“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: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 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” (1 Pet. 3:18-20).

      This text is often considered to be one of the more difficult texts of the New Testament, especially, verse 19, wherein Peter said of Christ, “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.” There are a number of different views regarding this text. In this short study, I will begin by presenting some views that have arisen regarding this text. Simon J. Kistemaker in his commentary on the epistle of Peter outlines some interpretations of this text chronologically and objections to these interpretations. Kistemaker presents the following views:

(A) Clement of Alexandria, about A.D. 200, taught that Christ went to hell in his spirit to proclaim the message of salvation to the souls of sinners who where imprisoned there since the flood.

(B) Augustine, about A.D. 400, said that the preexistent Christ proclaimed salvation through Noah to the people who lived before the flood.

(C) In the last half of the sixteenth century, Cardinal Robert Bellarmine introduced a view that has been held by many Roman Catholics: in his spirit Christ went to release the souls of the righteous who repented before the flood and had been kept in Limbo, that is, the place between heaven and hell where, Bellarmine said, the souls of the Old Testament saints were kept.

(D) An interpretation promulgated by Friedrich Spitta in the last decade of the nineteenth century is this: After his death and before his resurrection, Christ preached to the fallen angels, also known as the “sons of God” who during Noah’s time had married “daughters of men” (Gen. 6:2; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6).

(E) Contemporary commentators teach that the resurrected Christ, when he ascended into heaven, proclaimed to imprisoned spirits his victory over death.

      Concerning these views presented by Kistemaker, he offers some brief comments on the major objections to these views:

      Of the view of Clement, he mentions two major objections: (1) He says that scripture is silent on the imprisonment of souls condemned by God; and (2) He says that Augustine’s doctrine, that there is not conversion after death, repudiates the view of Clement.

      Of the view of Augustine, he claims Augustine departs from the wording of 1 Peter 3:19. He says that Augustine speaks of the pre-incarnate Christ and not of the Christ who was put to death in the body and made alive by the spirit.

      Of the view of Bellarmine, he says who taught that even though Christ’s body died on the cross, his soul remained alive and in his spirit, Christ went to release the souls of those who repented before the flood; that this view is rejected by Protestants because they contend that the Old Testament saints are in heaven.

      Of the view of Spitta, who said that Christ, after his death and before his resurrection, preached to fallen angels who during Noah’s time had married “daughters of men,” can be rejected based on the argument of Jesus when he answered the Sadducees who questioned Him concerning the resurrection and He responded by saying that angels neither marry or are given in marriage (Matt. 22:30).

      Of contemporary commentators who teach that the resurrected Christ, during His ascension to heaven, proclaimed to the “spirits in prison” His victory over death and that He passed through the realm where the fallen angels were kept; Kistemaker says, “is the interpretation that has met favorable response in Protestant and Roman Catholic circles and is in harmony with teaching of the Petrine passage and the rest of scripture.”

      Even after considering these divergent views, lets us concentrate on what the Bible teaches, realizing that if a conclusion is reached that results in contradicting scripture, then such conclusion must be false. Therefore, we need to determine several things about this passage which will help us come to a correct conclusion based on Bible teaching, not on who or who does not accept the conclusion. As we study this text, we will consider the immediate context and discuss the spirit by which this preaching was accomplished, who did the preaching and when it was done, identify who the “spirits in prison” refer to and draw a conclusion and make an application.

      First, the immediate context of this section of scripture concerns the suffering of Christ–the just one suffering for the unjust (1 Pet. 3:18). The apostle Peter, throughout his epistles, discussed the blessing we have based on the suffering of Christ, and he also discusses the fact that Christians must be willing to suffer for Christ’s sake. In order to reap the benefits of the sufferings of Christ, the righteous one who suffered for us the unrighteous, we must be willing to suffer for His cause. In 1 Peter 2:21-25 the writer reminds the reader of the example of Christ’s suffering, and then in 1 Peter 4:1-4 and verses 12-19 of that chapter, Peter emphasizes the sufferings that Christians must endure in order to be numbered with the righteous that will “scarcely be saved” (1 Pet. 4:18).

      Second, Peter mentions the fact that Christ was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in or by the spirit. Peter does not imply by this statement that the spirit of Christ died, but rather, that even though He died in the flesh, He was made alive or raised from the dead by the operation of the Holy Spirit (1 Pet. 3:18). Peter then says, “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.” “By which,” referring to the same spirit (the Holy Spirit) mentioned in the previous verse, whereby he preached to the “spirits in prison.” The word “by” in this verse is from the Greek word “en” and defined by Strong’s Lexicon as: “a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state), and (by implication) instrumentality.” So, by means of this same spirit by which Christ was raised from the dead, He (Christ) preached. Thus, the “spirits in prison” were preached or heralded to by Christ. It is argued by some that this preaching took place by Christ after his death and prior to His resurrection, which is a conclusion that is not supported by the text. A familiar New Testament passage that has a parallel meaning will shed light upon what Peter wrote in verse 19 of our text. Consider the statement of Paul who said of Christ in Ephesians 2:16-17: “And that he (Christ) might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And (he-Christ) came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.” Paul speaks metaphorically, stating that Christ preached peace to the Jews and Gentiles; but the meaning is that he did so though the work of the Holy Spirit who through the instrumentality of inspired men heralded the good news or gospel of salvation to all men. Likewise, Christ did not go in person or “in a spirit” and preach to those in Noah’s day, but through the work of the Holy Spirit and the instrumentality of the mouth of Noah, the “spirits in prison,” were preached to by Christ.

      Third, Peter in verse 20 identifies exactly who these particular “spirits in prison” are. Said the inspired apostle, “Which sometime (aforetime-ASV) 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.”  The spirits under consideration are identified by Peter as those who were disobedient in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared. This period of time was during the “longsuffering of God” that Peter mentions. Thus, these spirits are logically the souls or spirits of the unjust men who lived when Noah lived before the flood, but whose spirits were imprisoned in torment in the hadean realm when Peter wrote this epistle. And, since Noah was called a “preacher of righteousness,” by Peter himself in 2 Peter 2:5, it is logical, scriptural and in harmony with the what Peter wrote in our text to conclude that the “spirits in prison” do not refer to all souls disembodied and imprisoned in the hadean realm (hell-KJV) which is refereed to by Christ as a place of torment in the account of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk. 16:19-31). Specifically, these spirits are those who were disobedient during Noah’s day and now imprisoned in torment because of their disobedience, being reserved “unto the day of judgment to be punished” (2 Pet. 2:9). The views of Clement, Bellarmine, Spitta and contemporary writers mentioned by Kistemaker then, must be rejected on this basis and the view of Augustine is more in harmony with writings of Peter.

Conclusion and Application:

      I realize that this is not an exhaustive study of this text. But, after considering various views of men and the immediate Bible text and other key Bible passages, the Biblical evidence points to this conclusion:

      (1) That Christ through Noah preached and proclaimed the divinely revealed message of salvation to the disobedient of his day while he prepared the ark “by faith” (Heb. 11:7) as the longsuffering of God waited.

      (2) Peter looks back on this event and makes reference to that fact there were only eight souls saved by water in contrast to all the disobedient of Noah’s day, to whom Noah preached righteousness, but were destroyed by water during the universal flood because they failed to repent and heed the preaching of Noah (Gen. 7:17-23).

      (3) Peter then draws a connection with the waters of the flood that both saved and destroyed, and baptism which is the “like figure” or antitype, that saves those obedient to the gospel of Christ in this age (1 Pet. 3:21).

      (4) The souls of these disobedient ones, who where in the flesh during the days of Noah and destroyed by the flood, are referred to as the “spirits in prison,” who, when Peter wrote, were imprisoned (and still are) in torment.

      (5) These disobedient ones, are the spirits to whom Christ preached, by the mouth of Noah, as Noah spake (preached) as he was “moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:21).

      What is the application of this Bible text to us today? God continues to be longsuffering and His spokesman in this age is Christ (Heb. 1:1-2). Peter warns us by looking back and reminding us of the fact that the disobedient that Christ preached to by the mouth of Noah, continued in sin and are now “in prison” (in torment). God ended His period of longsuffering by destroying the unjust with the flood and has reserved these “unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished” (2 Pet. 2:9). God’s longsuffering continues in this, the gospel age, but the same fate awaits any and all who reject the preaching of Christ and His apostles (2 Pet. 3:9-12). Like the water that saved Noah, baptism, the antitype, “doth also now save us” (1 Pet. 3:21; Mk. 16:16). After death, there is no second chance – “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). When one dies in their sins, the gospel will not be preached to them after death. In the physical life one must obey God or suffer eternal spiritual loss (2 Thess. 1:7-8). The day of salvation is now! “...I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2)! - tgmc