1 Peter 4:18

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Peter 4:18

And if the righteous scarcely be saved - If they are saved with difficulty. The word used here (μόλις molis) occurs in the following places: Acts 14:18, “scarce restrained they the people;” Acts 27:7, “and scarce were come over against Cnidus;” 1 Peter 4:8, “and hardly passing it;” 1 Peter 4:16, “we had much work to come by the boat” - literally, we were able with difficulty to get the boat; Romans 5:7, “scarcely for a righteous man will one die;” and in the passage before us. The word implies... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 Peter 4:18

1 Peter 4:18. And if the righteous scarcely be saved Escape with the utmost difficulty. So the word μολις , rendered scarcely, signifies. That is, If it be not without much difficulty that the Christians are secured and preserved in those overflowing, devouring judgments which are coming on the Jewish nation; where shall the ungodly and the sinner The impenitent and unbelieving, the obstinate and wicked part of the Jewish nation; appear? That is, what will become of them? Dreadful... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 Peter 4:12-19

Joy amid persecution (4:12-19)Christians should not be surprised when they have to suffer because of their faith in Christ. Their association with him means that they have to share his suffering now, just as they will share his glory in the future. They should be glad when they suffer for his sake, because it gives them added assurance that they are God’s people. They know that God is testing and purifying their faith (12-14). They have no need to be downhearted because of persecution, provided... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - 1 Peter 4:18

righteous . App-191 . scarcely . See Acts 14:18 . ungodly . Greek. asebes. Compare App-128 . appear . App-106 . Compare Proverbs 11:31 (Septuagint) read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:18

And if the righteous is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?The thought of this is parallel with the previous verse, thus giving the passage the effect of Hebrew poetry, and also endowing it with magnificent spiritual overtones. The righteous (the Christians) were indeed "scarcely saved"; if Satan had had a better administrator than Nero, if circumstances had been only slightly different from what they were, Christianity might indeed have been exterminated from the earth;... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - 1 Peter 4:18

1 Peter 4:18. And if the righteous, &c.— St. Peter having, in the preceding verse, compared the case of the Christians with that of the unbelieving Jews, he intimated that the approaching calamities were only to begin at the house of God; but the end, the weight of the storm, would fall upon the unbelievingJews, because of their refusal of the gospel. But in this verse he seems to have enlarged his view, and to have compared the present case of faithful Christians, to the case of the... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - 1 Peter 4:18

18. scarcely—Compare "so as by fire," 1 Corinthians 3:15; having to pass through trying chastisements, as David did for his sin. "The righteous" man has always more or less of trial, but the issue is certain, and the entrance into the kingdom abundant at last. The "scarcely" marks the severity of the ordeal, and the unlikelihood (in a mere human point of view) of the righteous sustaining it; but the righteousness of Christ and God's everlasting covenant make it all sure. ungodly—having no... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Peter 4:12-19

A. The Fiery Trial 4:12-19Peter reminded his readers of how sufferings fit into God’s purposes to encourage them to persevere with the proper attitude (cf. James 1)."The section which began at iii. 13 is here concluded in a passage which recapitulates much that has been said-on persecution, on Christ’s sufferings, on Christian duty, on the imminence of the End and of divine Judgment-and which reflects the intensity of the author’s eschatological faith." [Note: Selwyn, p. 220.] read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Peter 4:15-19

2. Suffering as Christians 4:15-19 read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Peter 4:18

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... read more

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