1 Peter 3:18 - Meaning and Application

Here, the apostle sets Christ before us as an example to help us bear suffering patiently. We will feel the force of this if we notice the parts of the statement. Jesus Christ himself was not free from suffering in this life, even though he had no guilt of his own and could have avoided all pain if he had chosen.

The reason for Christ’s suffering was the sins of human beings: Christ suffered for sins. His sufferings were a real punishment, given to deal with sin and make atonement, that is, a payment that turns away guilt and makes peace with God. This reaches every kind of sin. It was the righteous one who suffered for the unrighteous, as a substitute in our place, bearing our sins. He who knew no sin suffered instead of those who knew no righteousness.

Christ’s sacrifice was so complete and perfect that he needed to suffer only once. The old law sacrifices were offered again and again, day after day and year after year. But Christ, once offered, takes away sin (Hebrews 7:27; Hebrews 9:26, Hebrews 9:28; Hebrews 10:10, Hebrews 10:12, Hebrews 10:14).

The blessed purpose of the Lord’s suffering was to bring us to God, to reconcile us to him, and to give us access to the Father (Ephesians 2:13, Ephesians 2:18; Ephesians 3:12; Hebrews 10:21, Hebrews 10:22). It also made us and our service acceptable, and it leads us to eternal glory. In the end, Christ was put to death in his human nature, but he was made alive and raised again by the Spirit.

If Christ was not spared suffering, why should Christians expect to be spared? If he suffered to deal with sin, why should we not be content when our sufferings are only for testing and correction, not for sin’s payment? If he, though perfectly righteous, suffered, why should not we, who are all guilty? If he suffered once and then entered glory, should we not be patient in trouble, since it will be only for a little while and then we will follow him to glory? If he suffered to bring us to God, should we not submit to hardships, since they are useful in turning us back to God and helping us do our duty to him?

The apostle then moves from Christ’s example to the old world and sets before the Jews, to whom he was writing, the different outcome for those who believed and obeyed Christ as he preached through Noah, and for those who stayed disobedient and unbelieving. He is warning the Jews that they were under a similar sentence. God would not wait much longer for them. They now had an offer of mercy. Those who accepted it would be saved, but those who rejected Christ and the gospel would certainly be destroyed, just as the disobedient people in Noah’s day were.

To explain this, we should notice the preacher, the hearers, their sin, and the result. The preacher was Christ Jesus, who has been involved in the life of the church and the world ever since he was first promised to Adam (Genesis 3:15). He did not go by a local movement from place to place, but by a special working, as Scripture often speaks of God’s coming and moving (Genesis 11:5; Hosea 5:15; Micah 1:3). He went and preached by his Spirit, who strove with them and inspired and enabled Enoch and Noah to plead with them and preach righteousness to them (2 Peter 2:5).

The hearers were the people of the old world. Because they were dead and without bodies when the apostle speaks of them, he rightly calls them spirits now in prison. He does not mean they were in prison when Christ preached to them, as the Latin translation and Roman Catholic writers claim. Their sin was disobedience, meaning rebellion, stubbornness, and unbelief. Their guilt is made worse by God’s patience and longsuffering, which waited on them for 120 years while Noah prepared the ark. That ark, along with Noah’s preaching, gave them clear warning of what was coming.

The result was plain. Their bodies were drowned, and their spirits were sent to hell, which is called a prison (Matthew 5:25; 2 Peter 2:4, 2 Peter 2:5). But Noah and his family, who believed and obeyed, were saved in the ark.

From all this we learn that God keeps careful account of every means and advantage people in every age have had for the salvation of their souls. It is charged against the old world that Christ offered them help, sent his Spirit, gave them fair warning through Noah, and waited a long time for them to change. Though God’s patience may wait a long time on sinners, it will end at last. It is beneath the greatness of God to keep waiting on man forever in vain.

We also learn that the spirits of disobedient sinners, as soon as they leave their bodies, are handed over to the prison of hell, where there is no release. And we learn that the way most people take is not always the best, wisest, or safest way. It is better to follow the eight in the ark than the many millions who were drowned by the flood and damned to hell.