They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 1 Peter 4:4-5 (NIV)
Think about someone you know who is highly resistant to Christ. That person will give an account of his or her words and actions to him.
Deeply resistant people will have to give an account to God, and their time is short. Peter says, “This is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead” (4:6).
Peter describes what happens when Christians die in two ways: “so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit” (4:6). They have gone under the judgment of death, because death is the universal judgment on all human sin. But they live by the mercy of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
That’s why the gospel is preached, so when you die, you will live! The folks around you who are highly resistant to Jesus are going to die too. When they die, they will have to give an account to God. That’s why it is so important that the gospel is preached. Highly resistant folks need to hear it so that when they die, they can live! The urgency of all this is that their time is short.
With whom do you feel the greatest urgency to share the gospel?
