In verse 18 Peter goes on to say, “And if the righteous is saved with difficulty, where will the ungodly and sinner appear?” Here “the righteous” refers to the believers, who became righteous by being justified through their faith in Christ (Rom. 5:1) and by living a righteous life in Christ (Phil. 3:9; 2 Cor. 5:21; Rev. 19:8).
The correct translation of verse 18 should say “saved with difficulty.” The King James Version has the rendering “scarcely be saved.” That translation is not correct, and it actually changes the meaning. What does it mean to be scarcely saved? The Greek really means saved with difficulty. The difficulty refers to persecution, suffering, and, mainly, to God’s discipline. God saved His chosen pilgrims with difficulty through much discipline and through many judgments, sufferings, and persecutions.
If God’s children, the members of His own household, are saved with difficulty, do you think that those Jews who do not believe but who disobey God’s gospel will escape God’s judgment? Certainly they will not escape. If God’s chosen pilgrims are disciplined by God and judged by Him, how much more will the ungodly be judged? We may apply verse 18 in a general way to all sinners and ungodly people. But according to Peter’s concept, this verse applied particularly to the unbelieving Jews. If the believing Jews, to whom this Epistle was written, are saved with difficulty, that is, through God’s dispensational discipline and punishment, how much more will the unbelieving Jews, those who disobey the gospel of God, suffer? Certainly God will judge the ungodly much more severely than the believers. Where will the ungodly and sinners appear when God judges them?
In verse 18 “saved” does not mean saved from eternal perdition through the Lord’s death, but saved from the coming destruction (1 Thes. 5:3, 8) through the trials of persecution as God’s disciplinary judgment. The believer, who has been disciplined by God through the sufferings of persecution to purify his life, is saved with the difficulty of persecution from the destruction of God’s wrath toward the world, especially toward the unbelieving Jews, with the coming destruction of Jerusalem in view.
Among the early apostles there was a strong belief that the Lord Jesus would come back soon to judge the unbelieving sinners, who are ungodly and disobey His gospel (2 Thes. 1:6-9). Peter’s word here should refer to this. In God’s government, if the righteous, who has obeyed His gospel and lives a righteous life before Him, is saved with difficulty, suffering persecution as the means of His disciplinary punishment to purify his life, where will the ungodly, who disobeys His gospel and lives a sinful life against His government, stand when the destruction of His wrath comes?
We may regard the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost and the Lord’s coming back as two great mountain peaks seen by the apostles. On the day of Pentecost, when God poured out His Spirit for salvation, the Lord opened the door for all sinners to be saved. First, the door was opened for the Jews and then, for the Gentiles. Expecting the Lord Jesus to come back soon, the apostles did not realize clearly that there was a gap between the “peak” of Pentecost and the second peak of the Lord’s coming back. If we read Paul’s writings, we shall see that he also expected the Lord Jesus to come back soon. The gap between Pentecost and the Lord’s coming was not made clear to the early apostles. When they asked the Lord Jesus about the time of His coming, He told them that this was something known only by the Father (Acts 1:6-7). The Father kept this matter as a secret within Him. Therefore, not even the Lord Jesus was free to reveal this to the disciples. As we have pointed out, the apostles could see only the two peaks.
Perhaps you have had the experience of seeing two mountain peaks from a distance. You did not realize at first that between these two peaks there was actually a large gap. It seemed that the two mountain peaks were next to each other. Later you may have realized that these two mountain peaks were not in the same mountain range. I would use this as an illustration of the gap between the day of Pentecost and the day of the Lord’s coming back.
Before the Lord Jesus died, He predicted the destruction of Jerusalem. When the disciples spoke to Him concerning the buildings of the temple, He answered, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, A stone shall by no means be left upon a stone which shall not be thrown down” (Matt. 24:2). Moreover, in Luke 21:20 He said, “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that her desolation has drawn near.” The Lord was saying that Jerusalem would be destroyed, a prophecy that was fulfilled in A.D. 70 when Titus, the prince of the Roman Empire, led an army to destroy the city of Jerusalem. I believe that as Peter was writing this book, he had in mind the Lord’s prophecy regarding the destruction of Jerusalem. Therefore, Peter seemed to be saying, “All the Jews need to be careful. God is judging, exercising His governmental administration. We know that in not too long a time the city of Jerusalem will be destroyed, and God will judge the unbelievers.” Because Peter had this thought, he could say to the believing Jews, who were suffering persecution as a disciplinary punishment from God, that they would be saved from the coming destruction. Then he goes on to ask where the disobedient Jews will be when that destruction comes.
In verse 19 Peter concludes by saying, “Wherefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in welldoing to a faithful Creator.” The will of God here is that He wants us to suffer for Christ’s sake and has appointed us to this (3:17; 2:15; 1 Thes. 3:3).
Literally “commit” here means to give in charge as a deposit, as in Luke 12:48; Acts 20:32; 1 Timothy 1:18; and 2 Timothy 2:2. When the believers suffer persecution in their body, especially as in martyrdom, they should commit their souls as a deposit to God, the faithful Creator, as the Lord did with His spirit to the Father (Luke 23:46). The persecution could damage only the body of the suffering believers, not their souls (Matt. 10:28). Their souls are kept by the Lord as the faithful Creator. They should cooperate with the Lord by their faithful commitment.
According to verse 19, the believers should commit their souls in welldoing to the faithful Creator. The word “welldoing” indicates doing right, good, and noble deeds.
The Creator in verse 19 does not refer to the Creator of the new creation in the new birth, but to the Creator of the old creation. Persecution is a suffering in the old creation. God as our Creator can preserve our soul, which He created for us. He has even numbered our hairs (Matt. 10:30). He is loving and faithful. His loving and faithful care (1 Pet. 5:7) accompanies His justice in His governmental administration. While He is judging us, as His household, in His government, in His love He cares for us faithfully. In suffering His just disciplinary judgment in our body, we should commit our souls to His faithful care.