First Peter 1:17 says, “And if you call upon as Father the One who without respect of persons judges according to each one’s work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear.” Peter “is not speaking of the final judgment of the soul. In that sense ‘the Father does not judge anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son’ (John 5:22). The thing spoken of here is the daily judgment of God’s government in this world, exercised with regard to His children. Accordingly it says, ‘the time of your sojourning’ here” (Darby). This is God’s judgment on His own household (1 Pet. 4:17).
Since these two Epistles are concerned with the government of God, the judgment of God and of the Lord is referred to repeatedly (2:23; 4:5-6, 17; 2 Pet. 2:3-4, 9; 3:7), as one of the essential items. It began from the angels (2 Pet. 2:3-4), and passed through the generations of man in the Old Testament (2 Pet. 2:5-9). Then in the New Testament age it begins from the house of God (1:17, 4:6, 17) and continues 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 perish (1 Pet. 4:5; 2 Pet. 3:7), and the heavens and the earth will be burned up (2 Pet. 3:10b, 12). The results of the varied judgments are not the same. Some judgments result in a disciplinary dealing, some in a dispensational punishment, and some in eternal perdition. However, by all these judgments the Lord God will clear up and purify the entire universe, that He may have a new heaven and a new earth for a new universe filled with His righteousness (2 Pet. 3:13) for His delight.
The fear spoken of in 1:17 is a holy fear, as in Philippians 2:12. It is a healthy, serious caution for us to behave holily. Such fear is mentioned a number of times in this book (2:17, 18; 3:2, 15) because its teaching concerns the government of God.
We need to be impressed by the fact that God’s government differs in dispensation. There are different judgments for different cases, and these judgments have different results. It is important for us to realize that, in Darby’s words, the judgment in 1:17 is not “the final judgment of the soul.” As John 5:22 reveals, that judgment has been given to the Son. What we have in 1:17 is the daily judgment of God’s government in the world, a judgment that is exercised with regard to His children. This is not the final judgment at the white throne, but the daily judgment of God in the world. The daily judgment of God is not exercised upon fallen sinners; instead, it is exercised upon God’s children.
Those who oppose this teaching from the Word may say, “How is it possible for us, God’s children in grace, to be judged by God? God is our Father, and He loves us and gives us grace. How could He do something to judge us?” Because the truth of God’s judgment is opposed in this way, I am burdened that we all grasp the pure thought regarding it in the Bible. Today all of us are under God’s judgment. God is not only gracing us, giving us grace. He is also judging us. This is the reason we have many sufferings. We have sufferings because God is judging us. On the one hand, God is gracing us to live a life that suits His righteousness under His government. On the other hand, He judges anything that does not match His government. Therefore, in this age we the believers are under the daily judgment of God.
Darby points out that because the judgment in 1:17 is the daily judgment of God’s government exercised with regard to His children, this verse speaks of passing the time of our sojourning in fear. This kind of judgment is exercised upon us, the children of God, while we are passing the time of our sojourning on earth. Therefore, this judgment is not in the future; it is a judgment that we experience today. The Lord’s word in John 5:22 refers to eternal judgment, to the judgment of unbelievers at the white throne. But the judgment here is the present judgment of God upon His children, not on unbelievers.
In the Old Testament God judged the fallen angels, He judged the earth at the time of Noah, and He judged the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He also judged the children of Israel in the wilderness. We have seen that in the New Testament God’s judgment begins from the house of God. This means that God’s judgment begins with us, that is, with the church including all the saints. God’s governmental judgment has already begun. It was being carried out even during the time of the apostles. This judgment will continue until the coming of the day of the Lord.
The day of the Lord is mentioned both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. According to the Bible, the day of the Lord will be a day of judgment, not a day of saving. The whole world has gone away from God. Gradually the Lord has been carrying out His judgment. But a day of His final judgment will come. At that day God will judge everyone. Three categories of people are included in God’s judgment: the Jews, the church people, and the worldly people. God’s judgment has been carried out for thousands of years, and it will continue to be carried out until the final judgment as the day of the Lord. Eventually, God will judge each of the three categories of people. He will judge the Jews, all the Christians, and then all the unbelievers. Do not think that because you are a Christian you will escape the judgment of God. Concerning God’s judgment, there is no escape. The day of the Lord will be a day of judgment before the millennium on the Jews, the believers, and the Gentiles.
After the millennium, all the dead, including men and demons, will be judged at the white throne. That will be the final judgment for eternal perdition. After that judgment has been carried out, the heavens and the earth will be burned up and the new heaven and the new earth will appear.