Verse 17
In this verse and the next Peter gave two encouragements in suffering by comparing our suffering as believers with the suffering that unbelievers will experience. This verse focuses on the time of these two experiences of suffering. Our suffering is now, but theirs will be when they stand before God in judgment. Our judgment by unbelievers now is lighter than their judgment by God will be later. Our sufferings are part of the opening scene in the last act of God’s redemptive drama. More severe judgment will follow on the ungodly. It helps to see our sufferings in the context of God’s end-times plan. They are not an accident but an assurance of His sovereign control.
One writer argued that Peter was alluding to Malachi 3:2-3. [Note: D. E. Johnson, "Fire in God’s House: Imagery from Malachi 3 in Peter’s Theology of Suffering (1 Peter 4:12-19)," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 29 (1989):285-94.] This seems unlikely since Malachi referred to a purifying judgment that would come on Israel whereas Peter wrote of one that Christians experience now. Peter previously called the church a spiritual household (1 Peter 2:5).
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