Bible Commentaries
1 Peter 3

Verses 1-6

1Pe 3:1-6

4. DUTIES OF WIVES TO HUSBANDS

1 Peter 3:1-6

1 In like manner, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; --From the consideration of duties derived from the relationship of servants and masters, discussed at length in the preceding chapter, the apostle passes to another element in the social life of the people involving, according to the concepts which then prevailed, an almost equal degree of subordination--that of wives to their husbands. Here, as elsewhere throughout the epistle, Peter’s design appears to be to inculcate such principles as would enable the suffering saints to whom he wrote to bear patiently and worthily their burdens, however heavy and galling such should be.

The lot of women in non-Greek countries, particularly before the influence of the gospel began to be felt, was a deplorable one. Aristotle writes that among the barbarians (non-Greeks) women and slaves held the same rank; and though among the Greeks her position was not quite so degraded, they considered her as holding only an intermediate position between free persons and slaves, mother of her children, but not worthy to educate them, qualified to receive orders, but never to give them.

As the influence of Christianity began to exercise itself such barbarous ideas were destined to fail; slavery was to perish, and women to be elevated to their proper place in society; it was essential to the well-being of the cause which was to produce such effects, however, that these changes should be gradual and not violent; produced by instruction and not by revolution. Hence, the instructions given.

"In like manner" (omoios, in the same manner), i.e., in harmony with the principles taught as to the duty of Christian slaves to be subject to their masters, so wives are to be constantly submitting (present participle, middle voice) themselves to their own husbands. The word "own," in the text, is emphatic and significant. Christian women, with heathen husbands, might be tempted to despise their husbands and exhibit contempt for them, feeling obligated only to those Christian men with whom they were associated in the church. The effect of such an attitude would be disastrous, not only to the church, but to the family and to society in general. Though Christians, and in an enviable position, they were not to forget the obligations that are fundamental and vital to the permanence of society.

That, even if any obey not the word, they may without the word be gained by the behavior of their wives; --In some in-stances both the husband and the wife would obey the gospel; in others, only the wife; and it is of the latter with which the apostle deals here. "The word" in the phrase, "if any obey not the word," is the gospel. (Romans 1:16.) "Obey not" is translated from a term which denotes a degree of antagonism in addition to disobedience, plus an element of stubbornness. It means, literally, not to allow one’s self to be pursuaded. The text, as it runs in our translation, makes the apostle assert that such men may "without the word" be gained, i.e., they may be led to the word of truth without the word of truth! Such an idea is contradictory and does not correctly represent what the apostle actually said. The Greek article does not appear before the noun "word" in the phrase, "may without the word be gained . . ." Here, "word" does not refer, as it does in the former phrase, to the word of truth--the gospel. Instead, it refers to the exhortations, the persuasions of the wives. These husbands had heard the gospel and were familiar with its demands. They had thus far been stubborn, rebellious, disobedient. Peter admonished the wives of such men to desist from further importunity, lest such should descend to nagging; and instead, by godly conduct and discreet behavior to encourage them to do that which they already understood to be their duty. Properly translated, the passage reads: "If any obey not the word, they may without a word (from the wife) be gained by her godly behavior." This is an instance when silent eloquence is more effective than vigorous and vehement debate. "Be gained" is a significant and important statement. Every soul saved is a gain to the Lord, to the church, and to itself. "Behavior" sums up the conduct of the wives addressed.

2 Beholding your chaste behavior coupled with fear.--The word "beholding" occurs also in 1 Peter 2:12, where see notes. It suggests the scrutiny of an eyewitness, and implies information from close and minute observation. From such examination, these unbelieving husbands would be able to form an evaluation of the chaste behavior of their wives and attribute such to the influence of Christianity. "Fear" in the text is reverence, awe, and is with reference to the husband, and not God. It is the same sort of fear as that designated by Paul in Ephesians 5:33. From Clement of Alexandria, born about the middle of the second century, comes this excellent comment: "The wise woman, then, will first choose to persuade her husband to be her associate in what is conducive to happiness. And should that be found impractical, let her by herself earnestly aim at virtue, gaining her husband’s consent in everything, so as never to do anything against his will, with exception of what is reckoned as contributing to virtue and salvation." (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol 2, page 432.)

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; --The teaching of this verse is closely associated with that which immediately precedes it. Christian wives, far from following the tactics by which their worldly sisters attract and hold the attention of their husbands, are to give emphasis instead to "the hidden man of the heart," the "incorruptible apparel of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price." (Verse 4.) Their adornment was thus not to be the (a) braiding of the hair; (b) wearing of jewels of gold; or (c) putting on of apparel. It is obvious from the mention of putting on apparel that the apostle’s words are to be regarded as hortatory rather than unconditionally prohibitive. Taken literally, and without qualification, they would forbid not only the braiding of the hair and the wearing of jewels of gold, but also the putting on of clothing. It is, therefore, clear that Peter did not intend for his words to be interpreted as an unqualified and unconditional prohibition of the things mentioned, but as an exhortation to regard such as secondary and trivial in comparison with the inner adornment of character exhibited in the meek and quiet spirit composing the incorruptible apparel which he enjoins. The form of exhortation here followed--sometimes styled a Hebraism--is a common one in the sacred writings. Jesus said, "Work not for the food which perisheth, but for the food which abideth unto eternal life." (John 6:27.) Literally, these words forbid one to work for his daily bread; regarded as a Hebraism, which they are, they simply mean that one is not to place his chief emphasis on material things, but to give paramount attention to that which abideth unto eternal life. So here, the apostle does not forbid women to wear jewels, or to adorn themselves with modest apparel; he does admonish them to regard such as utterly worthless in comparison with the graces which adorn the Christian character, and which alone determine one’s worth in God’s sight.

Paul also gave attention to the vanity characteristic of worldly women in adorning themselves with "braided hair, gold or pearls or costly raiment" (1 Timothy 2:9), and from the historians of the period in which Peter wrote, we learn that women were disposed to go to extreme lengths in braiding and plaiting their hair, often arranging massive whorls of it several inches above the head into which had been woven twisted strands of gold and chains of pearls which glistened and scintillated in the light, thus making an impression of great brilliance. Clement of Alexandria says that many women of his time dared not touch their heads for fear of disarranging their hair, and that they regarded sleep with terror lest during it they should destroy their waves. It is such vanity as this that the apostle condemns. Forbidden is any lavish display of artificial adornments and all gaudiness contributing to the vanity of those participating. Christians, whether men or women, should array themselves in modest and unassuming garments, befitting their station in life, and the cause which they have espoused.

4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptible apparel of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.--The "hidden man of the heart" is equivalent in meaning to that of the "inward Man" of 2 Corinthians 4:16 and Romans 7:22, and the "new man" Colossians 3:10. "Of the heart" (genitive of apposition) indicates that the life of this "hidden man" manifests itself in the realm of the heart, and not in ornamental display. It is said to be an "incorruptible apparel" because it is not perishable and worthless like the ornaments of gold and silver which the worldly minded use; and it consists of a meek and quiet spirit. A "meek spirit" is one not characterized by self-will, envy, pride, presumption or obstancy; and a "quiet spirit" is one that is calm, tranquil, and at peace. The adjective "great" modifying "price" in the text (poluteles) is used in Mark 14:3 to describe the value of the ointment ("pure nard very costly") which Mary used to anoint the Lord "beforehand" for his burying, thus indicating the preciousness with which God regards those women who adorn themselves in the manner which Peter admonishes.

5 For after this manner aforetime the holy women also, who hoped in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands:--To the precepts of the preceding verses, the apostle adds the example of faithful and godly women of old. These saintly sisters of the Old Testament period are styled "holy women" because they were set apart to a life of faithfulness to God and to their husbands; and they are said to have "hoped in God" because their expectations were grounded in him. The basis of their acceptance with God and their value to their husbands was not in the gaudy and spectacular ornaments of the thoughtless and vain, but in the worthy lives and submissive attitudes exhibited. For such they are imperishably inscribed in Inspiration’s Hall of Fame. (Hebrews 11:11; Hebrews 11:35.)

6 As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose children ye now are, if ye do well, and are not put in fear by any terror.--Genesis 18:12 is an instance of that to which Peter alludes in his reference to Sarah the faithful wife of the patriarch Abraham. In referring to him as "lord" (a term which, as here used, is a title of honor addressed to one regarded as superior), Sarah revealed an attitude of habitual and continuous subordination. Because she recognized the supremacy of her husband and gladly assumed her proper sphere in the home, she serves as an example for Christian wives today. "Whose children ye now are" is, literally, "whose daughters you became" (hes egnethete tekna), i.e., by following the pattern of Sarah. By adorning themselves as Sarah did they became daughters of her to the extent that a child is like its parent. It is significant that this figure--a common one in the sacred writings--is used of those who follow in the steps of Abraham as believers: "Know therefore that they that are of faith, the same are the sons of Abraham." (Galatians 3:7.) "And he (Abraham) received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumrision: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might be reckoned unto them." (Romans 4:11.)

The words "if ye do well" contain the condition on which such a relationship to Sarah is obtained, and by which it is kept. Sarah earned her right to be regarded as the mother of those wives who do well by her own godly conduct and her daughters are those who imitate her example. The "terror" against which the apostle warns in the final clause of the verse is not the "fear" (phobos) which he enjoins in verse 2, but the shrinking, shuddering fear (ptoesis) of one in the grip of extreme trepidation. In his admonition to Christian wives to avoid such an attitude, the writer appears to be guarding them from running out of one extreme into another. Those who had unbelieving husbands would often have heavy burdens to bear, and much abuse to hear, and if they exhibited terror in the presence of such husbands as if constantly expecting curses or blows, such an attitude might provoke the very thing they were seeking to avoid. Hence, Peter instructed them to "do well" and then to proceed with their daily tasks with calm, unruffled spirit, whatever might be the attitude of their husbands.

Commentary on 1 Peter 3:1-6 by N.T. Caton

ANALYSIS.

All should know, who claim to be Christians, just how to conduct themselves in the walks of life, and in this chapter knowledge is therein imparted. Peter commenced by telling wives how they ought to conduct themselves in that relation. He even goes so far with his instruction as to include even the manner of dress. These things are of less esteem with the apostle as an adornment than a meek and quiet spirit. A proper conduct along this line will have a tendency even to win over to the cause of Christ an infidel husband. To straighten the view the apostle entertains, he cites the example of Sarah as a model wife. Husbands are also told how they should conduct themselves, and then to all Christian admonitions are given. They must be of one mind—no discords, no divisions; must love one another as brethren should; must be tender-hearted and affable in the place of being unsympathetic and cross and morose; must not retaliate for what they conceive to be wrong conduct in others, but should bless them even if they are enemies; must be forgiving in temper and disposition, for God called his children that they might inherit the blessing of pardon. It is the duty of every Christian to turn away from all evil, and only do good; and it is furthermore the duty of God’s children to seek peace. God’s eyes are upon us all the time, and his ears open to the cry of his people. Besides, those that do right are less likely to suffer than the evil; but if the right-doers suffer for doing right, they are happy, because they do not lose reward, and ought not therefore to fear the threats of the wicked. Hence you ought to honor God, and be always ready to give answer for the hope of eternal life you have. Hold fast a good conscience by never denying your faith. It is better to suffer for the right, if God wills, than to suffer for wrong-doing. Christ himself suffered even unto death. He was raised by the Spirit. By his Spirit Christ preached to the antediluvians by Noah. The spirits of these are now in prison. They were disobedient at the time of Noah’s preaching, and because of their disobedience were all destroyed by the water of the flood. The same water that destroyed them saved Noah and his family. Baptism as an antitype of the water of the flood now saves us. This baptism is not washing away of filth from flesh, but is the answer of a good conscience. In this, Christ commanded baptism, we obey, and have the assurance of our conscience to our obedience.

1 Peter 3:1—Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection.

Having disposed of the duties a follower of Christ owes to earthly governments and to those entitled to service, he now turns to the domestic relation, and those who sustain the relation of wife he admonishes the recognition of submission. In this case the apostle has in his mind a woman whose spouse is an unbeliever. While subjection to a believing husband would not be such a burden to a wife, the submission to one who ignored the claims of the gospel might become irksome. A wife so situated is urged to the faithful and conscientious performance of every duty growing out of the relation, having in view the hope of the conversion of the infidel husband. And the influences that may accomplish this result are pointed out.

1 Peter 3:2—While they behold your chaste conversation.

That is, your conduct, the pure life you are living as a Christian woman. Possibly your course before your conver­sion appears before the husband’s mind in contrast to the course now adopted. This is a mighty power, an argument irrefutable and irresistible.

1 Peter 3:2—Coupled with fear.

The disposition now shown of avoiding and shrinking from acts which before your conversion were performed with readiness and without hesitation.

1 Peter 3:3—Whose adorning.

Even the dress of a Christian wife claims apostolic notice. Nothing seems to have escaped the attention of this servant of Christ.

1 Peter 3:3—Outward adorning of plaiting the hair.

Here an injunction to Christian wives is given. The plainting of the hair, wearing of gold and putting on of apparel. Can it be that the apostle forbids comely attire? Modesty observed in this adornment can not offend the moral sense surely, and we must not forget that Peter had in view the winning over the husband to the cause of Christ. Now, I incline to think, keeping the context in view, the apostle desired these wives to understand that these adornings, being outward only,. must not monopolize their thoughts and attention. Such things are perishing, and have a tendency to lead astray from God. The adorning of the Spirit is to be the lifework of the Christian wife, and not outward show, exhibited to attract the fancy of the giddy, the vain and the foolish. Arraying the body in these things for show, or indulging in extravagance on the part of believ­ing women, I have no doubt, is here forbidden, but that Christian women may but modestly attire themselves according to their station in life, I can not think for a moment was in the apostle’s mind. He simply desires the believing wife to understand that there was something more for her to do than exhausting her time in dress; that there was a better adorning for her of which she ought to avail herself.

1 Peter 3:4—But let it be the hidden man of the heart.

Here we have it. Time and patience and labor here should be bestowed. The hidden man of the heart, the real man, the spirit, the affections of the heart—this is the important part. This inner man, adorn that. In the sight of God this is of great worth, bodily adornments valueless. This is the view Peter desires the Christian wives to take.

1 Peter 3:4—Meek and quiet spirit.

Two words are here used as descriptive of the kind of a spirit recommended to Christian wives, and to which is applied in the Revised Version the words "incorruptible apparel." The meaning of these words, and the ideas intended to be conveyed, were, by the Spirit guiding Peter’s pen, considered of importance. What is meekness, and what is quietness, as applied to the spirit? Is there any difference in the signification? There must be, or both terms would not have been employed. Meekness consists in bearing ill—treatment with patience, as in the case of the Savior in the hands of his murderers. Quietness indicates a state where no cause of ill—treatment can possibly arise by either act or speech. In this latter sense Jesus was not quiet. He rebuked the scribes and Pharisees, and thus provoked them. While it should have been observed to their profit, evil as they were, it aroused their anger. Well may the apostle call the meek and quiet spirit an incorruptible ornament. To close our remarks upon this verse, I borrow from Macknight a quotation made by him from Blackwell’s "Sacred Class":

"How must all the short—lived beauties, the shapes, features and most elegant and rich ornaments of the mortal body, which attract the eyes and admiration of vain mor­tals, fade away, and lose their charms and luster, when compared with the heavenly graces of a pious and regular temper, the incorruptible ornaments and beauties of the soul which are amiable and of high value in the eye of God, the sovereign Judge of what is good and beautiful."

1 Peter 3:5—For after this manner in the old time.

The manner just described; that is, not with outward adorning, but in the cultivation of the graces of the Spirit. The holy women, the women who trusted in God, thus conducted themselves. The meekness and quietness of spirit so acceptable in the sight of God were the adornings of the women mentioned in Bible history.

1 Peter 3:6—Even Sarah obeyed Abraham.

Sarah went so far in her submission to her husband as to apply to him the designation of "Lord." The Christian wives among the addressed, who were of Jewish birth, were supposed to be familiar with the history of their progeni­tors, and Peter says to them in this exhortation that they are the daughters of Sarah and of Abraham, as are the Gentile Christian wives, by faith so long as they do in kind as Sarah did; that is, do right, do well. This they can do if they keep in mind their duty to God, and are not driven therefrom by the fear or amazement of those without; fear from ridicule, amazement at their conduct in this regard exhibited on the part of the irreligious or heathen with whom they come in contact.

Commentary on 1 Peter 3:1-6 by Burton Coffman

The apostle in this chapter continued giving instructions to classes or groups of people: (1) to wives (1 Peter 3:1-6); (2) to husbands; (3) to the community of Christians as a whole; and then, perhaps with the looming terror of the Neronian persecution in mind, he spoke of the blessedness of suffering for righteousness sake (1 Peter 3:13-22).

1 Peter 3:1-2 --In like manner, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, even if they obey not the word, they may without the word be gained by the behavior of their wives; beholding your chaste behavior coupled with fear. (1 Peter 3:1-2)

Be in subjection to your own husbands ... This is in agreement with other extensive teaching on this in the New Testament, as in Ephesians 5:22 ff, Colossians 3:18 ff, and Titus 2:5. Note also that this is extended to include the submission of a Christian wife to a pagan husband. Although it may be supposed that both the husband and the wife, many times, would be converted together, there would inevitably be occasions when only the wife would become a Christian with her husband continuing in paganism. As Hart said, "Paul found it necessary to impress upon the Corinthian church that this incompatibility of religion did not justify dissolution of marriage (1 Corinthians 12:10 ff)."^[1] As a matter of fact, there is no evidence that conversion to Christianity was ever considered to be a cancellation of any legal contract, not even the status of slavery.

If they obey not the word ... "The word here is the gospel, and the clause means, `If any are not Christians.’"^[2] In this verse Peter means, "The husband should be the head of the house, and the wife should recognize the fact."

Beholding your chaste behavior ... The literal meaning of 1 Peter 3:2 is, "Having kept, or when they have kept an eye on your chaste conversation."^[4] The husband in such a marriage would be jealously on the watch to see what effect would show in her life after embracing those foolish notions, as they might have appeared to him.

^[1] J. H. A. Hart, Expositor’s Greek Testament, Vol. V (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 63.

^[2] Archibald M. Hunter, The Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. XII (New York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1957), p. 121.

^[4] A. J. Mason, Ellicott’s Bible Commentary, Vol. VIII (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), p. 412.

1 Peter 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;

Does this mean that it is a sin for a Christian woman to wear a gold jewel, or to braid her hair, or to put on clothes? To ask this question is to answer it. "The unavoidable conclusion is that she must not depend on the display of the articles mentioned."^[5] It is the inordinate stress of outward adorning of the person which Peter here condemned. Despite the fact that in these times there is not the same emphasis upon such ostentation as in the days when Peter wrote, one cannot resist the thought that the apostles of Christ would take exception to what is being done with cosmetics, even today. In ancient times, extravagance of dress went beyond all reason. "Nero even had a room with walls covered with pearls; and Pliny saw Lollia Paulina, wife of Caligula, wearing a dress so covered with pearls and emeralds that it cost more than a million dollars."^[6]

^[5] E. M. Zerr, Bible Commentary, 1Peter (Marion, Indiana: Cogdill Foundation, 1954), p. 259.

^[6] William Barclay, The Letters of James and Peter (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 221.

1 Peter 3:4 --but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptible apparel of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

Hidden man of the heart ... Subsequent versions usually have "hidden person" of the heart; and as the passage deals with the duties of wives, this is better. The "hidden person" is the same as Paul’s "inner man" (Ephesians 3:16), meaning the actual person, the private being which every person knows himself to be. Paul described a real Jew as being a Jew who is one "inwardly," which stresses the same thought (Romans 2:28 f).

Incorruptible apparel ... "Paul assures us in this passage that moral characteristics gained in this life remain our characteristics in the next."^[7] All of this warning against outward display of expensive dress and ornaments indicates that many of the Christians of that period were wealthy, as does likewise Paul’s passage in 1 Timothy 6:17 f.

ENDNOTE:

^[7] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 413.

1 Peter 3:5 --For after this manner aforetime the holy women also, who hoped in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands:

In this, Peter reinforced his teaching with an appeal to the example of the godly women of the past.

Who hoped in God ... There is a subtle indication in this that the position of Christian women to whom Peter wrote is superior to that enjoyed by the wives of the mighty patriarchs who merely "hoped" in God, whereas the Christians, having received the precious promises which their predecessors had only hoped for, were the actual possessors of the glorious gospel and all of its spiritual endowments.

1 Peter 3:6 --as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose children ye are now, if ye do well, and are not put to fear by any terror.

As Sarah obeyed Abraham ... It should not be thought that Sarah’s obedience to Abraham was in any sense Servility. On one occasion she ordered Abraham to "Cast out the bondwoman and her son," a "request" that sorely grieved and distressed Abraham; but he obeyed her, God himself commanding Abraham to do it (Genesis 20:10-12). Nevertheless, there was the utmost respect and honor accorded her husband by the noble Sarah.

Calling him lord ... The significance of Sarah’s doing this lies in the fact that this is what she called him in her own heart, not merely when others might hear her. The real test of what one is, or what one thinks, lies in the content of what they say to themselves, not in what they might say to others (Genesis 18:12).

Whose children ye are ... Paul extensively developed the thought of Christians being the children of Abraham, a principle given by Christ himself (John 8:39 ff); and this is a further extension of the same truth. Being sons of Abraham, as all Christians are (Galatians 3:29), they are also children of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

If ye do well ... This qualifier stands over against all Christian privilege. The thing that disqualified the Jews of Jesus’ day as true sons of Abraham was disobedience; and the Christian must accept the application of the same principle to the members of the new Israel. If they do not do well, they shall become, like the disobedient Jews of Jesus’ day, "sons of the devil" (John 8:44).

And are not put in fear by any terror ... The sentiment here is that of Proverbs 3:25, which seems to have been a chapter that Peter was very familiar with; for he quoted it again in 1 Peter 5:5. "Peter is apparently thinking of some attempt (by a pagan husband perhaps?) to scare a woman out of her Christian faith."^[8]Justin Martyr relates the narrative of a certain woman who accepted Christianity and turned from a wicked and dissolute life, but whose husband continued stubbornly in the old ways; and after prolonged abuse, and even abandonment, she legally divorced him. However, her husband, being restrained by a court order from harming his wife, persecuted to death her Christian teacher.^[9]

^[8] Archibald M. Hunter, op. cit., p. 123.

^[9] Justin Martyr, The Second Apology in the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, n.d.), p. 188.

Verse 7

1Pe 3:7

5. DUTIES OF HUSBANDS TO WIVES

1 Peter 3:7

The exhortation of this portion of the epistle, like that of the two preceding sections--to Christian slaves (1 Peter 2:18-25). and to Christian wives of unbelieving husbands (1 Peter 3:1-16) --is closely connected with 1 Peter 2:11-17 in which the apostle admonishes godly conduct before the world as the most effective answer to the slanders evil men were disposed to utter against them. In discharging worthily and properly the duties of the relationship in which they lived they would demonstrate a worthy life, show honor to all men, and evidence reverence toward God.

The instruction to husbands is brief and appears to have been inserted parenthetically to guard against abuse to the wives just addressed. The general tenor of the epistle is to show the duty of submission and the obligation to recognize and accept the subordination characteristic of one’s position in life; and lest the husbands should conclude that there were no mutual obligations and that, though the wives were bound, they were loosed with reference to any duties in the marriage state, these lines were penned. It is also significant that while the apostle particularly addressed himself to the wives of unbelieving husbands, the implication here is that the wives of these believers were also Christians. This was a logical conclusion from the nature of the society then existing. Wives might occasionally obey the gospel without their husbands, but not likely would husbands become Christians without their wives.

7 Ye husbands, in like manner, dwell with your wives according to knowledge,--"Dwell," translated from a term which denotes domestic association, sums up the relationships of the marriage state. Such association is to be "according to knowledge," i.e., with due understanding of the nature of the marital relation, each showing proper regard for the other, and both discharging the duties peculiarly theirs.

Giving honor unto the woman, as unto the weaker vessel, as being also joint-heirs of the grace of life; --The word "giving," translated from a term which occurs nowhere else in the scriptures (aponemo), means to assign; to apportion; and "honor" in the text is the rendering of the same word translated "precious" in 1 Peter 1:19. Christian husbands are to regard their faithful wives as precious and to assign to them the honor that is their due. The woman is called a "weaker vessel" not because of moral or intellectual weaknesses, but solely from the fact that she lacks the physical prowess commonly characteristic of man. The husband is exhorted to dwell with his wife in due consideration of the fact that she is physically weaker; and to regard her always as a fellow heir of the grace of life--life eternal--which awaits all of the faithful. (John 17:3.) In styling the wife as the weaker vessel the implication is that man is also a vessel--both the husband and wife being instruments which God uses in his service.

To the end that your prayers be not hindered.--The word "hindered" is the rendering of a word which means literally to cut in, to interrupt. Where strife and discord obtain in a home, prayer is cut into and interrupted--the message to heaven is short-circuited! Bitterness, division, and bickering are opposed to the spirit of prayer and operate to terminate all efforts in that respect. Only where peace and harmony prevail can the husband and wife join their efforts in united prayer to the throne of grace.

Commentary on 1 Peter 3:7 by N.T. Caton

1 Peter 3:7—Likewise, ye husbands.

Peter now turns to Christian husbands, and their duties receive attention. Christian husband are not to separate from their wives because they are not converted to Christ. Very true it may be that the relation of husband and wife is the more strongly cemented where both are followers of Christ, yet where this is not the case no cause for separation exists; but they must be dwelt with according to knowledge. As though the apostle said to the Christian husband, your superior knowledge acquired through your belief as to the duties growing out of these domestic ties should cause you to make your home pleasant, for both you and your wife are designed by the heavenly Father to share alike the good of this earthly life, and to both alike are offered the grace of eternal life. While the wife may be in nature and constitu­tion the weaker vessel, she is entitled to this respect, and, while so acting, your prayers for her conversion will meet with no hindrance.

Commentary on 1 Peter 3:7 by Burton Coffman

1 Peter 3:7 --Ye husbands, in like manner, dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor unto the woman, as unto the weaker vessel, as being also joint-heirs of the grace of life; to the end that your prayers be not hindered.

In Christianity, obligations are never a one-way street, but reciprocal by nature. If slaves have obligations, so do their masters; if children have duties toward their parents, so do parents have duties toward their children; if wives have duties to fulfill, so do their husbands. This is noticed extensively in Ephesians and Colossians where such duties are spelled out reciprocally for all of the classes here mentioned; but the principle is extended infinitely to include all obligations where human relationships are involved.

Dwell with your wives according to knowledge ... Macknight translated this, "Husbands cohabit with your wives according to knowledge,"^[10] which, in the light of the probable meaning of next to the last clause, appears to be the likely meaning of it.

As unto the weaker vessel ... Modern women resent such a view as this; but the unanimous opinion of all mankind for centuries confirms it as a fact. Plato said, "Lighter tasks are to be given to women than to men because of the weakness of their sex";^[11] and as long as golf courses have one set of rules for men and another for women, every country club on earth bears continual witness to it. In those lands where women do not enjoy the chivalrous preference and honor which Christianity has brought to them, their status is invariably one of progressive reduction and oppression. In turning away from Christianity and staking all of their hopes upon a newly won legal status, the great mass of womankind will eventually find that they have been woefully short-changed and cheated.

Giving honor unto the woman ... The honor given to women through obedience to this great Christian ethic cannot fail to be forfeited through acceptance of the current temptation of women to rely, not upon this chivalrous honor which God through his gospel has conferred upon them, but upon a projected legal status which they view as giving them something better; whereas there is nothing better than the holy reverence that Christians have for the person and personality of women, and particularly their wives. This honor has been manifested in many small things, such as offering women seats in crowded rooms, or removing hats in elevators (things which have certainly gone out of style); but they were signs of a deeper respect and reverence for women which were essential features of the Christian ethic toward women. Of course, it could be that the respect and reverence continue without their external indicators; but it may well be feared that these too have gone out of style. For the Christian, the loving appreciation and holy regard for women can never go out of style, because they are firmly grounded in the word of the apostles, as in this verse.

As being joint-heirs of the grace of life ... The meaning usually given to this clause makes "the grace of life" to be that of eternal life; and, of course, this is frequently the meaning of it throughout the New Testament; however, such a view of it here would make a pagan husband a joint-heir with his wife, of eternal life; and that cannot be true. It would seem better, then, to understand it as did Mason:

The grace of life is life in the natural sense, the mysterious and divine gift (not apart from one another, but conjointly), which they are privileged by the Creator’s primeval benediction (Genesis 1:28) to transmit. They have the power no archangel has, to bring human beings into existence.^[12]

To the end that your prayers be not hindered ... As Kelcy noted, "This is an illustration of the fact that one cannot be right with God when his relations with another human being are wrong."^[13]

^[10] James Macknight, Macknight on the Epistles, Vol. V (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, reprint, 1969), p. 473.

^[11] Plato, as quoted by Archibald M. Hunter, op. cit., p. 124.

^[12] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 415.

^[13] Raymond C. Kelcy, The Letters of Peter and Jude Austin, Texas: R. B. Sweet Company, 1972), p. 67.

Verses 8-12

1Pe 3:8-12

6. DUTIES OF CHRISTIANS TO ONE ANOTHER

1 Peter 3:8-12

8 Finally, be ye all likeminded, compassionate, loving as brethren, tenderhearted, humbleminded:--"Finally" (to telos, the end) does not, of course, indicate the end of the epistle, but the conclusion of the special addresses to the various classes. Having addressed slaves, Christian wives, and husbands, this portion of the epistle is concluded with an exhortation to Christians generally in their relations with each other. These duties are embraced in five Greek words, three of which occur nowhere else in the New Testament. "Likeminded" is unity of mind and purpose, agreement in all the major details of Christian life and activity; "compassionate." derived from the Greek sumpatheis, from which we get our word sympathy, is that attitude of mind which leads one to rejoice when others rejoice, and to weep when others weep; "loving as brethren" (literally, brother lovers) is the special feeling which brothers of a common parentage have for each other ; "tenderhearted" (literally, goodhearted) is an attitude which manifests itself in pity and affection; and "humbleminded" is the opposite of arrogance and pride. These are fundamental Christian principles and must be characteristic of all who desire to follow in the footsteps of the Master.

9 Not rendering evil for evil, or reviling for reviling; but contrariwise blessing; for hereunto were ye called, that ye should inherit a blessing.--Here Peter (as did Paul in Romans 12:17 and 1 Thessalonians 5:15) echoes the spirit of the sermon on the mount in those significant words of our Lord: "But I say unto you, Resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matthew 5:39.) "Not rendering" is, literally not giving back; and the preposition "for" as here used denotes something given in exchange. Christians are, under no circumstances, to give back evil in exchange for evil done them, or to engage in reviling though reviled themselves. This verse was designed to forbid all retaliation, whether in word or in deed.

In the phrase, "but contrariwise blessing," the word "blessing" is not a noun, but a present participle. The meaning is, "Instead of giving back evil in exchange for evil, or reviling when reviled, be continually blessing!" This, too, is in harmony with what the Lord taught in the mountain instruction when he said, "Love your enemies and pray for (bless, King James translation) them that persecute you." (Matthew 5:44.) Christianity is, itself, a blessing; and those who are Christians are called to receive the blessing which it offers and thus should ever be blessing others themselves. Our Father blesses us; we must, then, bless others; from him we receive forgiveness for our sins; therefore we must be constantly forgiving others. Retaliation for evil done us operates to deprive us of the blessing to which we, as Christians, have been called.

10 For, he that would love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:--To support his argument that Christians should refrain from all wrongdoing and evil speaking, in order to be assured of the protection, approbation and blessing of God, the apostle cites a statement from Psalms 34:12-16. The quotation extends from verse 10 through 12 and follows the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament with slight variation. "He that, would love life" is, literally, "he that willeth to love life," that is, who now loves life and wishes to continue to do so. The "good days" are days of happiness, usefully and worthily spent. To enjoy such one must "refrain" his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile. "Refrain" is translated from a term (pauo) which means to cease, and implies a natural unruliness on the part of the tongue to utter evil things. The evil to be refrained from includes all perverse speaking, and the guile is deceit and all deception. (See the word defined more particularly in the comments on 1 Peter 2:1.) In each of these verses which Peter cites from the Psalms, we have excellent examples of the parallelism in Hebrew poetry, in which the movement and rhythm are obtained by a repetition of the idea in slightly different form.

11 And let him turn away from evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and pursue it.--"Turn away" is from ekklino , to bend away from, as one inclines himself in a narrow path to let another pass. The Christian must, therefore; shun, avoid, and turn aside from all appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22) and do only that which is good. He is to "seek peace" because in a world of war and strife it is not always apparent, and, when seen, may be seized and possessed only by diligent pursuit.

12 For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears unto their supplication: but the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil.--The preposition "upon" in this passage is from the Greek word (epi). The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and the evil. His eyes are upon the righteous with approval, and his ears are tuned to their supplications, but his face is upon those who do evil with extreme displeasure. (Isaiah 59:1-2; John 9:31.) "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination." (Proverbs 28:9.)

Commentary on 1 Peter 3:8-12 by N.T. Caton

1 Peter 3:8—Finally, be ye all of one mind.

Summing up the duties enjoined upon you as Christian men and women, whether married or not, I say generally: 1. Be of one mind. Let harmony prevail. 2. Have compassion one of another. Have sympathy for those that suffer or are in any manner afflicted. 3. Love as brethren. Let unalloyed affection among you as brethren everywhere and at all times prevail. 4. Be patient. Have and extend mercy. Be tender­hearted. 5. Be courteous. In your demeanor be humble, and not arrogant or haughty. A kindly, affable greeting only is Christlike.

1 Peter 3:9—Not rendering evil for evil.

Christians may be wronged by acts or words. Acts or deeds are the evil I mention. Words are the railing here mentioned. Christians must not retaliate in kind. Upon the contrary, they must return blessing. The Christian has received nothing but spiritual blessings from God, and in turn out of a loving heart should bless others.

1 Peter 3:9—Thereunto called.

Called by whom? "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). Thus spake the Master, and he is the author and finisher of the faith. By so acting we exhibit the possessions of those dispositions which are of God, which he desires and designed we should possess, and which renders us entitled to and fit for the blessing of eternal life.

1 Peter 3:10—For he that will love life, and see good days.

I hardly think that we have the correct idea as embraced in the thought of loving life. To my mind the word "enjoy" would be better. I am induced to so think from the clause following, "And see better days." Now, I cannot see how keeping the tongue and lips from speaking evil would create or increase love for life, and as a failure so to do would destroy a desire to live, and yet I can plainly see the enjoy­ment of life would be enhanced by such a wise course. The injunction to the Christian, however, is plain. Restrain the tongue, keep a close guard upon it, that no evil comes from that source, and nothing of a like character pass the lips.

1 Peter 3:11—Let him eschew evil, and do good.

Turn away from every evil, either deed or word, no matter what the kind of character of the act or word may be, or its cause or provocation, and in place of such evil do good.

1 Peter 3:11—Let him seek peace, and ensue it.

Peace may, as it were, seem to be fleeing. It must be pursued. Peace with all mankind every Christian ought to maintain, and his efforts should be put forth to the attain­ment of that end.

1 Peter 3:12—For the eyes of the Lord are over the right­eous.

The idea here advanced is, that God cares for his children without ceasing. His regard for them is great. His ears are open unto their prayers. God hears as well as sees. He sees their sufferings and their needs, and hears their cries for his strength and mercies, and he turns not away from them. Not so with the evil—doers. His face is against them. He turns his face away from the wicked without granting them aid when their distresses are upon them.

Commentary on 1 Peter 3:8-12 by Burton Coffman

1 Peter 3:8 --Finally, be ye all likeminded, compassionate, loving as brethren, tenderhearted, humbleminded:

Not merely women are the recipients of the honor which springs from the vital Christian recognition of the sanctity of all life, because every human being is recognized as a mortal brother, created in the image of God, a beneficiary of the blood of Christ, and a potential heir of everlasting glory! This respect and reverence belong to all men, in the Christian viewpoint; but even over and beyond that there is a vital and passionate love of the brethren especially. This love is designed to knit the Christian community into a unit having "likemindedness," having for all of its members a loving, compassionate tenderheartedness, free from the selfishness and self-centeredness which are the distress of the unregenerated; that is why "humble-mindedness" is a prerequisite of all who would participate in such a society.

1 Peter 3:9 --not rendering evil for evil, or reviling for reviling; but contrariwise blessing; for hereunto were ye called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

Rendering evil for evil ... This, of course, was an accepted ethic of paganism; but it is rejected by Christians. "Recompense to no man evil for evil" (Romans 12:17). "See that none render evil for evil unto any man" (1 Thessalonians 5:15). This was not an ethic developed by the apostles, but one handed down directly from the mouth of the Lord himself, who said, "Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you" (Luke 6:27-28). Likewise, all of the apostolic teachings should be understood to have originated, not with themselves, but with the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 3:10-11 --For, He that would love life, And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips that they speak no guile: And let him turn away from evil, and do good; Let him seek peace, and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears unto their supplication: But the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil.

The apostle here quoted Psalms 34:12 ff, but with variations from both the Hebrew and Septuagint (LXX) texts; but, as Mason said, "The divergence is probably not due to a confusion of memory, but (as often) designed to bring out an additional significance."^[14] Hart considered that Peter’s use of the variation "makes it mean eternal life ... Only with this interpretation is the quotation pertinent to his exhortation."^[15] However, Kelcy said, "It seems clear that both the psalmist and the apostle use the word to refer to the present life on earth."^[16] We shall leave it to those skilled in such matters to determine which is correct; and from the point of view of this writer, it makes no difference, being true both ways! Those who would love eternal life must heed the exhortations here; and likewise those who would have a joyful life on earth must follow the same instructions.

Let him seek peace, and pursue it ... The true peacemaker is not passive but active, and must take the lead, not merely in keeping the peace himself but in the earnest inducement of others to do likewise.

The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous. This is a reference to the providence which God exercises over his people. Jesus said, "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen" (Matthew 28:20); and that has the same meaning as the clause here.

But the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil ... Not only are wicked men denied the solicitous care of God, but their unrighteousness has actually incurred the displeasure of God. The Lord is angry with the wicked every day.

^[14] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 416.

^[15] J. H. A. Hart, op. cit., p. 66.

^[16] Raymond C. Kelcy, op. cit., p. 69.

Verses 13-17

1Pe 3:13-17

7. WHEN PERSECUTED

1 Peter 3:13-17

13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be zealous of that which is good?--These words contain an inference drawn by the apostle from the teaching of the passage which he had just cited from David and the Psalms. Since the Lord watches for the righteous, and his ears are ever open to their prayers, who can harm them? The word "harm" means to do one real and permanent evil, and is emphatic. It will be observed that the apostle does not affirm that men will not seek to injure them; or, that they will not succeed in such injury; he teaches that with God’s continual watchfulness over them though men do persecute them, eventually all matters will result in their good, and no permanent and real harm will befall them. (See Matthew 10:28; Mark 10:29-30 Romans 8:28.) "Zealous" means to be full of zeal, to devote one-self earnestly to the cause espoused. These words, addressed to suffering saints, were a glorious and heart-warming assurance of ultimate triumph over the difficulties and hardships through which they were even then passing. They offer similar hope for our time.

14 But even if ye should suffer for righteousness’ sake, blessed are ye: and fear not their fear, neither be troubled; --To clarify his statement in verse 13, and to guard his readers against the erroneous conclusion that they need expect no difficulties of any nature, these words were penned. They mean, "But if it should happen that sufferings come to you because of your obedience to the Lord, regard this as a blessing, because Jesus said, "Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:10.) The word "blessed" means happy, prosperous, and denotes an inner, spiritual form of prosperity. To suffer for righteousness’ sake is to suffer on account of righteousness, i.e., because of the godly life and holy conduct characteristic of the righteous. The final clause, "and fear not their fear, neither be troubled," is quoted from Isaiah 8:12, and means, "be not influenced by the terror which your persecutors would instill in you, neither be agitated." It is an injunction to complete composure in the face of bitter and determined enemies.

15 But sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord:--This clause, with variations, is from Isaiah 8:13. To sanctify is to set apart; and to sanctify in one’s heart Christ as Lord is to regard him with that reverence and awe befitting the Lord of glory. "But" (de, adversative) suggests "nay, rather," i.e., instead of being tormented with the fear which your enemies would instill in you, be concerned only with the enthronement of Christ in your hearts as Lord. This done, you may be sure that nothing can disturb you. "Christ" (Hebrew Messiah) means the "anointed one"; "Lord" (kurios), literally a master or owner, here designates him who has authority over all things, both in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18-20), the Saviour of the world. Peter offers here direct and unequivocal testimony to the deity of the Lord Jesus, and to his relationship to the God of the universe.

Being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear:--This readiness to "give answer" (literally, to make defence, apologia), is to be constant: "being ready always . . ." It is to be given "to every man that asketh . . . a reason," not necessarily to every scoffer and captious person who lacks the sincerity of honest inquirers. Our Lord often met such inquiries with the dignity of complete silence. It is significant that the words "answer" and "reason" in the text are closely related in meaning: To every one who asks an account we are to give an account. The answer is to be given with reference to the hope entertained, i.e., with respect to the grounds on which the hope is based. This obligation implies sufficient acquaintance with the word of God to substantiate one’s hope therewith, and godliness of life consistent with its teaching. It is said that every citizen in Athens was expected to keep himself sufficiently informed in civic affairs to be able to participate intelligently in any discussion thereof. Christians should be equally well informed in the things of God and as skillful in their presentation.

The defence is to be made with "meekness and fear." When called on to justify their position, Christians are to do so with reason and logic; but not with bold defiance nor arrogance and pride; the "answer" is to be made with "meekness," i.e., an attitude free of scorn, haughtiness and bitterness; and "in fear," fear of God and the judgment.

16 Having a good conscience; that, wherein ye are spoken against, they may be put to shame who revile your good manner of life in Christ.--In addition to the attitude of "meekness and fear" enjoined in the preceding verse, he who would successfully defend his faith must have a good conscience, i.e., a firm conviction of the righteousness of his cause, and his worthiness to represent it. However skillful he may be in debate, his work must fail if his life is inconsistent with that for which he contends. Only when .the two harmonize--skillfulness of speech, and godliness of life--is the answer effective and convincing.

When the conscience is clear, the spirit meek and the heart filled with the knowledge and holy fear of God, the false accusers of the righteous will be put to shame. The word "revile" in this passage does not designate formal accusations, but wild, unfounded charges. Those who indulge in such will eventually be put to shame because they will be exposed as liars, slanderers and calumniators of those who are good.

17 For it is better, if the will of God should so will, that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing.--See a similar statement from the writer earlier in the epistle in 1 Peter 2:20. These words were penned in further confirmation of that which he had said in the preceding verses. The value of suffering for righteousness’ sake is often emphasized in the epistle. To endure patiently and uncomplainingly silences false accusers (verse 16); it is in imitation of Christ’s own example (verse 18); and is "better" because there is the possibility that such is the "will of God" (verse 17). The words, "if the will of God should so will," are in a construction signifying, not a probability, but merely a possibility: "If it should happen to be the will of God . . ."

Commentary on 1 Peter 3:13-17 by N.T. Caton

1 Peter 3:13—And who is he that will harm you?

There can be little fear of harm from any one, if you do good to those who do you evil. You, being a follower of good, it must in reason be observed, and, if so, no result of evil should befall you. But, whether or not, you are right, and God is with you, approving the right, and there­fore no real harm can come upon you.

Here I desire to present some thoughts that may be of benefit in grasping in full the thoughts contained in verse 10, 11, 12, and 13. Logic is more or less in my line of thought and inquiry. The reason of things, as far as I deem proper, that is within my field of legitimate vision, I endeavor to discover. Now, as to these verses. The apostle, in my judgment, is presenting arguments designed to induce men to practice a virtuous course of life, at least so ,far as they come in contact with their fellowmen:

1. Happiness in this life may be attained by a strict com­pliance with the instructions in verses 10 and 11 contained. This is a strong argument in favor of pursuing the course therein indicated.

2. God’s favor and protection are assured to one who pursues such a course. (See verse 12.) To name this as an argument of power is all that need be done.

3. Men must be hardened in iniquity indeed who are not softened, if not overcome, by such a course. (See verse 13.)

The potency of this argument is easily apprehended. Taken all together, the reasoning is strong for pursuing the course of conduct commended by the apostle.

1 Peter 3:14—But if you suffer for righteousness’ sake.

Notwithstanding all your efforts, afflictions may come upon you because of your faith. In that event esteem yourselves happy, for great is your reward. Therefore, be not afraid; have no fear on account of the threatenings of your persecutors, neither be troubled at their rage.

1 Peter 3:15—But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.

You sanctify God when you fear him more than men. You show by your obedience to him that you love him, and rely upon and trust him, and thus you sanctify him in your hearts. You sanctify him when you honor and rev­erence him. The Vulgate has "Lord Christ" in this verse instead of "Lord God" and the Syriac has "Lord the Messiah." I can not see that this effects the sense in any way.

1 Peter 3:15—In answer to any man that asketh.

The apostle enjoins it as a duty incumbent upon every Christian to give an answer to every man who asks for the reason we have of the hope of eternal life, and says we must give this with meekness and fear.

A wide field is here opened. My purpose in writing permits me not to enter. On trial before my tribunal we can answer confessing Christ.

In persecution for righteousness’ sake, the confession must not be withheld. To this I incline to think the apos­tle referred when we consider the circumstances and sur­roundings of those by the letter addressed. He simply meant to tell them there should be no hesitancy in acknowl­edging Christ under whatever trying circumstances they might be placed.

1 Peter 3:16—Having a good conscience.

By doing what a good conscience approves, we have a good conscience. This good conscience God approves. To keep or hold fast such a conscience is accomplished by never denying the faith and by being always careful to do what God requires at our hands. While in this condition we possess a tower of strength when assailed by persecution.

1 Peter 3:16—Accuse your good conversation in Christ.

When your. Christian course and conduct are falsely called evil, the purity of your life, the strict conformity thereof to the Christ model is an all-sufficient answer, and fully enough to shame all your accusers.

1 Peter 3:17—For it is better, if the will of God be so.

If we suffer for doing right, it is better than if we suffer for doing wrong. In the last case we suffer justly. In the other it may result in our good, for God may will to chasten his children. It may not be acceptable to some, and the rea­son may not be apparent because God has not revealed the reason for it, yet the man of faith accepts as a fact unques­tioningly that God permits the wicked to do evil to the believers. "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12).

Commentary on 1 Peter 3:13-17 by Burton Coffman

1 Peter 3:13 --And who is he that will harm you, if ye be zealous for that which is good?

Peter begins in this paragraph to speak guardedly about the terrible persecution coming upon them. He did not mean by this question that Christians were not in any danger of bodily harm from their enemies; what it meant was that no matter what might happen to their bodies, nothing, really, could happen to them. Peter was in complete harmony with the Lord in such a viewpoint. "It means that men and devils may do their worst, as they did to Jesus, and cannot harm us."^[17] Our Lord himself said:

But ye shall be delivered up even by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake. And not a hair of your head shall perish. In your patience ye shall win your souls (Luke 21:16-19).

We must believe, therefore, that it was this safety through persecution that Peter had in mind here. There is a quotation from G. A. Studdent-Kennedy regarding one who was asked if prayer would render a man invulnerable to shot and shell, and who replied that "Fellowship with God through prayer would make a man sure that though his body was shattered, his soul would be untouched."^[18]

^[17] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 417.

^[18] Archibald M. Hunter, op. cit., p. 128.

1 Peter 3:14 --But even if ye should suffer for righteousness’ sake, blessed are ye: and fear not their fear, neither be troubled;

Even if ye should suffer ... What does this mean? "It means the horrors of capital punishment."^[19] The undeniable meaning of "Christ also suffered for sins once" (1 Peter 3:18) confirms this understanding of "suffer" here.

Fear not their fear ... Christians must not fear the things that men generally fear. The terror that men can bring to those having their own value-judgments is indeed awesome; but the child of God lives by a different set of values.

Neither be troubled ... Like in so many other places in this great epistle, there is a suggestion here of the words of Jesus, who said, "Let not your heart be troubled" (John 14:1).

ENDNOTE:

^[19] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 417.

1 Peter 3:15 --but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord: being ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear:

The prophecy of Isaiah has this: "Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread" (Isaiah 8:13). It is clear that Peter’s thought in this and the preceding verses is clearly connected with the words of Isaiah, but there is a notable difference:

Peter here substituted the Saviour’s name where the prophet wrote "the Lord of hosts, Jehovah Sabaoth" - a change which would be nothing less than impious if the Lord Jesus Christ were not truly God.^[20]

Sanctify ... Christ as Lord... What is meant by sanctifying the Lord? Mason tells us that linguistically it is closely akin to "hallowing" the name of the Father in heaven, as in the Lord’s prayer (the only other place in the New Testament where this expression occurs), defining "to sanctify" as "to recognize, in word and deed, his full holiness, and therefore to treat him with due awe."^[21]

Ready always to give an answer ... Mason regarded this admonition as having special reference to the occasion of a Christian’s "being called into a law court to give an account."^[22] There is no reason, however, to limit the meaning in such a way. All Christians, at all times, should have the full grasp of the rational basis for espousing the holy religion they have accepted, as well as possessing a thorough knowledge of the great doctrines of the New Testament; for there will be countless occasions in every life when such knowledge and understanding can be made a vehicle for enlisting others in the holy faith.

Concerning the hope ... The primacy of hope in the motivation of Christians shines in this, there being a glorious sense in which "We are saved by hope" (Romans 8:24). The meaning here is exactly the same as "concerning the faith," both expressions referring to "the Christian religion."

Yet with meekness and fear ... Why this? There are many reasons: (1) Christians should manifest meekness at all times. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5); but in addition to this, there is no situation in life that demands such an attitude any more than that which appears on an occasion of religious questioning and response. (2) A lack of meekness can prejudice judges, if one is in a court of law. (3) A lack of it can antagonize earnest questioners whose seeking after the truth can be easily frustrated by an arrogant, overbearing, or discourteous attitude. And why fear? (1) In all situations where a Christian is attempting to answer the questions of others, or to restore one who has fallen into sin, there is danger to the Christian himself. As Paul put it, "Restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, looking to thyself, lest thou also be tempted" (Galatians 6:1). (2) There should be fear that the answers might not be given in the right spirit, or that they might not be correct. The failure of many really to know the truth about their own religious views is widespread; and every teacher should concern himself to know the right answers, to avoid becoming himself a teacher of falsehood. Fear is a proper motive for all who presume to teach the word of the Lord.

^[20] B. C. Caffin, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 22,1Peter (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 131.

^[21] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 418.

^[22] Ibid.

1 Peter 3:16 --having a good conscience; that, wherein ye are spoken against, they may be put to shame who revile your good manner of life in Christ.

Having a good conscience ... This key admonition recurs again and again in this epistle: "zealous for good works ... for righteousness’ sake ... sanctify the Lord ... with meekness and fear, etc.," all of these in this very paragraph.

Wherein ye are spoken against ... They were spoken against because of the manner of their lives; but they are told to make their lives so beautiful that they will shame the evil critics.

In Christ ... This is one of the great phrases of the New Testament, being used 164-172 times (depending on the version) in the writings of Paul alone; but although Paul laid the greatest stress on it, the conception of being "in Christ" is not Pauline, going back to our Lord himself who said, "Ye are in me and I in you" (John 14:20). Also, "I am the vine and ye are the branches; he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit" (John 15:5). What is meant by being "in Christ"? The clue ... is in the Hebrew conception of corporate personality."^[23] The church is Christ, and is called Christ’s spiritual body. See the extensive comment on this in my Commentary on Romans, pp. 118-154, especially under "Jesus Christ, Inc.," p. 123. "To be in Christ therefore is to be a member of the redeemed society, the church, of which Christ is head ... the Bible knows nothing of solitary religion."^[24]

^[23] Archibald M. Hunter, op. cit., p. 130.

^[24] Ibid.

1 Peter 3:17 --For it is better, if the will of God should so will, that ye should suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing.

In this verse, Peter seems to accept the certainty of Christian suffering; for suffering is a basic component of life on earth. "If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him" (Romans 8:17). However, there is a more specific suffering in view here. "Suffer," as in 1 Peter 3:14 1 Peter 3:18, here means "suffering death." As Mason saw it: "Peter was thinking of the legal process of 1 Peter 3:15-16, coming to a verdict of guilty. He was himself daily expecting such a death."^[25]

ENDNOTE:

^[25] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 419.

Verses 18-20

1Pe 3:18-20

AN ADDITIONAL NOTE ON 1 PETER

1 Peter 3:18-20

Many matters mentioned and otherwise alluded to in this re-markable passage have long been a source of much controversy and disagreement among scholars. Many distinguished commentators have advocated the view that Christ in his own person (and not through the agency of Noah) during the three days’ interval be-tween his death and resurrection and while he was in the spirit realm (Hades), actually and literally preached to the disembodied spirits who lived while the ark was being constructed but who were dead and incarcerated in the prison house of Hades at the time the preaching occurred.

Objections to this view are, in the opinion of this writer, nu-merous and insuperable: (1) Those subscribing to this view are unable to explain why the preaching was limited to the spirits of those who lived just prior to the flood. Since God is no respecter of persons, why were these spirits afforded opportunities not vouchsafed to others? (2) What was the nature of the message proclaimed to spirits who died in disobedience? (a) If the offer was one of salvation, what of the many passages in the scriptures which clearly teach that at death one’s destiny is sealed; that the judgment will be based on the manner of life here; and that be-tween the abode of the righteous and the wicked an impassible gulf stretches? (b) If the offer was not of salvation, why was the preaching done? To inform the faithful that redemption through his death had been accomplished? The preaching was not to the faithful, but to those who died in disobedience.

The simple and obvious import of the words of the text is that of the explanation offered in the comments thereon. (1) A rea-sonable interpretation of the passage leads to this conclusion. (2) The conclusion harmonizes with the general teaching of the scrip-tures regarding the state of the dead. (3) The interpretation is in keeping with the earlier teaching of the epistle in which it is declared that the Holy Spirit preached through the prophets. (1 Peter 1:11.) (4) Noah was "a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5), and was directed by the Spirit in his preaching (Genesis 6:3.) What impropriety is there then in asserting that in such preaching he was the agent or instrument of Christ?

It is alleged that since it is said that Christ went and preached he must therefore have actually and literally gone in his own per-son. The objection is invalid because no special significance is to be attached to the repetition of the idea involved. It is a simple pleonism for "he preached" of which many examples may be pro-duced. It is, for example, said of Christ that "he came and preached peace to you that were afar off (Gentiles), and to them that were nigh" (Jews). (Ephesians 2:17.) Certainly our Lord never, at any time following his resurrection, preached to the Gentiles in his own person. Such preaching as is here alluded to was done through the apostles, principally by Paul. If Christ could preach to the Gentiles through Paul, why not to the people before the flood through Noah? As a matter of historic fact such he did, and such these passages affirm, Paul and Noah being the agents or instruments through which the preaching was accomplished.

The interpretation set forth in the comments on the passage avoids the difficulties in the way of the view considered above, and accords with the simple and obvious import of the words used. Rightly interpreted this passage yields no support to the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory. This dogma, whether advocated by so-called Protestant scholars or Catholic theologians, is utterly and palpably false.

"THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER"

Chapter Three

OBJECTIVES IN STUDYING THIS CHAPTER

1) To examine the duties of wives and husbands to each other

2) To consider the duties that we have to one another as brethren in

Christ

3) To see how one should prepare for persecution, motivated by the

example of Christ

4) To note how and in what way baptism now saves us

SUMMARY

Peter continues to describe the duties of Christians living as sojourners and pilgrims in this world. He counsels wives to be submissive to their husbands and to focus their adornment on the development of a meek and quiet spirit, like the holy women in the past who trusted in God (such as Sarah). For those whose husbands are not believers, their chaste and respectful conduct may influence them to respond to the gospel. Husbands are then instructed to live with their wives in an understanding way, honoring them as the weaker vessel and as fellow heirs of the grace of life. Such treatment would ensure that their prayers were not hindered (1 Peter 3:1-7).

Duties toward brethren are then summarized, stressing unity, compassion, love, kindness, and simple courtesy. When mistreated by brethren, the proper response is to extend a blessing, for to such conduct we were called, that we might inherit a blessing. As motivation for such conduct, Peter quotes Psalms 34:12-16 which offers advice to loving life and seeing good days. The key is to turn from evil and do good, to seek peace and pursue it. Those who do so have the assurance that the Lord watches over them and hears their prayers (1 Peter 3:8-12).

Peter then turns to the theme of suffering for righteousness’ sake. In most circumstances, no one will harm you for doing good. If one suffers for doing good, they are blessed (cf. 1 Peter 2:19-20; 1 Peter 4:14). To prepare for persecution, one should sanctify the Lord God in their heart and be ready to meekly provide the reason for their hope. With clear conscience and good conduct, those who defame and revile them will likely be ashamed. If it is God’s will that they suffer, let it be for doing good and not evil (1 Peter 3:13-17).

To appreciate how suffering for righteousness’ sake can be for good,

Peter relates how Jesus suffered for our sins. Though put to death in the flesh, Jesus was made alive by the Spirit (cf. Romans 1:4), in which He preached to spirits in prison who were disobedient in the days of Noah, and ultimately exalted at the right hand of God with angels, authorities and powers made subject to Him. Alluding to the example of Noah’s salvation, Peter says baptism now saves us as an appeal for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:18-22).

OUTLINE

I. OUR DUTIES AS WIVES AND HUSBANDS (1 Peter 3:1-7)

A. THE DUTIES OF WIVES (1 Peter 3:1-6)

1. Be submissive to your husbands

a. That you might win those who are not believers

b. As they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear

2. Adorn yourselves properly

a. Not merely outward - arranging the hair, wearing gold,

putting on of fine apparel

b. With the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit,

precious in God’s sight

c. As holy women in the past who trusted God

1) Adorned themselves

2) Submitted to their husbands

d. As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord

1) Whose daughters you are

2) If you do good, not afraid with any terror

B. THE DUTIES OF HUSBANDS (1 Peter 3:7)

1. Dwell with your wives with understanding

2. Give honor to your wives

a. As to the weaker vessel

b. As being heirs together of the grace of life

c. So your prayers may not be hindered

II. OUR DUTIES AS BRETHREN (1 Peter 3:8-12)

A. OUR DUTIES TO EACH OTHER (1 Peter 3:8-9)

1. Be of one mind

2. Have compassion for one another

3. Love one another as brethren

4. Tenderhearted, courteous

5. Not returning evil for evil, or reviling for reviling

a. On the contrary, respond with a blessing

b. Knowing that you were called to this, that you might inherit

a blessing

B. MOTIVATION TO FULFILL SUCH DUTIES (1 Peter 3:10-12)

1. If you would love life and see good days

a. Refrain your tongue from evil and lips from speaking deceit

b. Turn from evil and do good

c. Seek peace and pursue it

2. If you would desire the Lord’s favor

a. For His eyes are on the righteous

b. For His ears are open to their prayers

c. But His face is against those who do evil

III. OUR DUTIES AS SUFFERERS FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS’ SAKE (1 Peter 3:13-22)

A. THINGS TO REMEMBER (1 Peter 3:13-17)

1. Who will harm you if you do what is good?

a. Even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are

blessed

b. So don’t be afraid of threats, nor be troubled

2. Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts

3. Always be ready to give a defense

a. To everyone who asks

b. For a reason for the hope that is in your

c. With meekness and fear

4. Maintain a good conscience

a. That when others may defame you as evildoers

b. Those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed

5. It is better, if it is the will of God...

a. To suffer for doing good

b. Than to suffer for doing evil

B. REASONS TO REMEMBER (1 Peter 3:18-22)

1. Christ also suffered once for sins

a. The just for the unjust

b. That He might bring us to God

2. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit

a. By whom He went and preached to the spirits in prison who

were formerly disobedient

1) During the longsuffering of God

2) In the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared

a) In which eight souls were saved through water

b) Which was a type of baptism which now saves us

1] Not the removal of the filth of the flesh

2] But the answer of a good conscience toward God

3] Through the resurrection of Christ

b. Who has gone in to heaven

1) And is at the right hand of God

2) Where angels, authorities, and powers have been made

subject to Him

REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE CHAPTER

1) What are the main points of this chapter?

- Our duties as wives and husbands (1 Peter 3:1-7)

- Our duties as brethren (1 Peter 3:8-12)

- Our duties as sufferers for righteousness’ sake (1 Peter 3:13-22)

2) What are wives told to be in regards to their husbands? Why? (1 Peter 3:1)

- Submissive; to convert those husbands who are not yet Christians

3) What does Peter hope the unbelieving husbands will observe in their

wives? (1 Peter 3:2)

- Their chaste conduct accompanied by fear

4) What should not be the focus of their adornment? (1 Peter 3:3)

- That which is outward: arranging the hair, wearing gold, their

apparel

5) What should be the focus of their adornment (1 Peter 3:4)

- The hidden person of the heart: the incorruptible beauty of a

gentle and quiet spirit

6) What other women so adorned themselves and were submissive to their

husbands? (1 Peter 3:5-6)

- Holy women of God in the past who trusted in God; specifically,

Sarah

7) How are husbands to treat their wives? (1 Peter 3:7)

- With understanding and honor

- As to the weaker vessel

- As heirs together of the grace of life

8) Why should husbands treat their wives so kindly? (1 Peter 3:7)

- That their prayers not be hindered

9) What duties do we as brethren have to one another? (1 Peter 3:8)

- To be of one mind

- To have compassion for one another and love as brethren

- To be tenderhearted, courteous

10) How are we to respond when mistreated by brethren? Why? (1 Peter 3:9)

- With blessing; we were called to so respond, that we may inherit a

blessing

11) What proscription is offered for those who would love life and see

good days? (1 Peter 3:10-11)

- Refrain the tongue from evil, the lips from speaking deceit

- Turn away from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it

12) What is said of the righteous? Of those who do evil? (1 Peter 3:12)

- The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open

to their prayers

- The face of the Lord is against those who do evil

13) What is the general principle regarding persecution? (1 Peter 3:13)

- If you do good, you will not be harmed

14) What is said of those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake?

(1 Peter 3:14)

- They are blessed

15) How should one prepare themselves for possible persecution? (1 Peter 3:15-16)

- Sanctify the Lord God in your heart

- Be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for

your hope

- Have a good conscience

16) If we maintain good conduct, what will happen to those who defame

and revile us? (1 Peter 3:16)

- They will be ashamed

17) If we suffer according to God’s will, what is better? (1 Peter 3:17)

- To suffer for doing good than for doing evil

18) Who also suffered for righteousness’ sake? For what reason? (1 Peter 3:18)

- Christ, the just for the unjust

- For sins, that He might bring us to God

19) Though put to death in the flesh, what was He able to do by the

Spirit? (1 Peter 3:18-19)

- Preach to the spirits in prison

20) When were such "spirits" disobedient? (1 Peter 3:20)

- In the days of Noah, during the longsuffering of God

- While the ark was preparing

21) Of what is the salvation of eight souls through water a "type"? (1 Peter 3:21)

- Baptism which now saves us

22) How does baptism not save us? How does it save us? (1 Peter 3:21)

- Not by the removal of the filth of the flesh

- As the answer (or plea) of a good conscience toward God, through

the resurrection of Jesus

23) What was the final outcome of Jesus who suffered for righteousness’

sake? (1 Peter 3:22)

- He has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God

- Angels, authorities, and powers have been made subject to Him

THE CHRISTIAN’S RESPONSIBILITY TO OTHERS

1 Peter 3:1-22.

1. To whom must wives be in subjection? Ans. 1 Peter 3:1.

2. Why should they be in •subjection to them? Ans. 1 Peter 3:1-2.

3. When is a wife justified in disobeying her husband? Ans. Acts 4:19; Acts 5:29.

4. What kind of adornments are of no value in winning unbelieving husbands to Christ? Ans. 1 Peter 3:3.

5. What kind of adornments are of great price in the sight of God? Ans. 1 Peter 3:4.

6. How did the holy women of old time adorn themselves? Ans. 1 Peter 3:5.

7. How did Sarah show respect and submission to Abraham? Ans. 1 Peter 3:6.

8. Name some duties and responsibilities of husbands to their wives. Ans. 1 Peter 3:7.

9. How can a husband’s conduct toward his wife affect his prayers? Ans. 1 Peter 3:7.

10. Name some duties and responsibilities of all Christians. Ans. 1 Peter 3:8.

11. What course should Christians pursue when reviled and persecuted? Ans. 1 Peter 3:9.

12. What must all do who would love life and see good days? Ans. 1 Peter 3:10-11.

13. The eyes and ears of the Lord are open to whom? Ans. 1 Peter 3:12.

14. His face is against whom? Ans. 1 Peter 3:12.

15. Why should the .people of God be willing, when necessary, to suffer for righteousness sake? Ans. 1 Peter 3:13-14.

16. What should Christians be ready always to do? Ans. 1 Peter 3:16.

17. How can false accusers be made ashamed? Ans. 1 Peter 3:16.

18. Name two things that may cause one to suffer, and tell which is the better cause according to God’s will. Ans. 1 Peter 3:17.

19. For whom did Christ suffer and to what extent? Ans. 1 Peter 3:18.

20. Christ went in Spirit and preached to whom? Ans. 1 Peter 3:19.

21. When was this preaching done? Ans. 1 Peter 3:20.

22. Tell how eight souls were saved from the corruption of the antedeluvian world. Ans. 1 Peter 3:20.

23. What "doth also now save us"? Ans. 1 Peter 3:21.

24. Baptism is not what? Ans. 1 Peter 3:21.

25. Describe the position of honor and glory now occupied by Christ. Ans. 1 Peter 3:22.

Questions by E.M. Zerr On 1st Peter 3

1. State the subjection required of wives.

2. Does this include worldly husbands?

3. What good might be accomplished by such conduct?

4. What should husbands be permitted to behold?

5. Should the wives adorn themselves?

6. What adornment should not be used?

7. What part of her being should be adorned?

8. Of what should the ornament consist?

9. In whose sight is this valuable?

10. State the examples the writer cites.

11. Why would Sarah call her husband lord?

12. Who may be descendents of Sarah?

13. Why would the term lord not be required today?

14. State the instructions to husbands.

15. In what sense is she the weaker nssel?

16. On what ground are they equal?

17. What might hinder their prayers?

18. State proper personal treatment between brethren.

19. Return what for railing?

20. This will cause us to inherit what?

21. State the way to life and good days.

22. Explain how to eschew evil.

23. Whose prayers will the Lord hear?

24. What sufferings should make us happy?

25. Be not afraid of what?

26. How can we sanctify the Lord in our heart?

27. What must we be ready to answer?

28. When must we be ready to give this?

29. How can we make this readiness?

30. In what mind should we make our answer?

31. What conscience will above give us?

32. How may the adversary be made ashamed?

33. For what deeds is it better to suffer?

34. In which would we imitate Christ?

35. Who are the unjust in verse 18?

36. For what purpose did he thus suffer?

37. In what sense was he put to death?

38. By what was he made alive?

39. How many Holy Spirits?

40. Did this Spirit ever serve Jesus before?

41. In whose days was the preachiug done?

42. Why connect Christ with him?

43. Explain this "prison" in light of Isa. 42: 7; 61: 1.

44. At what time were these spirits in prison?

45. How long did God wait?

46. What was Noah doing besides building the ark?

47. By what power did he do this preaching?

48. By whose direction did it go to Noah?

49. By what were the eight souls saved?

50. Of what is this water a figure?

51. From what does it save us?

52. Is good conscience necessary to salvation?

53. What great fact makes this salvation possible?

54. State where Jesus was at time of this writing

Verses 18-22

1Pe 3:18-22; 1Pe 4:1-6

8. CHRIST AN EXAMPLE OF SUFFERING

1 Peter 3:18-22 and 1 Peter 4:1-6

18 Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God;--One cannot escape the conclusion that the apostles of our Lord were Christ-intoxicated men! It is highly significant that they did not write on any theme associated with redemption without being immediately reminded of, and alluding to, their matchless leader and guide. Peter’s reference to suffering wrongfully for righteousness’ sake brought immediately to his mind the one who, above all others, suffered in this manner and he is offered, as in 1 Peter 2:21-25, as a pattern for other innocent sufferers. Here, as there, the apostle appeared to be unwilling to quit the subject with Christ presented as no more than an example of suffering; and he therefore proceeds to present the higher aspects of the Lord’s suffering and death in relation to the redemption and salvation of man. To this end, the writer sets forth the reason why it is blessed to suffer for righteousness’ sake. Christ suffered in this manner; Christ is our example; hence, he who suffers as the Lord did, more nearly identifies himself with Christ.

Each word in this text is vitally significant. Christ "suffered"; he suffered "for"(peri,concerning) our sins; he suffered concerning our sins once for all (apax), it not being necessary to make continual offerings as under the old order; and the design of his offering was "that he might bring us to God." Through his suffering we now have access to God (Romans 5:2), and are privileged to come boldly to the throne of grace (Hebrews 10:19) though once afar off (Ephesians 2:17), we have been brought near by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13). It is significant that there is no article before the words "righteous" and "unrighteous" in the original text. The meaning is, A righteous person suffered for (huger, on behalf of) unrighteous persons, a fact without which the blood of Jesus would have been no more efficacious than that of any other man.

Being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit;--Tw.o things are affirmed of the Lord in this statement (1) he was put to death in flesh (there is no article before either "flesh" or "spirit" in this affirmation); (2) he was made alive in spirit. "In flesh" (sarki) and "in spirit" (Pneumati) are locatives, indicative of the sphere in which the action occurred. "Put to death" and "made alive" are aorist passive participles, thus pointing to a definite occasion when these events happened. The meaning is, the sphere of death, for our Lord, was in the flesh ; the sphere in which he was made alive (quickened, A.V.) was in the spirit. Death affected only his flesh; for from dying in spirit, here he was quickened, made alive. In what spirit? "In flesh" and "in spirit" are exactly balanced in the text; it is not likely that one is locative and the other instrumental; each is to be regarded as measuring the extent of the participles to which they are attached. "Flesh" and "spirit" are often opposed to each other in the sacred writings: "Manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit" (1 Timothy 3:16); judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." The "spirit" alluded to in this verse is, therefore, that inner principle which stands in contrast with the flesh--the divine spirit which Jesus possessed in common with all men, and which was not affected by the death which he suffered. Why should it be asserted that in this spirit he was made alive? It should be remembered that it was Peter’s purpose to show that though Christ suffered death this, far from terminating his existence or destroying his influence, merely enabled him to be energized, brought to active life in the realm of the spirit. His spirit, instead of perishing in death, was clothed with renewed and enhanced powers of life. At death, this spirit passed into a new sphere of existence, hence was said to have been made alive.

19 In which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison,--"In which" (en hoi), i.e., in which spirit--the spirit referred to in the preceding verse--the inner principle of life not’ subject to death. In this spirit he preached. "Preached" (eke-ruxen, aorist indicative of kerusso, to herald abroad, to proclaim), is a general term denoting a public proclamation or announcement. What was preached is not stated. This preaching was done to "spirits in prison." They are called "spirits" because they were in a disembodied state when Peter wrote; and they were "in prison" i.e., under restraint as wicked beings. "In prison" is of frequent usage to denote the state or condition of those spirits which because of disobedience await condemnation at the last day. (2 Peter 2:4; Judges 1:6; Revelation 20:7.) It should be noted that Peter does not declare that these who were the objects of this preaching were in a disembodied state and in prison when the preaching was done; such was their condition when he wrote. The period in which such lived in the flesh, and the time when this preaching was done is clearly stated in the verse which follows.

That aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing,--These "spirits" were once in the flesh; they were once upon a time (Note) disobedient; the period of their disobedience was "while the ark was a preparing"; and during this period Christ preached to them. What one does through an authorized agent, he is said to do himself (1 John 4:1), hence Christ, in the person of Noah, preached to the antediluvians during the period in which the ark was being constructed and these, having rejected this preaching, died in disobedience, and were under restraint in the spirit realm when Peter wrote. The meaning of the passage, simply and briefly put, is this: Christ preached; he preached "in spirit" to "spirits in prison." These spirits in prison were wicked persons who lived while the ark was "a preparing." The preaching which Christ did was through Noah. Those to whom the preaching was done were bound in the prison house of disobedient spirits at the time the letter Peter wrote was penned. (See additional note on these verses at the end of the chapter.)

Demonstrated in the events associated with the ark and the flood was the "longsuffering of God." One hundred and twenty years were especially designated as the probationary period afforded man. (Genesis 6:3.) During this period there most have been many opportunities afforded the antediluvian world to turn in penitence to the Lord. These were, for the most part, rejected.

Wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water:--"Wherein" is, literally, "into which" (pis hen), i.e., into the ark in order to be saved the eight souls went, being saved in it through (dia, by) means of the water. They were saved in the ark, and by the water; the ark protected them from the flood, and the water bore up the ark, the means of their salvation from the old world. The eight souls saved were Noah and his wife, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and their wives. (Genesis 7:13.) Noah was a preacher of righteousness. (2 Peter 2:5.)Though he continued his preaching through the period in which the ark was being constructed, only those of his family were finally induced to avail themselves of the protection it afforded. The vast world of unbelievers about him perished. Those saved in the ark were "saved through water."

21 Which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism,--The antecedent of "which" is the "water" alluded to in verse 20, not, however, the water of the flood, but water generally, and in this clause identified as the water of baptism. The apostle thus affirms that water, utilized in baptism, "after a true likeness," of that characteristic of the deliverance of Noah and his family from the old world, now saves. "After a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism" is, literally, in the Greek text, "which antetype is now saving you, even baptism." The salvation of Noah and those with him is thus made a type of the deliverance which the sinner receives in passing through the waters of baptism. The "likeness" obtains in the following manner: (1) the waters of the flood bore up the ark and delivered its occupants from the destruction of the antediluvian world; (2) these waters separated those who were saved from those who drowned in them; (3) the flood destroyed the evils of the old world and enabled Noah and his family to emerge into a new existence. In like fashion, (1) baptism is the final condition in a plan through obedience to which one is enabled to escape the condemnation of the lost. (Mark 15:15-16.) (2) Baptism designates the line of demarcation between the saved and the lost. (3) In baptism the "old man of sin" is buried, and from its watery grave one comes forth to "walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:4.)

It should be noted: (1) The baptism which is here declared to save is water baptism--baptism being the antetype of the water of deliverance in the flood. "Which also . . ." is a reference to water, ordinary water, the same kind of water in the flood. The baptism which saves is, therefore, water baptism. (2) The salvation contemplated is not deliverance from persecution, affliction, sickness, or death; all of these embraced in Peter’s statement suffered such. Neither is the salvation future baptism is said to save now. Inasmuch as the salvation promised is not deliverance from earthly suffering or trial, and is declared to be "now," the conclusion is inescapable that the deliverance promised is salvation from past, or alien, sins; and the statement is thus in exact harmony with one earlier made by the same apostle when, in response to the query, "Brethren, what shall we do?" answered, "Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:37-38.)

The mention of water in Connection with Noah’s deliverance from the old world immediately suggested to Peter a resemblance which exists in the water of our salvation, "even baptism." It should be noted that Peter does not affirm that Noah and his family were saved by water, nor in water, nor from water; they were saved through water, i.e., the water was the means through which God exercised his saving power. Following "a true likeness" baptism "saves now, not of course as a Saviour, but as an instrument through which God exerts saving power. When Naaman was led finally to dip in the river Jordan to be cleansed of his leprosy, he did not attribute miraculous efficacy to its muddy waters; this power resided only in God. Yet it was not until he dipped that he was cleansed. (2 Kings 5:14.) Similarly, when one is properly and intelligently baptized today, he does not understand that the power of forgiveness resides in the water, but in God; and that the baptism is a condition precedent to receiving salvation from God’s hand.

Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ; --To guard against any misunderstanding that should arise as a result of a misinterpretation of the first clause of this verse, Peter explains that baptism does not put away "the filth of the flesh." "Filth" (rupos) refers to that which is dirty, physically defiled. Baptism does not wash sin from the skin, and is not to be confused with a bath for the body or a ceremonial cleansing of the flesh. It is a condition precedent to the forgiveness which God alone exercises. (Mark 16:15-16; Romans 6:3-4.)

Having explained what baptism is not, Peter tells what it is: "the interrogation of a good conscience toward God." An "inter-rogation" is a question, an inquiry; baptism thus becomes an act through which an individual seeks to manifest a good conscience. One submitting sincerely to baptism follows the promptings of a good conscience; indicates thereby that his conscience is sensitive, and that he is desirous of doing exactly what the Lord has com-manded. That the conscience is here declared to be good prior to baptism is no objection to the conclusion that baptism is essential to salvation. Saul of Tarsus possessed a good conscience while in unbelief and a persecutor of the church. (Acts 23:1.)

Baptism derives its benefits "through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" which it symbolizes. Baptism "loth now save" only be-cause Jesus was raised from the dead.

22 Who is on the right hand of God, having gone into heaven; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.--Jesus is often said to be at the right hand of God. (Psalms 110:1; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Hebrews 1:3.) It is a posi-tion of eminence, honor, dignity, and power to which he was ele-vated following his ascension. In the announcement of the great commission (Matthew 28:18-20), Jesus declared that all authority had been delivered into his hands; and here, the lesser authorities of the universe are said to be under subjection to him. For a similar declaration of Christ’s authority, see. Ephesians 1:19-23. "Angels and authorities and powers" embrace the hierarchy of heaven. (Colossians 2:10-15.) The words include not only the good angels, but also the bad; and "authorities and powers" are comprehensive terms designed to embrace all of every class of beings under God.

Commentary on 1 Peter 3:18-22 by N.T. Caton

1 Peter 3:18—For Christ also hath once suffered for sins.

Our great example (Christ) suffered. Once, however, and no more. It is, therefore, no proof that our cause is bad because we suffer. He suffered on the cross for sins not his own. He was just, and he suffered for the unjust. The object of his suffering was that he might thereby bring us to God.

1 Peter 3:18—Put to death in the flesh.

Nails were driven through his hands and feet. His side was pierced. All these wounds were inflicted on his flesh—his body suspended. He was upon the cross, the Roman method of capital punishment, and there his earth-life was terminated.

1 Peter 3:18—But quickened by the Spirit.

That is, made alive by the Spirit. The idea that Christ did not die, that some entertain, I regard as infidelity; bold, bald infidelity, and nothing else. The idea I here and now unhesitatingly repudiate. Let the Word of the living God speak. Paul to the Corinthians asserts clearly and plainly as a part of the gospel that he there preached the fact of his death. "How that Christ died" (1 Corinthians 15:3). This I believe, and here I stand and leave all consequences in the hands of a merciful and loving Father. That Christ had life in himself I do not question. That he had power to lay down his life and power to take it again he affirms, and I believe I see no difficulties here to the humble believer. The veiled things are not for our mental vision. In God’s own good time they may be made plain. It is enough for me to know that he was made alive by the Spirit, and that he arose from the dead. This much God desires me to know, for he revealed just this much, and with it I am content.

1 Peter 3:19—By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.

By which?

By the Spirit. The grammatical construction of the sentence requires this answer. The sense of the passage also demands it. He went.

Who went?

Christ, of course.

How did he go?

By the Spirit; same Spirit by which he was quickened, and by this Spirit Christ preached unto the spirits in prison. It is manifestly certain that at some time these spirits heard preaching.

When did they hear it? is the question.

Was it during the time which intervened between the death of Christ and his resurrection, or was it before? By whom was the preaching done? Was it by Christ in person, or by his Spirit in another?

Before proceeding further in the investigation, it becomes necessary, to a clear understanding of the matter, to inquire something more about these spirits in prison. No doubt they were in prison at the time Peter wrote this Epistle, but were they in prison at the time of the preaching mentioned? Who were they, anyhow? Peter leaves us in no doubt on this question, for he fully enlightens us in a subsequent verse. They were the people who lived before the flood. They were the ante­diluvians. We can now safely proceed. Did Christ preach to these? It is an admitted axiom that what one does by another, he is recognized as doing by himself. Can this axiom be applied to the preaching of Christ to the ante­diluvians? Let this question be examined in the light of the sacred Scriptures: "And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:17-18). Now, Paul attributes this preach­ing to Christ, when it is absolutely certain that it was not done by him in person, but by the apostles. Nehemiah also, in the ninth chapter of his book and at the thirtieth verse, regards the Father as testifying against the Jews, and yet asserts that he did so by his Spirit in the prophets. The axiom is unquestionably a Bible principle. If Paul and Nehemiah were correct, may not Peter with equal propriety attribute to Christ what he did by his Spirit in Noah? This view of the matter, which manifestly is the correct one, answers all questions and solves all apparent difficulties. Remember that it is this same Peter who informs us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. (2 Peter 2:5.) The spirits to whom Noah preached were, at the time Peter wrote, in prison. The preaching was done while they lived on the earth. The same Spirit that quickened Christ inspired Noah, and by him preached to the antediluvians. Taking this view of the matter, we can fully comprehend the declaration contained in Genesis 6:3, which reads: "My Spirit shall not always strive with man." Its striving was while Noah preached. Thus Christ may be said to do what he did by his servant Noah. With the language of the apostle Peter before us, this view, and none other, can, with safety, be assumed. In his style of expression the Spirit that inspired the ancient prophets was the Spirit of Christ (1 Peter 1:11.) In fact, he leads us to believe that, from the very beginning, the scheme of redemption, and the whole of it, as the ages passed, down to its complete revelation to humanity, was under the control and direction of Christ.

1 Peter 3:20—Which sometime were disobedient.

The antediluvians refused to heed and obey the preach­ing of Noah. They disregarded his warnings. All this time God bore with them. His long-suffering was extended to them all the time Noah was engaged in building the ark.

1 Peter 3:20—Wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

In the ark Noah built, eight persons were saved—Noah and his three sons and their wives. The water that destroyed all other persons saved these eight.

1 Peter 3:21—The like figure whereunto even baptism.

The saving of Noah and family by water, Peter says, is a figure of baptism, which he affirms doth also now save us. God saved Noah by water because he believed and obeyed God, and destroyed all others then living, because they believed not, and of course refused to obey. That was his appointment then. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16) is God’s appointment now. Complying with God’s appointment in baptism, we are safe; or baptism, the antitype of the waters of the flood, saves us. The prerogative is with God to name the conditions or means, and on the part of his creatures to accept. Comply and be saved, or reject and be destroyed.

1 Peter 3:21—Answer of a good conscience.

Toward God the answer of the conscience is good when­ever our own consciousness assure us that we have done just what God required of us, without alteration or sub­stitution. We mistake not when we take God at his word. Anything less leads to danger. And as if inspiration looking down the ages by anticipation would guard against all mis­takes, utters its warning. Inspiration saw in the future partisan zeal, claiming that as the water of baptism only affected the body, it was unnecessary; that the office of baptism was to wash the body simply. The Spirit in Peter says this is a mistake. It is not commanded for that purpose at all, but for the answer of a good conscience. God com­mands baptism. Man complying has a conscience in that respect void of offense. His conscience is good. It could not have been good had he failed to obey the command. The mistake as to the office-work of baptism might occur, because the whole body is washed, but how on earth a mis­take could occur as to its form, no one can rationally tell. The whole body enveloped in water is as far removed in action from any form of affusion as day is from night.

1 Peter 3:21—By the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

God demonstrated to the world the Messiahship of Jesus by raising him from the dead. He was determined by that resurrection to be God’s Son, and clothed with all authority in heaven and on earth. He it is who commands baptism. It is his appointment. By it he saves. He had the power to have suspended salvation upon some other terms, or upon something else, but he did not, and that is the end of the matter. We can not question his authority, and it is impious to doubt his ability and willingness.

1 Peter 3:22—Who is gone into heaven.

Jesus Christ has gone into heaven. He is there seated at God’s right hand. He is now the Governor of the universe. Angels and all human rulers and governments are now sub­ject to his sway.

Commentary on 1 Peter 3:18-22 by Burton Coffman

1 Peter 3:18 --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;

Suffered for our sins ... The great atonement of Christ is denoted by this. Paine pointed out that there are visible in this epistle "three stands of Peter’s thought about the atonement."^[26] It is compared to the paschal lamb (1 Peter 1:19), the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 (1 Peter 1:24), and to the scapegoat (1 Peter 1:24).

Suffered for sins once ... "Once" is the great New Testament word from the Greek [@hapax], meaning "once for all."^{Hebrews 9:26}); (2) Christ’s death (Hebrews 9:28); (3) the deliverance to mankind of the faith (Judges 1:3); (4) the offering of Christ’s blood in heaven (Hebrews 9:12 Hebrews 9:26); (5) the appointment to die (Hebrews 9:27); (6) God’s shaking the earth and the heavens so as to remove them (Hebrews 12:27); and (7) the suffering of Christ for sins (1 Peter 3:18).

The righteous for the unrighteous ... Let it be strictly observed that Peter in this does not say, "That he might bring God to us," but "that he might bring us to God." There was nothing in the atonement that was designed to change God in any manner; for it was men who needed to be changed. The separation between God and man "is one-sided."^[28] The suffering of Christ was not to satisfy God but for the purpose of getting the attention of rebellious men. God already loved humanity before the atonement was even possible.

Put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit ... The first clause is clear enough being a reference to the crucifixion of our Lord; but there is a wide disagreement among scholars as to the meaning of "made alive in the spirit."

Made alive ... It is amazing that some read this as if it meant "kept alive," or "continued alive"; whereas the true meaning of the words, as in the text, is "made alive," resurrected! "In the New Testament, these words are never used in the sense of maintained alive, or preserved alive."^[29] Therefore, these words must be understood to mean the resurrection of the Son of God from the grave, the same being the only way in which Jesus Christ was ever "made alive."

But who did the making alive? This also is easily resolved. It was achieved by "the spirit of holiness" (Romans 1:4), as Paul said, significantly using the expression in connection with "the flesh" of Christ which was of the seed of David, much as Peter referred to "flesh" which was crucified. It was through that same "eternal spirit" that Christ offered himself to God (in the crucifixion) (Hebrews 9:24); and by that very same Holy Spirit that he was conceived in the womb of Mary (Matthew 1:20). In fact, the very Spirit which indwelt Christ throughout his earthly sojourn was the Holy Spirit dwelling in him without measure (John 3:31), and so uniquely associated with Christ that the Holy Spirit could not even come to the earth to dwell in the apostles until Christ should go back to heaven! (John 16:7). There is thus little doubt, therefore, that it was the Holy Spirit who raised Christ from the dead, and the translators could have saved a lot of misunderstanding if they had capitalized Spirit in this passage. We reject the intricate arguments from the "antithesis" in the Greek text which is said to refute this; because, as Barnes said, "So far as the mere use of this word (spirit) is concerned, it might easily refer to his own soul, to his divine nature, or to the Holy Spirit."^[30] Men who speak learnedly about the alleged difference between the divine nature of Christ, his human soul, and the blessed Holy Spirit which was in Christ throughout his earthly sojourn are unconvincing.

But, did not Christ declare that he himself would raise himself up from the grave (John 10:17)? Yes, indeed; but there are hundreds of examples in the New Testament where something done by one member of the Godhead is attributed to another member of it. The resurrection of Christ is also ascribed to the Father (1 Corinthians 6:14; 2 Corinthians 4:14; Ephesians 1:20), thus being ascribed to all three, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

^[26] Stephen W. Paine, Wycliffe Bible Commentary, New Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p. 977.

^[28] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 420.

^[29] Albert Barnes, Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1953), p. 176.

^[30] Ibid.

1 Peter 3:19 --in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison,

In which ... The Spirit by which the preaching in view here was done was the blessed Holy Spirit, by whom and through whom all the preaching has been done throughout the ages. To make the spirit by which Christ preached, as here, to have been his human spirit, or anything else except the Holy Spirit, involves men in making distinctions that are simply not discernible in the word of God.

He went and preached ... Commentators with a theory to uphold make a big thing out of the went," encountering innumerable difficulties when they suppose that he went "while dead and buried"! As a matter of fact, "he went and preached" is just a Biblical way of saying he preached. "Such expressions (he went) are often redundant in Greek."^[31] Herodotus often used such expressions as "he spoke, saying," or "he speaking, said," and we have the same kind of an expression in "he went and preached." "No particular stress should be laid on the clause he went."^[32] Speaking of the preaching of the apostles themselves, Paul said that Christ "came and preached peace to you that were afar off" (Ephesians 2:17); but Christ preached to the Ephesians through human instruments, nevertheless it is said that he "came and preached" to them. Therefore, "If Christ is said by Paul to go and do, what he did by his apostles, Christ may with equal propriety be said by Peter to go and do what he did by Noah."^[33]

Unto the spirits in prison ... The meaning of this is that the preaching mentioned in the previous verse was directed to living men and women on the earth at the time the preaching was done, but who at the time of Peter’s mentioning this were "in prison," that is, in a deceased state, under the sentence of God like the angels who are cast down and reserved unto the day of judgment and destruction of the wicked. There is another possibility, namely, that the whole antediluvian world to whom the preaching was directed were said by Peter in this passage to have been "in prison" at the time of the preaching of Noah. If that is what he meant, then the figure harmonizes perfectly with Jesus’ preaching to the citizens of Nazareth and others of that generation, referring to his message as "a proclamation of release to the captives," that is, the captives in sin (Luke 4:18). There is no Scriptural reason whatever for not referring to that whole generation which rejected the preaching of Noah as "the souls in prison"; however, Peter wrote, "spirits in prison"; and, for that reason, we must refer the words "spirits in prison" to their present status at the time of Peter’s writing. They, like the fallen angels, were then "spirits in prison." Ages earlier, they were living men and women who rejected the preaching of Christ through Noah. Peter here spoke of them, by way of identification, as "spirits in prison"; but there is not a line in this passage which requires us to believe that Christ preached personally to those "spirits in prison" during the three days his body lay in the tomb! See Note 1 at end of the chapter.

It is clear then that the meaning attributed to "spirits in prison" turns altogether upon the fact of when the preaching was done. The next verse makes it certain that it was during the generation of Noah, a time when the "spirits" here mentioned were not "spirits" merely, but "souls"; therefore, "spirits in prison" is a reference to their status at the time Peter wrote.

^[31] Ibid., p. 177.

^[32] Ibid.

^[33] James Macknight, op. cit., p. 480.

1 Peter 3:20 --that aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water:

That aforetime were disobedient ... "Aforetime" flies like a banner over the whole passage; those souls Peter identified as "spirits in prison" when he wrote were living souls generations earlier in the time of Noah. In the time of Noah they were disobedient; in the time of Noah Christ preached to them; in the time of Noah, most of them rejected salvation; in the time of Noah "few" were saved. A few "spirits"? no indeed! a few "souls," that being what all of them were at the time of the preaching. There is absolutely no hint whatever in the entire New Testament of any spirits, at any time whatever, ever having been saved, or for that matter, even preached to. All of the nonsense that one reads about Christ preaching to the spirits in Hades is a fabrication built like a superstructure above and beyond the New Testament text. Of course, the selfishness of men enters into such interpretations. Men would like to have a second chance. Having rejected Christ in their bodies, they dream of getting preached to "as spirits"! The popular notion held by many that Christ preached to disembodied spirits is rationally inconceivable. If he had done such a thing, why should Noah’s generation alone, of all who ever lived on earth, have been singled out as the beneficiaries? No. We must agree with Nicholson:

The passage holds out no hope for the impenitent; it forbids the notion that those who during their earthly life refuse the gospel of God’s grace may have a second chance in the world beyond, and may be ultimately saved.^[34]

When the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah ... This is a further elaboration of the "aforetime," just mentioned. That "aforetime" was "when" the longsuffering of God waited.

In the days of Noah ... This is another phrase pertaining to the "aforetime"; it was in the days of Noah.

While the ark was a preparing ... This is still another clause pertaining to the "aforetime"; therefore, there is really no excuse for construing the events of these verses as things that happened during that three days and nights Jesus was in the tomb. Furthermore, the "aforementioned" time is the only time specified in the whole paragraph.

Days of Noah ... Why is Noah introduced in this context? It was because of the figure of our salvation inherent in the event related here; and what the apostle designs to show by this is that the same spirit that preached through Noah is exactly the same Spirit now preaching through the apostles, a fact Peter had already categorically stated in 1 Peter 1:11. Another very obvious purpose of Peter is to encourage the saints under threat of impending persecution by calling attention to the fact of "few" being saved through the great debacle of the flood, with the inherent warning that it may also be "few" who will be saved through the looming terror. Thus it is clear that the preaching Jesus did (1 Peter 3:19) was done through Noah. The surmise that Christ in some spiritual state would have done any preaching is only that. If Christ had desired to communicate to either spirits or living souls in any kind of spiritual state, it would not have been necessary for him to enter our earth-life at all. Not even the Holy Spirit addresses men directly; as Jesus said, "He shall not speak from himself" (John 16:13).

While the ark was a preparing ... is a reference to a period of some 120 years during which the ark was built, and during which Noah preached to the rebellious world. He is called a "preacher of righteousness" (2 Peter 2:5). Some who would interpret this Scripture as meaning that Christ preached through some other instrumentality than that of the Holy Spirit make various arguments from the Greek text; but, as Barnes said (even while not agreeing that it was by the Holy Spirit), "The language here is consistent with the thought that Christ did the preaching through the instrumentality of another, to wit, Noah."^[35]

Wherein few ... eight souls were saved ... These were Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth, and their respective wives.

Through water ... Just as the waters of the flood separated between Noah’s family and the rebellious antediluvian world, just so the water of Christian baptism separates between God’s people today and those who are unsaved. That analogy Peter would promptly state.

^[34] Roy S. Nicholson, Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 10 (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1967), p. 291.

^[35] Albert Barnes, op. cit., p. 178.

1 Peter 3:21 --which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ;

After a true likeness ... The figure, pattern, or type in this verse is the salvation of Noah’s family "by water." The common misunderstanding that makes baptism the figure in this place is totally wrong, baptism being the antitype, the reality which was only symbolized by the salvation of Noah. How does the salvation of Noah prefigure the salvation of Christians?

(1) It was the water of the flood that separated Noah from the disobedient generation that perished; and it is the water of Christian baptism that separates between the saved of today and the disobedient who perish.

(2) Noah (and family) were borne through the flood for a period of nine months; and as Macknight noted, "Noah’s coming forth from the water to live again on the earth, after having been full nine months in the water, might fitly be called his being born of water."^[36] Christians too must be "born of water" (John 3:5).

(3) The same water which destroyed the antediluvians was the water which bore up the ark and delivered Noah and his family into a new life. It is the water of baptism that destroys the wicked today, in the sense that they rebel against God’s command, belittle and despise it, either refusing to do it at all, or downgrading any necessity of it, even if they submit to it; while at the same time, it is the water of baptism that buries the Christian from his past and "into Christ," from which he, like Noah, "rises to walk in newness of life."

(4) The same element is prominent in both deliverances, that of Noah and that of the Christian, the same being water; and it is exactly the same kind (who ever heard of different kinds of water?) of water that is evident in both salvations, his and ours. The water that caused the flood is one with the water of Christian baptism.

(5) It was the water of the flood which washed away the filth of that evil generation; and it is the water of Christian baptism that, in a figure, washes away the sins of Christians (Acts 22:16). There is a variation in the figure here, which Peter pointed out; namely, that, whereas it was actual filth that was washed away by the flood, it is moral and spiritual filth which are washed away in baptism. The former affected the flesh and not the conscience; the latter affected the conscience but not the flesh.

(6) Only a few were saved through the flood; and (in the relative sense) only a few will be saved in Christ.

Doth now save you, even baptism ... This is as awkward a translation of this as the ingenuity of man could have devised. "Baptism" is the subject of the clause and should be first, reading, "Even baptism doth now save you." This simple statement of truth should upset no one, for Christ himself said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16); and Peter here said no more than what the Lord said there.

Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh ... In this clause, Peter pointed out a variation in the figure; whereas it was the polluted flesh that was destroyed and removed by the flood, it is a moral and spiritual cleansing effected in baptism. Some have made this an excuse for saying, "Peter is telling them that it (baptism) is no external rite."^[37] It is hard to conceive of a more irresponsible statement by a Christian scholar than this one. All history denies the notion that baptism is not an external rite. On the other hand, it most assuredly is an external rite. Christ was baptized in a river. It took a laver (baptistery) to perform it in the days of the apostles (see Titus 3:5, where the "laver of regeneration" is mentioned, and comment in my Commentary on Titus, pp. 145-147); it was performed in pools of water like those men pass by on the road when traveling (Acts 8:36); and even today there is hardly a church of any name in all Christendom that does not have in its place of worship either a baptistery or the vestige of one (the font); and it may be inquired where did these come from(?) if Christian baptism is not an external rite? Of course, it is also a fact that baptism is not merely, or solely, an external rite.

But the interrogation of a good conscience toward God ... The word of the Lord seems to have been designed in order to give men who will not believe it some kind of crutch upon which to rely in their unbelief. Someone has said, "There is hardly a text in the Bible that does not have a nail in it where the devil can hang his hat." The word here falsely rendered "interrogation" is exactly that. In the Greek language, as in the English, there are many words that have multiple meanings, some of those meanings being actually contradictory, and this is such a word. In English, for example, the word "fast" may be applied to a horse that wins the Derby, or to one that is tied fast to a post. Take the English word "cut": (1) It means a mountain pass; (2) a wound inflicted by a knife; (3) to skip, as when one cuts a class; (4) the cut-off in golf tournaments; (5) to adulterate, as when hard drugs are cut, etc., etc.

Similarly, the Greek word here rendered "interrogation" has a number of meanings: "answer," "interrogation," "appeal," "inquiry," "craving," "prayer," and "pledge."^[38] Three of these meanings, appeal, craving and prayer, if used in the translation would indicate that baptism is submitted to as a craving, appeal or prayer for a good conscience, whereas the others would be something that a good conscience already received before baptism does. These meanings are antithetical, and the true meaning must be determined by Peter’s teaching elsewhere. Did he mean that Christians before they are baptized have already received a good conscience and that their baptism is only the response that a good conscience gives; or did he mean that in order to receive a good conscience one must be baptized? It is the conviction of a lifetime, on the part of this writer, that it is the latter meaning which is true. No man, as long as he has not obeyed the divine commandment to be baptized, can ever have, even if he should live 200 years, a good conscience as long as he is unbaptized. Therefore, full agreement is felt with Nicholson’s endorsement of the New American Standard Bible’s rendition thus:

And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you - not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience - through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (NASB).^[39]

Peter’s great Pentecostal sermon has the same meaning, where he declared that believers should repent and be baptized in order to receive the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). There is further comment on this in my Commentary on Hebrews, pp. 200-201.

Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ ... Peter kept coming back again and again to the fountain source of all blessing. Even the obedience of the gospel by sinners is not the source of their redemption, despite being one of the conditions of its bestowal. The resurrection of Christ is everything in the Christian religion. Both in 1 Peter 1:3 and here, Peter did not fail to stress this.

Zerr was faithful to point out that there is also in this text an effective argument for immersion as the action that truly is baptism in the New Testament sense. "Had the rite been performed by sprinkling, all would have known that such an act could not cleanse anything,"^[40] certainly not any filth from the body.

^[36] James Macknight, op. cit., p. 483.

^[37] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 422.

^[38] Archibald M. Hunter, op. cit., p. 134.

^[39] Roy S. Nicholson, op. cit., p. 292.

^[40] E. M. Zerr, op. cit., p. 261.

1 Peter 3:22 --who is on the right hand of God, having gone into heaven; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

The same magnificent truth proclaimed by Jesus in Matthew’s Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) is also enunciated here. The universal power and godhead of the Son of God is a cornerstone of Christian doctrine.

Note 1. In the interpretation above, the term "spirits in prison" was construed as a reference to people who at the time Peter referred to them were deceased, therefore "spirits" in prison, in the sense of their being like the fallen angels imprisoned until the day of their doom at the final judgment. In further support of that view the following is added. The Tyndale Commentary offered the objection that "spirits in prison" is not elsewhere used in the Bible to describe departed human spirits.^[41] However, both wicked spirits, that is, spirits of wicked people, and the spirits of the just made perfect (Hebrews 12:23) are thus referred to if the word "spirits" (of persons plainly said in the next line to have been disobedient) is here construed as a reference to the spirits of wicked men; and there is no logical reason why this should not be done. If it was proper to refer to the "spirits of just men," it is also correct to refer to "spirits in prison" as a designation of the wicked men deceased, for the very fact of their being "in prison" designates them as wicked.

ENDNOTE:

^[41] F. F. Bruce, Answers to Questions (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1973), p. 128.