Verse 19 of I Peter 3 may be one of the most difficult verses to comprehend in the entirety of the Bible. Before wading into a possible solution to the verse, recall that Jesus told the penitent criminal that he would be with him in Paradise. Verse 19 says Jesus went to preach to the spirits in prison and that presents the dilemma of a possible contradiction between two sets of scripture. Is there a contradiction? You be the judge when the evidence is presented.

That which follows is I Peter 3:17-20  For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. 18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. Beginning in verse 17, Peter tells the saints it is better that they suffer at the hands of men for well doing instead of evil doing. They would suffer in either case, but the former would not be fatal as would a penalty for doing evil in man’s government. (See Romans 13:1-6)  Verse 18 says that Christ, the just, died for the unjust (sinners) so that men and women could be brought to Christ (salvation). He was put to death (thanatoo -- pronounced: than-at-o'-o means dead, made dead, deprived of life) in the flesh but made alive (quickened) by the Spirit (Holy Spirit). Paul wrote in Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. The verse plainly says Jesus was dead and the word for dead is nekros -- pronounced: nek-ros'. It means literally dead or away from life. The Holy Spirit will awaken the believers from the dead and give them eternal life just as Jesus who held faith and hope that God would raise him from the dead as promised and reward him with eternal life.

Verse 19 is where the problem of understanding occurs. But first verse 18 must be examined For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:  He was put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit (See Romans 8:11) means he was made alive by the Holy Spirit. That same spirit is the one that preached to those in the days of Noah.

There are those that claim the word spirit (spirits) is never used to refer to humans and if that is true, it means that the soul of Jesus went to preach to those in the confines of Hell during his three days and nights in the grave. That is not what Peter meant at all. When Jesus gave up his life on the cross, Luke recorded And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. (Luke 23:46) Spirit is the Greek word pneuma -- pronounced: pnyoo'-mah. The word means among many definitions, life. Jesus handed over his life to his Father for safe keeping. The word ghost ekpneo -- pronounced: ek-pneh'-o means breathe out or literally die as in dead.  

Jesus through his representative, the Holy Spirit, spoke through Noah to the people lost in sin before the flood. Peter wrote of the spirits in prison and in verse 20 he wrote Which sometime were disobedient. The spirits in prison (held captive by sin) were disobedient to God; they would not listen to God’s warning through Noah and perished in the flood. Peter, when writing of the activities of God in II Peter 2:4-9, wrote of the work of Noah in II Peter 2:5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; The word preacher, a herald, i.e. of divine truth (kerux -- pronounced: kay'-roox Strong’s #2783) identifies Noah as the one who did the preaching to the lost/spirits in prison before the flood. He proclaimed the divine truth before the flood and II Peter 2:5 explains Peter 3:17-20. A proper understanding of the verses in I Peter 3 negates the teaching that Jesus went somewhere to preach after dying and being buried.

© 07-08-2012 DEC

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