Verse 18.— And if the righteous scarcely be saved. I can not think the apostle here intimates any difficulty in the salvation of the righteous, for in his second Epistle he states plainly that the entrance into the everlasting kingdom shall be abundantly ministered. I think the thought is that, while in this life their hindrances are so great and the trial so heavy, their faithful endurance is hard to be sustained, and, if thy prove loyal and true to Christ and are saved, what hope can the ungodly and sinner have that obeyed not and suffered not for the cause of right?