Scarcely Saved?

This question of Peter follows a solemn warning in verse 17: “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God.” This is a time when the house of God has departed far from the Lord, when the zeal and desire for the service of the Lord is missing, when the desire to be a separate people is no longer felt. We are rich and increased with goods, so that we think so much of ourselves and lack true humility, and love waxes cold. It is in such a time that it becomes a wonder that the Lord yet has something to say to us. It is a wonder that He will yet send among us an admonishing voice, placing corrections among us which will cause a people to stand still, saying, “O Lord, come yet to bring us back to Thee and the former days, for then was it better with me than now.”

But how will it be for you who do not obey the gospel of God? Peter says that the righteous, those made righteous from heaven, will be saved. But where will you appear? When Peter speaks of scarcely saved, he does not mean from God’s side. No, the wonder of God’s grace may never be called scarce. To make that wonder possible, the Father was moved from within Himself, and in that eternal election He loved and chose His people. And now with Him there is abundant love, grace, and faithfulness for each of them. The Son has bought them with the precious price of His blood, and as a faithful shepherd He watches over them. The Holy Ghost calls them out of darkness to His wonderful light, and He is ever wise and powerful.

No, from the side of this triune God, we may never say scarcely saved. With Him there is an ever-flowing fountain for His thirsting children. With Him is a full storehouse for His hungering people. Those dear children of the Lord will not come before God with a maybe in their hand.

He is pointing to the spiritual experience of the Lord’s people on their way to the great eternity.

They will not stand there with their own righteousness, but with a righteousness obtained by their Savior upon the cross. They will there experience: “He has bought me with the price of His blood.”

Yet Peter speaks about scarcely being saved. He is pointing to the spiritual experience of the Lord’s people on their way to the great eternity. It is scarcely, when they must sigh under so many oppressions of the devil, whose voice comes, saying, “You do not belong to God’s people. Your profession is nothing more than the profession of a hypocrite.” It is scarcely, when a deep spiritual darkness lies upon the soul, and when, amid all the strife, the Lord hides His face, and they never hear that blessed voice anymore. In all their darkness there is a voice saying, “Would it be this way if you were a child of God?” David experienced this when he complained, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” because of missing the light of His countenance. It is scarcely, when the powerful enemy of sin is slaying me, when evil thoughts well up within and vex my soul, when I cannot pray anymore, when I do not dare to speak anymore. It is scarcely, when the way has become so narrow and so dark that I do not dare to put one foot before the other; when the way has become so steep and slippery that I must creep upon my knees. There I cry, “Lord, hast Thou forgotten me? Must I now be forsaken? Oh, that would be so just and righteous.”

Is that the Lord’s way with His people? Yes, and He will keep them and protect them upon that way. He knows every trial, every darkness; and through it all He says, “Come, I will go before you, and you may carry the cross behind Me. Are you weary and heavy laden? Come unto Me, and I will give you rest. Your tribulation is a tribulation of only ten days. Do not be afraid of the way. This way is necessary so the name of My Father may be honored, and you may learn what it is to be saved by grace. And the end is coming soon.” Truly, He will be there, the eternal, blessed King. He will say, “Come, I have bought you with the price of My blood.” Oh, they are a blessed people — they are the righteous, not in self, but in Him, their Redeemer. They are scarcely, yet surely, saved.

But, my friend, where will you appear? Peter says, “Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” Who are they? They are the descendants of Adam, and in their covenant head Adam they have torn themselves loose from God and have fallen, dead in sin and trespasses. Who are they? They are people on the way to an everlasting eternity. Every step they take upon that way is one step nearer to the end of their life. Who are they? They are faithful attendees of the worship services. They know the doctrines of truth. They believe that if they die unconverted, they will be lost forever. But they are hard and indifferent. They never come to know themselves as a lost sinner. They never come upon their knees in truth and humility. They are the ungodly, without God in the world.

Reader, do you ever think of this? We receive so many outward blessings, we receive health and strength, and we receive many callings week after week. But if we are unconverted, we have no God for our soul. What will it be when soon we come to the end of life’s pathway, having no God for our soul, when everything we have treasured in this world will remain behind, and the devil will say, “Come this way, you are ungodly”?

Peter speaks about the sinner. No, we were not created to be sinners. We were created to give glory to God. But in our deep fall we became sinners, and now we love sin. Peter says, “And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” There Peter says that all of us at the end of life’s journey must appear before God. If we will stand there as an ungodly one, as a sinner, then the sentence must follow, “Cast him out into everlasting darkness.”

Oh, the Lord is still bringing this before us, saying, “Where will you appear?” By nature we are all without God in the world, we are all deeply fallen sinners. You may still hear the message, “Turn ye, turn ye unto Me.” Cry then, “Lord, we do not know how to turn. Take us then by heart and hand; break Thou the hardness of our hearts.”

Scarcely saved! No, those people do not have a righteousness of their own; they were made righteous from heaven. There was a time when the Lord opened their eyes to see their deeply wretched, lost state. All was lost, but, wonder of God, they may learn that there is a way opened outside of man, only in that blood of the Mediator. They learn that there is a righteousness, and with that righteousness they will not meet an unknown God. It is true that here below the experience is, many times, scarcely saved. But He, the ever-blessed Savior of His people, says, “Fear not, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Come, lift up your weary heads. A few more steps, and at the end is My Father’s kingdom.”

John saw those who were clothed in white, and he heard a voice saying, “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” He is their righteousness before the tribunal of God.

“And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”

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