First Peter 4:5 says, speaking of unbelievers, “Who shall render an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” The relative pronoun “who” here refers to the nations (4:3), who are astonished at the believers’ different manner of life and speak evil of them (4:4). They have to render an account by relating to the Lord all that they have done and spoken in their entire life. This word concerning the nations rendering an account to the Lord reveals the government of God over all men. The Lord is ready to judge all, both the living and the dead. His judgment is God’s governmental administration to deal with the situation among men.
According to the New Testament, God will judge the living and the dead. Acts 10:42 says that the Lord Jesus has been ordained by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead, and Acts 17:31 says that God has appointed a day in which “He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained.” In 2 Timothy 4:1 Paul says that Jesus Christ “is about to judge the living and the dead.”
To whom does the word “living” refer in 4:5? It refers to unbelievers who are alive when the Lord Jesus comes back. Matthew 25:31-46 speaks regarding this. Matthew 25:31-33 says, “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He shall sit on His throne of glory; and all the nations shall be gathered before Him, and He shall separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He shall set the sheep on His right hand and the goats on the left.” “All the nations” are all the Gentiles who will be left at Christ’s coming back to the earth after He destroys those Gentiles who follow Antichrist at Armageddon (Rev. 16:14, 16; 19:11-15, 19-21). They will all be gathered and judged at Christ’s throne of glory. This will be Christ’s judgment on the living before the millennium. It will differ from His judgment on the dead at the great white throne after the millennium (Rev. 20:1-15).
Before the Lord sits on His throne of glory according to Matthew 25:31, He will carry out many judgments during the great tribulation. During the period of the great tribulation, many people will be killed by natural calamities, by wars, and by Antichrist. After the great tribulation, the Lord will come and sit on His throne of glory at Jerusalem. All the living nations will be gathered together before Him to be judged. He will discern who are the goats, the bad ones, those who will “go away into eternal punishment,” into eternal fire, and the sheep, the good ones, those who will inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. This judgment will be the fulfillment of Peter’s word in Acts 10:42, which says that Christ has been appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. It will also be the fulfillment of Paul’s word spoken in Acts 17:31, which says that God has appointed Christ to judge all men. Again, in 1 Peter 4:5, Peter says that everyone will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
The “dead” in 4:5 refers to the dead unbelievers, who will be judged at the great white throne described in Revelation 20. We have seen that after the great tribulation, the Lord will exercise His judgment upon the living nations. Then the millennium, the thousand-year kingdom will begin. After the millennium, the Lord will exercise His judgment upon all the dead. Regarding this, Revelation 20:12 says, “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was open, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by the things which were written in the books, according to their works.” According to Revelation 20:15, “If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.” This is the final judgment of the dead unbelievers. That judgment will be followed by the burning up of the old heavens and earth.
In 4:6 Peter goes on to say, “For unto this end the gospel was preached also to the dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” In this verse the word “dead” refers to the dead believers in Christ who suffered persecution because of their Christian testimony, as referred to in 1:6; 2:18-21; 3:16-17; and 4:12-19. This kind of persecution is considered by Peter in this book as God’s judgment according to the government of God, which begins from the house of God (4:17). The gospel was preached to these dead believers while they were living in order that they might on the one hand be judged, dealt with, by God through the opposers’ persecution according to men in the flesh, but, on the other hand, live by believing in Christ according to God in the spirit. This shows how strict and serious is the judgment of God in His governmental administration. If the believers, who have been obedient to the gospel, are dealt with by God’s governmental judgment, how much more will those who oppose the gospel and blaspheme the believers be judged by God’s dealing!
In 4:12 Peter says, “Beloved, do not think that the fiery ordeal among you is strange, which is coming to you for a trial, as a strange thing happening to you.” According to what we have covered concerning this verse in one of the preceding messages, “fiery ordeal” here means burning. It signifies the burning of a smelting furnace for the purification of gold and silver, like the metaphor used in 1:7. Peter considered the persecution the believers suffered as such a burning furnace used by God to purify their life. This is God’s way to deal with the believers in the judgment of His governmental administration, which begins from His own house (4:17-19).
The fiery ordeal is God’s way to deal not with sinners and opposers but with believers, the members of His household. The burning furnace is a means used by God to carry out the judgment of His governmental administration. In the administration of His government, God uses fiery ordeals as a furnace to purify any dross the believers may have. Yes, as believers in Christ we are gold, yet we still have a lot of dross. Therefore, we need to be purified. This purification cannot be accomplished simply through teaching, fellowship, or attending the meetings of the church. We all need to pass through the burning furnace. God puts us into a burning furnace, into fiery ordeals, to burn away our dross. This is regarded by Peter as a judgment in God’s governmental dealing with the believers.