What Does it Mean that Judgment Begins at the House of God?

Yesterday I heard from a pastor who is a long-time Escape to Reality reader. He asked me about a particular scripture, and I directed him to the relevant page on the Grace Commentary.

“What’s the Grace Commentary?” He’d never heard of it. Perhaps you have not heard of it either. If not, the Grace Commentary is the place to go when you come across tough scriptures like this:

It is time for judgment to begin with the household of God. (1 Peter 4:17)

This scripture is sometimes u...