This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
1 Peter 4:18
18 And [kai] if [ei] the righteous [dikaios] scarcely [molis] be saved [sozo], where [pou] shall [phaino] the ungodly [asebes] and [kai] the sinner [hamartolos] appear [phaino]? KJV-Interlinear
18 And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner? NASB
Peter is quoting from Proverbs 11.
Prov. 11:31
31 If the righteous will be rewarded in the earth, How much more the wicked and the sinner! NASB
The reward from this earth (sin), is punishment.
It is not without tremendous difficulty that God is able to bring a person from spiritual death to spiritual completeness.
In every step of the way, a person has to want what God has to offer. From the initial desire to even know about God, to the actual listening of the gospel, to the belief in Christ, to the perseverance of a daily study, to learning, to application of doctrine to ones life, to adopting Gods mandates, to avoiding indifference or compromise, to overcoming prior beliefs and habits, to actually advancing all of the way to maturity, to avoiding not falling off the spiritual path because of life's pressures, and all this has to be continued after salvation for the entirety of ones life.
When a person falls, he is disciplined. He has to get up. He has to keep from becoming discouraged. He has to keep from becoming afraid. He has to keep from being overcome by anxiety. He has to have faith, which is the toughest component of ones life. How do you separate faith out from the day to day common sense actions you should take?
And the answer to that one is really simple. Bible study gives you faith, and faith gives you common sense to do the things you need to do in your daily situations. You do what you need to do in life and trust that God is a few steps ahead of you, leading the way.
But remember that your hoped for outcome may not occur, but later on, in hindsight, you will be able to see and understand how God has positioned things for you, in order to get you into a better situation, even though you did not get what you thought you wanted.
You’ll have to look in the mirror to figure out your own personal life, and what it has all meant.
So salvation, spiritual growth, the spiritual life, all for this comes to you not without great difficulty.
How so for the spiritually negative believer or the unbeliever? They neither seek nor desire to advance in a relationship with God. Less so the unbeliever. All the negative person wants is to have their pleasures fulfilled.
God goes to a tremendous amount of effort to get the positive believer launched into his spiritual life, and with that success, comes great reward.
The negative believer, the unbeliever, who do not pursue their spiritual lives, can expect what kind of reward? Zip!
God goes to a great deal of punishment in order to keep the positive believer on track. How much more punishment will the negative or unbeliever receive? Much more.
God does not hold back discipline from those who are positive toward Him. How much more so will he not withhold punishment from those who are negative?
And the answer to all of these questions is simply that the negative believer, the unbeliever, will all receive phenomenal disciplines and judgments in due course. No one escapes.
Looking at the wicked of the world as they prosper, and finding envy within yourself, means that you need to look past their prosperity and look to their ultimate end. What they have is zero, even if they are filthy rich, because their life will end up in total misery, loss, failure and worse.
Sure you want life to be easier now, but this is the devils world. Why would you expect him to give you anything?
God is your ultimate provider, not the world, and God knows your life, God knows your plan (His plan for you), and God knows every little detail of your life along with everyone else's. Satan and the world, do not.
Keep your eyes on doctrine, not on the world, not on circumstances. Keep thinking and considering your options, and follow your heart. God will be there ahead of you, even if you screw up.
