Judged for Our Work and Living in Fear

A reader asked me how to read the following verse through a new covenant lens:

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth. (1 Peter 1:17)

Hmm, sounds scary.

Didn’t Jesus say something about having to give an account for every careless word? And didn’t Paul say something about being tested with fire?

Sounds like we’ve got some kind of big exam coming, and it’s going to b...