Someone has said that the most difficult passage in the New Testament to interpret in 1 Peter 3:18-22. I wholeheartedly agree. This is interesting in that Peter, in his second epistle, notes that the Apostle Paul has written some things that are hard to understand. I believe that this passage easily surpasses the difficulty of interpretation of any of Paul’s writings. Accomplished Bible expositors and learned Greek linguists have examined this passage over the centuries and the honest ones have concluded, “We think this is what it means, but…” I would be overstating my credentials if I included myself in the company of these individuals, but I will attempt to decipher what Peter has written and make valid and pertinent application of it to life in the will of God.
Before doing so, it might be best to list the translational and interpretational difficulties that are found in the passage. They are:
- In verse 18, what is the “spirit” to which Peter writes? The KJV, NKJV and NIV capitalize the word making it refer to the Holy Spirit. The ESV and the NAS use a lower case “s” indicating the human spirit of our Lord.
- In verse 19, to what does the “by which” refer? The nearest reference would seem to be the “spirit” of verse 18, but E.G. Selwyn writes, “The antecedent cannot be pneumati, for there is no example in the N.T. of this dative of reference, or adverbial dative as I should prefer to call it, serving as antecedent to a relative pronoun.”[1]
- In verse 19, who are the “spirits in prison”? Spirits can be the component of man that departs at death (James 2:26) or it can be a reference to angels, either elect or fallen. Even God is a spirit (John 4:24).
- When did these spirits receive the preaching? A popular understanding is that in the time between the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, He preached to these. Is it possible that the preaching took place at some other time?
- What was the message that was preached to them? Some suggest it was a second chance of salvation to those who were lost. Others say that it was an announcement of the completion of salvation in which He led captivity captive (Ephesians 4:8). Could it have some other message?
- In verse 20, what does it mean to be “saved by water”?
- In verse 21, what baptism is in view? Does this refer to the ordinance of water baptism or does this refer to the baptizing ministry of the Holy Spirit incorporating the believer into the Body of Christ, or is this only a figurative use of the word?
- Is water baptism a necessary component of salvation? Or does baptism, by itself, save?
- In verse 21, what kind of salvation is in view? Generally we think of salvation as that which imputes the righteousness of Christ and atones for the sin of the one who believes on Jesus Christ. But salvation can also refer to some sort of physical deliverance.
In order to make good application of this passage to one’s life, good interpretation of it must come first. In order to rightly divide this word of truth (as well as any portion of God’s Word), I suggest the observance of two rules. Rule #1 is this: Always interpret any portion of Scripture in the context in which it is written. Whether it be a word, or a phrase, or a verse, or even a chapter, it is true that, “a text out of context, is a pretext for error.”
The importance of this rule can be illustrated with the following example. Suppose I said, “I wish we had a ball.” What I desire could be 3 completely different things but without any context there would be no means to determine which of the three I meant. If we were standing on an athletic field or inside a gymnasium, the ball would be understood to be a basketball, or baseball or some other ball used in sports. In another context I might be referencing a group of people who were enjoying what they were doing, wishing that we might have the same enjoyment. Yet another context might be that a group of people had a social event. Only with context can one determine the meaning of the word “ball” in my simple statement.
The second rule of interpretation is: Always interpret the difficult and obscure in the light of the plain and obvious. Since the pandemic began and limited our exposure to the “outside world”, my wife and I have spent our free time putting together jigsaw puzzles. We always begin by looking for and assembling the outside edge pieces. They are easy to spot and to join together because of their flat side, which is unlike any of the inside pieces. Once the outside edge of the puzzle is completed there is a framework for the orientation of the rest of the pieces of the puzzle. This is also true of biblical statements. Just as a puzzle piece does not belong outside the frame, so the interpretation of difficult concepts do not belong outside of the easily understood concepts.
With these rules in hand, we now turn to seeking the answers to the interpretational difficulties above. I shall begin at the end of the list and work my way to the beginning.
DIFFICULTY #9- WHAT KIND OF SALVATION IS IN VIEW? This is the easiest of the difficulties to solve. Verse 19 states, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God…” The verse is clearly dealing with the issue of a person’s relationship with God, and there is nothing in what follows to change the context of that meaning in verse 21.
DIFFICULTY #8- DOES WATER BAPTISM SAVE OR IS IT NECESSARY FOR ONE TO BE SAVED? The answer to this question is an absolute NO. While I could make a long discourse on the doctrine of baptism, I shall limit it here to 2 basic arguments. First, the command for baptizing given by Jesus was not given until after His resurrection. Any baptism prior to the resurrection of Jesus Christ (such as John’s baptism) was for a different purpose and had a different meaning associated with it. If baptism saves, why was Paul preaching the gospel and not baptizing (1 Corinthians 1:17)? If baptism is a necessary component of salvation, then no one living in OT times was saved because baptism was not practiced. Second, baptism was always administered in the NT after a person had expressed faith in the work of Christ for their salvation. The classic example is that of the Ethiopian eunuch who wanted to be baptized by Philip. Philip was only willing to baptize him upon a confession of faith (Acts 8:36-38).
DIFFICULTY #7- WHAT KIND OF BAPTSIM IS IN VIEW IN VERSE 21? If water baptism is not in view in this verse, then only the baptizing ministry of the Holy Spirit or some figurative use of the word is in view. Context does not suggest a figurative use. Therefore, the ministry of the Holy Spirit must be of what Peter speaks. The verb baptizw (baptidzō) has both a literal meaning and a figurative one. Literally it means to dip or to immerse. Figuratively it means to be identified with something. 1 Corinthians 12:13 states, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body...” that being the body of Jesus Christ, the universal church. That ministry must occur immediately upon being saved or Paul could not write that all were baptized. If this ministry was at some point subsequent to one’s being saved, then Paul would have needed to write something to the effect of, “by one Spirit we all are or will be baptized…” That the believer is placed in the body of Christ is vitally important to the understanding of the next difficulty.
DIFFICULTY #6- WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE “SAVED BY WATER”? In order to solve this difficulty it is first necessary to understand the meaning of the word translated as “saved”. The usual Greek word that is used is the word swzw (sōdzō). This is the word that Peter uses in verse 21. However, it is not the word that he uses here in verse 20. The Greek word here is diaswzw (diasōdzō) which can be literally translated as, “to save through” and has the idea of being preserved through a time of peril. The word translated “by” is the Greek preposition dia (dia) whose basic meaning is “through”, which would agree with the verb diaswzw. It is also how the NIV, ESV, NAS and the NKJV translate the word. Noah built an ark which became the saving vehicle for him and his family. The water (flood) was the vehicle of destruction or the peril that came upon the rest of the world. Noah was not saved simply because he built an ark. Nor was he saved from the peril because he was standing on top of the ark. Noah and his family were saved because they were in the ark, just as the believer is saved being in Christ through the baptizing ministry of the Holy Spirit.
DIFFICULTIES 3-5- WHO ARE THE “SPIRITS IN PRISON”, WHEN WERE THEY PREACHED TO AND WHAT WAS THAT MESSAGE? These three difficulties form a trilogy. The answer to the identity of spirits affects the understanding of when they heard the preaching and what the message was. There are spirits that Jude records which are imprisoned (Jude v. 6). It is believed by some that these spirits (fallen angels/demons) were active in the time of Noah (Genesis 6:2). But why would anyone preach to them. There is no salvation available to them; they are confirmed in their lost condition. Jesus, in the incarnation, took the likeness of man and therefore provided salvation for man, not spirit beings. They are incapable of repentance so any type of preaching would simply be a waste of breath. Likewise, any announcement of forthcoming judgment was unnecessary in that they already knew of it. Elect angels are not imprisoned and so this cannot refer to them.
These spirits, then, must be the disembodied spirits of men and women. Verse 20 indicates that these spirits were “disobedient” during the days of Noah and so were unsaved folk, not believers. They perished in the flood. Some suggest that this preaching (if during the time between the crucifixion and resurrection) was a second-chance offer of salvation. In that Hebrews 9:27 plainly states that only judgment awaits those who have died, a post-mortem offer of salvation is an impossible interpretation. Also, as with the spirits, there simply is no need to declare the coming judgment of the great white throne.
As stated earlier, some believe that the preaching here is the announcement of Jesus to the saved of His victory at Calvary. However, Peter uses the word khrussw (kērussō) in verse 19 which can mean “to announce”, but often it is used in a proclamation of the Word of God that requires a response of faith from the one who hears it, such as in 1 Corinthians 9:27, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” This use of the word fits well with Peter’s use of the word apeiqw (apeithō) which is translated as “disobedient”. The word literally means “to be unpersuaded” and consequently, to not respond with a desired action, such as belief.
If this interpretation is correct, then the one doing the preaching was Noah to the ones living during the days in which he built the ark and who are now in prison for their unbelief. The message then would be that judgment in the form of a flood is coming from God for the sins of the world and that salvation is provided by joining him and his family in the ark. They were unpersuaded that what Noah preached was true and therefore did not seek his salvation and consequently perished. That Noah preached is affirmed by Peter in 2 Peter 2:5, “And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher (khrux- kērux)of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;”.
The weakness of this interpretation is that verse 19 indicates that Christ is the one who preached. It may be possible, though, that Noah becomes the instrument that Christ used to preach to the people of Noah’s day. This necessitates that the “by which” of verse 19 refers to the Holy Spirit in verse 18.
DIFFICULTIES #1 & 2- WHAT IS THE SPIRIT IN VERSE 18 AND TO WHAT DOES “BY WHICH” IN VERSE 19 REFER? Like the previous three difficulties, these two must be considered together. If the KJV, NKJV and the NIV are correct in capitalizing the “s” in spirit, making it refer to the Holy Spirit, then the “by which” would fit well with the interpretation that Noah was the instrument through which Christ preached to the world. This seems to be in agreement with what Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1:21, “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
As noted earlier, Selwyn has a problem with the “by which” referring solely to the word “spirit”. He believes that the antecedent is whole process of being put to death in the flesh and quickened by the spirit. He cites Alford who says, “His flesh was the subject, recipient, vehicle, of inflicted death: His spirit was the subject, recipient, or restored life… He, the God-man Christ Jesus, body and soul, ceased to live in the flesh, began to live in the spirit; ceased to live a fleshly mortal life, began to live a spiritual resurrection life.”[2]
Grammatically, there is reason to agree with Selwyn. The Greek text has two attributes that are not seen in our English translations. First, the text literally reads, en sarki (en sarki- in flesh) … en pneumati (en pneumati- in spirit). The two prepositional phrases are found in the same case (locative) and I believe should be translated consistently as “in flesh” and “in spirit” not “by the spirit” In that the flesh was not the instrument of Jesus’s death, it seems that consistency would indicate not using an instrumental case to translate the en pneumati. Second, the Greek text includes the use of the conjunction men ... de (men … de). The use of this conjunction links two or more items, often antithetical to each other, and makes them true at the same time. It can be loosely translated as, “on one hand this and on the other hand that.” Often it is not translated at all as in this verse. The idea then, is that while it is true that the suffering Jesus endured lead to his death in the flesh by the hands of those who did not believe Him, his spirit nonetheless lived on. Robertson writes, “The spirit of Christ did not die when his flesh did, but,” and then citing Thayer, “‘was endued with new and greater powers of life’”.[3]
Applying this concept to the preaching of Noah, one can imagine the suffering in the flesh he endured. The sheer physical energy spent in constructing the ark was, in itself, enormous. Then consider how the world must have emotionally abused him in ridicule for preparing an ark to survive the flood which never had happened before. Had Noah lived today the same spirit of unbelief would prevail. I wonder how many legal restrictions would be imposed upon him today in order to make it difficult, if not impossible, to build the ark. Yet, infused with power in his spirit, knowing the certainty of the fulfillment of the Word of God, he persevered in the building and consequently was “saved through” the waters of the flood.
It seems to me that both of these interpretations of the word “spirit” in verse 18 and the phrase “by which” in verse 19 are possible. I wonder sometimes, if the ambiguity is purposely determined by God so that both interpretations may be correct at the same time.
It is time now to consider the broader context of the passage. Since chapter 2 and verse 11, Peter has been dealing with how the believer should respond in cases where he or she is being taken advantage of. Whether it is by a government that is imposing laws contrary to the desires of the believer (2:13-17) or an employer who is making unreasonable demands of the employee (2:18-20) or a spouse in a marital relationship that is either not responding to the husband’s leadership or a husband that is not loving as he should (3:1-7), or whether it is just someone who “gets under your skin” (3:8-12), the believer is called to be submissive to authority (assuming what the authority demands is not contrary to the will of God). Doing so, though, will cause the believer to suffer to some extent. The question that is being answered is two-fold: first, will the suffering be worth it, or put another way, will it be productive, and second, if it does not produce the desired consequences, will those who inflict the suffering “get away with murder”?
Read once again the beginning of verse 18, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God…” Our example is our Savior who suffered more than anyone who has ever walked on this planet. But His suffering had purpose- to bring us to God. Now, for a moment, skip all the difficult verses and drop down to verse 22 and continue to read, “Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.” At the end of Christ’s suffering is the exaltation of God for faithfully submitting to His Father’s ultimate authority. I believe this is part of what the author of Hebrews has in mind when he wrote that there was joy set before Jesus that encouraged Him to endure the cross (Hebrews 12:1-2).
In between verse 18 and verse 22 is the answer to the question concerning the justice of God. It is hopeful that the oppressor will see something in the character of the believer who submits himself to suffering and shares a reason for the hope which is in him in the same manner that Noah undoubtedly shared with the people of his generation. Fortunately there were 7 others who believed the preaching of Noah concerning God’s judgment and His gracious provision of an ark of deliverance. But all those who were unpersuaded and did not respond to God’s grace, never got away with anything. They all perished in the flood and are still bound unto the final judgment.
In conclusion I ask these two questions: First, if you have not received Jesus Christ as your Savior, do you think that your being unpersuaded concerning the grace of God in His provision of salvation will have any different conclusions than that of the people in Noah’s day? It won’t and when you die you too will be bound for judgment. Trust him today while the offer of grace is available to you. Second, if you’re a child of God, to what lengths are you willing to go in order to bring someone to Christ? You may need to suffer for your testimony of faith, but I guarantee you that the suffering will pay rich dividends in eternity.
[1] Selwyn, E.G. The First Epistle Of St. Peter. (London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd. 1955) p. 197.
[2] Ibid. p. 197.
[3] Robertson, A.T. Word Pictures in the New Testament, Vol. IV, (Grand Rapids, MI, Baker Book House, 1933) p. 116.