"And if the Righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?"

The argument of Peter in the text is presented in the strongest form of logic, from the lesser to the greater probability. It is put interrogatively, as a direct appeal to the moral judgment of the reader - carrying with it a challenge to resist the conclusion, if it be possible. This is felt by the writer to be so irresistible, that the utterance of it may be safely left with those to whom the argument is addressed: "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?"