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1 Peter 3:18-20
We have learned that it is better to suffer for God’s sake as His blessings await us for doing so than to do evil and suffer the eternal consequences. The Apostle Peter tells us that Christ Jesus also suffered. He suffered the pain and torment due to each of us for our sins; Peter refers to it in verse 18 as, “the just for the unjust.” But why would He do this, or why, if He did, does it matter to us? Peter tells us the answer as we continue in verse 18, “that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit…”, and that is so very important that we understand. Jesus was put to death for our sins in the flesh which is representative to dying to the flesh/sinful nature. Jesus rose from the grave in His purity, which was not deserving of death, in His defeat of the sinful nature that He died to. This represents the new life that He lives (Romans 6:9-10; 8:1-11) and offers to us and is representative of our baptism in proclaiming our faith to Him (Romans 6:4).
It is through God’s Holy Spirit that we are given new life as He indwells and purifies our hearts as we put our faith in Him and ask of His forgiveness in true repentance of sin, that we now seek, through His indwelling help, our new life in Him. It is through His Holy Spirit that once Jesus arose from the grave defeating sin, death, and Satan once for all that He then went to preach to the, “spirits in prison” that Peter mentions in verses 19-20 that were “disobedient” during the time up to that of Noah as God awaited man to turn from his ever-growing evil ways to return to Him in seeking His divine guidance as man’s Creator God. Only eight (Noah, his wife, and his sons and their wives) were delivered from the great flood (Genesis 6:18; 7:7,13, 23). This is representative of baptism – being “saved through water” as was all who believed in God (Noah and his family) were saved through the water and came out into a new life, so we, when we are baptized, go under the water in representation of the sinful nature, and come up out of the water into a new life in Christ Jesus with a new Holy Spirit filled heart that seeks God’s will for our lives, leaving the sinful nature of the flesh “washed off” under the water.
There is much controversy among the scholars concerning this passage of just who are “spirits in prison” (verse 19) but is to my best understanding that these are the souls of all who died before Jesus died on the cross in redeeming all man from the wages of sin (John 5:24-30). Jesus states in John 5:25, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of he Son of God; and those who hear will live.” It is also to my understanding and belief that as we now live in a post-resurrection time and have the words and teaching of Jesus and salvation is preached to the world, we have the opportunity to “hear” the “voice of the Son of God” as Jesus tells us in John 5:25 during our physical lives and make the choice in hindsight to open our hearts to Him and as He says, “those who hear will live” (John 5:25).
This is the promise of salvation through Jesus Christ for all who will “hear” Him.
God made salvation so simple for us when He sent His one and only Son to pay our price for sin and redeem us back to a right standing with Himself. He tells us step by step how to receive salvation in and through Christ Jesus and has it all documented in His Word – the Bible. He has even sent His Holy Spirit to be our guide and help us through this sinful world that we – through Him – may be saved from eternity in condemnation which is out of His presence. But we must open our ears and our hearts, and “hear” Him speaking to us. And then we must respond to His calling on our lives by saying, “yes, Lord Jesus, save me from my sins. I believe that You died to pay for my sins. I open my heart to You. Come in and cleanse me from sin and fill me with Your Holy Spirit that I too may become a child of God through the redemption that You have provided for me on the cross and Your resurrection from the grave in giving me life eternal – in Christ. Ask Jesus forgiveness; sincerely turn from living in sin and to seeking God’s will for your life; believe with all your heart in Christ Jesus and you will be saved. Praise the LORD!
Dear LORD,
Please help us to put to death the sins of the flesh and put on a new life in Christ Jesus that we all may live for eternity in heaven with You, basking in Your glory. In Jesus name I pray, amen.