1 Peter 3c

Let’s review our memory verse: I Peter 4.19 “Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

What a privilege it is to suffer according to God’s will. 

What an honor it is to entrust our souls to a faithful Creator while we continue too good.

The Continuation: 1 Peter 3:13-17

Before we get started here today, I would just like to point out that 1 Peter 3:18-22 is simply a continuation of 1 Peter 3:13-17 that provides the theological foundation and encouragement to act on the principles and instructions given in verses 13–17. Let’s read that passage of Scripture again to include verse 18. 

1 Peter 3:13-17 “13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. 18 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 verse 18, Peter makes the connection here to verse 17 by using the word phrase “also suffered.” Peter takes the suffering for doing good and ties it into the greatest example of suffering for doing good – Jesus. 

Our Passage of Scripture: 1 Peter 3:18-22

Now, let’s read our passage of Scripture considering this connection between verses 17-18. 

1 Peter 3:18-22 “18 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, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 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. 21 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, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.”

The Suffering of Jesus: 1 Peter 3:18

“For Christ also suffered…”

Peter wanted his readers to know that “Christ also suffered,” and he ties this suffering back to verse 14 “…suffer for righteousness’ sake…” and then in verse 16 Peter identifies a certain aspect of suffering by saying “…when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ…” 

Given this connection of suffering made by Peter, I want to pose three very specific questions to you:

1.   Do you truly know what Jesus suffered? 

2.   Do you truly talk about the entirety of Jesus’ suffering? 

3.   Do you truly act on the knowledge of Jesus’ suffering? 

Let’s start off by talking about what Jesus suffered during His earthly ministry. 

Knowing What Jesus Suffered

Not only did Jesus suffer a vicious beating before His agonizing death on a cross, but He also suffered personal persecution, ridicule, and slander during His earthly ministry – even from His own family and the people He grew up with. 

To give you a better understanding of how Jesus suffered during His earthly ministry, we are going to look at a few Scriptures to see the different types of suffering Jesus endured during His earthly ministry, and we will start this off by looking at Jesus’ own family. 

So, let’s turn to John 7:2-10.

John 7:2-10 “2 Now the Jews' Feast of Booths was at hand. 3 So his brothers said to him, ‘Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.’ 5 For not even his brothers believed in him. 6 Jesus said to them, ‘My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.’ 9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee. 10 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.”

It may sound strange to hear this, but even Jesus’ own brothers didn’t believe in Him and in fact they mocked Him because they did not believe in Him. Being treated this way by your own brothers would be harsh for anyone to deal with, however this is only a small portion of what Jesus had to endure from His own family. 

If we go on to look at Mark 3:13-21 we can see another situation that occurred with Jesus’ own family. 

Mark 3:13-21 “13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. 20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, ‘He is out of his mind.’”

In this second passage of Scripture, we find that when Jesus started His earthly ministry His family didn’t adorn Him or worship Him, nor did they stand in the streets and shout “the Messiah is here!” No, they thought that Jesus was out of His mind, and they wanted to seize Him!!! 

I want you to take a moment and let that sink in! You are the Son of the Living God, come to save mankind from their sin, and yet your own earthly brothers don’t believe in you, your own brothers are mocking you, and your family thinks you are so crazy that they need to seize you!!!

This example is just the icing on the cake though, so let’s go even deeper here and turn to John 7:41-43.

John 7:40-43 “40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people over him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.”

Let me take a moment here to explain this passage by giving you some historical context here. In the time of Christ, Galilee was the northernmost of the three provinces of Israel – above Samaria in the middle and Judea in the south. Approximately 700 years before Christ, Galilee’s Israelite inhabitants were conquered by Assyria. Most of the Jews living there were relocated to Assyria, while non-Jewish immigrants moved into Galilee (2 Kings 15:29–17:24). 

So, during Jesus’ lifetime, Judeans looked down on the Galileans because the Judeans considered the Galileans to be uneducated and they questioned the validity of their ancestry (John 1:46; 7:52) which was extremely important to them. So, just by being a Galilean, Jesus “was despised, and we held him in low esteem” (Isaiah 53:3).

So here we are – your brothers are mocking you because they don’t believe in you, your own family thinks you are crazy and wants to seize you, and your despised by the very people you came to save because you are a Galilean. 

And as the old infomercials used to say, “But wait – there’s more!”

To add to this – 

•   Jesus suffered through the pious condemning comments of the hypocritical Pharisees and Sadducees. 

•   Jesus suffered through people leaving Him because His words were too hard to take. 

•   Jesus suffered through a rag-tag band of disciples who struggled with their faith but wanted Him to take over the world. 

•   And along the way, Jesus suffered through people who were actively seeking to arrest Him or even kill Him.

To put it plainly, Jesus’ entire life was marked by suffering.

Yet, despite all the persecution, ridicule, slander, and even death on a cross – Jesus endured suffering. Jesus continued to do good and remained faithful to the Father. 

This is the connection we need to see here.

Peter wants us to know that Jesus suffered for doing what was right (2:14) and that we are not alone in our suffering. As Christians, who are called to share the Gospel, we should make the same proclamation as Peter did. We should let people know that Jesus suffered and that they are not alone in their suffering! 

Talking About the Suffering of Jesus

But, when it comes to talking about Jesus or sharing the Gospel with others, we often emphasize the tortuous events that led up to the crucifixion and the actual crucifixion itself. We often talk about Jesus being unjustly beaten by the Roman guards and the scourging He received from a cat-o-nine-tails. We often talk about the crown of thorns that was placed on His head and how He was mocked by the Roman guards. We often talk about how the nails were pounded into his arms and feet. And we often talk about the painful suffering He endured as He hung on the cross. 

It is vitally important that we share these details with others, especially unbelievers, however we also need to understand that Jesus’ entire life was characterized by suffering. When we share the Gospel and the life of Jesus with others, we need to make sure that we are giving them the whole story – not just one aspect of the story. 

It’s not enough to just say that Jesus died on the cross – most people already know this, even unbelievers. We need to let people know that Jesus endured suffering all throughout His life and that in the end, He died on a cross for our sins! 

Having said that, we also need to understand that our life must accurately represent the Gospel we share with others. We need to understand that our actions, behaviors, and attitudes are a powerful testimony to the work of Christ!

Acting on the Knowledge of Jesus’ Suffering

So, this leads us to the third and final question I posed earlier: 

Do we truly act on the knowledge of Jesus’ suffering? 

We all know that there is a difference between knowing something and doing something with what we know. If we say that we “know” about Jesus’ suffering, that knowledge must elicit a response from us through faith. 

In other words, there must be a corresponding action that aligns itself to that knowledge and our sincere belief in that knowledge. 

James 2:18-21 puts it this way, “18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?”

Through faith we must act on the knowledge that Jesus’ life was marked by suffering. We must act on the fact that Jesus died for our sins! We cannot simply share the story with our words, the story must also be shared by our actions, behaviors, and attitudes. Our actions, behaviors, and attitudes must reflect that Jesus died for our sins!

Speaking of Jesus dying for our sins, let’s go back to verse 18 and pick up where we left off.

Jesus Died for Our Sins: 1 Peter 3:18

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous…”

Even though verse 18 is a short verses – it is one of the richest summaries given in the New Testament because it tells us the meaning of the cross. 

Christ died for sins. 

The phrase “for sins” (peri hamartiōn) is often used in the Septuagint and refers to the sin offering for atonement. However, the phrase “once for sins” is undoubtedly used in contrast to the Old Testament’s yearly sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. 

Considering what the Day of Atonement represents from a theological perspective, we can clearly see that Peter is saying, Jesus made the necessary atonement for sin and there is no more need for any other atonement.

Peter is not the only one making this claim though. 

Paul puts it this way in Romans 6:10, “For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.”

And Hebrews 9:26 puts it this way, “for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”

So, with three little words, Peter declares the complete and absolute sufficiency of Christ’s death on the cross. 

To expound upon this, Peter then emphasizes the substitutionary nature of Christ’s death by using the phrase “the righteous for the unrighteous” (dikaios hyper adikōn). 

Peter makes it very clear that Jesus is the “righteous” (dikaios) and that He was exclusively qualified to die as the substitute for the “unrighteous” (adikōn) which then leads us into the rest of the text in verse 18.

Reconciliation and Redemption: 1 Peter 3:18

“…that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”

Peter then goes on to reveal God’s marvelous purpose for Christ’s sacrificial death by using the words “that He might bring us to God.” Essentially what Peter is saying here, is that it was God’s purpose to reconcile man to God through Jesus Christ. 

In other words, Jesus’ death and resurrection was designed to bring people to God through a saving faith in Jesus Christ. 

Peter concluded his summary of Christ’s redemptive work by referring to His resurrection with these words, “being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” 

Though Christ was put to death in the body (sarki, “flesh”), He was made alive by the Spirit of God. If that don’t make you shout “glory… hallelujah,” I don’t know what will! This is a phenomenal work of God here! 

This statement alone should be all the encouragement we need to endure suffering. This alone should make us shout for joy! Jesus was made alive by the Spirit of the Living God! 

Even though this may get us excited as we read through this text and ponder the glorious and marvelous work of God, we might find ourselves taking a step back and scratching our head when we start reading through verses 19-20.

The Spirit is Prison: 1 Peter 3:19-20

So, let’s go back to our passages of Scripture for today and look at verses 19-20. 

“19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 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.”

This portion of Scripture has been subject to many interpretations and a lot of them are not supported by Scripture or the literary context found in this passage of Scripture. I am going to talk about a five of the most popular interpretations today and then I’ll tell which one Scripture supports. 

•   Christ Preached to People Who Lived Before the Flood

•   Christ Preached to the Spirits in Hell

•   Christ Preaching to Fallen Angels

•   Christ Proclaimed Release to Old Testament Believers

•   The Spirit Speaking Through Noah

Christ Preached to People Who Lived Before the Flood

Some believe Peter referred to the descent of Christ’s Spirit into hades between His death and resurrection to offer people who lived before the Flood a second chance for salvation. However, this interpretation has no scriptural support, and it would also be in direct conflict with Hebrews 9:27 and Luke 16:26.

 Hebrews 9:27 “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,” 

and Luke 16:26 “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.”

Christ Preached to the Spirits in Hell

Another group of people interpret “he went and preached to the spirits in prison” to mean that Jesus went into hell and preached to the spirits who were there - either to proclaim the gospel and offering a second chance to repent, or just to proclaim that He had triumphed over them and that they were eternally condemned. 

This interpretation fails to adequately explain either the passage itself or its setting within its context. Peter does not say that Christ preached to spirits generally, but only to those “who formerly did not obey … during the building of the ark.” 

Such a specific and limited audience would be a strange group for Christ to travel to hell and preach to. If Christ proclaimed his triumph, why only to these sinners and not to everyone? And if Jesus offered a second chance for salvation, why only to these sinners and not to everyone else? Even more difficult for this view is the fact that Scripture elsewhere indicates that there is no opportunity for repentance after death (Luke 16:26; Heb 10:26–27). 

To put it simply, the context of 1 Peter 3 makes the idea of “Jesus preaching in hell” unrealistic because Peter is encouraging his readers to witness boldly to hostile unbelievers around them. He just told them to “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1Peter 3:15). This evangelistic motif would lose its urgency if Peter were teaching a second chance for salvation after death. And it would not fit at all with a “preaching” of eternal condemnation.

Christ Preaching to Fallen Angels

There are several commentators that have proposed taking “spirits in prison” to mean demonic spirits, or the spirits of fallen angels. They go on to say that Christ proclaimed condemnation to these demons. 

They attempt to support this interpretation by claiming that it would comfort Peter’s readers by showing them that the demonic forces oppressing them would also be defeated by Christ.

However, Peter’s readers would have to go through an incredibly complicated reasoning process to come to this conclusion when Peter does not explicitly teach it. They would have to reason from: 

1.   Some demons who sinned long ago were condemned, 

2.   Other demons are now inciting your human persecutors, 

3.   Those demons will likewise be condemned someday, 

4.   Your persecutors will finally be judged as well,

5.   So don’t fear your persecutors. 

Those who hold this “preaching to fallen angels” view must assume that Peter’s readers would “read between the lines” and conclude all these points from the simple statement that Christ “preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly did not obey.” 

Another point to be made here is that Peter emphasizes hostile persons not demons, in the context. 

Christ Proclaimed Release to Old Testament Believers

Another strange interpretation is that Christ, after his death, went and proclaimed release to Old Testament believers who had been unable to enter heaven until the completion of Christ’s redemptive work. 

But again, this view does not adequately account for what the text says. It does not say that Christ preached to those who were believers or faithful to God, but to those “who formerly did not obey.” The emphasis in this context is on their disobedience not on their faithfulness. 

To add to this inadequate interpretation, Scripture gives us no clear evidence to make us think that full access to the blessings of being in God’s presence in heaven were withheld from Old Testament believers when they died—indeed, several passages suggest that believers who died before Christ’s death immediately entered into the presence of God because their sins were forgiven by trusting in the Messiah who was to come (Gen. 5:24; 2Sam. 12:23; Ps 16:11; 17:15; 23:6; Eccl. 12:7; Matt. 22:31–32; Luke 16:22; Ro. 4:1–8; Heb. 11:5).

The Spirit Speaking Through Noah

The best interpretation of 1 Peter 3:19–20 is the spirit speaking through Noah.

This passage of text is not referring to something Christ did between his death and resurrection, but rather to what He did “in the spiritual realm of existence” (or “through the Spirit”) at the time of Noah. When Noah was building the ark, Christ “in spirit” was preaching through Noah to the hostile unbelievers around him.

This interpretation is supported by two other contextual statements made by Peter. In 1 Peter 1:11, he says that “the Spirit of Christ in them” was speaking through the Old Testament prophets. This suggests that Peter could readily have thought that the “Spirit of Christ” was speaking through Noah as well. 

Then in 2 Peter 2:5, he calls Noah a “Harold (preacher) of righteousness,” using the noun (kerux, G3061) that comes from the same root as the verb “preached” (Kerusso G3062) in 1 Peter 3:19. 

So, when Christ “preached to the spirits in prison” he did so through Noah in the days before the flood. The people who Christ preached to through Noah were unbelievers on the earth at the time of Noah, but Peter calls them “spirits in prison” because they are now in the prison of hell – even though they were not just “spirits” but persons on earth when the preaching was done by Noah. 

I know that this is a strange way to phrase this, but we phrase things in a similar way in the English language. 

For example, in English I could say: “I knew Senior Pastor Tony Caffey when he was a high school student.” This is an appropriate statement, even though Tony was not a Senior Pastor when he was a high school student. 

The sentence means, “I knew the man who is now the Senior Pastor when he was still a student in high school.” 

So, the interpretation of “Christ preached to the spirits in prison” means “Christ preached to people who are now spirits in prison when they were still persons on earth,” because the circles of literary context set the stage for this interpretation.

Considering this interpretation, 1 Peter 3:19–20 encourages us to stand for Christ even amid the hostile unbelievers around us. So, even if we are mocked, ridiculed, or slandered by hostile unbelievers – we must take a stand for Christ not only in word but with our actions just like Noah did! 

Speaking of Noah, lets circle back to this Scripture to pick up where we left off to consider Noah’s reward. 

Noah’s Reward: 1 Peter 3:20

“in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.”

Peter presents Noah as an example of someone who committed himself to a course of action for the sake of a clear conscience before God, though it meant enduring harsh ridicule. 

Noah did not fear men or the ridicule of men but obeyed God and proclaimed God’s message. Noah’s reward for keeping a clear conscience while enduring suffering was the salvation of himself and his family, who were saved through water, being brought safely through the Flood.

In other words, Noah took a stand for God and his reward was that he and his family were saved from the Flood.

Speaking of taking a stand for Christ, Peter goes on to provide us with even more encouragement in 1 Peter 3:21.

Taking a Public Stand for Christ: 1 Peter 3:21

1 Peter 3:21 “21 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,”

Peter now makes a connection between the Flood and “baptism.” The word “baptism” here represents a complete break with our past life. As the Flood wiped away the old sinful world, so baptism symbolizes our break from our old sinful life and our entrance into new life in Christ Jesus. Meaning that we now live our life for Jesus and not ourselves. 

Peter exhorted his readers to have the courage to commit themselves to taking a specific course of action by taking a public stand for Christ through the public act of baptism. 

This act of public baptism would “save” them from the temptation to sacrifice their good consciences to avoid persecution. For a first-century Christian, baptism meant that the person was following through on their commitment to Christ – regardless of the circumstances, situations, or associated suffering or persecution.

Now, I want to make this very clear – baptism does not save us from our sin, but from having a bad conscience before God. Peter clearly taught that baptism was not a ceremonial act of physical purification, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. 

In other words, Baptism symbolizes what has already occurred in the heart and life of the person who has trusted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. 

To make the source of our salvation perfectly clear to us, Peter adds “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” And it is through the resurrection of Jesus that Peter begins to conclude his illustration and encouragement to the readers in verse 22. 

Christ’s Reward and Blessings: 1 Peter 3:22

1 Peter 3:22 “who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.”

By mentioning Christ’s ascension and exaltation, Peter intentionally turned his reader’s attention back to Jesus and reassures his readers that Jesus has ascended into to heaven and that the reward for Christ’s faithfulness is seen in His exaltation over all things. 

So, the message for Peter’s readers is clear. In their suffering Jesus still reigns and rules. Peter wanted to make it clear that Jesus did not abandon them or leave them in the hands of the evil forces – even if they suffer until death, Jesus still reigns and rules over everything. 

Jesus, by his death and resurrection, has triumphed over all demonic forces, and by implication we will reign together with him. 

A Call to Action

As we close today, I want you to think about this: 

Considering the entirety of Jesus suffering. Consider His work on the cross. Consider the fact that Jesus reigns over all things. Now I am going to ask you a question. What is keeping you from living for Him? What is keeping you from giving Him everything? What is keeping you from proclaiming His Word? 

Is it what people think of you? 

Is it what people may say about you? 

Is it how people may treat you?