…having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey…

1 Peter 3:18b-20a

Just as His followers should suffer for doing good rather than evil (v. 17), Christ also “suffered” on the cross (v. 18a).  Peter pointed out that He did so “once” (v. 18b; cf. Heb. 9:26, 28), and for the specific purpose of “sins” (v. 18c), specifically our sins as implied by Peter’s description of the reason for His suffering as “the righteous for the unrighteous” (v. 18d).  His suffering on the cross was so “that he might bring us to God” (v. 18e; cf. Rom. 5:1-11), a blessing and privilege which we do not deserve and for which we all should be deeply grateful.  It is for no small purpose that we are directed to remember His death every Lord’s Day (1 Cor. 11:23ff).

Our study of 1 Peter now enters deep theological waters.  Peter writes in the original language that Christ was “put to death in flesh but made alive in spirit” (v. 18f), there being no article before “flesh” and “spirit” in the Greek text.  His death “in flesh” obviously refers to His physical death via crucifixion, but what does “made alive in spirit” mean?  A case could be made that “spirit” should be capitalized to refer to the Holy Spirit, considering His participation in Christ’s resurrection (Rom. 1:4).  On the other hand, a case could also be made that Peter has in mind the concept of Christ’s spirit, having been separated from His body via physical death (cf. James 2:26a) and going to the Hadean realm (Acts 2:23-25, 27; cf. Lk. 16:19-31; 23:43), now returning to His body via His resurrection to life on the third day.

Which position one holds impacts how one interprets the following verses.  “…in which…” (v. 19a) refers to the “spirit” mentioned in verse 18.  If one defines “spirit” as the Holy Spirit who took part in Christ’s resurrection, then one will probably view verse 19 as saying that it was through the power of the Holy Spirit that Christ “went and proclaimed (kerysso, heralded, proclaimed, preached) to the spirits in prison” (v. 19b).  If one defines “spirit” as Christ’s spirit which had left His body at death and gone to the Hadean realm only to return three days later at His resurrection, then one will view verse 19 as teaching that Christ’s spirit preached to the spirits in “prison” (phylake, literally “under guard,” a likely reference to the “torment” in which the spirit of the rich man found himself after death in Luke 16:23; compare to 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6) in the Hadean realm while He resided there between His death and resurrection.

This begs the question of why Christ, either His own spirit or through the power of the Holy Spirit, would preach to spirits of deceased sinners held under guard in Hades, considering that they now have no chance to repent (Heb. 9:27).  More light is shed on this conundrum when we consider that Peter describes these “spirits in prison” as those who “formerly” – i.e., when they had been alive – “did not obey” during the time of Noah while the ark was being constructed (v. 20a).  It’s also noteworthy that Peter would later describe Noah as a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Pet. 2:5) after pointing out that all true prophecy made by man came as a result of being inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:19-21).  This lends credibility to the view that the Holy Spirit was being referenced in verse 18.

Thus, Peter is saying that Christ, via the power of the Spirit, had inspired Noah to preach to the disobedient while he was constructing the ark (vs. 19-20).  Yet they refused to repent, resulting in their deaths in the flood and subsequent imprisonment of their spirits in Hades.  This should give us pause, brethren.  We hear the word of Christ through the preaching of His inspired Word today.  Will we refuse to repent of our own sins and thus suffer the same fate after death as those in Noah’s day?

— Jon