Christ's Suffering and Ours

1 Peter 3:18-22

V. 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 being made alive by the spirit.

Jesus being the sinless lamb of God, spotless and without blemish upon His character, and His walk with the Father, took on our sin and died in our stead. For by one man sin came into the world and by one man sin was taken out of the world. We may not see the fullness of this in our lifetime, but we can walk in the victory over sin and death by a relationship with God through the Son. By bringing us to God Christ has become our mediator to God, an intercessor who prays for us to the Father that we may walk in the freedom of His victory over sin, in a world that has not discovered the freedom that we walk in.

His suffering was also an example to us, as proof to blessings received for suffering for well doing. There is nothing that we go through in this life that Christ does not go through with us, or has gone through before us. We ask the question; what would Jesus do? Instead perhaps we should ask; what did Jesus do? By searching the scriptures we can see how Christ answered temptation, and was able to walk free of sin. But He was the Son of God, you may say, and you are what? We are heirs of salvation, because of our offering of the sacrifice that Christ provided. Furthermore we die daily to sin are alive to Christ, forevermore.

V. 19, 20 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 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 the water.

These two verses have led to a lot of false doctrine that suggests that the dead have a chance of forgiveness, or that all shall be saved. Most Christians, however, have accepted two interpretations. I will include them both being unsure of this difficult passage myself. The bigger question I will try to address is why Peter would include these verses to a suffering church.

According to the first, Christ went to Hades in spirit between His death and resurrection, and proclaimed the triumph of His mighty work on the cross. There is a disagreement among proponents of this view as to whether the spirits in prison were believers, unbelievers or both. But there is a fairly general agreement that the Lord Jesus did not preach the gospel to them. That would involve the doctrine of the second chance which is nowhere taught in the Bible. Those who hold this view often link this passage with Ephesians 4:9 where the Lord is described as descending “into the lower parts of the earth.” They cite this as added proof that He went to Hades in the disembodied state and heralded His victory at Calvary. They also cite the words of the Apostles’ Creed- “descended into hell.”

The second interpretation is that Peter is describing what happened in the days of Noah. It was the spirit of Christ who preached through Noah to the unbelieving generation before the flood. They were not disembodied spirits at the time, but living men and women who rejected the warnings of Noah and were destroyed by the flood. So now they are spirits in the prison of Hades.

By whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison. The whom is referring to the Spirit of God, who enables us all to preach the word of God, and enabled Jesus to go to the Spirits in prison and preach. The spirits Christ preached to were the same people that Noah preached to. They rejected Noah’s message and were drowned because of it. They are now disembodied spirits in prison, awaiting the final judgment.

How do we know that these spirits were the same people who were living in Noah days? In verse 20 these spirits are identified as those who formerly were disobedient. They are further identified as being disobedient during the time that Noah built the ark. Out of Noah’s ministry only eight souls were saved. If a preacher today preached 120 years and only converted eight souls to Christ, he would have long ago been asked to leave. So consider the frustration that Noah and his band of believers had to be going through.

I feel that this interpretation bests fits the context in which Peter gives it here. We have to remember that Peter was writing to a group of believers who had discovered the truth in the person of The Lord Jesus Christ and were suffering at the hands of former friends and neighbors because of it. I am sure that they had begun to wonder if this was the truth and they had accepted it, why others didn’t grasp this reality. I felt this same way as I began to teach and preach and devour the word of God as though I hadn’t eaten in years. If I could have this same calling upon my life, why couldn’t everyone share in this exiting new venture? As I matured I began to realize that it is God who calls us to salvation, and calls each to His own purpose.

At the end of verse 20, we read that a few, that is eight souls, were saved through water. It is not that they were saved by water; they were saved through the water. Water was not the savior, but the judgment through which God brought them safely.

The ark is a symbol of Jesus Christ and the water is the symbol of the judgment of God. It is Christ who saves us from the judgment of God, when we rest in Him.

V. 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,

Most Christians have been baptized, but they disagree about how to baptize, when to baptize, and what baptism means. There are several statements in this passage that may be confusing. If baptism saves a person, how does it do this? Isn’t it salvation by grace through faith? This seems to add a ceremonial work, much like circumcision. And what then is the state of people who are not baptized?

Actually there is a baptism that saves us, but is not our baptism in water. It is Christ death at Calvary. His death is considered to be baptism in the waters of judgment. In Luke 12:50 He says; “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished.” In Ps. 42:7 The psalmist described this baptism; “Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all your waves and billows have gone over me”

In His death, Christ was baptized in the waves and billows of God’s wrath, and it is this baptism that is the basis for our salvation.

Just as Noah and his family had entered the ark, we must accept Christ death, and commit ourselves to the Lord as our only savior. When we do this we become identified with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. In a very real sense, we then have been crucified with Him (Gal. 2:20), we have been buried with Him (Rom. 6:4), and we have been brought to life with Him.

The ceremony of baptism is an outward sign of what has taken place spiritually; we have been baptized into Christ’s death. And as we go under the water, we acknowledge that we have been buried with Him. Finally, as we come out of the water, we show that we have risen with Him.

This antitype that now saves us refers to Christ’s baptism unto death on the cross and our identification with Him in it, which represents water baptism. This does not mean that the water saves us, but it is our statement that we are identifying ourselves with what Jesus did on the cross.

V. 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.

Jesus not only rose from the dead, but He also ascended into heaven to a place that He had enjoyed since before the beginning of time. Referring to Christ as ascending to the right hand of God is to refer to His having been given power, (Matt. 26:64) honor, Acts 2:33; 5:31), rest (Hebrews 1:3; 8:1: 10:12) has become our intercessor, (Romans 8:34) preeminence, (Eph. 1:20,21) and dominion. (Hebrews 1:13)

This is the lesson that Peter wants to convey to his readers and to us as well. That our Lord suffered for well-doing, He was rejected by man, He was baptized unto death’s judgment at Calvary, Risen from that death, and is now seated at the right hand of God in glory. We should comfort ourselves with the fact that if we suffer with Christ, we shall be glorified with Him. This is the reason that Peter included this passage in his letter to a suffering church, and it is encouragement to all that suffer at the hands of man for doing well.