AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED: kai ei o dikaios molis sozetai (3SPPI): (1Peter 5:8; Pr 11:31; Jer 25:29; Ezek 18:24; Zech 13:9; Mt 24:22, 23, 24; Mk 13:20, 21, 22; Lk 23:31; Acts 14:22; 27:24,31, 42, 43, 44; 1Co 10:12; Heb 4:1; 10:38,39)

John Wesley once referred to himself as “a brand plucked from the burning,” and that is true of most of us. J Vernon McGee goes on to tell the story of the difficulty that led to Wesley's being plucked from the burning...

When John Wesley came to America, he was not saved, he was not a Christian. He made this statement, “I came to America to convert Indians, but who is going to convert John Wesley?” His biographer tells us that at the governor’s court in Georgia he met one of the noblemen of Great Britain who had been sent over to administer that area. He was a very wealthy man with a name, and he had married a beautiful, young wife. That young woman and John Wesley began to eye each other, and evidently John Wesley fell in love with her. He asked her to leave and go with him to live among the Indians. And he thought he was a Christian and a missionary! But she sent him back to England, saying, “John, this won’t work. I love you, and I’ll always love you, but God has called you to do something for Him.” She evidently was a Christian, and so she sent him back to England. It is said that three times he started up the gangplank, and three times he started to walk back. But she motioned him to go, and he went back to England. One night walking down Aldersgate, he went upstairs and heard a man speaking on Galatians. Later, he could write in his journal, “I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt that I did trust Christ, Christ alone, for my salvation, and there was given to me an assurance that He had forgiven me of my sins.”

Now if the righteous scarcely be saved, if they be but brands plucked from the burning, “where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” Peter asks. My friend, if you are not a Christian, and if Vernon McGee just barely made it and made it only by trusting Christ, how do you think you are going to make it? There is not but one hope—there is only one way of salvation. The Lord Jesus said, “I am the way” (see John 14:6). (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary:  Thomas Nelson or Logos) (Or listen to the Mp3 of 1 Peter 4:18)

Peter is quoting from the Septuagint (LXX) of OT to support the previous thought. Here he offers another rhetorical question, the answer of which is not in doubt. His point is that if the sinner who is declared righteous by faith is saved only with great difficulty (including unjust suffering, divine purging, and the Father's discipline - see notes Hebrews 12:7; 8), what will be the end of the ungodly?

If the righteous will be rewarded in the earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner! (Pr 11:31)

Difficulty (3433) (molis from molos = labor pains) means hardly, barely, scarcely, not easily, i.e. scarcely, very rarely.

J. Schneider in TDNT has this comment on molis...

1 Peter 4:18 is a quotation from Pr 11:31 LXX: In the Hebrew the saying applies to recompense in this life, but the author uses it of recompense in the last judgment The reference of the section in which 1 Peter 4:18 stands is to the sufferings of Christians, which are regarded as the fiery glow and beginning of judgment. They make great demands on Christians and above all represent a great temptation. Only with great difficulty will Christians pass through this hard time and stand in the divine judgment. The author wants to spur his readers on to faithfulness and to show them the seriousness of their responsibility. (Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.  Eerdmans)

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus alludes to this "difficulty" when He explains that the way that leads to eternal life is "narrow", where "narrow" is thlibo which means to suffer affliction, be troubled by sufferings due to the pressure of circumstances or the antagonism of people. BDAG says that thlibo is used

Of a road, a narrow, confined road and therefore a source of trouble or difficulty to those using it  (Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature)

The Geneva Study Bible commenting on Jesus' words writes that...

Presenting a rosy picture of the Christian life and minimizing that it is filled with trouble does not follow the lead of our Lord

In sum combining the various definitions, we see that the true way is not only narrow but also difficult. Jesus was saying that the narrow restricting way has connections with persecution, a major theme in Matthew’s Gospel (cf. Matthew 5:10-12 notes, Mt 5:44; 10:16-39; 11:11-12; 24:4-13; Acts 14:22) The upshot is that if the road you are on has a gate that is easy and well traveled, you do well to reconsider your journey through this life while you still have breath! The true way to God is narrow, difficult and demanding and has relatively few pilgrim travelers. In contrast the false way is broad, easy and permissive and has many lost souls traveling on it. (see discussion of these 2 gates and 2 ways in Matthew 7:13-14)

As Ryrie puts it

"Because of suffering (1Peter 4:16) and discipline (1Peter 4:17), the righteous work out their salvation (see Philippians 2:12-13 note) with difficulty." (The Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Translation: 1995. Moody Publishers)

Believer's Study Bible comments that...

Modern society expresses amazement that God could condemn anyone. The biblical perspective is reflected, however, in this declaration. The point of amazement and astonishment is that the righteous are saved. If the righteous "scarcely" are saved, prospects for the unconverted sinner are hopeless indeed. (Criswell, W A. Believer's Study Bible: New King James Version. 1991. Thomas Nelson)

Jesus explains how difficult it is to enter the Kingdom of Heaven declaring...

For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses (superabounds past) that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not (double negative - absolutely no way) enter the kingdom of heaven. (See note Matthew 5:20)

Believers pass through the testing fire of God's judgment -- not because He hates us, but because He loves us and wills our purity. God hates sin so much and loves his children so much that He will spare us no pain to rid us of what He hates. So suffering is not surprising; it is planned. It is a testing. It is purifying fire. It proves and strengthens real faith, and it consumes "performance faith."

In Psalm 26 we read of David's desire for God to put him in the fiery trial (he uses 3 Hebrew words for refining and purifying!)...could it be this has something to do with David being called a man after God's own heart?

Examine (Heb = bachan = focuses attention on an examination to prove the existence of some spiritual quality, such as integrity) me, O LORD, and try (Heb = nacah = test the quality through adversity or hardship to show what someone is really like) me. Test (Heb = “to refine,” usually indicating the purifying result of divine judgment) my mind and my heart. (Psalm 26:2)

Let us not fear or shy from fires of persecution for His name for the end result will be beyond our wildest imagination. Instead let us beseech the Lord to search us & try us (Ps 139:23,24).

Saved (4982) (sozo) (Click study of sozo) has the basic meaning of rescuing one from great peril. Additional nuances include to protect, keep alive, preserve life, deliver, heal, be made whole. Sozo is used of physical deliverance from danger of perishing (see Mt 8:25; Mt 14:30; Lk 23:35; Acts 27:20 27:31 hold pointer over for popup verse), physical healing from sickness (Mt 9:21-22; Mk 5:23, Acts 4:9), and deliverance from demonic possession (Lk 8:36). More often sozo is used as in the present context to refer to salvation in a spiritual sense.

WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER: o asebes kai hamartolos pou phaneitai (3SFMI): (Ps 1:4,5; Ro 1:18; 5:6; 2Pe 2:5,6; 3:7; Jude 1:15) (Ge 13:13; 1Sa 15:18; Lk 15:1; Ro 5:8)

"What will become" is literally "where shall he appear".

Become (appear) (5316) (phaino from phos = light) means to give light, illuminate, shine or give light, shine forth as a luminous body. In the middle voice as in this verse, phaino means to appear, be conspicuous, become visible, shine.

Godless (765) (asebes [word study] from a = without + sébomai = worship, venerate) means a lack of interest in the things of God and a behavior and lifestyle consistent with such an irreverent attitude. Click study of asebes and the related word ungodliness - asebeia).

Asebes pictures one lacking proper respect of God and/or living as if He did not exist with no fear of Him or His just punishment of ungodliness. Read Psalm 1, an excellent summary of the righteous versus the ungodly (wicked).

The ungodly man or woman is the one who has little or no time for God in their life. They have deceived themselves into believing that they can rule God out of their affairs and their thinking even though God is the greatest Being in the universe, the One Who makes sense out of life, the One around Whom all of life revolves and without Whom no creature could even take a breath. To eliminate such a Glorious Being from one's thinking is what it means to be ungodly. 

Paul draws the distinction between the earthly sufferings of the saints and the endless punishment of the lost explaining that persecution (of believers now)...

is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you (the godless man and the sinner), and to give relief to you (believers) who are afflicted and to us (Paul, Silas, Timothy) as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire (cp Matthew 24:30, Re 19:11; 19:12; 19:13; 19:14; 19:15; 19:16-see notes Re 19:11; 19:12; 19:13; 19:14; 19:15; 19:16), dealing out retribution (repay harm w harm on assumption that initial harm was unjustified) to those who do not know God (not that do not "know" about Him but do not know Him - see Jesus' stern warning ) and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction (not annihilation but unavoidable distress & torment), away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. (2 Thess 1:5-9)

Dr Constable explains that...

In this verse Peter contrasted the intensity of the two experiences of suffering, by disciples now and by unbelievers in the future. It is with difficulty that righteous people pass through this phase of our existence into the next phase because this phase involves suffering for us.

“Saved” (Gr. sozetai) here means delivered in the sense of being delivered from this life into the next. Yet it will be even more difficult for godless people to pass from this phase of their lives to the next because they will have to undergo God’s judgment. Their future sufferings will be more intense than our present sufferings.

THEREFORE, LET THOSE ALSO WHO SUFFER ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD: hoste kai oi paschontes (PAPMPN) kata to thelema tou theou: (1Peter 3:17; Acts 21:11, 12, 13, 14)

Therefore - Term of conclusion. Here the therefore sums up the thought of the entire paragraph and specifically the effect this somber truth should have on the attitude of believers.

Suffer (3958) (pascho [word study]) means to experience a sensation, to suffer pain or experience something that falls to one's lot (good or ill). Note the present tense. = suffer as a lifestyle. Not just one bout of suffering but a "lifestyle" of suffering. The cross always precedes the crown in God's economy.

Disciple's Study Bible notes that...

The Creator permitted suffering in His world when people sinned. Now sufferers tend to feel suffering indicates God has forsaken them. Peter teaches us God is true to Himself, to His people, and to His promises. Suffering simply calls us to new commitment to Him and His way of life.

Though God made a good world, evil has become a part of it because of sin. The works of wicked people sometimes cause good people to suffer. Peter instructed his suffering readers to refrain from doubting God's interest in or His ability to help them. A willingness to do God's will, whatever the cost, is the only ultimate way to face the problem of unexplained suffering. That will is not something new. It is the Creator's eternal purpose. (Disciple's Study Bible)

Will (2307) (thelema [word study] from thélo = to will) (49 of 60 uses refer to God's will) is one's will not  as a demand but an inclination of pleasure towards that which is liked, which pleases and/or creates joy. God’s will signifies His gracious disposition toward something, what God Himself does of His own good pleasure. Thelema refers to a desire which proceeds from one’s heart or emotions and has both an objective meaning (“what one wishes to happen”) and a subjective connotation (“the act of willing or desiring”). Since thelema conveys the idea of desire and emotion instead of volition, God’s will is not so much God’s intention, as it is His heart’s desire.

On September 15, 1732, the first two Moravian missionaries arrived in Copenhagen, seeking a ship to the Danish West Indies. They found nothing but opposition and discouragement. Even if they found a ship to take them to St. Thomas, they were told, they would never be allowed to preach to the slaves there. Leonard Dober and David Nitschmann replied they would be willing to become slaves themselves if necessary. Their suffering according to the will of God paved the way for the Protestant era of world missions.

Chambers...

To choose to suffer means that there is something wrong; to choose God’s will even if it means suffering is a very different thing. No healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he chooses God’s will, as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not. Be merciful to God’s reputation. It is easy to blacken God’s character because God never answers back, He never vindicates Himself. Beware of the thought that Jesus needed sympathy in His earthly life; He refused sympathy from others because He knew far too wisely that no one on earth understood what He was going through. Notice God’s ‘waste’ of saints, according to the judgment of the world. God plants His saints in some of the most useless places. We say, ‘God intends me to be here because I am so useful.’ Jesus never estimated His life along the line of the greatest use. God puts His saints where they will glorify Him most, and we are no judges at all of where that is.

ENTRUST THEIR SOULS TO A FAITHFUL CREATOR: pisto ktiste paratithesthosan (3PPMM): (Ps 31:5; 37:5; Lk 23:46; Acts 7:59; 2Ti 1:12) (faithful: Ps 138:8; 146:5,6; Isa 40:27,28; 43:7,21; 51:12,13; 54:16,17; Col 1:16, 17, 18, 19, 20; Heb 1:2,3; Rev 4:10,11; 5:9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)

Edwards notes that...

Josh Billings once wrote, "Life is a grindstone, and whether it grinds a man down or polishes him up depends on the stuff he's made of." I think this accurately portrays the path of each man or woman's life. As the grinding edge of undeserved suffering makes close contact with our lives, our response will cause us to become either a more polished vessel (i.e., Christlike), or else it will mar us with a deeper root of bitterness. In short we will either become holy or bitter, depending on our response to undeserved suffering. And so we are told that those who suffer "according to the will of God" are not to be resentful but rather are to "commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator."

Entrust their souls - Entrust as explained below is a banking term. The idea is they have "deposited" their souls in God's trustworthy bank. Have you made your deposit, my friend? Have you committed your soul unto Him?

Entrust (3908) (paratithemi from para = near + tithemi = place) literally means to place something beside, to set alongside or place before someone. It was used in Greek meaning (a banking term) to give someone something in trust and so to "deposit" with another. It conveys the picture of a precious treasure being deposited as a trust into the hands of other persons.

Note the present imperative which is a command calling for this attitude of entrusting to be one's lifestyle.

Why would you deposit your "life savings" so to speak in any bank? It's because you trust the bank...it's been around a long time and has a record of faithfulness. How much more than should we be willing to deposit our very lives with our faithful Creator (we are His possession anyway!). We are willing to do so because we know Whom we have believed  (see note 2 Timothy 1:12). Be diligent to study God's Word to truly know His character and then you are less likely to be surprised at the fiery ordeal which is in His sovereign will and has a holy purpose. Let me suggest a painless way to become familiar with God's attributes - Study the Names of the LORD , for inherent in His glorious Names is the progressive, relatively easily "digested" revelation of His character.

Warren Wiersbe explains that the idea of leaving our deposit with God for safekeeping ties in...

beautifully with the “gold” illustration in 1Peter 1:7 (note). God sends the fiery trial to burn away the dross, and we commit ourselves to Him for safekeeping, knowing that He cannot fail us. We can be sure that God will “pay interest” on our deposit. But note that we commit ourselves in doing good; that is, we commit ourselves to God as we obey His Word. This is a daily and hourly surrender, living to please Him and serving others. Christians will go through fiery trials before Christ returns. The world situation will not get better. Attitudes toward Christians will not improve. The world has always hated the name of Christ and will continue to hate it. If we identify ourselves with the name of Christ, the world will hate us (John 15:18-21). If we compromise, we will escape persecution, but we will also miss the blessing and glory of sharing Christ’s sufferings. (Wiersbe, W. W. Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the New Testament. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books)

John Piper agrees with this reasoning writing that

"The purpose of good theology is to build and sustain great trust in God. In all Christian suffering Satan is seeking to devour faith (1Peter 5:8; 5:9see notes 1 Peter 5:8; 5:9). God is seeking to test and refine faith (1Peter 4:12-note). God's great purpose in all our suffering will be accomplished when we do what Jesus did in the agony of the cross when he cried out (Lk 23:46, cp 1Peter 2:23- note), "Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit." He entrusted himself to a faithful Creator. According to 2 Cor 1:9 God's purpose in suffering is to cause us to rely no longer on ourselves but utterly on him who raises the dead. (See full sermon The Holy Spirit will Help You Die - 1 Peter 4:12-19)

Faithful () (4103) (pistos [word study]) from peítho = to persuade - induce one by words to believe, have confidence) is something or someone who is worthy of faith or keeps promises and is applied to God, humans, His Word, etc

Here pistos has its passive meaning = trustworthy or faithful where the basic idea is that of trustworthiness. In this sense pistos describes God, Christ, servants, His Word as faithful, reliable, worthy of belief or trust,  dependable. Marvin Vincent adds that pistos used of God describes Him as "True to his own nature and promises; keeping faith with Himself and with man."

A faithful Creator - Faithfulness is God's attribute of utter dependability, the antithesis of everything fickle and fluctuating in the world around us. In 2 Timothy 2:13 (note) Paul says that faithfulness is a corollary of His self-consistency. Because God is faithful, His promises are infallibly reliable (Hebrews 10:23-note). 

Faithful is He Who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. (see note 1Thessalonians 5:24)

Spurgeon offers a few thoughts (from various of his sermons, devotionals and expositional comments) on our faithful Creator...

We must be tried or we cannot magnify the faithful God, who will not leave His people. 

In life and death we prove the attributes of God’s righteousness. We find that He does not lie but is faithful to His Word.

Tested believer, the Lord will be as faithful to you as He has been to me. The Lord will not fail you. Do not be discouraged,

The heavenly sun shines on in eternal brightness. You have a possession that is unfading, a promise that is unfailing, and a Protector who is unchanging. Though you live in a faithless world, you dwell in a faithful God.

There is love, immortal and unchanging love, in heaven toward you, which will never grow cold. You will be helped. God would sooner cease to be than cease to be faithful. Be of good courage, for today He will strengthen your heart.

Eternal faithfulness performs what eternal wisdom declares. Shall God lie? Is he a man as thou art? Will he deceive? Will he falsely promise, and then run from his word? That be far from him, and let it be far from us thus to blaspheme his name by such a thought. Come, then, child of God, thou who knowest him, if he has said, “I will help thee,” he will help thee. If he says, “I will strengthen thee,” he will strengthen thee. Believe God, without the trace of doubt; and “be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.”
 

“Great is Your faithfulness,” (Lam 3:23, cp La 3:21, 22, 23, 24) - So great that there has never been an exception. Through the ages, our God has had billions of people to deal with. Yet there does not stand under heaven’s cover, or above the stars, or in hell itself a single soul who can say that God is not absolutely faithful. No item in the list of our divine promises is unfulfilled. God remembers every promise that He ever made, and He honors each in the experience of those who believe in Him. They who trust in the Lord will find Him faithful, not only in great things, but also in little things. His faintest word will stand firm and steadfast. His least truth will never grow dim. The glory of God’s faithfulness is that no sin of ours has ever made Him unfaithful. Unbelief is a damning thing, yet even when we do not believe, God is faithful. His children might rebel. They might wander far from His statutes and be chastened with many stripes. Nevertheless, He says,

My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, nor allow My faithfulness to fail. My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips” (Psalm. 89:33, 34).

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS
(play hymn)

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.
Refrain

Refrain
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Refrain

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Refrain

How has God shown Himself to be faithful to you and your family in the past? How can you make sure you'll remember? With whom can you talk about it today? Precious memories of yesterday can be precious moments today

Trusting God's faithfulness dispels our fearfulness.

IN DOING WHAT IS RIGHT: tas psuchas auton en agathopoiia (1Peter 2:15; Esther 4:16; Jer 26:11, 12, 13, 14, 15; Da 3:16, 17, 18; 6:10,11,22; Ro 2:7)

F B Meyer (in Our Daily Walk) in a devotional on 1Peter 4:19 wrote that...

The more one ponders these words, the more wonderful they appear! That God is faithful is as clear as noonday. He is faithful in the return of the seasons and the orbit-order of the stars; faithful in holding back the flood, that it should not overflow the world and destroy the homes of men; faithful to every living creature that He has made, providing for its exact sustenance. Even the odd sparrow, which Christ must have seen thrown in by the dealer, when His Mother bought four others, does not fall to the ground without His notice. God is the Faithful Creator in the heavens above and in the earth beneath. We are not surprised, therefore, to find His faithfulness the theme of Holy Writ; but why does Peter lay emphasis on His faithfulness as Creator, when ministering to the special circumstances of suffering believers? Is not this the reason? We are apt to concentrate our thoughts on the Birth, the Cross, the Grave, the Intercession of our Lord, and to forget that behind all these, deep in the nature of God--the Almighty Creator--there are ever-welling fountains of faithfulness, love, and tenderness. We are summoned to go back beyond the story of Redemption to the infinite silence of Eternity, when each of us was a distinct thought in the mind of God. In His book, all our members were written, when as yet there was none of them.

Whether we have realised that eternal purpose is open to serious questioning, but everyone of us has a right to look into the face of God, and say

"Thine hands have made me, and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn Thy commandments."

We may not question God's dealings with us. They are immutably wise and right. But we may claim that in some way He should make good our deficiencies, so that though sorrowful, we should be always rejoicing; though poor we should make many rich; though having nothing, we should scatter our wealth, as though possessing all things. There is no reason why our life should be a failure, no reason why we should not minister richly to others, no reason why, by His grace, we should not be more than conquerors! We may humbly make this claim on the Almighty Creator, and He will not allow His faithfulness to fail!

PRAYER: Help us to commit ourselves to Thee in well-doing, O God, our Faithful Creator. May we find a solace for our own griefs and disappointments, in sympathy and ministry to others. AMEN.

God Hath Not Promised
Annie Johnson Flint
Click Biography