus which means "Savior." That's who He is, what He does, His job description.  And glory to God, He is that and does that wonderfully!

Moreover, let us recall that God had through Moses given Israel the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Law for the purpose (as Paul teaches in Romans 3) of imparting to them the knowledge of sin. That is, if anyone thinks that Jesus mainly came to show us how big our problem with sin is, how righteous God and His Law is, such a person is looking in the wrong direction — or at the wrong person. He should look to Moses. Yes, Moses had that job and under God he, too, did that job well.

Now I do not deny that in places like the Sermon on the Mount Jesus shows us what the righteousness of the Law is all about. But at times like that He is not giving us a new law but clearing the old one of misunderstandings that the scribes and teachers of the Law had introduced.  John makes this clear when he says, "The Law came through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).

So if you want to consider how hard it is to get to heaven, go to Moses. If you need to hear that the soul that sins shall die, go to Moses. If you do not yet know the curse that rests on anyone who attempts righteousness by keeping the law or attempting to be good enough, go to Moses. Notice along these lines that Paul tells us in Gal. 3:21 that if a law could have been given that would impart righteousness or give eternal life, it would have been the law of Moses. I repeat: If any law — any set of works of law — could have saved people, the Law of Moses would have.

On the other hand, were there indicators of grace under Moses? Certainly. The Passover Lamb. The high priest and priesthood in general. The animal offerings for sin. The Day of Atonement. The Mercy Seat. The sprinkled blood. The Year of Jubilee. The Manna. The Rock. The Great Cloud that guided and protected them. There are many indicators of grace.  So let me be clear: The gospel of Christ preached to Abraham that through Abraham's seed all the nations would be blessed (i.e., that the light of the gospel would come to them) does not go out of existence with the addition of the Law of Moses. It shines even in the Law of Moses. However, the main work of Moses in God's administration at that particular time with the people of Israel was the giving of the Ten Commandments. In time, that work taught everyone (both Jews and Gentiles) their sinfulness, their need for a Savior. This is why John says, "For the law came through Moses." It is also why Paul says in Romans 3: "Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin" (vss. 19-20).

This contrast then between Moses and Christ, that Moses stands for law and Christ for grace and truth, forever establishes the difference between a way of salvation that is by works and one that is by faith. Our sin in Adam is such that we cannot be good enough to be saved. We cannot even add something — however small or seemingly insignificant — of our good works to Christ to be saved. If we add works to Christ, we get works. Salvation is either a gift or a matter of wages. It cannot be both. The moment we entertain the notion that something has to be added to the finished work of Christ for salvation we lose that salvation altogether. Christ is an all or nothing Savior.

Paul spends the first seven chapters in his epistle to the Romans establishing that we cannot save ourselves through law. By the time he gets to the eighth chapter, however, he makes by the Holy Spirit this strong, unforgettable statement: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). But as he explains this, it gets even more wonderful. He says, "For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit" (Romans 8:3-4).  Paul says the same thing in Galatians 4:4-5: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." What is Paul saying? He is saying that because of sin we cannot please God by lawkeeping. We cannot make up for our sins, not even in part. We are doomed and damned and under the power of sin. That is our heritage in Adam. But Christ who was fully God and fully Man came to this earth, accepted not only human flesh but also the law of God under which all were identified as sinners. He delighted to keep the law of God. He had no sin. He did what the law required. But He did it all for us, as our representative. He gave to God what God had never received from a human: a perfect, sinless life. Not only that, though, He also stood in our place for judgment. God in His holiness and justice could not overlook or wink at our sin. He could not bypass our sin as if it didn't matter or was no big deal. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to the world. He gave Him to the world as the Lamb of God who died in the place of sinful humanity — the just for the unjust — to bring us to God. It is His blood, figuratively speaking, on the doorposts of our hearts and lives that allows God to pass over us in judgment. God quenched His wrath for sin by the death of His Son. Christ is the Passover Lamb. The law has been perfectly obeyed, perfectly satisfied, for everyone who is saved — through the substitutionary obedience and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That is why there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. God's wrath for sin in their case is already spent.

Who is being saved then? Those who are good enough? Who have obeyed some law well enough? Who have checked off the performance of some list of conditions? No. The ones who are saved or justified are in themselves ungodly sinners. Paul says, "To the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness" (Rom. 4:5). How can God do that? God only justifies righteous people. It is an abomination to God to declare the wicked righteous or the righteous wicked. God only gives a just sentence concerning every person. How then can God look at a sinner and declare him or her justified? He can do so, Paul says, because "God made him [Jesus Christ] who knew no sin to be sin [a sin offering for us] that we might become the righteousness of God." Again, Paul says, "It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Rom. 3:26).

There is indeed, therefore, a judgment going on in the salvation of God's people in Christ: "From the heavens you uttered judgment; the earth feared and was still, when God arose to establish judgment, to save all the humble of the earth" (Psalm 76:8-9). In earth's history, this judgment ultimately culminates and is exacted upon the Son of God for their sake. 

PART TWO: JUDGMENT BEGINS WITH THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD

Now if you are one of His own already, one who has put his faith in Jesus Christ and been baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, then the lights stay on for you. Heaven remains wide open for you day and night — 24/7. The throne of God's grace is open for you to boldly and confidently come to God for help in your time of need which is, by the way, always. You have Jesus Christ as your high priest. He is a man. He knows what it is to be tempted. He was tempted in every way we are and yet without sin. So look away from yourself — no matter how you feel, no matter how sinful you think you are, no matter how low you have gone. Look up to Him. Don't look within. Look without — outside yourself to Him. Outside yourself to that cross which — praise God — always remains outside ourselves as standing for the finished work of God for our salvation.

 Are you dead? He who is the resurrection and the life is here. Are you sick? The Healer is here. Are you in bondage? The Liberator is here. Are you a sinner? The Savior is here. You have no need that He cannot meet. Try him. Taste and see that the Lord is good!

            So when we consider a text like this one in 1 Peter 4:17-18, we must come to our  Savior, our High Priest, fix our eyes on Him, and ask Him to gently unlock those doors of understanding, especially those places where we find ourselves shut out from grace and shut in with the fear of condemnation. We know that perfect love casts out fear, as John says. At best, a legalistic interpretation of Scriptures like this will leave the heart with an apprehension that what God's Word says in other places about the certainty of salvation in Jesus Christ needs to be tempered or toned down some. Dear people of God, I urge you to understand that our precious Savior, Jesus Christ, wants to wash our minds and hearts of all such distortions of His grace. He wants us to have the full assurance of faith, the full assurance of the wonderful grace He brings to His people.

Now let us consider what a legalistic gospel framework does with a passage like 1 Peter 4:17-18.  See if it was not something like the following. We were taught that this judgment that begins first with the household of faith is one which means that if (and there is a strong emphasis on the "if") anyone is saved they are "scarcely" or "barely" saved.  They just barely squeeze into Heaven. The issue of whether or not they will or can be saved is not settled. It is up to them to settle it. God has done His part, they must do theirs. God gave the plan, it's their job to follow it. Now it is on their shoulders to do this, and those who know what I'm talking about know that this works-emphasis becomes a heavy, unbearable yoke. If they work hard enough, do enough right things, believe and practice enough right things, and constantly (even studiously) ask for forgiveness for everything (great or small) they can recognize as sin in their lives, then maybe they just might squeeze through Heaven's Gates.

Understood this way, 1 Peter 4:17-18 means (quite obviously) that if believers  barely have a chance of being saved, what chance to unbelievers have? Obviously, none. Why? Because unbelievers are not even trying. Under a legalistic view of the gospel, if believers don't try hard enough — work hard enough and do it right enough — they won't be saved. Of course, what "hard enough" and "right enough" actually means — how "hard" is "hard enough" or how "right" is "right enough"? — those under bondage to the law don't really know. And, it is quite possible that some Christians who may not even know they aren't trying hard enough (or doing it right enough) are going to hell. When one lives under the law (and after everything is said and done), this threat of going to hell is always looming over the heart as a very real possibility.

Under this false gospel, then, people wonder to themselves just how many are going to make it to Heaven. They start looking at one another. They may say to themselves as they look at others: "I don't know if I'm saved but I know you're not."  Or they may have someone they admire (as a very religious person who is religious in the right way) and think to themselves: "I don't know if I'm going to make it, but I know my mom is. If anyone gets in, she will." Or: "I don't know if I'm going to make it but if anyone does, someone like Gandhi or Mother Theresa certainly will."

All such ways of thinking are traceable to a lack of understanding of what the grace of God in Christ means. When there is such a legalistic understanding of being saved, again, unbelievers who obviously have done no works, believed no right doctrine, are of course, not saved. Now Scripture does teach that unbelievers are lost and bound for hell, but the reason they are so is not because they aren't doing works they need to do to be saved.  The reason they will not enter Heaven is because they have no Savior. It is because they have no place in their hearts for the Lamb of God. They choose themselves rather than Christ as their God and Savior.