Peter tells us today to always be prepared to give our testimony of the gospel to those who ask. We are also going to take a brief look at the possible identity of the mysterious "imprisoned spirits" that Peter says Christ preached to between His burial and resurrection.
"But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord." (1 Peter 3:15a) In yesterday's passage the apostle told us we don't have to fear anyone but God, so as long as we revere Christ as Lord in our hearts, we won't be shaken by anything this fallen world throws at us. We can endure the temporary trials of life knowing eternal life with Christ is ahead of us.
The world is going to notice how we deal with life's struggles. Some people will ask us how we manage to maintain a positive attitude in the face of adversity. Peter instructs us to be ready to answer them. "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." (1 Peter 3:15b-16) When giving our testimony about what Christ has done for us, we are not to say things like, "If you'd only make Him the Lord of your life, you could have victory over all the sin you're in. You need to get right with Him and stop living the way you're living!" We probably won't get very far with anyone if we speak to them harshly and with disrespect. Peter says to be gentle and respectful when explaining why we are able to live each day with hope. If we talk down to people, they will think their criticism of us is justified. But if we give our testimony in a humble spirit, they won't be able to find fault with our attitude and they may even take our words to heart.
But even if they dismiss our words and write us off as fools and fanatics, Peter says that's ok. It's better to be ridiculed for living right than for living wrong. "For it is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil." (1 Peter 3:17)
Christ also suffered for doing good. He warned us that there would be those who hate us because they hate Him. (John 15:18) No matter how gently we share the gospel, there will be those who reject it, just as they rejected the words of Christ Himself. "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit." (1 Peter 3:18) Christ was sinless but He suffered anyway. He suffered for our sins so He could make us whole. Surely we can stand a little ridicule and rejection while sharing the gospel that made us whole. There might be at least one soul that comes to Christ because of what we say and how we behave.
Now Peter says something mysterious, something even the best Bible scholars can't agree on. "After being made alive, He went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits---to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built." (1 Peter 3:19-20a) Who are these imprisoned spirits? Why did Christ go and show Himself to them? Some scholars believe these disobedient spirits are the fallen angels who interacted with humans in the time before the flood. You will recall from the book of Genesis that the "sons of God" mated with human women and produced the giants and mighty men of old. (See Genesis 6.) There is some basis for believing these disobedient angels are the spirits mentioned in today's passage, for both Peter and Jude say that they have been held in prison in chains until judgment day. (2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6) If so, why did Jesus visit them during the time period between His death and physical resurrection? I don't know, but I like to think maybe it was to tell them their scheme to eternally separate man from God had failed. Maybe Christ appeared to them as He would later appear to the disciples, showing them the scars in His hands and feet, and proclaiming that God's plan of salvation had been accomplished. Nothing hell has thrown at this world has been able to derail God's plan for the creatures He created in His own image.
Another theory is that these souls represent the people who were on earth while Noah built the ark and preached to them to repent. We know that no one repented and that only Noah and his own family were saved. People lived for centuries in Noah's day, and it took him around 120 years to build the ark, so the people living at that time can never use the excuse that they weren't given enough time and opportunity to heed the word of God. The idea that the spirits mentioned today may be the souls of these people can be backed up by Peter's next words as he says of the ark, "In it, only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also---not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God." (1 Peter 3:20b-21a) If the spirits in prison are the people of Noah's day, why did Christ appear to them? It could have been to say, "If only you had listened to Noah and believed, you could have been saved from the flood and saved from your sins. You could have had the baptism that comes after repentance. You could have had a clear conscience and been made right with the living God."
Personally, I prefer the opinion that the spirits are the fallen angels. The reason I feel this way is because if the spirits represent lost souls, why would they be only the lost souls of Noah's day? There were many others between Noah and Christ who rejected God. Wouldn't they also be included in the group? I can't say for sure what the answer is, since those who know far more than I do can't come to any conclusion. This will be one of the mysteries that is solved when we go to be with the Lord.
Peter likens the saving of Noah and his family by the ark to baptism. Their lives were saved because they believed God, otherwise they would not have gotten into the ark. In the same way baptism itself doesn't save us; it's an outward display of what has happened to us on the inside. It is a testimony to the world that we believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He died for our sins, and that He rose from the dead, and that He sits in the place of honor at the right hand of God making intercession for us. He saved us by His death and resurrection, and He keeps us saved by performing the office of High Priest for us before God. It is because we believe these things that we are saved and baptized, a fact with which how Peter concludes today's passage, "It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand---with angels, authorities and powers in submission to Him." (1 Peter 3:21b-22)
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