Deeper Commentary
CHAPTER 3
3:1
In like manner- Just as the Jewish Christian slaves
were to be subject even to bad masters, so that principle continues in
family life.
You wives be in subjection to your husbands- As
slaves were to be subject even to bad masters, likewise wives to,
presumably, bad husbands, on the principle of "as unto the Lord". This is
how slaves have just been asked to be in subjection to bad masters. The
women were converts from Jewish orthodoxy; perhaps their husbands had now
left the faith due to the persecution or being caught up with the worldly
stress of being refugees in Turkey. But :7 speaks of "husbands" as if
believing husbands are in view; Peter is therefore addressing the
situation of sisters whose believing husbands are not believing and
behaving as they ought to.
The church is
subject to Christ, as wives
are to their husbands (1 Pet. 3:1). Yet because the wife too represents
the body of Christ, all of us are to be subject to each other (1 Pet.
5:5). See on Eph. 5:31.
That, even if any do not obey the word- Peter has
used this word for 'disobedience' in reference to Jews who refuse to obey
the Gospel of Jesus- see on 2:7,8. So their husbands were Jews who now
didn't believe in Jesus as Messiah. Or perhaps they never had done, and
had had to flee Jerusalem because of the persecution of their Christian
wives.
They may without the word be gained by the behaviour of their
wives- But is not the word of the Gospel what ultimately wins
converts to Christ? It is, but that word must be made flesh in persons,
and it is therefore their witness to that word in life lived which is
equally the preaching of the word to a person. This statement is disproof
of extreme Biblicism, whereby it is held that the word alone is all
sufficient to save someone.
3:2 Seeing your chaste behaviour
coupled
with fear- This continues the connection between wives and
slaves in difficult domestic situations; for the slaves were to likewise
be subject to their masters with "fear" or respect (2:18). The respect for
persons, mixed with a good way of life, was intended to be a powerful
witness to the unbeliever.
3:3 Whose adorning, let it not be
the outward adorning of braiding the hair and of wearing jewels of gold,
or of putting on apparel- 'Not A but B' doesn't
necessarily have to mean 'Not A at all'. Such a grammatical construction
is common in several languages. The idea is that they were to focus upon
internal beauty far more than upon external beauty. The idea of adorning
for a husband is used approvingly elsewhere in the Bible.
3:4- see on Lk. 24:39; Rom. 7:22; 1 Cor. 2:15.
But let it be the hidden man of
the heart, in the incorruptible apparel of a meek and quiet spirit-
This is not corruptible, surely alluding to the description of our
spiritual treasures as eternally lasting in Heaven, where there is no
corruption (Mt. 6:19,20). Our future inheritance is described by Peter as
"incorruptible" (1 Pet. 1:4), yet he also speaks of God's word which
creates the new man, as also being "incorruptible" (1 Pet. 1:23), as is
the hidden man which it develops (1 Pet. 3:4). This teaches us that the
new man created within us here and now by the action of the word, is in
fact strongly related to the future "incorruptible" inheritance we will
receive at the second coming. And yet our spirit is incorruptible-
although we die, our spirit will continue eternally, in the sense that who
we are now in spirit, by personality, is who we shall eternally be. This
demonstrates the importance of character and spiritual mindedness.
Which is in the sight of God of great value- Just as
our faith is so precious to Him (1:7). Those exiled from the temple needed
to remember that their personal spirituality was so intensely noticed by
the God of Heaven.
3:5 For after this manner, in the
past, the holy women who trusted in God also made themselves beautiful by
submitting to their husbands- Submission is a real theme with Peter
(2:13; 3:1,22; 5:5). Perhaps he had struggled with this idea himself. The
Jewish exiles would have struggled to submit themselves to the situations
they found themselves in.
3:6
As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord- The way in
which God chooses the good side of Sarah and recognizes it for what it is
can be seen even more finely in 1 Pet. 3:4-6. Here sisters are bidden
follow Sarah's example of
1. Having a meek and quiet spirit
2. Not outwardly adorning herself
3. Obeying Abraham
4. And calling him her "Lord".
It can be shown that the Spirit in Peter is adopting an extremely positive
reading of Sarah.
1. She isn't revealed as having a meek and quiet spirit at all; but
presumably, God saw that underneath her anger and bitterness there was a
meekness and quietness, perhaps especially seen as she grew older.
2,3. Concerning not outwardly "adorning", the Greek text is alluding to
the Septuagint of Gen. 20:16, which says that Abimelech told Sarah that he
had given Abraham many silver pieces "that these may therefore be for you
to adorn your countenance". Abimelech is speaking sarcastically (note how
he calls Abraham "your brother", referring to Sarah and Abraham's family
relationship). It was a custom for married women to wear their silver
pieces on their face (cp. Lk. 15:8). Presumably she had taken these off,
in order to appear single and sexually available. Abimelech is saying:
"I've given your so-called 'brother' Abraham 1000 silver pieces, so just
make sure you wear them in future and don't lead any more men into sin".
And what does the Spirit comment? "Thus she was reproved" (Gen. 20:16).
Her willingness to pretend she was single and not refusing the sexual
advances of Abimelech can only be seen in a negative light from the
Genesis record. She lacked continued faith in the promises of a seed, and
she disregarded God's marriage principles for the sake of an all too
convenient 'obedience' to her husband. It may have been that she regarded
her inability to have children as partly his fault (cp. the deadness of
Abraham's body, Rom. 4:19). The thing is, she had already shown enough
faith to conceive (Heb. 11:11), and presumably the effect of this was seen
in the physical rejuvenation of her body, which made her so attractive to
men, although she was 90 years old. Both Sarah and Abraham had shown
faith, she was living with her own body as the constant reminder of God's
faithfulness, and yet in the incident with Abimelech she wavered and had
to be reproved. Yet she is seen in a positive light by the Spirit; her
lack of wearing ornaments, even though it was to show she was single, is
commended; as is her obedience to her husband, even though she was
reproved for this. The point is, like all of us, her motives were probably
mixed. She did want to be truly obedient to Abraham, she did want to have
a meek spirit rather than outward adorning. Her wrong motives surfaced,
and were rebuked. But God saw deep inside her heart, and saw the good
motives, and drags them out and holds them up as an example.
4. Sarah is commended for calling Abraham her "Lord" (1 Pet. 3:6). She is
recorded as doing this in one place only: "Sarah laughed within herself,
saying, After I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old
also?" (Gen. 18:12). She doubted God's promise; she is rebuked for this by
the Angel. Yet in doing so, when she came to think of Abraham, in her
heart she called him "my lord". So in the midst of her lack of faith in
one respect, she also had a commendable attitude to Abraham. All this,
don't forget, was going on "within herself". God searched her thoughts, He
saw her wrong attitudes there deep in her heart, and He saw what was
commendable there too; and through Peter He drags this out and reveals it
to us all as an inspiration. See on Gal. 4:30; Heb. 11:11.
Whose children you now are, if you do well- Peter was
writing to Jewish believers. But his point is that they were only the true
descendants of Abraham and Sarah if they acted and believed as they had.
Whilst this was quite confronting for Jewish believers to be reminded of
this, in this context it was comforting; for those back in Jerusalem who
had driven them into exile were not in fact the children of Abraham and
Sarah. Paul makes the same point in writing to the Galatians, the same
area where Peter's audience were located. He says that orthodox Judaism is
the offspring of Hagar and not Sarah.
And are not put in fear by any
terror- Perhaps an allusion to how Abram and Sarai lied about their
marital status.
3:7
You husbands, in like manner- The "manner" refers to
submitting to the other just spoken about. For Peter will go on to appeal
to all to be subject to each other (5:5).
Live with your wife with understanding- This refers
to having the wisdom to submit and be sensitive to each other.
Giving honour to the woman as to the weaker vessel-
To honour women for the sake of the fact they were weaker than men was
unheard of in the ancient world. Women were dishonoured exactly because
they were physically weaker. This was radical, counter cultural stuff-
just as radical as the call of the Gospel in our age.
As being also joint-heirs of the
grace of life- Peter describes sisters as
‘joint-heirs’ with their husbands, implying “full religious equality with
man- a thought impossible for Judaism”. But the grammar really suggests
that they were both joint-heirs. They were "joint-heirs with Christ" (Rom.
8:17). But they were both joint-heirs. Because they were both connected to
Christ, they ought to therefore be with each other. Husbands and wives are
"heirs
together" just as the whole church are "heirs together"
through being one in Christ (Gal. 3:29; Eph. 3:6). See on 1 Pet. 3:1. “The
grace of life” may refer to the gift of life in the Spirit which is
received now, and comes to full term in the eternal life of the Kingdom
age.
That your prayers are not impeded- 1 Pet. 3:7 gives
an unexpected reason for appealing for husbands and wives to get along
with each other: that your prayers be not hindered. So important was
prayer in the thinking of Peter. Comparing ourselves with the first
century community, it seems to me that we simply don’t give prayer the
place of importance which they did. 1 Tim 2:1 reflects
their balance: “I exhort
therefore, that,
first of all [the Greek
implies ‘most importantly’ rather than just being first in a list],
supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for
all men”. Marital strife results in prayers being "impeded", the same word
translated 'hewn down' (Mt. 7:19) in a judgment day context. The evidence
that the experience of answered prayer is an indicator of God's pleasure
with us is quite compelling.
The way Paul talks of how in 'marriage', the man represents Christ and
the woman the church, helping each other towards salvation, would indicate
that he presumed marriage was only relevant to believers; Christian
marriage seems to be the only model of marriage he assumes. Here Peter
speaks of husband and wife praying together (1 Pet. 3:7); he too assumed
marriage in the Faith as the only model of marriage.
3:8 Finally, all of you, be
likeminded, compassionate, loving as brothers-
Unity is not uniformity. This is not a call to have identical positions on
everything. Rather is it similar to Phil. 2:5, where we are asked to have
the mind of Christ. The one mind we should have is the mind of Christ.
This is what binds believers together in spiritual experience, rather than
an on paper agreement about theology.
Sensitive, humble- Husbands were to likewise live
sensitively with their wives (:7). The principles regarding marital
relationships are to be practiced within the wider community of believers.
3:9 Not rendering evil for evil,
or reviling for reviling, but instead
give blessing-
To give blessing to those who sin against us is exactly what God did to
us; for the Gospel is all about blessing, just as was first preached to
Abraham.
For this were you called, that you should inherit a blessing-
Peter opened the letter by saying that believers have been
called from the beginning, and God's Spirit has been tirelessly at work
down the ages preparing
us for the moment when we respond to the call and we are given
the blessings of the Gospel, which shall finally be revealed at the last
day. We should respond to this by blessing those who sin against us.
3:10
For he that would love life and see good days- The
"good days" are those of the Kingdom to come; if we love the idea of the
life eternal, then we must live now as we shall eternally live. For the
Gospel gives us eternal life now in that we can live now as we shall
eternally live, as John's Gospel points out. Matthew tends to put it
another way; the parables of the Kingdom refer to life lived now, which is
the Kingdom life. The quotation here in 3:10-12 is from Ps. 34:12-16 LXX,
but with variations- an example of how inspired writers quote the Old
Testament but change various details to be relevant to their theme or
audience.
Let him restrain his tongue from evil and restrain his lips so they speak no lies- He who wants to be in the Kingdom will restrain his tongue and not lie. As with James, Peter is making the point that what man may consider merely cosmetic, mere words, is of eternal importance to God. Perhaps Peter has in mind how he had lied and not restrained his lips when he denied the Lord.
But how in practice to "restrain" the
tongue? We lack the iron will to do so, in many cases. Iron will, steel in
the soul, is surely not the way to spirituality. The same word is used in
4:1: "Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also
with the same mind. For he that has suffered in the flesh has
ceased from sin". The Lord Jesus suffered and died; He there
is our inspiration to control the tongue. If we
identify with His death, in baptism and an ongoing commitment to let His
death be our pattern, then we will be counted as in Him, and will
naturally seek to live according to that status. And His Spirit will help
our efforts. This is the way to cease or restrain from sin, such as
speaking lies. Note the parallel between "evil" and "lies". Lying is evil.
Dishonesty is at the heart of all sin.
3:11 And let him turn away from
evil and do good- To turn away or "eschew"
(AV) evil recalls Job (Job 1:1). It seems that the Jewish brethren had
fallen quite seriously; and yet in 1 Pet. 2:25 Peter says that they had been
going astray, but had now returned. But here in chapter 3 it seems clear
that they were still far from having turned back. We conclude therefore
that 2:25 is Peter's positive desire that they should turn away from evil
and turn back to the Lord Jesus. But he thinks of them as already having
done so.
Let him seek peace and pursue it- Doing good is for
Peter epitomized in seeking peace, both with God and with others. He
surely has in mind the Lord's special blessing for "the peacemakers".
3:12
For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears to
their prayers; but the
face of the Lord is against them that do evil-
The eyes and ears of the Lord are contrasted to His
face
which is "against them that do evil". Eyes and ears are part of a face.
The point may be that the Lord is highly sensitive to the prayers of the
righteous; but that deep sensitivity is not for the wicked, but His
general 'face' is against them. We cannot always pray, and some cannot
verbalize things well. This doesn't mean that their prayers are not heard.
The Lord's eyes and ears are paralleled here. He sees their situations as
prayers which He hears. Just as He 'heard' the cry of Abel's blood, or the
cries of workers who weren't paid for their work in James 5.
3:13
And who is he that will harm you, if you be zealous for what is
good?- There are many examples of where zeal for good results
in being harmed. So Peter is writing here [as in many of the NT epistles]
about a particular set of circumstances at a specific time. It would seem
that the Jewish Christians were getting in trouble with the law for doing
"evil", perhaps because of their desire for money. At that time and place,
they need not have feared trouble with the authorities- unless they were
doing wrong, which it seems they were.
3:14
But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are
blessed. And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled-
As with the slaves of chapter 2, we get the impression some were
suffering for their sins, and others for their righteousness. The
connection with the slave passage in 2:18-20 is significant in that Peter
is demonstrating that the same principles apply to all in the church; just
as submission of wife to husband in 3:1 is actually to be practiced by all
members of the church to one another in 5:5. The practical application of
common spiritual principles is what brings unity in practice within the
church, whether we are slave or master, male or female, or Jew or Gentile.
Note that the same categories are in view when Paul teaches that baptism
into Christ eclipses all these category distinctions (Gal. 3:27-29).
3:15 But sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord- Knowing
and having Christ as Lord of our hearts will practically enable us to
overcome tribulation, and will lead to a suitably humble witness in
response. Peter began in 1:2 by speaking of how the Spirit sanctifies us;
but in our hearts or spirit we must consciously act to have Christ as
Lord.
From where do we get the motivation from for loyalty to Christ? I'd
suggest that it comes from first of all realizing, on a theological level,
the greatness of Christ. He is now Lord of Heaven and earth, all power has
been given unto him, He is the "Prince of the Kings of the earth". Those
early brethren who had seen the Lord in His humanity really appreciated
this. Thus "Yahweh of hosts, him shall you sanctify" (Is. 8:13 LXX) is
applied by Peter to the Lord Jesus, whom we should sanctify (1 Pet. 3:15).
Paul speaks about "the Lord" as if we all know who he refers to;
the Lord, the one and only Lord, the exalted Lord Jesus. This
especially comes out in his breaking of bread passage in 1 Cor. 11:23-29.
Such is the supremacy of Christ that "We cannot lift Christ too high" as
Robert Roberts expressed it. If we appreciate the extent and height of His
Lordship and exaltation, we will see the extent to which our minds should
be dominated by Him. Our very consciousness should beat with His spirit,
His mind. We are told that He should
live in our hearts; for us, He
should be the alpha and omega (Rev. 1:11). The confession of faith before
baptism is summarized, in its quintessence, as confessing with the mouth
Jesus as Lord (Rom. 10:9 RV). All the doctrines a candidate must know
beforehand are summarized in this.
Because Christ is Lord of all, we must preach Him to all, even if like
Peter we would rather not preach to them. This was the motivational power
and reality of Christ's universal Lordship for Peter (Acts 10:36). The
same link between Christ's Lordship and witness is found in Phil. 2:10 and
1 Pet. 3:15 (which alludes Is. 8:13- Yahweh of Hosts, of many ones,
becomes manifest now in the Lord Jesus). The ascended Christ was highly
exalted and given the Name above every Name, so that for those who
believed this, they would bow in service at the Name of Jesus. Peter
preached in and about the name of Jesus- this is emphasized (Acts 2:31,38;
3:6,16; 4:10,12,17,18,30; 5:28,40,41; 10:43). The excellence of knowing
Him and His character and the wonder of the exalted Name given on His
ascension (Phil. 2:9; Rev. 3:12) lead Peter to witness. Because of His
exaltation, we confess Jesus as Lord to men, as we later will to God at
judgment (Phil. 2:9). According as we confess Him before men, so our
judgment will reflect this. Lifting up Jesus as Lord is to be the basis of
giving a witness to every man of the hope that lies within us (1 Pet. 3:15
RSV). The knowledge and experience of His exaltation can only be witnessed
to; it can't be kept quiet. 3 Jn. 7 refers to how the great preaching
commission was obeyed: "For his name's sake they went forth, taking
nothing (material help) from the Gentiles" (Gentile believers). For the
excellence of knowing His Name they went forth in witness, and moreover
were generous spirited, not taking material help to enable this. The
knowledge of the Name of itself should inspire to active service: for the
sake of the Lord's Name the Ephesians laboured (Rev. 2:3).
Always ready to give answer to every man that asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear- They were to be ready always to give an answer to those who ask, albeit with fear; exactly what Peter failed to do on the night of the denials. He continually alludes to his own weakness. The hope within is "Christ as Lord" who is sanctified within our hearts. He is our hope (1 Tim. 1:1). Christ within us is our hope of glory (Col. 1:27). Our hope is therefore primarily about eternal relationship with Him; the environment where we shall enjoy that Hope is the Kingdom of God on earth, but the essence is the eternal relationship with Him. He was a good example now of witnessing to his great hope but with meekness. Utter confidence in the "hope", the elpis, the certainty of our salvation, mixed with meekness and awareness and allusion to our own failures... this is what makes witness really powerful. Having one without the other will not persuade men.
In our suffering for righteousness' sake at the hands of the world, we
must "give an answer (s.w. 'a defence, clearing of oneself)... a reason (logos
, cp. Mt. 12:36)... with meekness and fear... having a good
conscience... let him not be
ashamed " (1 Pet. 3:15,16;
4:16). This is all judgment seat language. And yet we must go
through this now in our confrontations with the world. The trials of our
faith are like fire which purifies us (1 Pet. 1:7; 4:12). And yet this is
the language of the last judgment (Mal. 3:1,2). In our response to trials,
we have the outcome of our judgment. We must rejoice
now
in our tribulations with the same joy which we will have when we are
accepted by the Lord at the last day (1 Pet. 4:13). Job felt that his
calamities were God entering into judgment with him (Job 14:3). If we
react properly to trials, we thereby receive now "the end of your faith,
even the salvation of your souls" (1 Pet. 1:9). Thus the question of the
degree to which we now are 'saved' is connected with the fact that to some
degree, the judgment process is also going on now.
Because of His exaltation, we confess Jesus as Lord to men, as we later
will to God at judgment (Phil. 2:9). According as we confess Him before
men, so our judgment will reflect this. Lifting up Jesus as Lord is to be
the basis of giving a witness to every man of the hope that lies within us
(1 Pet. 3:15 RSV). The knowledge and experience of His exaltation can only
be witnessed to; it can’t be kept quiet.
3:16- see on 1 Jn. 3:18.
Having a good conscience, that,
when
you are spoken against, they may be put to shame who revile your good
manner of life in Christ- Are slanderers really put to shame
now by our good living? The putting to shame of the wicked is at the final
judgment. The Greek phrase translated "When" might better be rendered 'In
which...' or 'In that which'. At the day of judgment, it will be
demonstrated that actually it was the slanderers who were guilty of the
things they were accusing the believers of. And they will be put to shame
at the last day for that. It is psychologically true and observable that
slanderers will often accuse others of doing exactly that which they are
doing. That is the principle of transference; they realize their sins,
subconsciously, and know they should be punished for them. So they
transfer those sins onto others, e.g. by slander, and seek to get them
punished for those sins.
3:17
For it is better, if the will of God should so will, that you
suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing- see on :14.
Suffering according to the will of God is an idea picked up again in 4:19.
We can take comfort that any suffering is not outside the will of God.
There is no satan out there causing it.
3:18- see on 2 Cor. 5:15; 1 Pet. 2:5; 5:1.
Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the
unrighteous, that he might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit- This
could well have been written by Peter with a glance back at the way that
after his denials, he the unjust went to the crucifixion scene and
reflected just this. When in 5:1 he comments that he witnessed the
sufferings of Christ, he could be saying that therefore these thoughts
were his thoughts as he witnessed it: the just suffering for him the
unjust, to bring him back to God.
Do we seek strength to endure unjust treatment and the grace to submit
cheerfully to the loss of what we feel is rightfully ours? Be it
discrimination in the workplace, persecution from the Government,
perceived abuse or degradation by our partner or family...? Let the cross
be our endless inspiration: “For it is better, if the will of God be so [a
reference to the Lord’s struggle in Gethsemane being our struggle], that
ye suffer for well doing...
for Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the
unjust" (1 Pet. 3:17,18). Remember how under persecution, the faithful
love not their lives unto death because of their experience of the blood
of the lamb shed for them (Rev. 12:11).
Eph. 2:18 speaks of how "Through him we both have access by one Spirit
unto the Father". This access is not only in the moments of time we
designate for prayer. Christ suffered for us and obtained our forgiveness,
"that he might bring us to God" (1 Pet. 3:18), and we are in that position
now, all the time, not just when we pray. Being in this position means
that our Spirit, the essence of our spirituality, our deepest spiritual
desires, are transferred to the Father by the Son.
3:19- see on Acts 3:26; Acts 3:34.
In which also- We seek to
understand how Christ could preach in his spirit. He was “put to death in
the flesh but made alive in [Gk. ‘through, on account of’] the spirit”.
The Lord was raised “according to the spirit of holiness” (Rom. 1:4). Why
was Christ resurrected? Because of His sinless life and character, i.e.
His “spirit” of a holy life. In this lies the connection between the
Father, Son, Holy Spirit and the resurrection of Jesus. He was raised by
the Father because of His spirit of holiness, his holy spirit of life. We
too will be raised to eternal life on account of our spirit of life which
we are now developing: “If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the
dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall
give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in
you” (Rom. 8:11). This passage shows that the spirit of Christ is the same
spirit that is to dwell in us. This doesn’t mean we are disembodied
spirits, but rather that our way / spirit of life must be that of Jesus. 1
Pet. 4:1 makes the same point – we are to arm ourselves with the same mind
/ spirit that was in Christ as He suffered on the cross. If our Spirit and
that of Christ coincide and are one, then we have the witness that we are
truly God’s children (Rom. 8:16). It was through
this same spirit that Christ witnessed to imprisoned humanity,
especially at the time of Noah, as Peter shows. The spirit of Christ was
in all the prophets, and this was the essence of their witness. “The
testimony [preaching] of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” in the sense
that the preaching of the prophets was in essence the preaching of Jesus
insofar as they had His Spirit in their message.
There is an undoubted theme throughout 1 Peter 3 and 4 of the
opposition between the “flesh” (that which is external, the appearance of
things) and the “spirit”, that which is internal, which is of God.
|
Being dead to sins |
Should live unto righteousness (1 Pet. 2:24) |
|
Not the outward adorning |
But the hidden man…a quiet spirit (1 Pet. 3:3,4) |
|
Put to death in the flesh |
But quickened by the spirit (1 Pet. 3:18) |
|
Baptism is not a washing of the flesh |
But the answer of a good conscience / spirit (1 Pet. 3:21) |
|
Don’t live in the flesh |
But to the will of God (1 Pet. 4:2) |
|
Judged by men in the flesh [outwardly] |
Live to God in the spirit (1 Pet. 4:6) |
The spirit by which Jesus was quickened is thus paralleled with our
spirit of living to God, a quiet spirit, a life of righteousness, of good
conscience etc. His Spirit is to be our spirit – we are to be of the “same
mind / spirit” with Him, sharing the mind which He had especially during
His time of dying (1 Pet. 4:1). And this is exactly the point of Phil.
2:5: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” at the time
of His death. Notice that the Spirit of Jesus is epitomized by the mindset
which He displayed during His death. It is this very mind / spirit which
is to be in us. It is therefore in this sense that
through His death the Lord
Jesus preached ‘in spirit’ to those whom He had never met.
In this sense, it was the spiritually minded lifestyle of Noah which
was his witness to the world of his day. Peter says in 1 Pet. 3:19 that
Christ through His Spirit preached to the people of Noah’s day. In 2 Pet.
2:5 he says that Noah was a preacher of, or [Gk.] ‘by’ righteousness to
the people around him. Yet in 1 Pet. 3:19 Peter says that Christ preached
to those same people through His Spirit. The resolution surely is that
although Noah had never met the Lord Jesus, he lived according to the same
Godly spirit as did Jesus; and this was his witness to his world. There is
ultimately only one Spirit (Eph. 4:4). The same spirit of holiness which
was in Jesus was likewise thus in Noah. “The Spirit”, the Spirit of God
and the Spirit of Christ are all equated in Rom. 8:9.
He went- Firstly, we need to
remove any misunderstanding which arises from the phrase “he went”.
Contemporary Greek literature often used such expressions in a redundant
sense. Eph. 2:17 speaks of the Lord Jesus ‘coming’ and preaching peace to
us. But this doesn’t mean that He Himself in person came up to us and
preached. Indeed, the language of going, coming or moving is often used in
relation to the preaching of a person – e.g. Mt. 9:13: “but go and learn what that
meaneth”. The Lord didn’t intend that they literally went away somewhere.
Likewise Dan. 12:4 and Hab. 2:2 bid those who understand God’s word to
“run” – not literally, but in response to the word preached. God Himself
is spoken of as coming, descending etc. when He ‘preaches’ to humanity
(e.g. Gen. 11:5; Ex. 19:20; Num. 11:25; 2 Sam. 22:10). In Jer. 39:16, the
imprisoned Jeremiah is told to “go, tell Ebed-melech...” a word from the
Lord about him. Jeremiah couldn’t have literally left prison to do so –
but the idea is that a person encountering the Lord’s word has as it were
experienced the Lord ‘going’ to him or her. And in this sense the message
of the Lord Jesus (in its essence) could ‘go’ to persons without Him
physically going anywhere or even existing consciously at the time.
And preached to the spirits in
prison- The Lord Himself quoted Is. 61:1 about Himself: He proclaimed
liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are
bound. But this passage is evidently behind Peter’s assertion that after
His resurrection, the Lord Jesus preached to the spirits in prison (1 Pet.
3:18,19). His resurrection was the basis of His command to go into all the
world and preach the word; and thereby His preachers went out to do and
continue the work which He personally had done.
Biblically, a man or woman is identified with their spirit in the sense
of their mind or way of life. Heb. 12:23 speaks of the spirits of just
men, with whom the believer ought to associate. This means that we ought
to identify ourselves with the way of life, the spirit of life, of “just
men” of the past. God is “the God of the spirits of all flesh” (Num.
16:22; 27:16) in the sense that He is the God of all humanity. So “spirits
in prison” can refer to people who, in their spiritual lives, are
imprisoned. Immediately the mind goes to Is. 42:2,7, which in speaking of
the preaching of Jesus, prophecies that He would release the spiritually
imprisoned – not so much by direct didactic teaching, but by the spirit of
His personality and example. So the “prison” is simply the prison of the
human mind, which the mental example of Jesus can open up.
We obviously ask
why ordinary people should be
described in this passage as “spirits”. The context is speaking of the
witness of Jesus to people through His Spirit or way of life as manifested
in His people. The
spirit within His people
appeals to the imprisoned
spirit or heart / mind of
their audience. We appeal to the
heart, the spirit, by our
witness – not merely to the intellect. The spirit of Christ within us
appeals to the imprisoned spirit within others.
The “spirits in prison” were once [“aforetime”] disobedient (1 Pet.
3:20). The same two Greek words translated “aforetime” and “disobedient”
occur in Rom. 11:30 about all of us, who “in times past [s.w. “aforetime”]
have not believed [s.w. “disobedient”]. This is surely one of the many
times when Peter’s phrasing is so similar to Paul’s that he is surely
alluding to him; and thus Peter is making the point that although the
witness of the spirit of Christ was, in his context, specifically to
Noah’s generation, it is also the witness which we all receive from those
with the spirit of Christ at any time. Peter has just spoken of how
disobedient [s.w.] people are converted by the witness of a spiritual,
Christ-centred way of life (1 Pet. 3:1). Peter is writing against a
background of “the last days”, of which Noah’s generation is a clear type.
Just as they were witnessed to by the spirit of Christ in Noah, so will
the generation of the last days have a like witness. God’s patience
“waited” in Noah’s time; the Greek implies to wait
for
something. It is also translated “expect”. God was waiting for and
expecting a response from Noah’s witness; and in this we see the essential
hopefulness of God. He hoped against hope for response; and none came. The
Spirit of Christ and of God has always been His witness to all
generations. The question arises as to why Peter chose to especially focus
upon the example of Noah out of all the generations. Perhaps this was
because Noah’s generation is a type of the last days, in which Peter
believed he was living. And therefore this entire study has a great
relevance to our day; for the crucial witness of the last days is through
the spirit of Christ in us witnessing to an increasingly self-imprisoned
world.
3:20- see on Mt. 24:48.
That previously were disobedient-
When the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was prepared-
Knowing the destruction that would come on all except Noah, God waited
in the hope that more would be saved. He as it were hoped against His own
foreknowledge that more would saved.
Wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water-
Peter likens the ark in the time of Noah to Christ, showing that as the
ark saved Noah and his family from the judgment that came upon sinners, so
baptism into Christ will save believers from eternal death (1 Pet.
3:20,21). Noah entering into the ark is likened to our entering into
Christ through baptism. All those outside the ark were destroyed by the
flood; standing near the ark or being a friend of Noah was quite
irrelevant. The only way of salvation is, and was, to be inside the
Christ/ark. It is evident that the second coming, which the flood typified
(Lk. 17:26,27), is nearly upon us. Entry into the Christ/ark by baptism is
therefore of the utmost urgency. Human words really do fail to convey this
sense of urgency; the Biblical type of entry into the ark in Noah’s time
is more powerful. Noah's ark was an appropriate symbol for salvation
through baptism in that the Hebrew word
teba ("ark") only occurs
elsewhere in reference to the "ark" or "chest" in which the baby Moses,
condemned to death, came through water to a saved life. And "a similar
root in Egyptian means chest or coffin"- connecting with the idea that
baptism is a burial with Christ in water, as it were entering a coffin
with Him, to emerge into new life. Indeed the dimensions of Noah's ark are
in proportion similar to those of a coffin.
The flood was brought about by Gods wisdom, not because a deity lost
his patience and temper with mankind. God destroyed mankind because of His
grief (Gen. 6:6)- and He did so because He planned on saving
the world through water. Noah and the faithful were saved from corruption
and the faith being lost by the world that threatened to destroy them
(spiritually) being itself destroyed.
3:21- see on Gal. 3:27; Heb. 10:17,22.
Which is also a true likeness of how baptism does now save you: not the washing away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God-
The idea is that baptism in water gives us the gift of the spirit of Christ, which will cleanse our conscience. Hence the reference to how His resurrection enables this. And it is having that spirit which will empower our witness.
Can we
know that we have the spirit of Jesus, and that we are living the eternal
life, to the point we are confident that “we will be there”? John
addresses this question head on. “Hereby we know that we are of the truth,
and shall assure our hearts before him… if our heart condemn us not,
then
have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him,
because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in
his sight” (1 Jn. 3:19-22). The answer of our conscience is therefore
highly significant. Now living in societies as we do, based around shame
and guilt, we can condemn ourselves more harshly than God does. Baptism is
“the answer (RVmg. ‘appeal’) of a good conscience toward God” (1 Pet.
3:18). Note how the phrase “toward God” occurs in both passages. We need
to reflect more deeply upon what baptism really meant. Just as Romans 6,
the classic baptism chapter, is asking the Romans to think back and
remember what their baptisms really did for them before God. There we were
counted as being ‘in Christ’. God now looks upon us as if we are in
Christ, covered with His righteousness. In the court of Divine justice,
the fact we have been baptized and had our conscience cleansed is our
appeal for justification. And it will be heard. We condemn ourselves for
our failures, yes. But on the other hand, do we believe that we really are
baptized into Christ, with all that means in terms of how God now sees us?
Do we believe rather than merely know… the most basic elements and
realities of our Christian faith? I believe we do underneath, but we need
to think deeply about all this.
Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ- The
resurrection of Christ thus "interrogates our conscience" in all areas of
life (1 Pet. 3:21 RVmg.). We can't be passive to it; it's not painless to
believe.
3:22 Who is the one at the right
hand of God, having gone into heaven,
Angels and
authorities and powers being made subject to him- There are
repeated hints in this chapter that the believes were getting in trouble
with the local authorities. They are urged to submit to those authorities,
as unto Christ. And here we are reminded how that is possible- those
authorities are subject to Him. Perhaps each of those powers had a
representative Angel in the court of Heaven; and they too were subject to
Christ. There may also be a swipe at the Jewish theories about Angels and
the wrong idea that there are sinful Angels; the Christian should focus
instead upon Christ, for in any case, all Angels are subject to Him.
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