Judgement (Krima) Starts at the House of Theos

"For the time has come for judgement to began at the house of Theos; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the Gospel of Theos?  Now, "if the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?"  Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator."  
I Peter 4:17-19

This letter of the Apostle Peter is to "the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bythynia."  They were the Elect ones who were being persecuted for their faith in the Iesous.  Peter's words were given to encourage them in their collective suffering.

It is no small thing to become a disciple of the Iesous.  One must count the cost.  One must sit down and consider the extraordinary demands of discipleship.  The disciples of the Ieosus represent an elite core of individuals who have come to realize that the new life of faith entails putting away the practice of sin resulting in sinful behavior.

The life of discipleship also involves stepping out of the consequences of darkness.  Darkness is an active principle of behavior in the New Testament.  Darkness is characterized by living for evil, and getting others involved in evil too.  The Iesous has called us out of darkness into his marvelous Light.  We are now children of the Light-Iesous.

Persecution has always been one of the hallmarks of Faith.  The emperor Nero persecuted the followers of Iesous by accusing them of a fire that burned a great portion of Rome.  He used believers to light his parties by setting them on fire. He was a devious lunatic.  The Catacombs of Rome were built by believers to escape their persecutors.  The persecution of believers were quit severe in the ancient world.  They were state sponsored and designed to rid the empire of  so-called atheists and "haters of mankind."

Peter wrote to those whose faith was being interrogated by martyrdom, and murder.  Peter's therapeutic mandate was to have the believers hearts immersed in the Word of Theos.  They were to find comfort in knowing that the Iesous was with them in the midst of their suffering.

When the three men were tossed into the fiery furnace by the king of Babylon an amazing event took place before the eyes of the king. When the king looked into the furnace he saw not three but four men in the furnace.  The men who had been thrown into the furnace were bound, but when the king looked into the furnace the men were not bound.  The other man in the furnace was not merely man.  The other Man was the Iesous. The Iesous identified himself with his own then, the first century believers in Peter's day, and with believers today.

The Ieosus knows that in this world we will have tribulation.  The Greek text reads that we will be "in tight places."  We will not escape persecution.  Yes, it is the wrath of man, but it is used by Theos to expose us to ourselves that the spiritual dross (impurities) of our lives may be put away.  It is also used to direct our vision away from our self-sufficiency and toward the all-sufficiency of Iesous.

Yes, persecution is grevious.  Yes, persecution hurts.  Yes, it creates pain and bewilderment.  Yes, we are caused to question the meaning of negative events when we have lived a righteous life before Theos.  It is at this point when one reads the Book of Job with new eyes.  Persecution sharpens the spiritual intellect and one's prayer life.  The real blessings of the spiritual occur when we have reached the end of ourselves, and see Theos as our only source.

Persecution crushes our love affair with this life, and makes us long for our real homeland. This world is not our home.  Do you understand this statement?  This world is the enemy of Theos and therefore seeks to crush those who are not true citizens.

Some persons in the church seek to compromise with the world.  They undermine the faith of others by their conduct.  Their faith is mere form without content.  They have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof.  Judgement begins at the house of Theos.  I know that popular books teach that judgement starts upon the realm of the ungodly ones.  But according to the New Testament the world stands under judgement already.

The visible church is where judgement starts.  The church is filled with those whose behavior is about form over substance.  They are deceiving themselves, but not the Lord of Life.  Read the Book of Revelation and it teaches that the enemy of our faith has moved into the activity of the visible church.  However, the Lord knows those who are his own.  The Lord's own are not spiritually dead.  They are alive with the power of Theos.

In the light of Peter's astonishing words what should be our resolve?  I urge you to carefully read the entire letter.  You will find God's viewpoint for persecution, and the way we are told to behave in this world.  We are to be witnesses to those who persecute us.  We are to maintain Grace attitudes in spite of treacherous and cruel misconduct toward us.

Theos not only sees what our enemies do to us, he also sees our behavior under stress or duress. We are not to be simple ones.  We are to use discernment toward people, things, and circumstances. We are to take precautions about the environments in which we live.  We are to watch the unfolding of events in our culture.  We are to watch and pray.  We are to do our due diligence about our faith walk. We are to examine ourselves to see if we are in the FAITH.

We are to judge ourselves, and our sin so that we are not judged by Theos.  We are to judge ourselves so that we are not condemned with the world.  The Bible is different from our favorite areas of theology. The Bible is decisive and impartial in its witness toward us. Let's get our lives cleaned up through confession and commitment to live as we should before Theos.   Amen.

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