The Ministry of Christ (1 Peter 3:18–22)

I. The death of Christ (v. 18).

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,

A. Christ’s death is all that is necessary to provide spiritual salvation.

Because of the work of Christ on the cross, we now have an open access to God. We may come boldly to His throne! We also have access to His marvelous grace to meet our daily needs. When the veil of the temple was torn, it symbolized the new and open way to God through Jesus Christ.

Christ’s sacrificial death does not need revision or repetition. Christ died, the righteous for the unrighteous. The death of Christ is a sacrifice in that it takes away sin and cancels sin’s effects. Christ’s death served as a perfect sin-offering for the sins of others because Christ himself was sinless. In the Old Testament, sacrifices for sin were made repeatedly, but Christ died once for all.

B. The ultimate purpose of Christ’s death was to bring us to God.

Jesus died to reach across the gulf between God and humanity. Taking our hand, he leads us across the territory of the enemy into the presence of God the Father. Jesus Christ opens the way and introduces us to God the Father. By removing sin as the cause of our separation from God, Jesus Christ provides access to God and makes us acceptable in his sight.

On the cross Jesus Christ paid in full the penalty for our sin. When Christ died, God’s wrath against sin was expressed against his Son. God was then satisfied with Christ’s sacrifice, which allowed all who would turn, in faith, to the son of God to be totally, once-for-all, and eternally forgiven. From the moment a person believes on Jesus, he or she stands forgiven, relieved of guilt before a satisfied and just God.

II. The proclamation of Christ (vv. 19–20).

19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

A. Who were these “spirits” that He visited?

Those who say that these “spirits in prison” were the spirits of lost sinners in hell, to whom Jesus brought the good news of salvation, have some real problems to solve. To begin with, Peter referred to people as “souls” and not “spirits” (1 Peter 3:20). In the New Testament, the word “spirits” is used to describe angels or demons, not human beings; and 1 Peter 3:22 seems to argue for this meaning. Furthermore, nowhere in the Bible are we told that Jesus visited hell. Acts 2:31 states that He went to “hades” (NASB), but “hades” is not hell. The word “hades” refers to the realm of the unbelieving dead, a temporary place where they await the resurrection. Hell is the permanent and final place of judgment for the lost. Hades is the temporary place.

Jesus Christ went to the place where these imprisoned spirits were. There he proclaimed to them his victory over death and God’s ultimate and final judgment on those evil spirits. Christ’s proclamation to them is of his victory and of their doom, now sealed because of Christ’s death and resurrection. In doing this, Christ reaffirmed that he is superior to all powers. These evil powers cannot separate the believer from Jesus Christ, so the eternal benefits of his salvation are assured.

B. How were these spirits were related to the pre-Flood era?

Peter did not explain. Some students believe that “the sons of God” named in Genesis 6:1–4 were fallen angels who cohabited with women and produced a race of giants, but it’s hard to accept this interpretation. The good angels who did not fall are called “sons of God,” but not the fallen angels. The world before the Flood was unbelievably wicked, and no doubt these spirits had much to do with it.

Through water has two meanings. In terms of place, the ark brought Noah and his family safely through the water which brought God’s judgment on others. The preposition through also suggests the instrument, water was both the means of destruction for their contemporaries and the means of deliverance into a fresh start for Noah and his family.

III. The resurrection and ascension of Christ (vv. 21- 22).

21 There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.

A. We must never minimize the importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It is because of His resurrection that Christians have the “living hope” Since death comes when the spirit leaves the body, then resurrection involves the spirit returning to the body. The Father raised Jesus from the dead. It was a miracle!

The Resurrection declares that He is God, that the work of salvation is completed and accepted by the Father, and that death has been conquered. The Gospel message includes the Resurrection, a dead Saviour can save nobody. It is the risen Christ who gives us the power we need on a daily basis for life and service.

B. Our Lord ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father.

Believers are seated with Him in the heavenlies, and through Him we are able to “reign in life”. He is ministering to the church as High Priest and Advocate. He is preparing a place for His people and will one day come to receive them to Himself.

The main point Peter wanted to emphasize was Christ’s complete victory over all “angels and authorities and powers”, referring to the evil hosts of Satan. The unfallen angels were always subject to Him. As Christians, we do not fight for victory, but from victory—the mighty victory that our Lord Jesus Christ won for us in His death, resurrection, and ascension.