If we would understand what Peter says concerning judgment in verse 6, we need to have a full view of the entire Epistle. The whole book of 1 Peter is on God’s government, and God’s government is carried out mainly by His judgment. God’s judgment began from the rebellious angels (2 Pet. 2:3-4) in Genesis 6. Then it passed through the generations of man in the Old Testament (2 Pet. 2:5-9). For example, God’s judgment was exercised upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The judgment of God was also exercised a number of times upon the children of Israel in the wilderness. Nearly two million Israelites died in the wilderness under God’s judgment. In a sense, even Moses died under God’s judgment. Aaron, Miriam, and Moses all died under the judgment of God, for they all had done certain things that were wrong, against God’s government. It is a serious matter that even a man of God like Moses could die under God’s judgment. The two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, were judged by God and died (Lev. 10:1-2). Furthermore, in one day more than twenty thousand Israelites were slain because of God’s judgment. Eventually, of all those who came out of Egypt at the time of the exodus, only two persons, Joshua and Caleb, entered into the good land. Because they had been faithful throughout the journey, they did not come under judgment but rather were allowed to enter into the land of Canaan. But all the others, those who experienced the Passover, drank of the living water from the cleft rock, witnessed the miracles of God, and ate manna, became disobedient and died under God’s judgment. Even a small degree of disobedience shown by Moses caused him to suffer God’s judgment. All these instances should cause us to realize how serious God’s judgment is.
In the New Testament age God’s judgment begins from the house of God (1 Pet. 1:17; 4:17) and will continue until the coming of the day of the Lord (2 Pet. 3:10), which will be a day of judgment on the Jews, the believers, and the Gentiles before the millennium. After the millennium, all the dead, including men and demons, will be judged and will perish (1 Pet. 4:5; 2 Pet. 3:7), and the heavens and the earth will be burned up (2 Pet. 3:10, 12).
Many Christians hold the concept that to be judged by God is to suffer eternal perdition. This is a traditional understanding of God’s judgment. Actually, in the Bible there are varied judgments, and the results of these different judgments are not the same. Some judgments result in a disciplinary dealing, some in a dispensational punishment, and some in eternal perdition. By all these judgments the Lord God will clear up the entire universe and purify it so that He may have a new heaven and new earth for a new universe filled with His righteousness (2 Pet. 3:13) for His delight.
According to 4:6, even persecution is regarded as a part of God’s judgment. Verses 14 through 17 of this chapter indicate that persecution is the beginning of God’s judgment. In verses 15 and 16 Peter says that we should not suffer as wrongdoers or as those who meddle into others’ affairs. Instead, we should suffer as Christians. Then in verse 17 he goes on to say that it is time for the judgment to begin from the house of God. This indicates that, according to Peter’s understanding, even the persecution suffered by the believers was God’s judgment.
Not many Christians realize that the persecutions suffered by the believers may be God’s judgment upon them. I did not have this understanding of verse 6 until my recent study of this Epistle. As a result of my study, I came to see that the judgment spoken of in verse 6 refers to the persecutions assigned by God to His chosen people. In order to keep us from sin or cause us to cease from indulging in our lusts, God may assign a certain kind of persecution to us. This assignment of persecution is God’s governmental judgment; it is His judgment in His dispensational discipline. Therefore, persecution may be a dispensational discipline exercised by God over His chosen people. The judgment in verse 6 definitely is not a judgment related to eternal perdition, to eternal condemnation, but rather a dispensational discipline.
We have seen that God’s governmental dealing is exercised through different kinds of judgment. He judged the rebellious angels, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the children of Israel in the wilderness. God also judges the New Testament saints. Persecution may come to believers because they are wrong in certain things. God may use persecution as a dispensational discipline. This dispensational discipline is God’s governmental judgment exercised upon us to perfect us. The purpose of this judgment is that we may live according to God in the spirit.