To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout the earth, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance. You are invited to come to the Wednesday evening prayer meeting and pray. (8:30 PM EDT Wed., Dec. 5, 2001) (If you have e-mail prayer requests, please send them before 5:00 PM.)
Peter wrote this letter, 1 Peter, to believers -- to God's elect, strangers in the world. In writing and speaking about it, I am writing and speaking as to believers, to God's elect. Today's passage is part of a larger section of Peter's letter which runs from chapter 3, verse 8 to the end of the chapter. The NIV translators chose to make this division and gave it the title, "Suffering for Doing Good." For the purposes of talking about this section, I have further divided it into smaller sections, but since it really doesn't subdivide easily, I have been overlapping the passages from week to week. The beginning of today's passage, "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God," was also the end of last week's passage.
The fact that Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God, is possibly the most important thing you can know. Christ was (and is) the 'righteous,' we were the 'unrighteous.' As I pointed out last week, 'once for all' means once for all time. He, the righteous one, only had to die once for all of us, the unrighteous. We could not come to God in our former unrighteous condition, but now we can. Christ, the righteous, died for us, the unrighteous, to bring us to God. And it worked. He brought us to God!
From there, Peter goes on to say that Christ was put to death in the body (literally, in the flesh), but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison. First of all, this tells us again that Christ died for us and also that he didn't stay dead. He was made alive. Through him, we too are made alive. We have a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (1 Peter 1:3) -- which is also a very important thing to know. Beyond that, Peter tells us that Jesus went and preached to the spirits that are in prison.
There seems to be some disagreement among the experts about how verses 19 through 21 should be understood. Here are some of the questions which have been asked:
I will follow the view that seems most reasonable to me (as a non-expert), and for the sake of time, not say much about other views.
I believe that, as the text says, the spirits in prison are those who disobeyed God in the days of Noah before the flood when God waited patiently while the ark was being built. Jesus preached to them before the flood (question 2), through the Holy Spirit who spoke through Noah (question 3) in the same way he spoke through the Old Testament prophets (as Peter pointed out in 2 Peter 1:21). And also as we, ourselves have received the message of the gospel through Peter and others who wrote the New Testament Scriptures when the Holy Spirit spoke through them. 1 Peter 1:12 says: "It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things." Also, in 2 Peter 2:5, Peter says: "...he (God) did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;" Peter referred Noah as a preacher of righteousness. I believe that Jesus preached through Noah by the Holy Spirit.
What did Noah preach (question 4)? He preached righteousness. They were disobedient to God, so Noah preached what they needed to hear, while God waited patiently for them to repent. But apparently none of them repented before the ark was closed and it started raining.
So (question 5), how is this connected with baptism? Peter says, "In it (the ark) only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also-- not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God." First, when Peter says that eight people were saved through water, he is not saying that water was the means of their salvation, but that the ark carried them through the flood so that they were not drowned as everyone else was. Peter says that this symbolizes baptism that also saves us now (The NIV says, 'this water symbolize baptism,' but the text does not have the word water. I think that Peter is referring to the entire event of Noah and the seven others being kept safe through the flood). At any rate, Peter seems to be saying that baptism now saves us.
But we know that we are saved by God's grace through faith and not by works (that is, outward actions such as baptism - Eph. 2:8). And, in fact, according to the apostle Paul, if we think we need to be circumcised (a 'work') Christ will be of no value to us at all (Gal. 5:2). Peter, himself, tells us that we were given the new birth into the living hope (1 Peter 1:3) and refers to our salvation as the grace that was to come to us (1 Peter 1:10). So how are supposed to understand 'baptism that now saves you'?
Paul gives in Romans 6:4,5, the symbolism that we are buried with Christ 'through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too might have a new life.' Noah was a righteous man before the flood. We had the new birth and were new creations in Christ before baptism, but baptism symbolizes the fact that God has done this for us. Our old self is dead and buried, but our new self has been raised to life just as Christ was raised to life.
Peter says that baptism is not for the removal of dirt from the body, which is probably not too amazing to any of us, but for the pledge of a good conscience toward God. The NIV gives an alternate translation for the word 'pledge' in the footnote as 'response.' The literal meaning is 'what has been asked or requested.' Some translators have translated this word as 'appeal.' We are not baptized in order to pledge to God that we will have a good conscience. Have you ever pledged to God that you would not sin ever again? If so, how did it go? In any case, we definitely have the desire for a good conscience toward God. It was placed in us by the Holy Spirit. It (the desire for a good conscience symbolized through baptism) saves us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand-- with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him (v21b). "He is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy-- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen." (Jude 24,25)
In this section of 1 Peter (verses 8 through 22 -- "Suffering for Doing Good" in the NIV), we are admonished to 'always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks us to give a reason for the hope that we have' and to do so with 'gentleness and respect' and with 'a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against our good behavior may be ashamed of their slander' (v15). There probably isn't anyone who has attempted to dramatize the story of Noah and the flood who hasn't portrayed Noah as having been ridiculed by all of those around him for preaching that God was going to judge the world by a flood while he was building the ark. Think about how people would react if you started preaching the end of the world by God's judgment and started to build an ark or a space ship or some other thing that you said would save you and your family. It's hard to even think that way because we would call anyone who would do anything like that crazy. Nevertheless, it says in the account of the flood that Noah walked with God. God spoke to him and he knew what was going to happen and what God told him to do about it.
But we also are walking with God. And just as God spoke to Noah, he has also spoken to us. Here is what God has told us through Peter in 2 Peter 3:3-7: "First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, 'Where is this coming he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.' But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
Jesus, himself, also said this: "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." (Matt. 24:37-39) And I'm not sure that things are not worse than they were in the days of Noah. People are, to a large extent, not bothering to marry or be given in marriage any more.
But Peter wants us to follow the example of Noah who was a preacher of righteousness and knew that God was going to destroy the earth, so he continued to do what would bring about salvation for him and for seven others. So we also must preach the righteousness of Christ who is our salvation, and continue to do the work that God requires -- the work that brings salvation, which is to believe in the one he has sent, Jesus (John 6:29). As God spoke to Noah and told him what was going to happen and what he had to do about it, so he has spoken to us. And as Noah did what God had commanded him, so must we do also.
When we do these things, the world will speak maliciously against us. But Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God. When we do these things, he will bring others to God also. Paul asked for prayers this way: "Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel. ... Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." (Eph. 6:19,20) Lets pray for each other that way also.
Pray that we may have this word of God written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit and especially that we may know that our savior is at God's right hand with angels, authorities and powers -- everything -- all in submission to him. Praise God for his great salvation.
Come and let's pray for each other as well as for the whole church. Come and encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Love them.
Love in Christ,
Dean
PS: If you absolutely can't make it to the prayer meeting, send your prayer requests back to me by e-mail and we'll pray for them.