I take Scripture very seriously. Since our Lord made the Bible available to
all of His people, I look upon it as a book to any one of His, to me. So
when Peter writes in 1:4:18, 'and if the righteous scarcely be saved', he is
talking directly to me. I should quote the context, verses 17-19:
"For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it
begins with us, what will be the outcome be for those who do not obey the
gospel of God? 'And, if it is hard (scarce) for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and sinner?' (quoted from the LXX of
Proverbs 11:31).
So then, those who suffer according to God's will should
commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good".
This Greek word molis, from molos #3433 means scarcely, hardly, with
difficulty, with toil. This certainly describes the great controversy
within, this battle between good and evil in my life, in my mind. I speak in
the singular person so I do not exercise my talent as a 'chief' fruit
inspector of the brethren.
Never has this been more significant and timely in my life. The apostle Paul
writes in Titus 3:3, "at one time we were too foolish, disobedient---" as he
does in so many of his epistles. And Paul further writes in Romans 8:2 that
we are 'set free by the Spirit from the law of sin', again in verse 9; "you
are not in the flesh but in the Spirit". And I reply, but Paul, I'm not
there yet! It sometimes feels like I'm guarding this closed door that never
opens for years; nothing moves, nothing changes, I'm rutted.
When does this freedom (released) from sin, from sinning occur? When do my
thoughts become pure, clean, never wavering? Jesus said that I must be as a
seed planted in the ground to die to grow anew. Jesus said I must separate
myself from the world and unto Him, totally! Jesus said my thoughts are to
be heavenly thoughts and not of this world. Do I scarcely do that? Do I
scarcely die unto myself and unto Him? Does the symbolism of baptism; the
death, burial and resurrection of me unto this new life scarcely take place?
Obviously, I need to look more to Jesus, to trust in His grace and mercy and
benevolence. I need to submerse myself more in His love. Just more than
'scarcely'.
Gus Foster