Now “If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Peter 4:18).
If the righteous will be recompensed on the earth, How much more the ungodly and the sinner (Prov 11:31).
Tom Schreiner, a leading Calvinist NT scholar, makes this comment on 1 Pet 4:18:
The word molis can mean “scarcely” (Rom 5:7) or “with difficulty” (Acts 14:18; 27:7–8, 16), but context here favors the latter.i Peter was not saying that the righteous are scarcely saved, as if they were almost consigned to destruction and were just pulled from the flames. What he meant was that the righteous are saved “with difficulty.” The difficulty envisioned is the suffering believers must endure in order to be saved. God saves his people by refining and purifying them through suffering. It is implied here that salvation is eschatological, a gift that believers will receive after enduring suffering (cf. 1:5, 9). If the godly are saved through the purification of suffering, then the judgment of the “ungodly and sinner” must be horrific indeed. The verb “will become” (phaneitai) refers to the eschatological judgment of unbelievers. Peter wrote this to motivate believers to endure in suffering, and we have seen a similar argument in 4:3–6. Suffering may be difficult now, but by participating in the pain of following Christ believers escape the condemnation coming upon the wicked (1, 2 Peter, Jude, pp. 228-29, underlining added).
That is not the Calvinism I learned at Dallas Theological Seminary. The Calvinism of the late seventies and early eighties taught that salvation from eternal condemnation was by faith alone, apart from works. It added, of course, that what they called truth faith necessarily resulted in perseverance in faith and good works until death. Hence, if a believer failed to persevere, if he fell away from Christ during suffering, then he proved he was a false professor and that he was never saved in the first place.
The new Calvinists teach that one is initially saved by faith in Christ, apart from works. But to gain what they call final salvation or eschatological salvation, the believer must persevere in faith and good works throughout all the suffering the disciple of Christ receives.
Dr. Schreiner is very clear in his comments. If a believer does not endure suffering for Christ, then he will be eternally condemned. Enduring suffering is a condition of what he calls eschatological salvation.
That interpretation contradicts over a hundred verses in the Bible (e.g., John 3:16; 5:24; 6:35, 47; 11:25-27; Acts 16:30-31; Rom 4:1-5; Gal 2:16; Eph 2:8-9; Rev 22:17). That can’t be what Peter meant.
But what, then, did Peter mean?
The answer is simple. The word save in 1 Peter does not refer to salvation from eternal condemnation. It refers to being saved from temporal judgment in this life and to being chosen to rule and reign with Christ in the life to come.
Peter is quoting Prov 11:31 from the Greek OT (the LXX), which differs from what the Hebrew text means. See the NKJV translation of 1 Pet 4:18 above.
Hodges comments on 1 Pet 4:18:
4:18. The statement of v 18 is from the LXX version of Prov 11:31. Once again the concepts of salvation and soul are brought into proximity (cf. v 19). It is with difficulty (molis) and suffering that the righteous realize the salvation of their souls (or lives). The soul of sinners is, by inference, swept away in judgment. They have no standing or claim when they appear (pou phaneitai) before God (1 & 2 Peter and Jude, p. 59).
Raymer, though not quite as clearly,ii takes the same view:
The vicissitudes of life are a part of God’s constant care, yet from a human perspective discipline is always “hard.” Peter is not teaching that salvation is earned through personal trials or works, but simply that those who are saved are not exempt from temporal disciplinary judgments which are the natural consequences of sin. The writer of Hebrews also supports Peter: “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons” (Heb. 12:7) (“1 Peter” in BKC, p. 855).
We are not born again with difficulty. The new birth is the gift of God and is not of works (John 4:10; Eph 2:8-9). However, we are saved from temporal judgment and for fullness of life in the kingdom with difficulty. Peter’s first epistle is all about the suffering that faithful disciples of Christ must endure in order to save their lives.
It is a terrible mistake to understand “the righteous” as believers and “the ungodly and the sinner” as unbelievers. In both the OT and NT, especially in wisdom literature such as Proverbs, “the righteous” are those who are living righteously, and “the ungodly” are those who are not. ‘The ungodly” includes believers who have strayed. “The righteous” could even include unbelievers who are living righteously (e.g., Cornelius is called devout in Acts 10:2, when he was still an unbeliever; cf. Acts 11:14).
Though appearing to hold the view that believers must suffer in order to get into the coming kingdom, Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown rightly see a connection with the abundant entrance to the kingdom referred to in 2 Pet 1:11: “The righteous man has always more or less of trial, but the issue is certain, and the entrance into the kingdom abundant at last” (Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 2, p. 512).
Hodges makes this excellent comment on 2 Pet 1:11 that applies to 1 Pet 4:18 as well:
Salvation from hell is not in view. Heavenly reward is the real theme. The holy and fruitful lifestyle of vv 3-8 can be a demonstration—a verification—that an individual Christian has not only been “called,” but actually “chosen,” for great reward in God’s future kingdom. As he or she diligently pursues this pathway, doing the things that Peter has enjoined, he will be able to avoid any serious spiritual fall (you will never stumble). Thus his pathway can climax in a rich entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Everlasting wealth, or treasure, can be his in an everlasting kingdom (1 & 2 Peter and Jude, pp, 83-84).
Hodges’s suggestion that the end of 1 Pet 4:18 to appearing before God refers to having a standing or a claim before God refers to both the Judgment Seat of Christ (the Bema) and the Great White Throne Judgment (the GTWJ). Ungodly believers will shrink back in shame before Christ at the Bema (1 John 2:28), though they will get into the kingdom because, during their lifetimes, they believed in Him for everlasting life. Unbelievers, on the other hand, will shrink back before Christ at the GWTJ (cf. Matt 7:21-23).
Keep grace in focus and you won’t understand any passage as teaching that we must persevere in faith and good works in order to keep or gain everlasting life.
