| Christ died for our sins. |
18 Because Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring you to God, by being put to death in the flesh but by being made alive in the spirit.
19 In it he went and preached to the spirits in prison,
20 after they were disobedient long ago when God patiently waited in the days of Noah as an ark was being constructed. In the ark a few, that is eight souls, were delivered through water.
21 And this prefigured baptism, which now saves you - not the washing off of physical dirt but the pledge of a good conscience to God - through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22 who went into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels and authorities and powers subject to him.
v. 18: - "Christ also suffered once for sins" - Christ is set up for us as an example. He did not deserve what He went through for us. Because He did suffer and die unjustly, because He took all of the sins of the world upon Himself, we can go to God through Him. God approved of the sacrifice Christ paid, and Christ was raised to life in the Spirit. When Christ's body died, and when He resurrected the sentence was passed on our old nature and body. We are to given new ones - a new nature immediately upon acceptance of Christ, a new body at the Rapture.
The phrase "once for sins" is important. Remember, sin came into the world through one act - Adam's disobedience. The first human doomed us all to being slaves to sin. We inherited sin nature, just like you inherit everything that makes you human - nose, binocular vision, basically hairless, upright and bipedal, self-awareness, etc. Jesus, born being wholly God and wholly human, lived a sinless life, and was crucified. That one death gathered up all the sin and killed it. He took all the sin upon Himself, and bore it to Hell. His resurrection validated the price paid. This is crucial to grasp, believe. All eternity hangs on the fact that God accepted the price paid. And when He was resurrected, He started the new life. That new life, with a new body, living in a new earth, a new heaven is now ours in Christ. One man died one death to give you and me new life and hope. He doesn't need to die each time a new human is born, or each time one of us falls away and lives in sin. He died once for all. Now, not all will accept that sacrifice. That is their problem. If you don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, God's wrath remains on you. See: John 3:36. You either have eternal life, or you don't. It is stark, black or white.
"to bring you to God" - Our sin nature, inherited as descendants from Adam, prevents us from having a relationship with God. There is no task we can perform, no sacrifice we can make that will bridge the gap between sinful us and righteous God. So, God took it upon HImself to provide the way to Him. Some will ask, "Why didn't God just wipe out the whole universe and start over? He spoke it into existence, why not just speak it out of existence? Wouldn't that have been easier?" From a human point of view, it might be. When creating something, be it art, or or a quilt, or a landscaping of a back yard, we will admit defeat and failure throwing it all away and starting over. God does not do that. Our free will, God designed us to be able to choose, causes the break in relationship. God gives us the chance to right the relationship by offering the way back to Him via Christ Jesus. In Christ's death, all of the 'old world' has ultimately died. None of it will remain to be transferred to the kingdom of light. In Christ's resurrection the new world has been born, it is all new, and without the sin inherited from Adam. That is why you must be 'born again.' (See: John3:3)
v. 19: - "In it he went and preached" - I do not believe this says Christ, while dead in the grave, went and ministered to the spirit world. Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, appealed to the people living in past times to turn to HIm (God) and be saved.
Jesus, in the Spirit, through Noah (see vs. 20) came to the people of Noah's day and ministered to them. By 'ministered', He gave them the opportunity to repent of their sins and turn to Him. They did not. They died in the flood and are now waiting (imprisoned in Sheol) for the final judgement. (See 2 Cor. 5:20).
This is true for all of human history. "The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written, "The righteous by faith will live. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness, because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools." (Rom. 1:17-22) There is no excuse. You can't say, "I didn't KNOW!" (Rom. 2:1)
v. 20: - "they were disobedient long ago" - The people were disobedient before the flood came. God was very patient and tried to save many through Noah (see Rom. 2:4, 9:22; 2 Pet. 3:9, 15, especially GNMM (see note 1)). He waited until it was obvious that no more would come. Only eight people were saved; Noah, his three sons, and their wives.
v. 21: - "not the washing off of physical dirt" - could read, "correspondingly, we are saved in baptism through the resurrection of Jesus Christ; we are given a clean conscience by God. Baptism is not cleansing of the body." Note: Noah and company were saved by the ark from judgement, the flood. They were not saved by the waters of the flood. In like manner, we are saved from judgement in Christ. He is our ark. Noah was saved by faith in God; we are saved by faith in Christ Jesus. Baptism is a step of obedience, a public testimony that our life is the Lord's. Christ's blood washes away guilt.
v. 22: - Christ, after the resurrection, ascended to heaven and sat down at God's right hand. He has been given all power and authority. (See: Eph. 1:20-22; Matt. 11:27; 1 Cor. 15:24-28.)
***Note 1: "GNMM" = Good News for Modern Man Bible translation (I think it has been renamed to 'New English Translation".)
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END OF CHAPTER
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