(ii) He must be chivalrous. (ii) The second attitude is limitation. The word we have translated an ardent lover is zelotes ( G2207) ; which is often translated Zealot. We must first note that this phrase is very misleading. (2) The second interpretation--which is that of (practically) all the Fathers, and of Calvin, Luther (finally), Bellarmine, Bengel, and of most modern scholars--refers the passage to what our Lord did while His body was dead. Thus, it would be proper to say that Whitefield came to America, and preached to the souls in perdition; or to go among the graves of the first settlers of New Haven, and say, Davenport came from England to preach to the dead men around us.. Let a man so act that his conscience is clear. Still the Christian does need the effect of the resurrection of Jesus following up the sprinkling of His blood I do not say the resurrection without His blood, still less the glory without either. Let it be observed here that ministry is distinguished from speaking. The spirits of disobedient sinners, as soon as they are out of their bodies, are committed to the prison of hell, whence there is no redemption. It may well be that we ought to think of this as a picture painted in terms of poetry rather than a doctrine stated in terms of theology. We have seen that the attempt at the elimination of this passage fails. Hence, if any received the gospel, they were delivered from judgment, and lived according to God in the Spirit. Those spirits had led people to rebel against God (as, for example, in the time of Noah; see Genesis 6:1-8), but Christ has now conquered all sin and rebellion. Some of those addressed were domestics, whether or not they were slaves. "A saint," as someone has said, "is someone whose life makes it easier to believe in God. (i) Right in the forefront he sets Christian unity. It speaks of the descent into Hades and the very word descent suggests a three-storey universe in which heaven is localized above the sky and Hades beneath the earth. God set them apart unto Himself by the effectual working of the Holy Ghost,. But what pertinency would there have been in saying that Christ went down to hell, and delivered some sort of a message there, we know not what, to those who are confined there? We can easily comprehend it. There speaks the prophetic voice to our modern condition. What makes you different? There can be no Christianity without compassion. It was in this spiritual condition of perfect freedom that the preaching to the dead took place. In fact, the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in no one but the Christian. If he suffered, to expiate sins, why should not we be content when our sufferings are only for trial and correction, but not for expiation? But there is more than this: it was no longer a question of ordinances visibly separating those subject to them from the rest of the world. According to this none ought ever to speak unless he has a thorough conviction that he is giving out God's mind and message, as suited for that time and those souls. And, indeed, you find this not merely in Peter but in Paul. 1 Peter 3:19 Parallel Verses [ See commentary ] 1 Peter 3:19, NIV: After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits-- 1 Peter 3:19, ESV: in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 1 Peter 3:19, KJV: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 1 Peter 3:19, NASB: in which He also went and made proclamation to the spirits in . Sir John Seeley said, "No heart is pure that is not passionate; no virtue safe which is not enthusiastic." To "the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." the just [died] for the unjust ( 1 Peter 3:18 ), "God made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin" ( 2 Corinthians 5:21 ). Let the truth that follows about the suffering of Christ serve to encourage you. The true drift is this "Nor as lording it over your possessions." Now because I believe in Jesus Christ, I want to obey Him and thus I am baptized as a sign of what has transpired already within my heart. He, as it were, held the keys of access. Such was Hades, into which the spirits of all men went after death. So Bloomfield maintains, (in loc.,) and so (Ecumenius and Cyril, as quoted by Bloomfield. Someone once asked her: "Why do you remain faithful to that ugly little man you married?" If a man does not carry the sense in his soul that it is God's flock, I do not think he is fit to be an elder or in any other office of spiritual trust: he is far from the right ground for being a blessing to what, after all, is God's flock. 1 Peter 3:18-22 contain some very difficult exegetical problems. In this case, then, it seems to me that the order is divinely perfect, and manifestly so. With this object in view, there was entire propriety in directing them to the long-suffering and forbearance evinced by the Saviour, through Noah. Cato the Censor, the typical ancient Roman, wrote: "If you were to catch your wife in an act of infidelity, you can kill her with impunity without a trial." sin, and had been for long time past foolish and disobedient, Here again we have a scripture of the Old Testament applied; and this has often been, and still is to this day, exceedingly misunderstood; as if the persons here spoken of must be Gentiles because they are called the strangers of the dispersion. In the Revelation the song of praise comes from every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth and under the earth ( Revelation 5:13). To this the answer is easy. This again is frequently said in the New Testament. ) with what precedes, and in which reference is made to the glory of Him who was quickened according to the Spirit. It was when He who died went to heaven that Christianity appeared in its full force; and accordingly then came out faith in its finest and truest character. By which - Evidently by the Spirit referred to in the previous verse - en ho - the divine nature of the Son of God; that by which he was quickened again, after he had been put to death; the Son of God regarded as a Divine Being, or in that same nature which afterward became incarnate, and whose agency was employed in quickening the man Christ Jesus, who had been put to death. This was done in the mighty work of the Saviour on the cross; and not the fact only but its results were made good when Christ, after having breathed His own risen life into them, went up to heaven and sent down the Holy Ghost that they might taste the joy and have the power of it. This is notorious to every one even to themselves. Through him we have access to God the Father ( Ephesians 2:18). Because the more cold and aloof you are, the less secure she feels. All rights reserved. He thinks they are his congregation, and they think so too. It is, therefore, worthwhile for us to take pains to make them understand that they are honoured for nothing else but only for appearing modest and self-respecting." He went to preach to "the spirits in prison." Bengel speaks of "the labour bestowed on dress which consumes much time." 2. And preached - The word used here ( ekeruxen) is of a general character, meaning to make a proclamation of any kind, as a crier does, or to deliver a message, and does not necessarily imply that it was the gospel which was preached, nor does it determine anything in regard to the nature of the message. desiring his coming, and which he, by some gracious Christ has died and triumphed over death, and therefore believers are, through him, cleansed from sin, made alive and brought back to God (20-22). He went and preached Commentators with a theory to uphold make a big thing out of the went," encountering innumerable difficulties when they suppose that he went "while dead and buried"! "Laying aside," he says, "all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby to salvation." spirits out of prison, only of Christ's preaching to them: add to The prison was death by which men were bound. Christ died once and for all for sins. There is no kind of a hierarchy in the spiritual realm. situation, because they were intent upon the hope of promised For three days and nights, as we all know, he neither ate nor drank. Members of His body? This is Christianity. Such conduct will silence slander and disarm criticism. Whose adorning [or beauty] let it not be the outward the fancy hairstyles, the wearing of gold, or the putting on of fancy clothes ( 1 Peter 3:2-3 ); I could get in big trouble at this point. So long as the self is the most important thing in the world, there can be no such thing as sympathy; sympathy depends on the willingness to forget self and to identify oneself with the pains and sorrows of others. If persons take the actual application as the fulfilment of the prophecies, it in fact not only nullifies the future of scripture, but destroys the beauty and point of the present; for what the apostle intimates is, that they had obtained mercy now, though none were yet sown in the earth. Purgatory, or the limbus patrum, say the Romanists - a place in which departed souls are supposed to be confined, and in which their final destiny may still be effected by the purifying fires which they endure, by the prayers of the living, or by a message in some way conveyed to their gloomy abodes - in which such sins may be expiated as do not deserve eternal damnation. No debates have been so acrimonious as theological debates; no differences have caused such bitterness as religious differences. In this case, those actually addressed had belonged to that elect people, but now they were chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Peter turns to the domestic problems which Christianity inevitably produced. . By Silvanus, the faithful brother, as I suppose, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand. Unto the spirits in prison The inhabitants of the antediluvian world, who, having been disobedient, and convicted of the most flagrant transgressions against God, were sentenced by his just law to destruction. [Note: Michaels, p. 19In which also coming he preached to those spirits that were in prison: 19After being made alive,[a] he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits(A), Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?). When we enter upon Church membership, God asks us: "Do you accept the conditions of my service, with all privileges and all its responsibilities, with all its promises and all its demands?" "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. By this will all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" ( John 13:34-35). It is as if God had purposely put verse 11 to negative the conclusions which men have drawn from a misunderstanding of verse 10. The very first sentence is a reminiscence of Isaiah 50:9: "Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty?" It is not merely certain men, one or two, but "as each man," whatever the number, whether few or many. He went and preached By the ministry of Noah, one hundred and twenty years. In short, we find here too a guard which shows the meaning more clearly. And I was greeting couple of young men first time they were here, and they were telling me how much they enjoyed the service. But if the word prison be preferred, it would not be unsuitable; for, as while they lived, the Law, according to Paul, (Galatians 3:23,) was a sort of prison in which they were kept; so after death they must have felt the same desire for Christ; for the spirit of liberty had not as yet been fully given. Will it tell of thy faithfulness?" It is tragic to realize how far men are from realizing this unity in their personal lives and how far the Church is from realizing it within herself. The reason or meritorious cause of Christ's suffering was the sins of men: Christ suffered for sins. But that man has this conscience in his natural state is most certain. It would better be translated "full of pity." Epictetus, the philosopher, thinking of the narrow life to which women were condemned in the ancient world, said, "Immediately after they are fourteen, women are called 'ladies' by men. If you yield to nature, you gratify it; but if you suffer in refusing its wishes, then "he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin." That is, the Spirit went on striving in testimony to men all that time. God required no more blood, no more death. 20:7 ) when the Apostle Peter wrote this epistle; so that But this is not all; we need Christ interceding for us, as well as the privilege of being in Christ; we need to have Him active in His love before our God, and not merely a condition in which we stand. it is the submission which is based on the death of pride and the desire to serve. "She that was at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you." But the men and women of Noah's generation, notwithstanding "God's patience" in delaying judgment, spurned that proclamation. You're everything to me." The principle, however, is sound; and may we heed it in conscience, looking to the Lord's grace in our weakness. And then he takes up what is distinctly spiritual power, which should be used not in charity only but with conscience before God, and for His glory through our Lord Jesus. Wives and Husbands. We have already said that we are here face to face with one of the most difficult passages, not only in Peter's letter, but in the whole New Testament; and, if we are to grasp what it means, we must follow Peter's own advice and gird up the loins of our mind to study it. Hell is the place of the punishment of the wicked; Hades was the place where all the dead went. Have you heard some of these things that are happening on the road? The effect of sin is always alienation from God. The sufferings of Christ were a true and proper punishment; this punishment was suffered to expiate and to make an atonement for sin; and it extends to all sin. ( Psalms 88:10-12). "If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar" ( 1 John 4:20). The ancient moralists condemned undue luxury as much as the Christian teachers did. If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious; to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious, ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." On the other method of interpretation, we can suggest a reason why they were particularly specified. Because they were dead and disembodied when the apostle speaks of them, therefore he properly calls them spirits now in prison; not that they were in prison when Christ preached to them, as the vulgar Latin translation and the popish expositors pretend. The Greek more precisely reads, "Now Herod had been very angry with the . Likewise ye wives be in subjection to your own husbands that if any obey not the word they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives 1 Peter 3:1 Hebrew Bible 1 Peter 3:1 Aramaic NT: Peshitta were in it, to whom he sometimes went, and preached; nor is his There are two closely connected words. Isaiah writes: "For Sheol cannot thank thee, death cannot praise thee; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for thy faithfulness" ( Isaiah 38:18). (c) Abarim Publications first published on 2017-07-11; last updated on 2022-05-13, free, online interlinear (Greek/English), word by word translation and Greek grammar parsing codes, , translated word by word and with Greek grammar parsing codes, https://www.abarim-publications.com/Interlinear-New-Testament/1-Peter/1-Peter-3-parsed.html, The Passion of the Christ and the Theory of Everything, Stars and fractals: the many hearts of wisdom, How the Bible relates to Homer like Ape to Dog, How circumcision created the modern world, The many Hebrew roots of the Greek language. . And who is he that will harm you, if you are followers of that which is good? He wanted you to be one with Him, but a holy, pure, righteous God cannot be a part of sin, inconsistent with the nature of God. But this was never the case with Jesus. As I go down in the water, it's being buried. Because of their "former" disobedience, they are presently "in prison.". It would then be implied here, that though the instrumentality of Noah was employed, yet that it was done not by the Holy Spirit, but by him who afterward became incarnate. King James Version (KJV) Public Domain. Isaiah 61:1 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; He went and preached unto the spirits in prison.--There are two main ways of interpreting this mysterious passage. It was to the purpose to direct them to the fact that he was saved as the result of his steadfastness to Him who had commanded him to preach to that ungodly generation. For the explication of this we may notice, (1.) For Christ also died once and for all for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. The real meaning may make the difficulty appear to be greater for a moment (as, I suppose, the truth often, if not always, does); but when received and understood, what has such strength of appeal to the conscience? With this he is intended to start as a Christian; he begins his career with that blessed shelter which tells him that, although he has entered on the path of Christian obedience, he is a forgiven and justified man in the sight of God. Matthew 9:13, but go and learn what that meaneth, etc. It is not merely the work effected, but salvation revealed; and hence it necessarily awaits the revelation of Jesus Christ. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that you suffer for well doing, than for evil doing ( 1 Peter 3:17 ). So it is the lifestyle, the way we live becomes the witness of what we declare.One of the weaknesses of the church is the lack of the positive lifestyle of the believer, professing one thing and living another. does struggle to have its own way. them all; and whose spirits, or separate souls, were then in the I don't think that this is a prohibition as some have interpreted it to be of wearing gold apparel or things of this nature. From Philippi to Thessalonica Now note the shift back to the third person, which seems to signify that Luke stayed behind in Philippi to minister to the Church there. The saints were chosen "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father;" for it was no question now of a Governor having a nation in whom He might display His wisdom, power, and righteous ways. The more seriously we take the New Testament, the more urgent and painful becomes our sense of the sinfulness of the divisions, and the more earnest our prayers and strivings after the peace and unity of the Church on earth. Be a softie; be tenderhearted. No ability constitutes a gift; but the spiritual gift does not supersede natural ability, which becomes the channel of the gift, as the gift is given and works in accordance with that ability. And so in the challenging of the authority, they then feel they have to assert their manhood. It declares that the Christian man has a new place and standing not in the first Adam at all, but in the Second in the presence of God man without sin, and accepted according to the acceptance of Christ before God. "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going" ( Ecclesiastes 9:10). This particular section goes back to verse thirteen of chapter two. You may have the real substance of the truth, but you cannot have it in all official propriety at the present time. Undoubtedly there was always a secret election of saints after the fall and long before the call of Abraham and his seed; but now the choice of saints was to be made a manifest thing, a testimony before men, though of course not till glory come absolutely perfect. But if you suffer for well doing, then that is a better thing. In Christ Jesus the dividing walls are down, and Jew and Greek are united into one ( Ephesians 2:13-14). It must be remembered that at this stage of the Church's history we are still dealing with adult baptism, the baptism of people who had come straight from heathenism into Christianity and who were taking upon themselves a new way of life. And he, it was dangerous moving, I mean, he shouldn't have pulled out in front of me, but he did and the thing died. And may God help us to be tenderhearted, not to become callused or indifferent to the needs of people around us but that we might have tender hearts, full of pity. So "bless those that curse you," Jesus said. As all know, many things were allowed then for the hardness of the heart, which are thoroughly condemned now. A click on the Greek will lead you to the corresponding article in Abarim Publications's online Biblical Greek Dictionary 1 Peter 3:1 Likewise, ye wives, [be] in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; likewise adverb the def art nom-pl-fem The Philippians must stand fast in one spirit, striving together with one mind for the faith of the gospel; they will make Paul's happiness complete, if they have the same love and have one accord and one mind; the quarrelling Euodias and Syntyche are urged to be of one mind in the Lord ( Php_1:27 ; Php_2:2 ; Php_4:2 ). And then he asks, "And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? Sanctification of the Spirit is altogether distinct from that gift. 19By which also Peter added this, that we might know that the vivifying power of the Spirit of which he spoke, was not only put forth as to Christ himself, but is also poured forth with regard to us, as Paul shews in Romans 5:5. He then says, that Christ did not rise only for himself, but that he made known to others the same . But certainly when the Israelites were binding themselves to obey the law, it was as far as possible from a confession of atonement. Now Peter is saying, Honor her knowing that she's weaker. For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead, so that, although they have already been judged in the flesh like men, they might live in the Spirit like God. (i) There are those who wish to eliminate it altogether. The meaning in that sense I take to be this: that the people formally pledged themselves to legal obedience, and bound themselves in this solemn manner to obey. Nor is there any reason to fear that silence in such a case would inflict a real loss on the church of God. According to this interpretation--which has the support of such names as Pearson, Hammond, Barrow, and Leighton (though he afterwards modified his opinion). Publius Sempronius Sophus divorced his wife because once she went to the public games. And it would have been easy to have railed back but the poor woman is mentally disturbed. "Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." So Ephesians 2:17, And came and preached peace, etc. He tells her something very simple--nothing else than to be a good wife. And now, to wives. "He," it is said of Christ, "gave them gifts, to each man according to his several ability." Hair was waved and dyed, sometimes black, more often auburn. This is not only one of the most difficult passages in Peter's letter, it is one of the most difficult in the whole New Testament; and it is also the basis of one of the most difficult articles in the creed, "He descended into Hell." The event of all: Their bodies were drowned, and their spirits cast into hell, which is called a prison (Matthew 5:25; 2 Peter 2:4; 2 Peter 2:5); but Noah and his family, who believed and were obedient, were saved in the ark. (a) It is argued that Jesus preached in Hades only to the spirits of the men who were disobedient in the days of Noah. We do not wait for times and seasons. The Jews had a very shadowy conception of life beyond the grave. And you can get a horrible cycle going here as it works against the marriage to destroy it. ON THE TURF. He teaches the duty of wives and husbands to each other; He declares also the benefits of Christ toward the old world. When he refers to Him as a "lamb without blemish and without spot," he evidently points to their types, yea, to Christ before the types, because we had that from the very beginning in the first recorded sacrifice, long before there was a Jew and still more before the law. . AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, ( NASB: Lockman) Greek: all' ei kai paschoite ( 2PPAO) dia dikaiosunen, makarioi. You're witnessing against yourself. This is not the sanctification of the Spirit. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins." They, like the fallen angels, were then "spirits in prison." There is no allusion in this passage to any other; there is no intimation that to any others of those in prison the message here referred to had been delivered. Thus hope also could spring forth as it were to meet Him; as, indeed, it is the work of the Holy Ghost to exercise the faith and hope He has given. Thus he says to the Jews addressed that they were not a people (that is, in the days of their unbelief), but are now. So the same if you go through the rite or the ritual of water baptism and it hasn't happened in your heart; it's only a witness against you. But in the destruction by the flood eight people--Noah and his wife, his sons Shem, Ham and Japheth, and their wives--were brought to safety in the ark. "What profit is there in my death if I go down to the pit? In the narrow compass of these two verses Peter has the greatest and the deepest things to say about the work of Christ. So they were saved by the water or by the ark in the water. It was the sign of a good woman that she must see as little, hear as little and ask as little as possible. Accordingly God chooses now not merely out of men but out of the Jews. We are told and meant to know, that as He called us by His grace, so we should call on Him as Father. They were tempted by the beauty of mortal women; they came to earth, seduced them and begat children; and because of their action, it is inferred, the wickedness of man was great and his thoughts were always evil. all this, and which Beza, with others, observes, the apostle (1) THE MARKS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE ( 1 Peter 3:8-12 ). A corresponding illustration in the New Testament is baptism. For some it was to last for ever; but for others it was a kind of prison-house in which they were held until the final judgment of God's wrath should blast them ( Isaiah 24:21-22; 2 Peter 2:4; Revelation 20:1-7). Just you know, if he had gotten out railing, I'm sure I would have jumped out of the car and ran up and grabbed him and told him what a stupid move that was, you know. In this way it is not independent of our looking to Him. (2) The Descent Into Hell ( 1 Peter 3:18 b-20;4:6 Continued). Tools 1Pe 3:21 It was not Noah's own spirit that preached; it was the Spirit of Christ. It so happens that in the Greek version of the Old Testament the regular phrase for a sin-offering is peri ( G4012) hamartias ( G266) (Hamartias, G266, is the singular of hamartion, G266) , as, for instance, in Leviticus 5:7 and Leviticus 6:30. And this is fortified, singular to say, (but confirming what has been already remarked) by the Psalms. Their attitude is that anyone who does not agree with them is either a fool or a knave and they seek to ram their beliefs down other people's throats. The common printed Vulgate is different from all these, and from all the MSS. One part of the answer is given here in 1Pe 1:3, another part is given in 1Pe 1:23-25. This passage has lodged in the creed in the phrase: "He descended into hell." (b) It has a Greek background. to which. There is an instance of what I referred to that the essential moral principles. Struma Nonius had a ring valued at 21,250 British pounds. All that is needful is to identify them as the same persons who once had this prospect. So then, according to Jewish legend, Enoch did go to Hades and preach doom to the fallen angels. It speaks of the "finery of the anklets, the headbands and the crescents; the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarfs; the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes and the amulets; the signet rings and nose rings; the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks and the handbags; the garments of gauze, the linen garments, the turbans and the veils.". That, of course, we call hypocrisy and that has been the bane and the curse of the church. The death of Christ upon the Cross, however we explain it, avails to restore the lost relationship between God and man. They were ever a rebellious people, as we know; and the Christian Jews were in danger of using their Christianity in order to justify insubjection. Peter has been speaking about the wicked men who were disobedient and corrupt in the days of Noah; they were ultimately destroyed. 2. There is nothing contrary to sound truth or principle in that, but indeed a very great defect in those who do not believe it; in fact, it is flying in the face of scripture. And Abraham, though it hurt him, got rid of Hagar and Ishmael. And it becomes a beautiful symbol.But if it has not happened in my heart, it cannot happen by the ritual. That the just should suffer for the unjust is an extraordinary thing.
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