I Peter 3:18-22
(A Bible Study Led
by Dr. Larry Reynolds)
October 10, 2013
1. One
of the disadvantages of teaching through books of the Bible as we do in this
study I is that it is obvious to everyone if you skip over the difficult
passages. In our journey through I Peter
we have come to the most difficult passage in this letter and one of the most
difficult passages in the entire NT. In
this study we will focus on I Peter 3:18-22.
Verse 18 is one of the great statements in the Bible about the work of
Jesus. I really wish 1 Peter 3 ended with that verse, but unfortunately there
is more! Verses 19-22 are obviously very
difficult to interpret.
2. In
his commentary on I Peter Warren Wiersbe says, “Good and godly
interpreters have wrestled with these verses, debated and disagreed, and have
not always left behind a great deal of spiritual help.” And we will certainly not solve all of the
problems or answer all of our questions about this difficult passage in this
session.
3. However,
there are a couple of things we can do:
·
We can focus on the main thing teaching, the big
idea in these verses.
·
We can debunk some wrong conclusions that have
been drawn by some from these verses.
The main teaching of this passage has to
do with the nature of salvation. This
passage clearly teaches that our salvation is rooted in, tied to, accomplished
by what Jesus has done for us
1. One
of the basic principles of interpreting a difficult Bible passage is to work
from the obvious to the not-so-obvious...from the clear to the
unclear...whatever else this part of God’s Word may or may not teach, the main
message is clear...and that message is that our salvation is the result of what
Jesus has done for us...
2. Notice
some of the things that these verses say to us about Jesus—
·
The first part of verse 18 speaks of the
sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. This verse is one of the great statements in
the Scripture about the redemptive death of Jesus. It tells us:
o
His death was “for sins”…that is, it
was because of our sin that the cross was necessary…
o
His death was “once”…that is, the
sacrifice was complete…it does not need to be repeated…
o
His death was “for all”...that is,
every single person can potentially benefit from His death…
o
His death was “the just for the unjust”…that
is, the One who did not deserve to die, died and the ones who deserved to die,
lived…
o
His death was “in order (for the
purpose of) that He might bring us to God”… that is, He died to restore our
broken relationship with our Creator…
·
The last part of verse18 and last part of verse21
speak of the resurrection of Jesus...the cross makes sense,
becomes an instrument of victory, only in light of the empty tomb...
·
The first part of verse 22 speaks of the ascension
of Jesus to the “right hand of God” (the place of power
and authority) in heaven...
·
The last part of verse 22 speaks of the exaltation
of Jesus over all creation...
3. The
main theme of this passage is the redemptive work of Jesus—His death,
resurrection, ascension, and exaltation.
Everything else in this passage is secondary...incidental to what is
said about Jesus...and that is a strong reminder that He is where our focus
should be...
1. I
remember hearing a story about a Sunday School teacher in a 8 year old class
for boys who asked a the class a series of questions. He asked
--”What is round and furry with little pink
nose and cotton tail?”
--”What has strong legs and hops through the
forest?”
--”What has long ears and likes to eat
carrots?”
And in response to each question the same
boy raised hand and answered, “Jesus!”
The
teacher thought the boy was trying to be disruptive, so he took him to his dad
and explained what the boy had done. When
the dad asked the boy to explain his answers, the boy said, “Well, I knew
he was talking about a rabbit, but he should have been talking about Jesus!”
1. And
if we learn nothing else from this difficult part of God’s word, we should
learn that our focus should be on Jesus...we should be thinking about...talking
about....looking to Him...as the writer of Hebrews so eloquently put it, we
should be “...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of [our]
faith...”...
2. We
must never forget that our eternal salvation is the result of what Jesus has
done for us and specifically what Jesus has done for us through His sacrificial
death on the cross...that is one thing clearly taught in this passage...also
want you to see something this passage does not teach...
There
are two things this passage does not teach that need to be debunked.
·
This
passage does not teach that God gives us a second chance at salvation after
death
1. In
my judgment some people read much more into verse 19 than they should...the
verse says, “...in which [that is, in the spirit] He [Jesus[ went and
made proclamation to the spirits now in prison...”...
2. Some
people take that verse to mean that after His crucifixion and before His bodily
resurrection Jesus went into hell and offered through preaching salvation to
those who are there...however, there are several problems with that
interpretation...
o
First, word translated “spirits”
is not used in the NT to describe people...it is used to describe supernatural
beings such as angels or demons...verse 20 seems to indicate that the “spirits”
being referred to here were evil spirits who were in some way active in the
world in the days of Noah...
o
Second, contrary to what some people think, the
NT does not teach that Jesus visited hell between the crucifixion and
resurrection...
--while
Acts 2:31 speaks of Jesus being in “Hades” that word simply means
the abode or the place of the dead...it is not the permanent place of judgment
for the lost...
--and
while Ephesians 4:9 speaks of Jesus “descending into the lower parts of
the earth” it is clear from the context of that statement that it is a
reference to His incarnation, His becoming flesh...
o
Third, the word translated “made
proclamation” is not the word used elsewhere in I Peter to mean “preach
the gospel”...this word merely means to announce...
3. Putting
all that together, I do not think this passage means that Jesus went into hell
and offered salvation to people there. I
agree with Brian Harbour who writes this passage means that “Jesus
proclaimed His victory to those evil spirits who opposed the work of God and
who at different times in history held sway over the hearts of mankind,
particularly in the days of Noah and the flood.” [Harbour, I Peter
notes]
1. However
you interpret I Peter 3:19, you should not interpret that verse to mean that we
will be given a second chance at salvation after death. That would be contrary to everything the NT
teaches about salvation. Our eternal
destiny is determined in this world by our response to what God has done for us
in Christ. We leave this world either
saved or lost. And the state in which we
leave this world is the state in which we stay throughout eternity.
1. There
is a wonderful story about Lou Gehrig, the legendary for the NY Yankees. The story says he was at bat in critical
situation in important game. He had two
strikes on him. The pitcher delivered a
pitch at which Gehrig did not swing and the umpire said, “Strike three!” Gehrig turned, said something to the umpire, and
walked back to the dugout. After the
game a reporter asked Gehrig what he said and he replied, “I said I would
give anything to have that pitch over again!” [Brian’s Lines]
2. At
the end of life, when they step out into eternity, many people are going to
say, “I would give anything to have one more chance at salvation.” But then it is too late. The Scripture teaches that our eternal
destiny is determined in this world and there are no second chances.
·
This
passage does not teach that baptism is what saves us.
1. On
the surface, verse 21 would seem to teach that.
If you just lifted the phrase “baptism now saves you” from the
verse, you would reach that conclusion.
However, it is important to read that phrase in the context of this
passage.
2. Notice
the phrase is prefaced by “And corresponding to that…” That points back to the previous verse which
refers to the flood in the days of Noah.
It was not water that saved the family of Noah, it was the ark. They were brought safely through the water by
the ark. Correspondingly, it is not
water baptism that saves us. It is what
is represented by the baptism--the death, burial, and resurrection of
Jesus. This verse emphasizes the
resurrection part of the Christ event.
Our being raised from the waters of baptism is a picture of our being
raised to a new life in Christ.
CONCLUSION
1. Whatever
else you may see in this difficult part of God’s word, you certainly should see
that Jesus is the way to salvation...
2. In
His own words, Jesus said His purpose in becoming flesh and coming to our world
was “to seek and to save the lost.”...and if we fail to come to
faith in Christ during our time in this world, no matter what else we may do,
we have missed the most important thing in all eternity...
3. The
old chorus says it well:
“Without
Him, I could be dying, Without Him, I’d be enslaved;
Without
Him, life would be hopeless, but with Jesus, thank God, I’m saved.”
