What Does it Mean that Judgment Begins at the House of God?

Yesterday I heard from a pastor who is a long-time Escape to Reality reader. He asked me about a particular scripture, and I directed him to the relevant page on the Grace Commentary.

“What’s the Grace Commentary?” He’d never heard of it. Perhaps you have not heard of it either. If not, the Grace Commentary is the place to go when you come across tough scriptures like this:

It is time for judgment to begin with the household of God. (1 Peter 4:17)

This scripture is sometimes used to frighten Christians by portraying a twisted image of God:

“God purifies you with pain.” “God uses persecution to purge his church.” “God employs suffering to make you more like Christ.” “God disciplines us through trials.” “God is judging America/the Jews/the Palestinians/his church.”

Yuk. It’s dodgy teaching like this that motivated me to start the Grace Commentary.

Is God judging his house?

Read the verse in context, and you will see that Peter is not trying to frighten you at all. Not even when he says things like “it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved,” and “those also who suffer according to the will of God.”

Obviously we need to read all scripture in context, but if your context excludes the cross and the new covenant, you’ll end up with some screwy ideas about God.

Let’s take a closer look at this passage:

It is time for judgment to begin with the household of God. (1 Peter 4:17a)

Judgment, in this context, means persecution. Persecution against the church was increasing. The scattered believers had already experienced a measure of suffering (1 Pet. 2:19–20), but now the judgment, or condemnation, of Christians had become a fiery ordeal (1 Pet. 4:12).

At first, the New Testament church only had to deal with persecution from the religious Jews. But when Peter wrote his letter, the idol-worshipping Gentiles and the imperious Romans, who formerly had been agnostic about the gospel and indifferent to the rise of the church, had come to an unfavorable judgment. Along with the Jews, they began to condemn and persecute the church throughout the Roman world (e.g., Heb. 10:32–34, 1 Pet. 2:12).

These were scary times. The apostle Paul was dead, and in a year or two Peter himself would be crucified (see 2 Pet. 1:14). If you were a follower of Christ, martyrdom was a real prospect (Rev. 2:10). Persecution was frightening, but it was hardly the divine judgment of God.

What will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4:17b)

Those who reject the grace that is revealed in the gospel will ultimately be destroyed (see 2 Pet. 3:7).

Peter is not saying that we have to go through difficulties to prove ourselves righteous any more than he is saying God disciplines his church with punishment. He’s saying choices have consequences.

Let’s look at the next two verses:

And “If it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?” (1 Peter 4:18)

Being a Christian is no picnic when you are being persecuted for your faith. Yet it is better to suffer briefly as a believer than be lost forever as an unbeliever. (The quote comes from Proverbs 11:31 as it appears in the Septuagint or the Greek Old Testament.)

Who are “the righteous”? It is those who have been made right with God by receiving, through faith, the free gift of Christ’s righteousness.

And who are “the godless”? The godless or ungodly are those who have nothing but contempt for the things of God.

Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. (1 Peter 4:19)

“Those who suffer” are persecuted Christians. To “suffer according to the will of God” is to be persecuted because you are in the will of God (because you have put your faith in Christ). It is not God’s will for you to be mistreated, but persecution happens (2 Tim. 3:12).

The wrong way to read this verse (and 1 Pet. 3:17) is, “Sometimes it is God’s will for you to suffer.” That is not what Peter is saying. The context is persecution (1 Pet. 4:13–14). “If anyone suffers as a Christian” (1 Pet. 4:16). Why would God want you to be persecuted for trusting in him?

Persecution is bad news. But the good news is that God is “a faithful Creator.” You can trust him with your life because he will never leave you, never let you down, and never disappoint you. His promises are unbreakable and his love never fails.

Now the last bit:

…doing what is right. (1 Peter 4:19b)

Right believing leads to right living. When your heart is settled in the faithfulness of God, you will live righteously without any conscious effort. The Righteous One will fill your heart with his righteous desires and he will bear his righteous fruit in your life.

Peter never threatens the church and he never portrays God as anything other than your loving Father (e.g., 1 Pet. 1:2, 14, 17, 5:7). And as for this idea that God trains us through pain and suffering – Peter would have been horrified to find his words so badly twisted.

Peter proclaimed a God of all grace (1 Pet. 5:10) who gives grace to all who ask for it (1 Pet. 5:5). Because the manifold grace of God meets your every need (1 Pet. 4:10), Peter prayed that God’s grace would abound in your life (1 Pet. 1:2, 2 Pet. 1:2).

You can reject any teaching that diminishes the grace of God or portrays him as harsh and punitive. Peter, who spent years with Jesus, did not know this false god and neither should you.

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