> General Discussions

I peter 3:19

<< < (2/6) > >>

Porter:
Rose, I searched high and low for where Ray may have taught on this specific verse, but was unable to find it, even though it's possible Ray did teach on it. I have a few ideas of my own about what that verse means, but I couldn't tie it all together.

Having re-read your second comment, it reminded me of a few things Paul said. I do sincerely hope it helps in some way.

1Co 12:29  Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all do miracles?
1Co 12:30  Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in languages? Do all interpret?
1Co 12:31  But desire the greater gifts. And I will show you an even better way.


The passage below is the better way.


1Co 13:1  If I speak the languages of men and of angels, but do not have love, I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
1Co 13:2  If I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so that I can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
1Co 13:3  And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
1Co 13:4  Love is patient; love is kind. Love does not envy; is not boastful; is not conceited;
1Co 13:5  does not act improperly; is not selfish; is not provoked; does not keep a record of wrongs;
1Co 13:6  finds no joy in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth;
1Co 13:7  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1Co 13:8  Love never ends [Greek: fails]. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for languages, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.
1Co 13:9  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
1Co 13:10  But when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end.
1Co 13:11  When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put aside childish things.
1Co 13:12  For now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.
1Co 13:13  Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.


It's ok if you can't figure it all out, as long you can figure out how to love God and those around you. The passage above is a guide for showing us how to love. Here's another one.

2Pe 1:5  For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge,
2Pe 1:6  knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness,
2Pe 1:7  godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
2Pe 1:8  For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Pe 1:9  The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted, and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins.
2Pe 1:10  Therefore, brothers, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble.

I think part of the reason God has given so much knowledge to people like Ray, is so Ray could give to us a knowledge of Christ contrasted by evil, to teach us about Who Jesus really is. I think to be able to love in the ways described is harder than knowing all the things Ray taught. Jesus sums it up nicely.

Mar 12:28  One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked Him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?"
Mar 12:29  "This is the most important," Jesus answered: Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, The Lord is One.
Mar 12:30  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
Mar 12:31  "The second is: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."

I, personally, can't think of a better thing to study to its fullest aside from these. If you already know these things, then great. Maybe someone else is struggling to figure it all out, so this is for them too.I've only just begun to understand some of these passages I quoted myself.

Musterseed:
I believe the spiritual match for 1 Peter 3: 19 is 1 Peter 4:6.

For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead
that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit
the way God does.

I think the spirits in prison of 1Peter 3:19 and the dead in 1Peter 4:6 are speaking of
spiritually dead who live in the flesh ( of the world) because you can’t preach to
physically dead people.

Jesus is the judge of the quick and the dead and so ….. Isa. 26: 9••• when they
judgement are in the earth the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Notice 1 Peter 3: 20••• because they formerly did not obey when Gods patience
waited in the days of Noah while the arc was being prepared in which a few, that
is eight persons were brought safely through water.
James 5:8••• You also be patient. Establish you hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Wonderful scriptures of inspiration and instruction Porter, Thank You.
Yes LOVE IS THE KEY💕
Pray for wisdom and endurance that we may be found worthy to do the The
Lord’s Will . Keep the unity of the Spirit. God Bless You All .

In Christ Pamela

Musterseed:
These should help.

2Tim.1:16, Heb.10:34, Heb.13:3 and Matt.25: 31-46

ZekeSr:
I am sure Ray commented on this, but I can’t say where. Nevertheless, he always said “Pay attention to all of the words.” And don’t add anything, for that matter.

I peter 3:19 says Jesus preached to spirits. Not he is preaching. We are not spirits. He was preaching to fallen angels (demons?) as they too will be judged.

Jud 1:6 He has also held in eternal chains those angels who did not keep their own position but abandoned their assigned place. They are held in deepest darkness for judgment on the great day.

Additionally, I know 1 Peter 3:18 and 3:19 are often used to show that our Savior died but wasn’t really dead. No, it doesn’t. It very plainly says He died in the flesh. Jesus died and was dead. When He was resurrected, He was made alive in the Spirit by our Father who is Spirit. Obviously, it was then that he preached to spirits in prison. The scriptures do not say He preached while He was dead in the flesh, nor does it say He was alive in the Spirit during His days and nights in the tomb.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh…

Here are two versions, slightly different. In this case, I think the original KJV to be the more accurate. But either one is obvious if you read it and contemplate carefully.

 
1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit
1Pe 3:19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
 
1Pe 3:18 For Christ also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, indeed being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit;
1Pe 3:19 in which also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,

I believe that, after his resurrection, he went and preached to "those angels who did not keep their own position but abandoned their assigned place."

Mike

Porter:
Good points, Pamela and Mike. Here's more Scripture to consider.

Eph 2:11  So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh--called "the uncircumcised" by those called "the circumcised," done by hand in the flesh.
Eph 2:12  At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, with no hope and without God in the world.
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah.
Eph 2:14  For He is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In His flesh,
Eph 2:15  He did away with the law of the commandments in regulations, so that He might create in Himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace.
Eph 2:16  He did this so that He might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross and put the hostility to death by it.
Eph 2:17  When Christ came, He proclaimed [Greek: preached] the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.
Eph 2:18  For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. 

That phrase spirits in prison from 1Peter 3:19 is very off-putting, isn't it. At least it was for me. I spent days just re-reading it from many translations, checking definitions, and searching all over the place in the bible for answers. So, I ignored that phrase for a while and started paying attention to the verses around it and decided that the passages I have listed made the most sense spiritually. Of course, I could be totally off, but what I did find concerning Eph 2:11-18 was new to me and was as equally fascinating as 1Peter 3:19, not to mention edifying.


Gal 3:20  Now a mediator is not for just one person, but God is one.
Gal 3:21  Is the law therefore contrary to God's promises? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly be by the law.
Gal 3:22  But the Scripture has imprisoned everything under sin's power, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
Gal 3:23  Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed.


The dividing wall of the law, this administration of death, is like a prison, like the prison that is sin and death. It keeps us separated from God through sin and through a deep-seated hatred for God, so it had to be dealt with. In dealing with it, Jesus, the mediator, could unite or reconcile the whole world to God.


1Ti 2:3  This is good, and it pleases God our Savior,
1Ti 2:4  who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
1Ti 2:5  For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, a man, Christ Jesus,
1Ti 2:6  who gave Himself--a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time.


Looking at the definition of the word spirits from 1Peter 3:19, it seems clear to me, it's referring to those made of flesh and blood, but having the mind of Christ.


πνεῦμα
pneuma
pnyoo'-mah
From G4154; a current of air, that is, breath (blast) or a breeze; by analogy or figuratively a spirit, that is, (human) the rational soul, (by implication) vital principle, mental disposition, etc., or (superhuman) an angel, daemon, or (divine) God, Christ’s spirit, the Holy spirit: - ghost, life, spirit (-ual, -ually), mind. Compare G5590.

We can know they were in fact flesh and blood because of the verse after 1Peter 3:19.


1Pe 3:19  In that state (Christ's risen state) He also went and made a proclamation [Greek: preached] to the spirits in prison
1Pe 3:20  who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while an ark was being prepared; in it, a few--that is, eight people--were saved through water.

The spirits in prison were disobedient in the past, just as we were before Christ revealed Himself to us after His resurrection. If the ark represents Christ, what do we suppose Christ was being prepared for? Obviously, to baptize us into His death to pull down and destroy the deep-seated spiritual enmity between us and God, thereby giving us access to God; effectively revealing the Father to us after raising us back to a newness of spiritual life with a clean and clear conscience to God. That's why it's so important to believe our sins really have been forgiven.


1Pe 3:22  Now that He has gone into heaven, He is at God's right hand, with angels, authorities, and powers subjected to Him.

2Co 10:3  For although we are walking in the flesh, we do not wage war in a fleshly way,
2Co 10:4  since the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments
2Co 10:5  and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

The law was limited because it was a fleshy and temporary means of waging war against sin. The physical Law could never have completely removed sin and death, thereby imprisoning us in a cycle of sin and death.

Rom 8:1  Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus,
Rom 8:2  because the Spirit's law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
Rom 8:3  What the law could not do since it was limited by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending His own Son in flesh like ours under sin's domain, and as a sin offering,
Rom 8:4  in order that the law's requirement would be accomplished in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

The Law demanded an offering for the forgiveness of sins; ensuring the cycle of offerings for sin. However, when Christ came, He fulfilled all the Law once and for all, so our sins could be permanently forgiven by offering Himself for and because of our sins.

Php 2:7  Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form,
php 2:8  He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death--even to death on a cross.
Php 2:9  For this reason God also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name,
Php 2:10  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow--of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth--
Php 2:11  and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.


Jesus didn't have to die, and no one took His life from Him. He offered Himself out of love and to bring us closer to Him and His Father by removing the enmity that imprisons us in sin and death. He also did it to show us how to be obedient to God in the Spirit. His outward works were a reflection of His inward Spirit.

While Ray may not have covered 1Peter 3:19 specifically, Ray did cover the same principles as described in 1Peter 3:19. I don't have the principles above completely nailed down, so it may be I haven't a clue as to what 1Peter 3:19 means. These are just other things to consider and things I remember from Ray and my studies. Take it all with a grain of salt.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page