May 2022
“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” 1 Peter 4:18 NIV
“And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” 1 Peter 4:18 KJV
This is a critically important passage of scripture because most American churches teach something vastly different from this truth. We will consider this passage in light of many false interpretations. Peter clearly says that the righteous are barely saved. If that is true, what happens to those who profess Christ but are still not righteous? They claim to follow Christ but are ungodly sinners at the same time. Is Peter suggesting that it is impossible for them to be saved because the righteous are barely saved?
Do you really believe the Bible is the Word of God? Most professing Christians say they do, but they really don’t. This article will bear that out. There are so many examples of this sad fact that it probably doesn’t need proof, but I will provide some.
Francis Bacon once said, “Men prefer to believe what men prefer to be true.[1] Men and women believe things that they want to be true even when those things are not true. We often pick and choose those truths we find comfortable and reject those truths that make us uncomfortable. Too many so-called Christians deceive themselves into believing what they want to be true. They look for ways to justify their sins.
For example, the Biblical case against the practice of fornication, adultery, and homosexuality is historic, obvious, and very compelling. Both the Old and New Testaments condemn these selfish and wicked practices. Yet many Christians do not want to accept the truth of the Bible, so they justify their sins with excuses and new interpretations of the Word of God. They want the Bible to approve of “loving” relationships outside the context of a heterosexual and monogamous relationship. No doubt, these unbiblical relationships are based on intense feelings of affection and strong attractions. However, that doesn’t make these illicit relationships good, holy, and acceptable in God’s sight. These sinners have deceived themselves by reinterpreting (rewriting) the Word of God so that it supports what they want to be true, not what God says is true. Many years ago, I did the same exact thing to justify my sins. In the final analysis, very few professing Christians really do believe all the Bible is the very Word of God.
Another example that testifies to the fact that many Christians do not believe the Bible as written. They undermine the authority and credibility of the Word of God by their “creative” interpretations. Take, for example, the subject of evolution. A vast number of theologians and ministers are all too willing to rewrite the Word of God to accommodate what they believe is science. Ideas such as theistic evolution, the day age theory, progressive creationism, the gap theory, and more are all attempts to make scripture say what these blind guides want it to say. They want to be seen as reasonable and rational intellectuals who accept the findings of science, even if that means they must abandon the plain teaching of the Bible. What they fail to realize is that science is ever changing as it relates to this subject and many others. So-called evolutionary science is not observational science at all. Much can be said on this subject, but my point is that ministers have contributed to the erosion of trust in the credibility and authority of the Bible. They do this by their capitulation to speculative “science” (some call it historical science, not based on observation or experimentation). There is no reason to do so, as macroevolution is an unprovable theory, and Biblical creation has much to support it scientifically. Francis Bacon was correct. Men tend to believe what they prefer to be true, and they will often create a justification or rationalization to support their beliefs.
Adolph Hitler, the Nazi leader who killed millions of Jews, once said that people will sooner believe big lies than small lies. He is also credited with saying that if you repeat a lie long enough, and loud enough, and often enough, people will believe it. He was right. Look at how many people now believe that homosexual marriage is no different morally than heterosexual marriage. And look at how many more people see no moral problem with homosexuality, even though the Bible could not be any clearer that it is sinful. Hitler was a big proponent of the theory of macroevolution. That allowed him and others to say that the Jews were not the same as his race. Therefore, the Jews and other inferior races were not fully human. Consequently, this lie justified their killing and stealing from millions of Jews. They are property and not human beings. All over the world, people justified slavery, murder, and racism based on the theory of evolution. Today, many people believe in some form of macroevolution. Tell a big lie often enough, loud enough, and long enough, and people will believe it. Many practicing scientists do not accept the theory of macroevolution and have excellent scientific reasons for rejecting it. Christians have great reasons for accepting the Biblical account of creation. The Word of God should be trusted. Anything less is the sin of unbelief. As we proceed with a discussion of this book of First Peter, please keep in mind that any text taken out of context will become a pretext (a lie, error, or falsehood). I will provide context.
Chapter one
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, is addressing the elect according to the foreknowledge of God and the sanctification of the Spirit, unto their obedience of faith. Note well that the sanctification being talked about has the objective of bringing the hearers into obedience. Peter is writing to those who consider themselves believers in Jesus Christ. It is not written to unbelievers.
Verses 14 and 15, “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.” What is holiness? It is the obedience of the faith that has put away disobedience according to our former lusts. We are commanded to be holy in reality. A fictional imputed holiness is clearly not indicated here or elsewhere in this book.
“And if ye call on the Father who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear” verse 17. Notice that Peter is telling us that God will judge us impartially, not based on race, income level, where we live, gender, and not on what we say, but on what we do and why we do it. In other words, our works and our motives will condemn or justify us. It will not be based on our opinions, desires, or empty rhetoric. Knowing this is true, pass your time on earth in fear. The warning is real and important. There is no thought in this passage that the warning is about the loss of rewards or recognition in heaven, as many would tell you. The warning, as the book will repeatedly confirm, is about the loss of salvation.
“Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” 1 Peter 1:22,23.
Peter states emphatically that we are born again by the word of God and that word lives and abides forever. If only every Christian actually believed that was true. For all those who think they can “correct or disregard” the word of God, this verse was written. How does one purify their soul? According to Peter, they must obey the truth. Loving obedience to God, who is truth, cleanses us from sin. That cleansing is from the commission of sin and the condemnation of sin. We are not born again by experience, baptism, communion, tradition, or rituals, but by believing and obeying the word of God. Is that not what the apostle is saying?
Chapter 2
We are instructed to lay aside sin, and as new-born babes, we are to desire “the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” Sin is lawlessness or disobedience. It is to be laid aside.
“Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,” verse 7 of Chapter 2. Please notice that Peter says to those who “believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient,” the stone they rejected is the chief cornerstone. Believing means obedience, according to Peter. That is critical to understand because the Christian world very often separates belief and obedience, which is a fatal error. To suggest that we can be disobedient believers is a contradiction in terms. Born-again believers are those who obey the truth. Faith without obedience is not saving faith. The apostle James declares that faith without works is dead.
Verse 11 says, “abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” Obviously, Peter believes we have the ability to do this, that we can abstain from sinful works. Many teachers in the Christian church don’t think we have the ability to obey God. That applies most certainly prior to being born again, but for all practical purposes, it also applies after conversion. Peter clearly suggests to his readers that this is not only possible but very practical and must be done.
“For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by his stripes ye were healed.” Chapter 2:21-24
We are told to “follow his steps: Who did no sin.” What was Peter thinking? He couldn’t be serious, could he? Did Peter not know that Christian’s sin every day in thought, word, and deed? This false doctrine (that believers’ sin in thought, word, and deed every day) is in the statement of faith in some of our Christian churches today. These churches tell us that Christians must never expect to stop sinning, even with the grace of God. How pathetic is that? Peter also tells us that since we “being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by his stripes we were healed.” The unbelief that is being taught and believed in our Christian churches is hard to imagine. These false teachers tell us that we are not ‘dead to sin’ and that we will never consistently live a righteous life because sin continues to be our master, even if we are born again. Peter says that sin is no longer the rule or master in your born-again life, but the exception. Righteousness is the rule in the life of one truly born again. It is irrational and contradictory to think that we are dead to sin and alive to sin at the exact moment. One is true, and one is not. There is no hint in this passage that our standing before God is righteous while our state is unrighteous. That is the erroneous definition of imputed righteousness believed by many today. Our standing or position and our state or practice are the same.
Do you believe in divine healing? Peter says that by His stripes we are healed. Not that we might be healed some day or that we hope to be healed in the future, but that we are healed right now. This is the best of all divine healing, for it is the healing of our nature so that we live to righteousness and not in sin. This is Divine healing at its best. (Yes, I believe that God physically heals people as well.)
Chapter 3
“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” Verse 12.
Peter again refers to the righteous (those who live a righteous and virtuous life) and the Lord’s support for them. He watches over them with His eyes. With His ears, He is listening to their prayers. That is not the case for “them that do evil.” The face of the Lord is against them. Both his eyes and ears are against evildoers. The Lord is against those who do evil. Judgment begins in the house of the Lord first. God doesn’t separate the sheep from the goats based on anything else than their works. Faith without works is dead.
Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech looked forward to the day when men and women would be judged on the content of their character and not the color of their skin. The judgment day is coming for each of us; MLK’s dream will be realized. God will judge us on the content of our character. Our faith in Christ must bear better fruit in our works, or it will not save us.
Chapter 4
Verses 15-17 tell us that none of us should suffer as a murderer or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. In verse 17, Peter states that the time has come for judgment, and it must begin in the house of God first. Therefore, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God and have not purified their souls?
“And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” verse 18.
This verse states that the ungodly and sinners can’t be saved. It’s impossible. The salvation of the righteous is very difficult, but not impossible. Is that really what Peter is saying to us? The righteous that Peter refers to are not those who have never sinned in their entire life. We know with absolute certainty that Jesus Christ, a real man in every sense of the word, never sinned in his entire life. Jesus did not need a savior from sin because He did not sin. Those who have never sinned do not need to be saved, as they are not lost. But the rest of us have sinned. We need a savior from sin, not in sin.
The problem lies with those who have been forgiven of past sins, who have been born again, but continue to live in sin. To these souls, salvation is impossible. These are the ones Peter is addressing. There is not one place in all of Scripture that addresses born-again persons as sinners in the present tense. They were sinners, but now are saints of God, who have ceased from the practice of sin. But to those who have not ceased from the practice of sin, Peter has written this book. In 1 Corinthians 6:9,10, the word explicitly says, “and such were some of you”. They no longer practice the sins mentioned in verse 9. The verse doesn’t say “such are some of you”. We are back to my opening comments. How few “Christians” actually believe the Bible.
Why is the salvation of sinners and the ungodly impossible?
- The person who continues to sin habitually has not met a critical condition of salvation, which is to repent of sin and become holy. We can’t be saved from hell until we are saved from sin, the practice of sin. Romans Chapter 6 tells us that the wages of sin are death, and that is not a reference to physical death.
- The peace of heaven precludes that sinners enter into heaven, for they would undermine the holiness, bliss, and peace of heaven by their continued lawlessness.
- The sinner would not fit in. They would not be happy or content in heaven, where righteousness and holiness pervade everything.
- The justice of God requires that those who refuse to forsake their sins shall not enter into heaven to continue to work their mischief and sin, as they did on earth. In heaven, God will not allow sinners to tempt His children to sin against Him.
Final thoughts
Do not believe the lie that death is your savior from sin. Many Christians mistakenly think that they will sin habitually all the days of their life, but when they finally die, death will separate them from their sin. Death is their savior. You will not be born again when you die; that must take place before you die physically. How many Christians believe that God will magically change them and give them a new heart when they die, but not now? They presume on the grace of God. They disregard His plan, which is to give them a new heart now and not when they die. They think that they will live in sin all their life and then, when they die, they will no longer sin. They must think that they will become robots in heaven, with no free will. If that is true, who in heaven’s name wants to go there?
In Chapter 5 of this book, verse 12, Peter has written, “that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.” We hear a great deal about the grace of God these days, and we should. We are saved by grace through faith, and that is not of ourselves; it is the gift of God. Everyone who has ever sinned needs the grace of God to be saved. All boasting is thereby eliminated by grace.
But the grace of God that is being taught by religious men these days is simply a pathetic distortion of the true grace of God. God’s grace always produces godliness and righteousness in us. See the book of Titus, chapter 2. Far too many Christians believe, that the grace of God is a get out of jail free card. They believe that the grace of God is God taking them to heaven even if they never repent of any sins at all. They think the grace of God is a license to sin without damnation. This deception will send many nominal Christians to perdition. I come back to this quote by Francis Bacon, “Men prefer to believe what they prefer to be true.” People believe not what is true, but what they want to be true. What a terrible tragedy that so few professing Christians actually believe the word of God.
I have provided the context for the above interpretation of verse 18 in chapter four. Judge for yourself if I have correctly interpreted the verse. Only the truth will set us free and give us new life in Jesus Christ. May all of us have ears to hear and eyes to see what the Spirit of God is saying through his servant, the apostle Peter. What a great message from Peter to us. Praise God.
[1] Francis Bacon was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and as Lord Chancellor of England. His works are credited with the development of the scientific method and remained influential through the scientific revolution. He lived from 1561 to 1626.
