Below is something I found on the internet about 1 Peter 3:19-21 This fellow has a good bit of the truth concerning these verses but at the end still gets it wrong. I will correct his error.
LESSON 7
BY WHOM ALSO HE WENT AND PREACHED TO THE SPIRITS IN PRISON: AN EXPOSITION ON PETER'S WORDS IN 1 PETER 3:19
You are welcome to another edition of Insights from God's Word, a Bible study programme that is committed to sharing God's Word by allowing the Bible to speak for itself.
In this edition, we continue with our series on The Truth About Death. In this study, I want us to consider the topic: "by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison": An exposition on Peter's words in 1 Peter 3:19.
A) The popular interpretation in regard to the above text within
Christendom is that when Christ died, He descended into hell and
actually preached to some spirits of dead people who have been bound in
the prison house of hell. This teaching became very popular when the
various mainstream Protestant denominations began to utilize the
Catholic Church's Apostle's Creed for liturgical and catechetical
purposes. The 12 stanzas of the apostle's creed are as follows:
1. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
2. And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord:
3. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary:
4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell:
5. The third day He rose again from the dead:
6. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:
7. From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead:
8. I believe in the Holy Ghost:
9. I believe in the holy Catholic Church: the communion of saints:
10. The forgiveness of sins:
11. The resurrection of the body:
12. And the life everlasting. Amen.
(Bold emphasis added to lines 3, 4 and 9)
Friends, even though I have serious questions with some of the stanzas
in respect to their consistency with Scripture (that is; stanzas 3 and
9), the 4th stanza of this creed has been the underlying catalyst in
spreading the false interpretation associated with our key text in 1 Peter 3:19.
The 4th stanza of the apostle's creed reads: "Suffered under Pontius
Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: HE DESCENDED INTO HELL:"
(Capital Emphasis Added).
B) Beloved, this teaching that Christ descended into hell, and preached
to some dead spirits in the prison house of hell is contrary to the
principle of the unity of the entire Scriptures (John 10:35).
In fact, our previous knowledge on the state of the dead clearly
emphasized that the dead (whether righteous or wicked) are not conscious
of anything He has this right. (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, 10; Psalm 146:3-4; Job 14:20-21), and that their abode is in the grave (Job 17:13-16; Job 7:9-10; John 5:28-29; Daniel 12:2). This biblical fact is also true of Christ's death (see Luke 23:46-53; Matthew 27:50-60).
Since the popular interpretation of 1 Peter 3:19 within
Christendom does not harmonize with the rest of Scripture on the
condition of man after death, it cannot be a correct interpretation. We
must therefore critically consider what the apostle Peter really meant
when he made the statement "by whom also He went and preached to the
spirits in prison". This is using spiritual logic, this is good.
C) Friends, for us to obtain a clear understanding of difficult verses
in Scripture, we need to consider among other things the entire passage
in which the difficult text is positioned. And so in this segment of our
study, we are going to consider the entire passage of 1 Peter 3:17-21.
I believe an analysis of the various verses in this passage will help
us to come away with an understanding of our key text in 1 Peter 3:19. The entire passage from which our key text is found reads:
C1) 3:17 "For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil."
Key Explanation: The apostle Peter is basically saying here that we
should suffer for well doing rather than to suffer for doing evil (see
also 1 Peter 4:12-16). Suffering or persecution is part of the Christian walk (2 Timothy 3:12). Christ once even encouraged His followers to take up their cross and follow Him (Luke 9:22-24).
C2) 3:18 "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the
unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh
but made alive by the Spirit,"
Key Explanation: Christ once suffered the ultimate penalty on a cross for the sins of the human race (Luke 23; Philippians 2:5-11; Acts 17:2-3).
Our Lord suffered not because He had sinned Himself, but because of the
sins of you and I. From Isaiah 53, we read the following:
"53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one
to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his
mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before
her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare
his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for
the transgression of my people was he stricken.
53:9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his
death; (The death of Jesus and the deaths of the wicked and rich show us that Jesus died the same death as they did.) because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his
mouth."
(Isaiah 53:6-9)
Beloved, the verse 18 of our key passage also makes it clear that Christ
suffered and died as a human being (that is, in the flesh) so that He
will reconcile us unto God (see Philippians 2:5-11; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21). Our Saviour was not to remain in the grave. He was raised up from the dead by the Spirit of God. From Romans 8:11,
we read these clear words of Scripture: "But if the Spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ
from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that
dwelleth in you."
C3) 3:19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
Now, he explains the same thing I have in my article, that we need to combine the continuing thought because the text jumps from Jesus to Noah and that Jesus by the same holy spirit that raised him from the dead empowered him to preach the gospel to the prisoners alive in his day.
Key Explanation: To understand this key text, it is important to note
the progression of thought in the last part of verse 18 and the early
part of verse 19. If we combine the last part of verse 18 and the early
part of verse 19, we obtain the following text: "18...being put to
death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom (by the same spirit) also He went
and preached ... " This progression of thought brings out the clear
point that the Spirit Who raised up Christ from the dead was the same
Spirit through whom Christ preached. (the preaching he did before he died to those in prison in his day) Thus friends, an important point we
need to mark here is that it was not Christ Himself Who did the
preaching; rather, He did it through the Holy Spirit. John 7:16 "My doctrine is not my own but HIS that sent me"
Another key point that is clear from Scripture is that the Holy Spirit works through human agents (John 14:17, 26; 2 Peter 1:21).
This fact presupposes that the Holy Spirit also did not do the
preaching Himself, but rather inspired a human agent to do so. With an
understanding of these clear points, we should be looking out in the
subsequent texts for the human agent through whom the Holy Spirit
preached.
From the verse 18, it becomes clear that this human agent who was filled
by the Holy Spirit preached unto some spirits in prison. The word
SPIRIT (pneumasin in Greek) as used in this text can refer to living
people (see Hebrews 12:23). Thus, the term SPIRITS IN PRISON
does accurately refer to LIVING PEOPLE WHO ARE CHAINED IN THE PRISON
HOUSE OF SIN. Let us consider some scriptural passages that make this
point clearer:
i) "6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine
hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people,
for a light of the Gentiles; 7 To open the blind eyes, TO BRING OUT THE
PRISONERS FROM THE PRISON, AND THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS OUT OF THE
PRISON HOUSE" (Isaiah 42:6-7; Capital Emphasis Added).
ii) "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath
anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to
bind up the brokenhearted, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES, AND THE
OPENING OF THE PRISON TO THEM THAT ARE BOUND" (Isaiah 61:1; Capital Emphasis Added).
iii) "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, TO PREACH DELIVERANCE TO THE CAPTIVES, and recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised" (Luke 4:18; Capital Emphasis Added).
Friends, from the passages of Scripture above, we learn that one of the
mission statements of Christ for fallen humanity was to free us from the
prison house of sin. Satan, the enemy of souls has made us captives of
several sinful behaviours of which we have no inner power to free
ourselves. From Isaiah 14:17, it is said concerning the devil:
"That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof;
THAT OPENED NOT THE HOUSE OF HIS PRISONERS?" (Capital Emphasis Added).
Beloved, from the Bible, we learn that the Christian warfare is a
spiritual warfare. The apostle Paul makes it clear that: "we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12). Thus friends, Satan’s prison house in this spiritual warfare is basically the prison house of sin (see also Romans 6:6, 17, 20).
It is in this prison house that many are spiritually held captives by
the devil. How many of us have not struggled to overcome a sinful
behaviour in the past? How many are there that do even struggle today?
As the Scripture clearly points out, it takes only the power of Christ
working through the Holy Spirit to free us from the bondage of sin (see Galatians 5:1; 1 Corinthians 15:57; Revelation 12:11).
Thus, our key text in 1 Peter 3:19 can simply be interpreted as
follows: Through the Holy Spirit working through a human agent, Christ
preached to people who were bound in various sinful behaviours. But two
key questions that beg for answers at this point in our study are these:
i) Who is the human agent through whom the Spirit of Christ preached?
ii) Which people were the recipients of this preaching?
Beloved, our very next text sheds light on these important questions above. The verse 20 of our key passage reads:
C4) 3:20 "who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine
longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being
prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through
water."
Key Explanation: Amazingly, the passage becomes clearer as we go along.
We are told right from the beginning of the verse 20 that the spirits in
prison were disobedient. That is to say, these people lived in sin. In
other words, they were captives or slaves to various sinful behaviours
as we have already noted (Isaiah 42:6-7; Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18; Isaiah 14:17).
The verse 20 goes on to say that these disobedient people lived at some
time in the past; specifically, during the time of Noah. Beloved, it is
interesting to note from Scripture that the people who lived in Noah's
day were so disobedient to the commandments of God that the Lord decided
to wipe out the entire human race from the face of the planet (Genesis 6:1-9). We are told in Genesis 6:8
that Noah however found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The patriarch
Noah was commissioned by God to build an ark that will serve as a refuge
for those who will heed the voice of God. From 2 Peter 2:5, we
learn that Noah was ‘a preacher of righteousness’ to the antediluvian
world. But despite his 120 years of Spirit - filled preaching, only
eight souls decided to renounce their sins and enter into the ark of
salvation (Genesis 7:6-7; 1 Peter 3:20).
C5) 3:21 "There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the
removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience
toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,"
Key Explanation: Even as entering the ark was a public profession of
faith in God during the time of Noah, so is Christian baptism a public
profession of faith in Christ in our day. Even as those who entered the
ark were saved through the waters, so will it be that all those who come
to believe in Christ and are baptized, will be saved (Mark 16:16; John 3:5, 15).
D) Thus friends, it is clear from the points we have gone through so far that our key text in 1 Peter 3:19
does not teach that Christ descended into hell to preach to some dead
spirits in prison. The key message the entire passage (that is, 1 Peter 3:17-21) seeks to convey is as follows:
17 It is better to suffer for well doing than for evil doing. 18 In this
respect, Christ gave us an example when He died for our sins so that He
could reconcile us unto God. Even though Christ died, He was
resurrected by the Spirit of God. Here is this fellows error. He thinks the spirit of Christ inspired the preaching of Noah. Jesus did not even exist in the days of Noah, therefore it was the spirit of GOD that inspired Noah, the same spirit that inspired Jesus to preach in his day. 19 With the Spirit of God working
through a human agent, that is Noah, Christ preached to the
antediluvians who were bound in various sinful behaviours. Christ did not preach to the antediluvians, Noahdid by the spirit of the FATHER. 20 This
action our Saviour performed, so that He could reconcile them also to
God. This is a lie, Jesus did not perform this action, Jesus would not even exist until 3,000 years later. But despite Noah's 120 years of Spirit - filled preaching, only
eight souls were saved. 21 Even as entering the ark was a public
profession of faith for the penitent during the time of Noah, so is
baptism a public profession of faith in Christ in our day. Even as those
who entered the ark were saved through the waters, so will it be that
all those who come to believe in Christ and are baptized, will be saved.
Exhortation: This study clearly admonishes us to quickly respond
to the voice of the Holy Spirit before it is too late. It is the voice of Christ not the FATHER we respond to because Jesus is the mediator and GOD speaks to us through Jesus. From the words
of Christ in Matthew 24, we come across the same warning:
"37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the
Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they
were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day
that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came,
and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Matthew 24:37-39).
NOTE: Scriptural References utilized in this study are from either the
King James Version or the New King James Version of the Bible.
In our next study, we will consider the topic: "For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead...": An exposition on Peter's words in 1 Peter 4:6. The Bible Study references for this study are 1 Peter 4:1-19, 2 Timothy 4:1, Acts 10:42, Hebrews 6:1, Ephesians 2:1, Ephesians 5:14, Colossians 2:13, Luke 15:32, and Matthew 5:10-12. Please do well to go through these passages before the next study is released. The "those who are dead” are the people listed in Hebrews 11, GODS ancient saints, the elect before Christ. The gospel was preached unto Abraham, Galatians 3:8 Abraham is now dead and so are all of those in Hebrews 11. This is how the gospel was preached to those who are dead. I did not read this fellows writing about this but he probably has it wrong if he thinks Jesus somehow did it.
Stay blessed and keep shining for King Jesus.
Maranatha!
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