WWUTT 328 Jesus Proclaimed to the Sprits in Prison?

So, when Peter says that Jesus proclaimed to the spirits in prison, does that mean that Jesus went to hell? And what about this thing where Peter says that baptism saves you? It's a section of scripture that's not as complicated as we make it out to be when we understand the text.

Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text as an online ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty, visit our website at www .utt .com.

1 Peter 3:18-22 and the Two Questions It Raises

Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Thank you, Becky. We are in 1 Peter 3, verses 18 through 22 today, one of the most head-scratching sections of Peter's letters. There are two issues that get drawn out of this section and have become the subject of much debate, but they are really not as complicated as we have made them out to be.

I'll single out what those two subjects are once we get to the end of the reading. So 1 Peter 3, beginning in verse 18, the apostle says,. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

Okay, so the two issues that we have drawn out of this section and have made into the subject of much debate, I'm sure you already know without me having to spell out to you what they are. The first one is this idea of Christ being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison.

What in the world is that talking about? The second issue that we tend to draw out of this begins in verse 21, where Peter says, Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you. So is Peter saying that it's by water baptism that we receive salvation?

The Church of Christ is correct, the Catholics are correct, that we need to be baptized in order to be saved, the apostolics also talk about this as well. Well, once again, we have made these issues more complicated than they really are.

There are simple ways to understand these things, but it requires a broader understanding of Scripture, not merely trying to limit our understanding to just what Peter is saying here. Because otherwise, we're going to fall into a lot of speculation.

This is a great exercise in using Scripture to interpret Scripture. So first of all, let's begin in verse 18, we'll go still through this in context. Even though we draw these two issues out, there's still an overall context that's going on here.

So we're going to look at this in context, but still address both of these subjects. So beginning in verse 18, for Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous. So Christ suffered and died as the righteous one in place of the unrighteous, who is us.

We deserved this death, we deserve to have God's wrath poured out upon us. But it was Christ's death on the cross and through his death that he absorbed the wrath of God. As we read in Isaiah 53, it pleased God to crush him.

And so God's wrath poured out upon Christ on the cross. He is that righteous, perfect, spotless lamb, that perfect sacrifice who died for us. We read earlier, 1 Peter 1 .19, where he says that the precious blood of Christ has saved us that blood that is like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

So Christ is our sacrificial lamb. Tying this back into the sacrificial system as it was implemented in Israel. Jesus is that perfect atoning sacrifice, and it is by his blood that we have been saved.

Or as Peter had said previously in chapter two, verse 24, by his wounds, you have been healed. So Christ, that perfect sacrifice for us that satisfied the wrath of God, the propitiation for our sins. So Christ is the righteous sacrifice for the unrighteous man that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.

Another way to consider this is that he died in the flesh, meaning the visible physical realm in which Christ existed in the flesh when he became God incarnate, fully man and fully God, which we worship God for during this very season.

The whole reason for remembering the Christmas season is that gift of Christ who was given to us, incarnate, born of the Virgin Mary, God in the flesh, God who has come to man, Emmanuel, God with us. This is what we remember during the Christmas season and we praise and celebrate God for.

So he existed in the flesh. He was fully man, fully God, died in the flesh, died in this physical realm, but his spirit did not die. The spirit of Jesus Christ was not put to death. His body was, but his spirit was not because God did not die.

Okay. If his spirit was put to death, then Jesus, the son of God, the second person in the Trinity spiritually died as well as physically died. But that simply was not the case. The last words spoken by Christ on the cross, it is finished, paid in full.

The work was done with Christ's death, with his physical death. There was no reason for him to spiritually die. If Christ spiritually died, then his spirit descended into hell and this did not happen.

We do not see this in the scriptures in any way of Christ descending into hell. Popular belief, but it is a false doctrine. Jesus did not spiritually die. When he said it is finished, he meant it. And there was not a reason for him to descend into hell.

There is a song out there, actually a popular praise and worship song. You may have even sung it in your church from Carrie Jobe called Forever We Sing Hallelujah. And in that song, she sings one final breath he gave as heaven looked away, the son of God was laid in darkness, a battle in the grave.

The war on death was waged. The power of hell forever broken. And then in the pre-chorus to the song, the ground began to shake. The stone was rolled away. His perfect love could not be overcome. Now death, where is your sting?

Our resurrected king has rendered you defeated forever. He is glorified. So anyway, the song builds and builds and builds to this really triumphal part. Everybody cheers and is singing huge on the chorus.

OK, but anyway, it sounds fine. The lyrics sound fine. You might be even listening to that and going, yeah, sure, I totally agree with that. Well, in an interview about that song, Jobe said that what she was thinking about when she wrote it, along with several other writers that helped her put it together, the focus of the song for Carrie Jobe was Jesus's time in hell.

That's actually what she was thinking about when she wrote that. So when the song goes, a battle in the grave, the war on death was waged, the power of hell forever broken. It's not merely being poetic.

The song is about Jesus going to hell, which never happened. So like I said, it's a very popular belief. And one of those passages that is used to try to justify this approach to or this idea of Jesus having descended into hell is this one here in first Peter chapter three.

So Jesus, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison because they formerly did not obey when God's patience waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared in which a few, that is, eight persons were brought safely through the water.

So first of all, in answering this question or explaining this particular section, what does it mean? Who are the spirits? Let's let's answer that question first. Who are the spirits that Christ ministered to?

So one of the debated aspects about this particular verse is that the spirits are demons, okay? Demons that have been locked away in prison. You know, when we read about the Nephilim in the book of Genesis, about how the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were very beautiful and had sex with them.

And so and then their offspring were the very powerful Nephilim, okay? When we read about that in the book of Genesis, there are those who think those spirits got imprisoned and are waiting in hell for some sort of testament of Christ, which came about after his death.

That's one popular explanation for who these spirits were. Others will say that the spirits are human souls that were kept in prison. Either way you look at it, either way that you consider these spirits, whether they are demons or they are human souls, really doesn't matter.

And this understanding of Jesus proclaiming to those spirits in prison is not as complicated as we tend to make it out to be. How is the best way that we understand this proclamation to the spirits in prison?

I have to tell you that I think the best explanation is in Luke chapter 16, verses 19 through 31. Of all four gospels, Luke gives the most insight into the spiritual realm. The teaching of Christ in Luke's gospel gives us more insight into what's going on behind this veil, behind this curtain that we can't look through now in this particular age, in this, you know, in the flesh in which we live.

We cannot see what's going on spiritually. So Jesus gives us some insight because he came from heaven, so he knows what's going on in that spiritual realm. And in Luke chapter 16, he gives us the story, not parable, story of the rich man and Lazarus.

This is an actual thing that took place. This is not a parable that Jesus is telling. How do we know that? Because in the parables, all of the characters are nameless. In this story, Jesus talks about a poor man named Lazarus.

So this is not a parable. It is a story. And Jesus, having come from heaven to earth, knows exactly what's going on in that realm, on that side of things. So he gives us insight into what the spiritual realm looks like with this story.

In Luke chapter 16, starting in verse 19, there was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table.

Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.

And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame. But Abraham said, Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things and Lazarus in like manner bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish.

And besides all this, between us and you, a great chasm has been fixed in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able and none may cross from there to us. And he said, Then I beg you, Father, to send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers so that he may warn them lest they also come into this place of torment.

But Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And the rich man said, No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. And Abraham said to him, If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.

Here you have Abraham in this place that is referred to as Abraham's bosom, but we actually know this is paradise. I'm going to explain that here in just a moment. Abraham is in paradise and he is doing what he is proclaiming to a man who is in torment.

So however heaven and hell work, apparently those who are in torment can look across this great chasm that has been fixed. Don't think of it as a chasm that is physical. That's just the word that's being used to describe this gulf that separates those who are in torment and those who are in paradise.

And those who are in torment are able to look across that chasm and see what they cannot have. And they will constantly be in anguish, weeping, and gnashing of teeth for this heaven that they will not get because they rejected the Son of God.

Because they rejected Moses and the prophets who testified about Christ as well. And so Abraham is explaining to the rich man why he is where he is and why those who will reject Moses and the prophets will end up in the same place that he's in.

Why even someone who rises from the dead, if he was to proclaim to those who are lost and perishing, why even his declaration is not going to be enough to convince them if they were not willing to listen to Moses and the prophets.

So just as Abraham proclaimed to the rich man, so Christ, after his death, proclaimed to the spirits in prison. It's the same concept as the story that Jesus shared in Luke 16. So Peter is tying into here in 1 Peter 3, verse 19, after Christ died on the cross and his spirit went to paradise.

So I said that I was going to explain that. That's in Luke 23. With Jesus' death on the cross, we've got the two criminals that are hanging on either side. One criminal mocks Jesus and the other one defends him and says, do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

And we indeed justly for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds. But this man, Jesus, he has done nothing wrong. And that thief who spoke up for Christ said to him, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

And Jesus' response to him was, truly, I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise. Once again, another evidence that Jesus did not descend into hell. For the moment his body died, he was in paradise.

And this thief on the cross who testified of him went to be with him in paradise as well. So when Christ ascended into paradise, he proclaimed to the spirits in prison, just as Abraham did to the rich man who was in torment.

That's the explanation of 1 Peter 3, verse 19, because they formerly did not obey when God's patience waited in the days of Noah. So you had these spirits who were in prison, whether they were demons or human souls, doesn't matter.

Either way, Christ proclaimed to them who were in prison as though to say, once he ascended into heaven, following his bodily death, he was looking into those spirits in prison and saying, see, this is what you did not listen to.

This is what you were not paying attention to Noah about when he testified about me. So even Noah was a prophet and even he preached, but the people did not listen to him. And Peter talks about this later in 2 Peter 2, where he talks about Noah being a prophet, a herald of God's righteousness.

And so because of Noah's preaching, the people did not listen and did not obey, but they did not understand the reason for their torment. And once Christ ascended to that place in which he was looking into that place of torment where those spirits were in prison, he proclaimed to them, this is what you did not understand.

And this is what has now been accomplished by my death, that all who had faith in me before my death and even so after my death and resurrection will be the ones who are saved. So that was the proclamation of Christ to those who are in prison for they formerly did not obey when God's patients waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared in which a few that is eight persons were brought safely through water.

Baptism as an Appeal to God for a Good Conscience

So then Peter then ties in the analogy of baptism to or ties in the analogy of Noah and his family. Either way, you want to look at that into baptism. So why are we baptized? The earth was cleansed of evil by the water of judgment that purged the earth of sin.

Noah who was considered a righteous man and his family, his three sons and their wives and also Noah's wife, eight people altogether were brought safely through those waters on the ark. Baptism which corresponds to this now saves you not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience.

So the confusion that is created here is Peter's statement of how baptism saves you. So is Peter making a statement that we're saved by water baptism just as Noah and his family were saved on the ark from the waters of judgment.

So we are saved by water baptism when we are dunked in water because Peter says here baptism now saves you. Another passage that gets taken out of context when it is used in that way. Remember that the word salvation or the word saves doesn't always mean justification.

It always, it also means sanctification. So once again, because I stumbled on my words there, salvation not only means justification in a certain context, it also means sanctification. Look at, let's consider some of those contexts.

So first Corinthians 1 .18 right now I am going through first Corinthians with my church congregation. That's our sermon series on Sunday. First Corinthians 1 .18 for the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

The message of the cross of Christ is a glory of God that we praise God for because we who are being saved, who are being sanctified, understand what is behind this message. What was accomplished by Christ's death on the cross.

We understand that. Those who are not being saved, who are actually perishing, don't understand the message of the cross. In fact, they mock the message of the cross, which was the point that Paul was making there.

And so it is only to those who have been transformed with a mind in the spirit of God who can understand what was being accomplished by the cross of Christ. To those of us who are being saved, who are being sanctified, it is the power of God.

And that's not the only place that Paul uses the word salvation in this way with the Corinthians in particular. First Corinthians 15 .1 -2. Now, I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preach to you, which you received in which you stand and by which you are being saved.

Not to say to them that they aren't saved yet. You just need to listen to the gospel a little bit more and you will be saved. No, they've already been saved. They've been justified by hearing the gospel, repenting of their sins, and been given faith in Christ through the spirit, but are being sanctified.

So there is a work of salvation that is continuing as they continue to grow in knowledge and faith, brotherly love, so on and so forth. This process of sanctification. In his next letter, Paul says, 2 Corinthians 2 .15, for we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

And then you have probably one of the best verses concerning the use of the word salvation as sanctification is Philippians 2 .12. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now not only in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Not that the Philippians weren't already saved, but that they were continuing in this work of salvation through their sanctification with fear and trembling. Here's another verse that kind of gives an example of salvation as sanctification.

First Timothy 2 .15 where Paul is talking about how women can't be in the role of a pastor. She cannot have authority over a man in the church is what he's talking about. So then in verse 15, he says, yet she will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control.

Now Paul is not saying there that when a woman has a child, hey, she's saved. So women that don't have children are not saved, but women who do have children are saved. That's not what Paul is talking about there.

Rather, there is a work of sanctification that a mother gets to experience a father never will. A man, a dad will never get to experience the same suffering and sanctification that a woman gets to experience through childbearing, the pain of childbearing, which is part of the curse that was placed upon a woman because Eve was the first to take the fruit.

She was tempted by the serpent. She took the fruit. She gave it to her husband. So part of her curse was that she would experience pain in childbearing. But there is a glory that a woman is able to give to God, a praise she is able to lift up to her God in heaven that a man cannot possibly understand because she celebrates being able to experience these labor pains, a metaphor that is even used in the scripture to talk about how all of creation is groaning like a woman in labor pains.

And the apostle Paul using this metaphor also with the Galatians when he's saying, I feel like that I have to go through labor pains for you again so that you can hear the gospel that I had first proclaimed to you and Christ would be formed in you.

So as this is being used metaphorically, it's something that only a woman will truly understand the pain of childbirth and giving glory to God even in the midst of that pain. The experience of holding a newborn baby in her arms and experiencing that joy after going through such immense pain to bring that life into the world, that is a sanctification that only a woman will get to experience, to give glory to God in the midst of that kind of pain, that kind of trial.

So another way that Paul uses the word salvation in terms of sanctification is in 1 Thessalonians 5 .8, but since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.

So salvation that could all not only be used in terms of sanctification, but the salvation that we will receive the day that Christ returns. It could also be in that context or the day that we go to be with the Lord.

Also in Ephesians 6 .17, the helmet of salvation. Here's one more. And this really having to do with what we're talking about here in first Peter. It's Romans 5 .11 for if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life?

That's that very process of sanctification there that Paul is talking about. So these are some of the ways that the word saved is used in terms of sanctification. And that's the way that Peter is using it here.

Baptism which corresponds to this now saves you not as a removal of dirt from the body, but here's the key part, as an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So it's as if to say baptism is our first work of sanctification.

The first thing that we do in this process of sanctification in which we are zealous for good works, Titus 2 .14, we as the people of God are zealous for good works. The way Paul puts it in Ephesians 2 .10 is that these works have been prepared for us beforehand that we should walk in them.

Well, for a person who has been justified by faith in Jesus Christ, the first work that they do in celebration before God is baptism. So in obedience to the command, they are baptized as an appeal to God for a good conscience, knowing that I have been cleansed of my sin by the death and resurrection of Christ.

So as I have been crucified with Christ and risen again with him, so I am appealing to God for a good conscience, that my former sins are no longer guilting me or weighing me down, but I know with a clear conscience that I have now been saved by Christ.

And so there is nothing that any man can do to me, as we talked about yesterday. If God is for us, who can be against us? So no one can bring any fault against me. I know that I am now declared innocent before God by the death and resurrection of Christ.

And that's our appeal to God through baptism. The very symbolism that is represented there in baptism, that by going under the water, we have been buried with Christ in our sins and coming up out of the water, we are risen again to new life, a new creation.

No longer thinking with the old mind in the old ways, but in Christ we think with a new mind, with the mind of Christ, pursuing the righteousness of Christ and growing in knowledge of him, love for him, love for the brotherhood, the people of God, so on and so forth.

So this is what is being represented by baptism. And this is our appeal to God for a good conscience through an obedience to this work. Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, represented in our baptism, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

So once again, if God is for us, who can be against us? That's what Peter is talking about in 1 Peter 3, verses 18 through 22. And I hope it's as clear as the water you were baptized in. Dear God, as we wrap these things up today, I pray that everything that we have talked about continues to encourage our hearts.

We celebrate that by Christ's death on the cross, the righteous for the unrighteous, we have been justified before God. We are declared innocent. The price has been paid, tetelestiae, paid in full, it is finished.

And now we know that we are saved and are being saved as we are going through this process of sanctification in Christ, being shaped, made more like Christ as is talked about in Romans 8, 29. So God continue this work in us and let us be zealous for good works, doing the things of God, growing in the knowledge of you.

And when there are things that we do not understand, help us with patient fervor to labor over the scriptures so that we might know you all the more and we mature in our worship and glory of God. We pray for wisdom, God.

And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.

Gabriel Hughes is the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. Find out more online at www .utt .com.