Verse 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; but, of course, the providence of God did not allow that to occur. But, if only the most signal providence of God could have spared the Christians from annihilation, what could be expected where, in the case of the disobedient, that providence would not be exercised? The fate of Jerusalem exhibited the tragic answer.
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