1 Peter 3.18-4.6

Theme: Holy Living (1:13-5:11):

1:13-2:3 Standard of Holiness

2:4-12  Function and Position of the church

2:13-3:7 Honor Authority

3:8-17 Duties of All Believers

       3:18-4:6 Christ’s Example

3:18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous

          to bring you to God

--The classic example of suffering is Christ (see vs. 17 for context—suffering for doing good)

--His suffering was once for all—not continual suffering, but suffering that had a time limit to it

—reminder of the daily sacrifices which could not take away their sin (Heb 9:28, 10:10-14)

--His sacrifice would never have to made again

--His suffering had a purpose—He didn’t suffer without a reason

—He suffered so that we might be brought to God (the great exchange)

—He suffered to pay the price for our sins—sin separated man from God

--He suffered for us, not because He deserved it

—He was the Righteous One

--2 Cor 5:21  He who knew no sin, became sin so that we might become the righteous of God in Christ

     --Isaiah 53:6b the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all

--we were the unrighteous ones worthy of death—eternal separation from God

--He suffered because it was necessary to redeem mankind from sin and restore him to a right relationship with God—lost at the fall when Adam sinned

--He suffered to fulfill the will and plan of the Father—it was all about redemption—how much God loves us to be willing to make His Son suffer and die a horrible death that He did not deserve

--All suffering in God’s hands has a time limit and a purpose!

He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit

--they killed His body, but God raised Jesus up by the power of the Holy Spirit

--Christ’s spirit was made alive by the Holy Spirit on the third day

--when we are born again God’s Holy Spirit puts life in our spirit just like it did Jesus’ spirit

3:19  through whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison

--through the resurrected spirit Jesus was able to preach to the demons (spirits) in prison who had disobeyed God during the time of Noah

--spirits—not people, but angels (supernatural beings)

--Heb 1:14 “ministering spirits”= angels

--Luke 8:28 “evil spirit” = demon

--2 Peter 2:4 angels were put into hell (prison) waiting on judgment

--preached—proclaimed—not the gospel (good news of salvation)—proclaimed truth

          --He went to demons in Hell and proclaimed His victory sealing their judgment        

--no mention of salvation—He preached to them the truth that He was the Messiah and had power over death, hell, and the grave

—He held the keys of death and Hell (Rev 1:18)—shaking them in the devil’s face in triumph (Col 2:15)

Principles for interpreting difficult passages:

--Always take it in the context of the surrounding passage

--Always compare O.T. types to the fulfillment of the type (antitype) in the N.T.

--Once a type is established in O.T. do not change it in the N.T.

--Compare it with the bulk of scripture—interpret scripture with scripture—it will never contradict itself

--Do not make a doctrine out of a scripture that seems to stand alone—clear doctrine comes from the totality of scripture

--Compare different translations—to see the agreement and differences (e.g. KJV, NKJV, NASB, NIV, NLT, AMP)

--Recognize that the Hebrew mindset is different that our modern day English mindset

3:20  who disobeyed when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built

--not people but demons who committed horrible sexual sins bringing judgment upon the earth (Jude 6; Gen 6:1-4, 5-7)

--God was patient for 120 years to give the people a chance to repent from their demonic activity—long suffering and grace of God

          In it (the ark) only eight were saved through water

          --water (flood) represented judgment to the sinners not salvation

--ark represented salvation to the righteous not judgment

--once a type is established it does not change

--were saved—brought safely through the water and escaped the judgment

3:21  and this water symbolizes baptism

--if water represented judgment not salvation in days of Noah, it still represented judgment in Peter’s words

          That now saves you. . .It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ

--if water means judgment, then does baptism (symbolized by water) save us or judge us?

--Baptism judges us because we are identified with the death and resurrection of Christ (dieing and being buried in the watery grave, then raised to newness of life Rom 6:3-4)

--baptism cannot save us because it only a symbol of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus

--what saves us is the resurrection of Jesus Christ—because God poured out judgment upon Jesus for our sins (vs. 18)—the event that is behind the act is what brings salvation

--not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God

  --it is clear that Peter is not talking about just the physical act of baptism—washing our bodies with water

--a good conscience—commitment to live for Christ

3:22  who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand with angels, authorities and powers in submission to Him.

          --Phil 2:9-11 God has exalted Christ and given Him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father  

4:1-6 Being a Christian is a Life and Death affair     

4:1    Therefore since Christ has suffered—refers back to 3:18

--In his body (the flesh NASB)—(2 x)—suffering in the flesh vs. physical pain of the body

--Was the suffering spoken of here only physical pain (see NLT)?

--Jesus was beaten with cat of nine tails, crown of thorns, crucified

--Arm yourself with the same attitude—does that mean we must be willing to be beaten to a pulp? 

--Phil 2:5-8 our attitude should be the same as Christ’s—willing to humble ourselves to do God’s will—no matter what the cost!—even to the death

--death for Christ was separation from the Father (Mark 15:34  My God, My God why have you forsaken Me)

--because he who has suffered in his body (the flesh—NASB) is done with sin.

--More than just physical pain (although that may be a part of our lot as it was for so many who died as martyrs)

--includes suffering of all kinds in these bodies of flesh—mental anguish, being misunderstood, mocked or ridiculed, scorned, suffering for something you don’t deserve

--when we suffer does that mean we “buy” our freedom from sin?  Is this the kind of forgiveness of sin that God gives us because He sees us suffering?

  --just like Christ, sin has no power over us

--Romans 6-- the believer is united with Christ in His death (6:5), therefore alive with Him in His resurrection (6:8).  Death has brought freedom from sin (6:7), therefore the believer is now to consider himself dead to sin and alive to God (6:11)

--since Christ died to sin (and baptism 3:20-21) signifies our union with Him in death and resurrection) we are to arm ourselves with the understanding that we are done with sin

--Rom 6:1-2 should we go on sinning so that grace may abound?  No way!  We died to sin, how can we keep on living in it

--dead men don’t sin!  We have been crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20). When you are being crucified you don’t have any desire for lust, sex, or any other fleshly sin—all you want to do is die!

4:2    as a result he does not live . . . for earthly desires, but rather for the will of God

--this is the attitude of Jesus—to do the will of the Father (John 5:30)

--we have been set free, by identifying with Christ’s death, from earthly (fleshly) desires so that we can do the will of God

4:3-4 the will of the Gentiles (heathen) is contrasted with the will of God (vs. 2)

          --God’s morality contrasted with the world’s morality and ethics

Dissipation ■ n.

1      dissipated living.

2      the action of dissipating.[1]

Dissipated ■ adj. overindulgent in sensual pleasures.

--they heap abuse on you

--“blasphemeo”—to malign or slander, speak evil of, rail on, verbally abuse

4:5    they will have to give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead

--we may have to endure their slander and blaspheming for now, but one day they will be judged for their words against God’s people

--Heb 9:27 It is appointed unto man to die and after that the judgment

4:6    Here is the purpose of preaching (declaring the truth of God):

          --judged according to men in regard to the body

—share in the judgment that all men must face—physical death in the flesh as a result of the sin of Adam (Rom 5:12)

--live according to God in regard to the spirit

Flesh = death         judgment according to men       Man pays for his sin

Spirit = life            judgment according to God       Christ pays for our sin

--although man is marked for death because of sin, through the gospel (good news about Christ paying the price for our sin) he can find life and live for God.  This is the plain and simple (but powerful) message of the gospel!

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n. noun

[1]Soanes, C., & Stevenson, A. (2004). Concise Oxford English dictionary (11th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

adj. adjective