Lesson 19

Four Very Hard Verses!

I Peter 3:18-21

This morning, we studied the easy part of I Peter 3:18-22. Tonight, as promised, let's return to the text and tackle one of the toughest passages in the Bible.

In order to deal completely honestly with the Bible, we've got to tackle the tough parts. There are three of them that seem to stand out to me in this passage.

What does it mean, when the text says that Christ was "put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit" (v. 18)? The general consensus among the commentaries is that this phrase is pointing out that on the cross Jesus died physically but was spiritually alive. (Remember, among His last words were, "Father into thy hands I commend my spirit"). Is there life after death? Absolutely!

Which leads us to verses 19-20. "By which" meaning that in the Spirit that Jesus "went and preached unto the spirits in prison." Where did Jesus go between Calvary and Easter? And who are these "spirits in prison"? Verse 20 refers to them as disobedient and associates them with the days of Noah. I think it requires several passages of scripture to unlock this teaching.

Ephesians 4:8-9 tells us that when Christ ascended, He "led captivity captive" and that before he ascended, He first "descended to the lower parts of the earth." Psalm 63:9-10 uses that phrase to speak of the realm of the dead. "But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes."

Psalm 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. The Old Testament word for hell is Sheol, which is translated hell about half the time and the grave the other half. The New Testament corresponding Greek word is Hades. In fact, Psalm 16:10 is quoted by Peter in the New Testament (Acts 2:27) and uses the word Hades. According to Peter, Psalm 16:10 is a prophetic passage about the resurrection of Jesus. David said that God was not going to leave his soul in Hades (Sheol), nor allow Messiah to experience decay.

What did David mean when he spoke of his soul being in hell? Hades (Sheol) is not referring to burning hell. That word for hell is Gehenna.

Before the cross, everybody who died went to Hades (Sheol). It is the only way that Psalm 139:8 makes sense. The Bible indicates three "compartments" in Hades. There was "paradise" as known as Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:22). This is were believers went. There was also the of torment (Luke 16:23). Luke 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

There is one other "compartment" in Hades. The Greek word for it is "tartarus" used only once in the Bible. 4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment. It is a particular group of fallen angels who are locked into this place - kind of a death row. (See also Jude 6). Not any kind of purgatory!

We know that Satan was an angel who rebelled and was cast out of heaven. He drew out with him 1/3 of the angelic hosts (Revelation 12). But Satan is not chained in Tartarus. And he still has plenty of demons on the loose at his disposal. So who are these "angels that kept not their first estate." Jude compares them to Sodom when men desired to have homosexual relations with the angels that came to get Lot and his family.

II Peter 2 connects them with days of Noah and the flood. And the disobedient spirits in prison to whom Jesus preached are also connected with the days of Noah.

Genesis 6 says the "sons of God' (always a reference to angels in the Old Testament, i.e. Job 1:6; 2:1) and took them as wives and had children. ("The angels of God in heaven" cannot procreate, but that doesn't mean that fallen angels cannot. The offspring of these unions was completely wiped out by God with the judgment of the flood and the angels (spirits) who did this were incarcerated in Tartarus to await the final judgment when they will be cast along with Satan into the eternal Lake of fire.

Here is what I believe. On the cross, Jesus died physically but was very much alive spiritually. Between Calvary and Easter, He went to Hades and did two things. First, He preached to fallen angels. His preaching was not a gospel message inviting them to salvation - no purgatory, no second chance here. His message to them was a proclamation of His victory over sin and over the power of Satan and that all of Satan's attempts to sabotage our salvation were nullified.

Second, He took removed paradise from Hades, taking all the Old Testament saints to heaven, Ephesians 4:8-9. Otherwise, Old Testaments would have gone to heaven without the cross. Old Testament people were saved the same way we are by faith in Christ. But they believed that Christ would come while we believe that Christ has come. However, heaven is promised but cannot be entered without the cross.

Jesus went to Hades, removed Paradise from it and took all the saints to heaven. Along the way, He stopped back by in order to appear to Mary (See John 20:17) went on to heaven and then returned in a resurrected body (John 20:27). Now, when a Christian dies, his should goes directly to heaven, II Cor. 5:8. Someday Hades, which is now only a place of torment and chains, will cast into the lake of fire, Revelation 20:14.

We still have one more textual problem to deal with in I Peter 3. The problem is the phrase that "baptism doth also now save us" in verse 21.

In verse 21, Peter says that baptism is a "figure" (a picture, a type, a representation) "like" the ark that saved Noah and his family. Just like the ark is a picture of salvation as a place of safety from God's wrath and judgment, baptism is also a picture of our salvation. Peter explains that the waters of baptism are not cleansing (they do not put away the filth of the flesh) but are "the answer" (the pledge - W.W.W.) of a good conscience toward God. In baptism we show the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptism is to the Christian, what the ark was to Noah and his family - a picture of God's salvation.