Verses 1-22
Chapter 3
3:1-2 Likewise, you
wives, be submissive to your husbands, so that, if there are any who
refuse to believe the word, they may be won for Christ without a word
because they have seen your pure and reverent behaviour.
Peter turns to the domestic problems which Christianity
inevitably produced. It was inevitable that one marriage partner might
be won for Christ, while the other remained untouched by the appeal of
the gospel; and such a situation inevitably had difficulties.
It may seem strange that Peter's advice to wives is six times as
long as that to husbands. This is because the wife's position was far
more difficult than that of the husband. If a husband became a
Christian, he would automatically bring his wife with him into the
Church and there would be no problem. But if a wife became a Christian
while her husband did not, she was taking a step which was unprecedented
and which produced the acutest problems.
In every sphere of ancient civilization, women had no rights at
all. Under Jewish law a woman was a thing; she was owned by her husband
in exactly the same way as he owned his sheep and his goats: on no
account could she leave him, although he could dismiss her at any
moment. For a wife to change her religion while her husband did not was
unthinkable.
In Greek civilization the duty of the woman was "to remain
indoors and to be obedient to her husband." It was the sign of a good
woman that she must see as little, hear as little and ask as little as
possible. She had no kind of independent existence and no kind of mind
of her own, and her husband could divorce her almost at caprice, so long
as he returned her dowry.
Under Roman law a woman had no rights. In law she remained for
ever a child. When she was under her father she was under the patria
potestas, the father's power, which gave the father the right even of
life and death over her; and when she married she passed equally into
the power of her husband. She was entirely subject to her husband and
completely at his mercy. Cato the Censor, the typical ancient Roman,
wrote: "If you were to catch your wife in an act of infidelity, you can
kill her with impunity without a trial." Roman matrons were prohibited
from drinking wine, and Egnatius beat his wife to death when he found
her doing so. Sulpicius Gallus dismissed his wife because she had once
appeared in the streets without a veil. Antistius Vetus divorced his
wife because he saw her secretly speaking to a freed woman in public.
Publius Sempronius Sophus divorced his wife because once she went to the
public games. The whole attitude of ancient civilization was that no
woman could dare take any decision for herself.
What, then, must have been the problems of the wife who became a
Christian while her husband remained faithful to the ancestral gods? It
is almost impossible for us to realize what life must have been for the
wife who was brave enough to become a Christian.
What, then, is Peter's advice in such a case? We must first note what he does not advise.
He does not advise the wife to leave her husband. In this he takes exactly the same attitude as Paul takes (1 Corinthians 7:13-16).
Both Paul and Peter are quite sure that the Christian wife must remain
with the heathen husband so long as he does not send her away. Peter
does not tell the wife to preach or to argue. He does not tell her to
insist that there is no difference between slave and freeman, Gentile
and Jew, male and female, but that all are the same in the presence of
the Christ whom she has come to know.
He tells her something very simple--nothing else than to be a
good wife. It is by the silent preaching of the loveliness of her life
that she must break down the barriers of prejudice and hostility, and
win her husband for her new Master.
She must be submissive. It is not a spineless submission that is
meant but, as someone has finely put it, a "voluntary selflessness." it
is the submission which is based on the death of pride and the desire
to serve. It is the submission not of fear but of perfect love.
She must be pure. There must be in her life a lovely chastity and fidelity founded on love.
She must be reverent. She must live in the conviction that the
whole world is the Temple of God and that all life is lived in the
presence of Christ.
3:3-6 Let not your
adornment be an outward thing of braided hair and ornaments of gold and
wearing of robes, but let it be an adornment of the inward personality
of the heart, wrought by the unfading loveliness of a gentle and quiet
spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. For it was thus in
days of old the holy women, who placed their hopes in God, adorned
themselves in submission to their husbands. It was thus that Sara obeyed
Abraham calling him, "Lord." And you have become her children, if you
do good, and if you do not become a prey to fluttering fears.
Bengel speaks of "the labour bestowed on dress which consumes
much time." Such labour is no modern thing. We have already seen that in
the ancient world women had no part in public life whatsoever; they had
nothing to pass their time; for that reason it was sometimes argued
that they must be allowed an interest in dress and adornment. Cato the
Censor insisted on simplicity; Lucius Valerius answered: "Why should men
grudge women their ornaments and their dress? Women cannot hold public
offices, or priesthoods, or gain triumphs; they have no public
occupations. What, then, can they do but devote their time to adornment
and to dress?" Undue interest in self-adornment was then, as it still
is, a sign that the person who indulged in it had no greater things to
occupy her mind.
The ancient moralists condemned undue luxury as much as the
Christian teachers did. Quintilian, the Roman master of oratory, wrote:
"A tasteful and magnificent dress, as the Greek poet tells us, lends
added dignity to the wearer: but effeminate and luxurious apparel fails
to adorn the body, and only reveals the sordidness of the mind."
Epictetus, the philosopher, thinking of the narrow life to which women
were condemned in the ancient world, said, "Immediately after they are
fourteen, women are called 'ladies' by men. And so, when they see that
they have nothing else than to be bedfellows of men, they begin to
beautify themselves and put all their hopes on that. It is, therefore,
worthwhile for us to take pains to make them understand that they are
honoured for nothing else but only for appearing modest and
self-respecting." Epictetus and Peter agree.
There is at least one passage in the Old Testament which lists
the various items of female adornment and threatens the day of judgment
in which they will be destroyed. The passage is Isaiah 3:18-24.
It speaks of the "finery of the anklets, the headbands and the
crescents; the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarfs; the headdresses,
the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes and the amulets; the signet
rings and nose rings; the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks and the
handbags; the garments of gauze, the linen garments, the turbans and the
veils."
In the world of the Greeks and the Romans it is interesting to
collect the references to personal adornments. There were as many ways
of dressing the hair as there were bees in Hybca. Hair was waved and
dyed, sometimes black, more often auburn. Wigs were worn, especially
blonde wigs, which are found even in the Christian catacombs; and hair
to manufacture them was imported from Germany, and even from as far away
as India. Hairbands, pins and combs were made of ivory, and boxwood,
and tortoiseshell; and sometimes of gold, studded with gems.
Purple was the favourite colour for clothes. One pound weight of
the best Tyrian purple wool, strained twice through, cost 1,000
denarii, 43.50 British pounds. A tyrian cloak of the best purple cost
well over 100 British pounds. In one year silks, pearls, scents and
jewellery were imported from India to the value of 1,000,000 British
pounds. Similar imports of luxury came from Arabia.
Diamonds, emeralds, topazes, opals and the sardonyx were
favourite stones. Struma Nonius had a ring valued at 21,250 British
pounds. Pearls were loved most of all. Julius Caesar bought for Servilia
a pearl which cost him 65,250 British pounds. Earrings were made of
pearls and Seneca spoke of women with two or three fortunes in their
ears. Slippers were encrusted with them; Nero even had a room whose
walls were covered with them. Pliny saw Lollia Paulina, wife of
Caligula, wearing a dress so covered with pearls and emeralds that it
had cost 450,000 British pounds.
Christianity came into a world of luxury and decadence combined.
In face of all this Peter pleads for the graces which adorn the
heart, which are precious in the sight of God. These were the jewels
which adorned the holy women of old. Isaiah had called Sara the mother
of God's faithful people (Isaiah 51:2);
and if Christian wives are adorned with the same graces of modesty,
humility and chastity, they too will be her daughters and will be within
the family of the faithful people of God.
A Christian wife of those times lived in a society where she
would be tempted to senseless extravagance and where she might well go
in fear of the caprices of her heathen husband; but she must live in
selfless service, in goodness and in serene trust. That would be the
best sermon she could preach to win her husband for Christ. There are
few passages where the value of a lovely Christian life is so vividly
stressed.
3:7 Likewise, you
husbands, live understandingly with your wives, remembering that women
are the weaker sex and assigning honour to them as fellow-heirs of the
grace of life, so that there may be no barrier to your prayers.
Short as this passage is, it has in it much of the very essence
of the Christian ethic. That ethic is what may be called a reciprocal
ethic. It never places all the responsibility on one side. If it speaks
of the duties of slaves, it speaks also of the obligations of masters.
If it speaks of the duty of children, it speaks also of the obligations
of parents (compare Ephesians 6:1-9; Colossians 3:20-25; Colossians 4:1).
Peter has just laid down the duty of wives; now he lays down the duty
of husbands. A marriage must be based on reciprocal obligation. A
marriage in which all the privileges are on one side and all the
obligations on the other is bound to be imperfect with every chance of
failure. This was a new conception in the ancient world. We have already
noted the woman's total lack of rights then and quoted Cato's statement
of the rights of the husband. But we did not finish that quotation and
we do so now: "If you were to catch your wife in an act of infidelity,
you can kill her with impunity without a trial; but, if she were to
catch you, she would not venture to touch you with her finger and,
indeed, she has no right." In the Roman moral code all the obligation
was on the wife and all the privilege with the husband. The Christian
ethic never grants a privilege without a corresponding obligation.
What are the obligations of the husband?
(i) He must be understanding. He must be considerate and
sensitive to the feelings of his wife. Somerset Maugham's mother was a
very beautiful woman with the world at her feet but his father was
unhandsome. Someone once asked her: "Why do you remain faithful to that
ugly little man you married?" Her answer was: "Because he never hurts
me." Understanding and considerateness had forged an unbreakable bond.
The cruelty which is hardest to bear is often not deliberate but the
product of sheer thoughtlessness.
(ii) He must be chivalrous. He must remember that women are the
weaker sex and treat them with courtesy. In the ancient world chivalry
to women was well-nigh unknown. It was, and still is, no uncommon sight
in the East to see the man riding on a donkey while the woman trudged by
his side. It was Christianity which introduced chivalry into the
relationship between men and women.
(iii) He must remember that the woman has equal spiritual
rights. She is a fellow-heir of the grace of life. Women did not share
in the worship of the Greeks and the Romans. Even in the Jewish
synagogue they had no share in the service, and in the orthodox
synagogue still have none. When they were admitted to the synagogue at
all, they were segregated from the men and hidden behind a screen. Here
in Christianity emerged the revolutionary principle that women had equal
spiritual rights and with that the relationship between the sexes was
changed.
(iv) Unless a man fulfils these obligations, there is a barrier
between his prayers and God. As Bigg puts it: "The sighs of the injured
wife come between the husband's prayers and God's hearing." Here is a
great truth. Our relationships with God can never be right, if our
relationships with our fellow-men are wrong. It is when we are at one
with each other that we are at one with him.
3:8-12 Finally, you
must all be of one mind; you must have sympathy with each other and you
must live in brotherly love; you must be compassionate and humble; you
must not return evil for evil, nor insult for insult; on the contrary,
you must return blessing; for it was to give and to inherit blessing
that you were called.
He that would love
life, And see good days, Let him keep his tongue from evil, And his lips
from speaking guile: Let him turn away from evil and do right; Let him
seek peace, and pursue it, For the eyes of the Lord are upon the
righteous, And his ears are open to their prayer; But the face of the
Lord is against those that do evil.
Peter, as it were, gathers together the great qualities of the Christian life.
(i) Right in the forefront he sets Christian unity. It is worth
while to collect together the great New Testament passages about unity,
in order to see how great a place it occupies in New Testament thought.
The basis of the whole matter is in the words of Jesus who prayed for
his people that they might all be one, as he and his Father were one (John 17:21-23). In the thrilling early days of the Church this prayer was fulfilled, for they were all of one heart and of soul (Acts 4:32).
Over and over again Paul exhorts men to this unity and prays for it. He
reminds the Christians of Rome that, though they are many, they are one
body, and he pleads with them to be of one mind (Romans 12:4; Romans 12:16).
In writing to the Christians of Corinth, he uses the same picture of
the Christians as members of one body in spite of all their differing
qualities and gifts (1 Corinthians 12:12-31).
He pleads with the quarrelling Corinthians that there should be no
divisions among them and that they should be perfectly joined together
in the same mind (1 Corinthians 1:10).
He tells them that strifes and divisions are fleshly things, marks that
they are living on purely human standards, without the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:3). Because they have partaken of the one bread, they must be one body (1 Corinthians 10:17). He tells them that they must be of one mind and must live in peace (2 Corinthians 13:11). In Christ Jesus the dividing walls are down, and Jew and Greek are united into one (Ephesians 2:13-14).
Christians must maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,
remembering that there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and
Father of all (Ephesians 4:3-6).
The Philippians must stand fast in one spirit, striving together with
one mind for the faith of the gospel; they will make Paul's happiness
complete, if they have the same love and have one accord and one mind;
the quarrelling Euodias and Syntyche are urged to be of one mind in the
Lord (Philippians 1:27; Philippians 2:2; Philippians 4:2).
All through the New Testament rings this plea for Christian
unity. It is more than a plea; it is an announcement that no man can
live the Christian life unless in his personal relationships he is at
unity with his fellow-men; and that the Church cannot be truly Christian
if there are divisions within it. It is tragic to realize how far men
are from realizing this unity in their personal lives and how far the
Church is from realizing it within herself. C. E. B. Cranfield writes so
finely of this that we cannot do other than quote his whole comment in
full, lengthy though it is: "The New Testament never treats this
agreeing in Christ as an unnecessary though highly desirable spiritual
luxury, but as something essential to the true being of the Church.
Divisions, whether disagreements between individual members or the
existence of factions and parties and--how much more!--our present-day
denominations, constitute a calling in question of the Gospel itself and
a sign that those who are involved are carnal. The more seriously we
take the New Testament, the more urgent and painful becomes our sense of
the sinfulness of the divisions, and the more earnest our prayers and
strivings after the peace and unity of the Church on earth. That does
not mean that the like-mindedness we are to strive for is to be a drab
uniformity of the sort beloved of bureaucrats. Rather is it to be a
unity in which powerful tensions are held together by an over-mastering
loyalty, and strong antipathies of race and colour, temperament and
taste, social position and economic interest, are overcome in common
worship and common obedience. Such unity will only come when Christians
are humble and bold enough to lay hold on the unity already given in
Christ and to take it more seriously than their own self-importance and
sin, and to make of these deep differences of doctrine, which originate
in our imperfect understanding of the Gospel and which we dare not
belittle, not an excuse for letting go of one another or staying apart,
but rather an incentive for a more earnest seeking in fellowship
together to hear and obey the voice of Christ." There speaks the
prophetic voice to our modern condition.
(ii) Second, Peter sets sympathy. Here again the whole New Testament
urges this duty upon us. We are to rejoice with those who rejoice and to
weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15).
When one member of the body suffers all the other members suffer with
it; and when one member is honoured, all the members rejoice with it (1 Corinthians 12:26),
and it must be so with Christians, who are the body of Christ. One
thing is clear, sympathy and selfishness cannot coexist. So long as the
self is the most important thing in the world, there can be no such
thing as sympathy; sympathy depends on the willingness to forget self
and to identify oneself with the pains and sorrows of others. Sympathy
comes to the heart when Christ reigns there.
(iii) Third, Peter sets brotherly love. Again the matter goes
back to the words of Jesus. "A new commandment I give to you, that you
love one another.... By this will all men know that you are my
disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35).
Here the New Testament speaks with unmistakable definiteness and with
almost frightening directness. "We know that we have passed out of death
into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love remains
in death. Any one who hates his brother is a murderer" (1 John 3:14-15). "If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar" (1 John 4:20).
The simple fact is that love of God and love of man go hand in hand;
the one cannot exist without the other. The simplest test of the reality
of the Christianity of a man or a Church is whether or not it makes
them love their fellow-men.
(iv) Fourth, Peter sets compassion. There is a sense in which
pity is in danger of becoming a lost virtue. The conditions of our own
age tend to blunt the edge of the mind to sensitiveness in pity. As C.
E. B. Cranfield puts it: "We got used to hearing on the radio of a
thousand-bomber raid as we ate our breakfast. We have got used to the
idea of millions of people becoming refugees." We can read of the
thousands of casualties on the roads with no reaction within our hearts,
forgetting that each means a broken body or a broken heart for someone.
It is easy to lose the sense of pity and still easier to be satisfied
with a sentimentalism which feels a moment's comfortable sorrow and does
nothing. Pity is of the very essence of God and compassion of the very
being of Jesus Christ; a pity so great that God sent his only Son to die
for men, a compassion so intense that it took Christ to the Cross.
There can be no Christianity without compassion.
(v) Fifth, Peter sets humility. Christian humility comes from
two things. It comes, first, from the sense of creatureliness. The
Christian is humble because he is constantly aware of his utter
dependence on God and that of himself he can do nothing. It comes,
second, from the fact that the Christian has a new standard of
comparison. It may well be that when he compares himself with his
fellow-men, he has nothing to fear from the comparison. But the
Christian's standard of comparison is Christ, and, compared with his
sinless perfection, he is ever in default. When the Christian remembers
his dependence on God and keeps before him the standard of Christ, he
must remain humble.
(vi) Lastly, and as a climax, Peter sets forgiveness. It is to
receive forgiveness from God and to give forgiveness to men that the
Christian is called. The one cannot exist without the other; it is only
when we forgive others their sins against us that we are forgiven our
sins against God (Matthew 6:12; Matthew 6:14-15). The mark of the Christian is that he forgives others as God has forgiven him (Ephesians 4:32).
As was natural for him, Peter sums the matter up by quoting Psalms 34:1-22 , with its picture of the man whom God receives and the man whom God rejects.
3:13-15a Who will hurt
you, if you are ardent lovers of goodness? Even if you do have to
suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. Have no fear of
them; do not be troubled; but in your hearts give Christ a unique place.
In this passage we can see how Peter was soaked in the Old
Testament; there are two Old Testament foundations for it. It is not so
much that he actually quotes them, as that he could not have written the
passage at all unless the Old Testament had been in his mind. The very
first sentence is a reminiscence of Isaiah 50:9
: "Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty?" Again,
when Peter is talking about the banishing of fear, he is thinking of Isaiah 8:13, "But the Lord of hosts, him you shall regard as holy; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread."
There are three great conceptions in this passage.
(i) Peter begins by insisting on a passionate love of goodness. A
man may have more than one attitude to goodness. It may be to him a
burden or a bore or something which he vaguely desires but the price of
which he is not willing to pay in terms of effort. The word we have
translated an ardent lover is zelotes (Greek #2207);
which is often translated Zealot. The Zealots were the fanatical
patriots, who were pledged to liberate their native land by every
possible means. They were prepared to take their lives in their hands,
to sacrifice ease and comfort, home and loved ones, in their passionate
love for their country. What Peter is saying is: "Love goodness with
that passionate intensity with which the most fanatical patriot loves
his country." Sir John Seeley said, "No heart is pure that is not
passionate; no virtue safe which is not enthusiastic." It is only when a
man falls in love with goodness that the wrong things lose their
fascination and their power.
(ii) Peter goes on to speak about the Christian attitude to
suffering. It has been well pointed out that we are involved in two
kinds of suffering. There is the suffering in which we are involved
because of our humanity. Because we are men, there come physical
suffering, death, sorrow, distress of mind and weariness and pain of
body. But there is also the suffering in which we may be involved
because of our Christianity. There may be unpopularity, persecution,
sacrifice for principle and the deliberate choosing of the difficult
way, the necessary discipline and toil of the Christian life. Yet the
Christian life has a certain blessedness which runs through it all. What
is the reason for it?
(iii) Peter's answer is this. The Christian is the man to whom
God and Jesus Christ are the supremacies in life; his relationship to
God in Christ is life's greatest value. If a man's heart is set on
earthly things, possessions, happiness, pleasure, ease and comfort, he
is of all men most vulnerable. For, in the nature of things, he may lose
these things at any moment. Such a man is desperately easily hurt. On
the other hand, if he gives to Jesus Christ the unique place in his
life, the most precious thing for him is his relationship to God and
nothing can take that from him. Therefore, he is completely secure.
So, then, even in suffering the Christian is still blessed. When
the suffering is for Christ, he is demonstrating his loyalty to Christ
and is sharing his sufferings. When the suffering is part of the human
situation, it still cannot despoil him of the most precious things in
life. No man escapes suffering, but for the Christian suffering cannot
touch the things which matter most of all.
3:15b-16 Always be
prepared to make your defence to anyone who calls you to account
concerning the hope that is in you; but do so with gentleness and
reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are abused,
those who revile your good behaviour in Christ may be put to shame.
In a hostile and suspicious world it was inevitable that the
Christian would be called upon to defend the faith he held and the hope
by which he lived. Here Peter has certain things to say about this
Christian defence.
(i) It must be reasonable. It is a logos (Greek #3056) that the Christian must give, and a logos (Greek #3056)
is a reasonable and intelligent statement of his position. A cultivated
Greek believed that it was the mark of an intelligent man that he was
able to give and to receive a logos (Greek #3056)
concerning his actions and belief. As Bigg puts it, he was expected
"intelligently and temperately to discuss matters of conduct." To do so
we must know what we believe; we must have thought it out; we must be
able to state it intelligently and intelligibly. Our faith must be a
first-hand discovery and not a second-hand story. It is one of the
tragedies of the modern situation that there are so many Church members
who, if they were asked what they believe, could not tell, and who, if
they were asked why they believe it, would be equally helpless. The
Christian must go through the mental and spiritual toil of thinking out
his faith, so that he can tell what he believes and why.
(ii) His defence must be given with gentleness. There are many
people who state their beliefs with a kind of arrogant belligerence.
Their attitude is that anyone who does not agree with them is either a
fool or a knave and they seek to ram their beliefs down other people's
throats. The case for Christianity must be presented with winsomeness
and with love, and with that wise tolerance which realizes that it is
not given to any man to possess the whole truth. "There are as many ways
to the stars as there are men to climb them." Men may be wooed into the
Christian faith when they cannot be bullied into it.
(iii) His defence must be given with reverence. That is to say,
any argument in which the Christian is involved must be carried on in a
tone which God can hear with joy. No debates have been so acrimonious as
theological debates; no differences have caused such bitterness as
religious differences. In any presentation of the Christian case and in
any argument for the Christian faith, the accent should be the accent of
love.
(iv) The only compelling argument is the argument of the
Christian life. Let a man so act that his conscience is clear. Let him
meet criticism with a life which is beyond reproach. Such conduct will
silence slander and disarm criticism. "A saint," as someone has said,
"is someone whose life makes it easier to believe in God."
3:17-22;4:1-6 For it
is better to suffer for doing right, if that should be the will of God,
than to suffer for doing wrong. For Christ also died once and for all
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. He was
put to death in the flesh, but he was raised to life in the Spirit, in
which also he went and preached to the spirits who are in prison, the
spirits who were once upon a time disobedient, in the time when the
patience of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being
built, in which some few--that is, eight souls--were brought in safety
through the water. And water now saves you, who were symbolically
represented in Noah and his company, I mean the water of baptism; and
baptism is not merely the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge
to God of a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
who is at the right hand of God, because he went to heaven, after angels
and authorities and power had been made subject to him.
Since, then, Christ
suffered in the flesh, you too must arm yourselves with the same
conviction that he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
and as a result of this the aim of such a man now is to spend the time
that remains to him of life in the flesh no longer in obedience to human
passions, but in obedience to the will of God. For the time that is
past is sufficient to have done what the Gentiles will to do, to have
lived a life of licentiousness, lust, drunkenness, revellings,
carousings, and abominable idolatry. They think it strange when you do
not rush to join them in the same flood of profligacy and they abuse you
for not doing so. They will give account to him who is ready to judge
the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to
the dead, so that, although they have already been judged in the flesh
like men, they might live in the Spirit like God.
This is not only one of the most difficult passages in Peter's
letter, it is one of the most difficult in the whole New Testament; and
it is also the basis of one of the most difficult articles in the creed,
"He descended into Hell." It is, therefore, better first of all to read
it as a whole and then to study it in its various sections.
The Example Of The Work Of Christ (1 Peter 3:17-18 a)
3:17-18a For, it is
better to suffer for doing right, if that should be the will of God,
than to suffer for doing wrong. For Christ also died once and for all
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.
Although this passage is one of the most difficult in the New
Testament, it begins with something which anyone can understand. The
point that Peter is making is that, even if the Christian is compelled
to suffer unjustly for his faith, he is only walking the way that his
Lord and Saviour has already walked. The suffering Christian must always
remember that he has a suffering Lord. In the narrow compass of these
two verses Peter has the greatest and the deepest things to say about
the work of Christ.
(i) He lays it down that the work of Christ was unique and never
need be repeated. Christ died once and for all for sins. The New
Testament says this same thing often. When Christ died, he died once and
for all (Romans 6:10).
The priestly sacrifices in the Temple have to be repeated daily but
Christ made the perfect sacrifice once and for all when he offered
himself up (Hebrews 7:27). Christ was once and for all offered to bear the sin of many (Hebrews 9:28). We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ once and for all (Hebrews 10:10).
The New Testament is completely sure that on the Cross something
happened which never needs to happen again and that in that happening
sin is finally defeated. On the Cross God dealt with man's sin in a way
which is adequate for all sin, for all men, for all time.
(ii) He lays it down that that sacrifice was for sin. Christ
died once and for all for sins. This again is frequently said in the New
Testament. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3). Christ gave himself for our sins (Galatians 1:4). The function of the High Priest, and Jesus Christ is the perfect High Priest, is to offer sacrifice for sins (Hebrews 5:1; Hebrews 5:3). He is the expiation for our sins (1 John 2:2).
The Greek for for sins is either huper (Greek #5228) or peri (Greek #4012) hamartion (Greek #266). It so happens that in the Greek version of the Old Testament the regular phrase for a sin-offering is peri (Greek #4012) hamartias (Greek #266) (Hamartias, Greek #266, is the singular of hamartion, Greek #266), as, for instance, in Leviticus 5:7 and Leviticus 6:30. That is to say, Peter is laying it down that the death of Christ is the sacrifice which atones for the sin of men.
We may put it this way. Sin is that which interrupts the
relationship which should exist between God and men. The object of
sacrifice is to restore that lost relationship. The death of Christ upon
the Cross, however we explain it, avails to restore the lost
relationship between God and man. As Charles Wesley put it in verse:
No condemnation now I dread:
Jesus, and all in him, is mine!
Alive in him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
It may be that we will never agree in our theories of what
exactly happened on the Cross, for, indeed, as Charles Wesley said in
that same hymn: "'Tis mystery all!" But on one thing we can
agree--through what happened there we may enter into a new relationship
with God.
(iii) He lays it down that that sacrifice was vicarious. Christ
died once and for all for sins, the just.for the unjust. That the just
should suffer for the unjust is an extraordinary thing. At first sight
it looks like injustice. As Edwin H. Robertson put it: "Only forgiveness
without reason can match sin without excuse." The suffering of Christ
was for us; and the mystery is that he who deserved no suffering bore
that suffering for us who deserved to suffer. He sacrificed himself to
restore our lost relationship with God.
(iv) He lays it down that the work of Christ was to bring us to
God. Christ died once and for all for sins, the just for the unjust,
that he might bring us to God. The word for "to bring" is prosagein (Greek #4317). It has two vivid backgrounds.
(a) It has a Jewish background. It is used in the Old Testament
of bringing to God those who are to be priests. It is God's instruction:
"You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting"
(Exodus 29:4).
The point is this--as the Jews saw it, only the priests had the right
of close access to God. In the Temple the layman might come so far; he
could pass through the Court of the Gentiles, the Court of the Women,
the Court of the Israelites--but there he must stop. Into the Court of
the Priests, into the nearer presence of God, he could not go; and of
the priests, only the High Priest could enter into the Holy of Holies.
But Jesus Christ brings us to God; he opens the way for all men to his
nearer presence.
(b) It has a Greek background. In the New Testament the corresponding noun prosagoge (Greek #4318) is three times used. Prosagein (Greek #4317) means to bring in; prosagoge (Greek #4318) means the right of access, the result of the bringing in. Through Christ we have access to grace (Romans 5:2). Through him we have access to God the Father (Ephesians 2:18). Through him we have boldness and access and confidence to come to God (Ephesians 3:12).
In Greek this had a specialized meaning. At the court of kings there
was an official called the prosagogeus, the introducer, the giver of
access, and it was his function to decide who should be admitted to the
king's presence and who should be kept out. He, as it were, held the
keys of access. It is Jesus Christ, through what he did, who gives men
access to God.
(v) When we go beyond these two verses, further into the
passage, we can add two more great truths to Peter's view of the work of
Christ. In 1 Peter 3:19 he says that Jesus preached to the spirits in prison; and in 1 Peter 4:6
he says that the gospel was preached to them that are dead. As we shall
go on to see, this most probably means that in the time between his
death and his resurrection Jesus actually preached the gospel in the
abode of the dead; that is to say, to those who in their lifetime had
never had the opportunity to hear it. Here is a tremendous thought. It
means that the work of Christ is infinite in its range. It means that no
man who ever lived is outside the grace of God.
(vi) Peter sees the work of Christ in terms of complete triumph.
He says that after his resurrection Jesus went into heaven and is at
the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been
made subject to him (1 Peter 3:22).
The meaning is that there is nothing in earth and heaven outside the
empire of Christ. To all men he brought the new relationship between man
and God; in his death he even brought the good news to the dead; in his
resurrection he conquered death; even the angelic and the demonic
powers are subject to him; and he shares the very power and throne of
God. Christ the sufferer has become Christ the victor; Christ the
crucified has become Christ the crowned.
(1) The Descent Into Hell (1 Peter 3:18 b-20;4:6)
3:18b-20 He was put to
death in the flesh, but he was raised to life in the Spirit, in which
also he went and preached to the spirits who are in prison, the spirits
who were once upon a time disobedient in the time when the patience of
God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being built.... For
this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead, so that, although
they have already been judged in the flesh like men, they might live in
the spirit like God.
We have already said that we are here face to face with one of
the most difficult passages, not only in Peter's letter, but in the
whole New Testament; and, if we are to grasp what it means, we must
follow Peter's own advice and gird up the loins of our mind to study it.
This passage has lodged in the creed in the phrase: "He
descended into hell." We must first note that this phrase is very
misleading. The idea of the New Testament is not that Jesus descended
into hell but that he descended into Hades. Acts 2:27,
as all the newer translations correctly show, should be translated not:
"Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell," but, "Thou wilt not abandon my
soul to Hades." The difference is this. Hell is the place of the
punishment of the wicked; Hades was the place where all the dead went.
The Jews had a very shadowy conception of life beyond the grave.
They did not think in terms of heaven and of hell but of a shadowy
world, where the spirits of men moved like grey ghosts in an everlasting
twilight and where there was neither strength nor joy. Such was Hades,
into which the spirits of all men went after death. Isaiah writes: "For
Sheol cannot thank thee, death cannot praise thee; those who go down to
the pit cannot hope for thy faithfulness" (Isaiah 38:18). The Psalmist wrote: "In death there is no remembrance of thee; in Sheol who can give thee praise?" (Psalms 6:5). "What profit is there in my death if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise thee? Will it tell of thy faithfulness?" (Psalms 30:9).
"Dost thou work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise
thee? Is thy steadfast love declared in the grave, or thy faithfulness
in Abaddon? Are thy wonders known in the darkness, or thy saving help in
the land of forgetfulness?" (Psalms 88:10-12). "The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any that go down into silence" (Psalms 115:17).
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no
work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are
going" (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
The Jewish conception of the world after death was of this grey world
of shadows and forgetfulness, in which men were separated from life and
light and God.
As time went on, there emerged the idea of stages and divisions
in this shadowland. For some it was to last for ever; but for others it
was a kind of prison-house in which they were held until the final
judgment of God's wrath should blast them (Isaiah 24:21-22; 2 Peter 2:4; Revelation 20:1-7).
So, then, it must first of all be remembered that this whole matter is
to be thought of, not in terms of hell, as we understand the word, but
in terms of Christ's going to the dead in their shadowy world.
(2) The Descent Into Hell (1 Peter 3:18 b-20;4:6 Continued)
This doctrine of the descent into Hades, as we must now call
it, is based on two phrases in our present passage. It says that Jesus
went and preached to the spirits who are in prison (1 Peter 3:19); and it speaks of the gospel being preached to the dead (1 Peter 4:6). In regard to this doctrine there have always been differing attitudes amongst thinkers.
(i) There are those who wish to eliminate it
altogether. There is the attitude of elimination. Some wish to eliminate
it altogether and attempt to do so along two lines.
(a) Peter says that in the Spirit Christ preached to
the spirits in prison, who were disobedient in the time when the
patience of God waited in the days of Noah, when the ark was being
built. It is argued that what this means is that it was in the time of
Noah himself that Christ did this preaching; that in the Spirit long
ages before this he made his appeal to the wicked men of Noah's day.
This would completely do away with the idea of the descent into Hades.
Many great scholars have accepted that view; but we do not think it is
the view which comes naturally from Peter's words.
(b) If we look at Moffatt's translation, we find
something quite different. He translates: "In the flesh he (Christ) was
put to death, but he came to life in the Spirit. It was in the Spirit
that Enoch also went and preached to the imprisoned spirits who had
disobeyed at the time when God's patience held out during the
construction of the ark in the days of Noah." How does Moffatt arrive at
this translation?
The name of Enoch does not appear in any Greek
manuscript. But in the consideration of the text of any Greek author,
scholars sometimes use a process called emendation. They think that
there is something wrong with the text as it stands, that some scribe
has perhaps copied it wrongly; and they, therefore, suggest that some
word should be changed or added. In this passage Rendel Harris suggested
that the word Enoch was missed out in the copying of Peter's writing
and should be put back in.
(Although it involves the use of Greek some readers may be
interested to see how Rendel Harris arrived at this famous
emendation. In the top line in italic print, we have set down
the Greek of the passage in English lettering and beneath each
Greek word its English translation:
having been put to death in the flesh
having been raised to life in the Spirit
in which also to the
in prison spirits
poreutheis (Greek #4198) ekeruxen (Greek #2784)
having gone he preached.
(Men (Greek #3303) and de (Greek #1161) are what are called particles;
they are not translated but merely mark the contrast between
sarki, Greek #4561, and pneumati, Greek #4151). It was Rendel Harris'
suggestion that between kai (Greek #2532) and tois (Greek #3588) the
word Enoch (Greek #1802) had dropped out. His explanation was that,
since most manuscript copying was done to dictation, scribes were
very liable to miss words which followed each other, if they
sounded very similar. In this passage:
sound very much alike, and Rendel Harris thought it very likely
that Enoch (Greek #1802) had been mistakenly omitted for that reason).
What reason is there for bringing Enoch (Greek #1802)
into this passage at all? He has always been a fascinating and
mysterious person. "And Enoch walked with God; and he was not; for God
took him" (Genesis 5:24).
In between the Old and New Testaments many legends sprang up about
Enoch and famous and important books were written under his name. One of
the legends was that Enoch, though a man, acted as "God's envoy" to the
angels who sinned by coming to earth and lustfully seducing mortal
women (Genesis 6:2).
In the Book of Enoch it is said that he was sent down from heaven to
announce to these angels their final doom (Enoch 12: 1) and that he
proclaimed that for them, because of their sin, there was neither peace
nor forgiveness ever (Enoch 12 and 13).
So then, according to Jewish legend, Enoch did go to Hades and
preach doom to the fallen angels. And Rendel Harris thought that this
passage referred, not to Jesus, but to Enoch, and Moffatt so far agreed
with him as to put Enoch into his translation. That is an extremely
interesting and ingenious suggestion but without doubt it must be
rejected. There is no evidence for it at all; and it is not natural to
bring in Enoch, for the whole picture is of the work of Christ.
(3) The Descent Into Hell (1 Peter 3:18 b-20;4:6 Continued)
We have seen that the attempt at the elimination of this passage fails.
(ii) The second attitude is limitation. This attitude--and it is
that of some very great New Testament interpreters--believes that Peter
is indeed saying that Jesus went to Hades and preached, but that he by
no means preached to all the inhabitants of Hades. Different
interpreters limit that preaching in different ways.
(a) It is argued that Jesus preached in Hades only to the
spirits of the men who were disobedient in the days of Noah. Those who
hold this view often go on to argue that, since these sinners were
desperately disobedient, so much so that God sent the flood and
destroyed them (Genesis 6:12-13),
we may believe that no man is outside the mercy of God. They were the
worst of all sinners and yet they were given another chance of
repentance; therefore, the worst of men still have a chance in Christ.
(b) It is argued that Jesus preached to the fallen angels, and
preached, not salvation, but final and awful doom. We have already
mentioned these angels. Their story is told in Genesis 6:1-8.
They were tempted by the beauty of mortal women; they came to earth,
seduced them and begat children; and because of their action, it is
inferred, the wickedness of man was great and his thoughts were always
evil. 2 Peter 2:4
speaks of these sinning angels as being imprisoned in hell, awaiting
judgment. It was to them that Enoch did, in fact, preach; and there are
those who think that what this passage means is not that Christ preached
mercy and another chance; but that, in token of his complete triumph,
he preached terrible doom to those angels who had sinned.
(c) It is argued that Christ preached only to those who had been
righteous and that he led them out of Hades into the paradise of God.
We have seen how the Jews believed that all the dead went to Hades, the
shadowy land of forgetfulness. The argument is that before Christ that
was indeed so but he opened the gates of heaven to mankind; and, when he
did so, he went to Hades and told the glad news to all the righteous
men of all past generations and led them out to God. That is a
magnificent picture. Those who hold this view often go on to say that,
because of Christ, there is now no time spent in the shadows of Hades
and the way to paradise is open as soon as this world closes on us.
(4) The Descent Into Hell (1 Peter 3:18 b-20;4:6 Continued)
(iii) There is the attitude that what Peter is saying is that Jesus
Christ, between his death and resurrection, went to the world of the
dead and preached the gospel there. Peter says that Jesus Christ was put
to death in the flesh but raised to life in the Spirit, and that it was
in the Spirit that he so preached. The meaning is that Jesus lived in a
human body and was under all the limitations of time and space in the
days of his flesh; and died with that body broken and bleeding upon the
Cross. But when he rose again, he rose with a spiritual body, in which
he was rid of the necessary weaknesses of humanity and liberated from
the necessary limitations of time and space. It was in this spiritual
condition of perfect freedom that the preaching to the dead took place.
As it stands this doctrine is stated in categories which are
outworn. It speaks of the descent into Hades and the very word descent
suggests a three-storey universe in which heaven is localized above the
sky and Hades beneath the earth. But, laying aside the physical
categories of this doctrine, we can find in it truths which are
eternally valid and precious, three in particular.
(a) If Christ descended into Hades, then his death was no sham.
It is not to be explained in terms of a swoon on the Cross, or anything
like that. He really experienced death, and rose again. At its simplest,
the doctrine of the descent into Hades lays down the complete identity
of Christ with our human condition, even to the experience of death.
(b) If Christ descended into Hades, it means that his triumph is
universal. This, in fact, is a truth which is ingrained into the New
Testament. It is Paul's dream that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the
earth (Philippians 2:10). In the Revelation the song of praise comes from every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth and under the earth (Revelation 5:13). He who ascended into Heaven is he who first descended into the lower parts of the earth (Ephesians 4:9-10). The total submission of the universe to Christ is woven into the thought of the New Testament.
(c) If Christ descended into Hades and preached there, there is
no corner of the universe into which the message of grace has not come.
There is in this passage the solution of one of the most haunting
questions raised by the Christian faith--what is to happen to those who
lived before Jesus Christ and to those to whom the gospel never came?
There can be no salvation without repentance but how can repentance come
to those who have never been confronted with the love and holiness of
God? If there is no other name by which men may be saved, what is to
happen to those who never heard it? This is the point that Justin Martyr
fastened on long ago: "The Lord, the Holy God of Israel, remembered his
dead, those sleeping in the earth, and came down to them to tell them
the good news of salvation." The doctrine of the descent into Hades
conserves the precious truth that no man who ever lived is left without a
sight of Christ and without the offer of the salvation of God.
Many in repeating the creed have found the phrase "He descended
into hell" either meaningless or bewildering, and have tacitly agreed to
set it on one side and forget it. It may well be that we ought to think
of this as a picture painted in terms of poetry rather than a doctrine
stated in terms of theology. But it contains these three great
truths--that Jesus Christ not only tasted death but drained the cup of
death, that the triumph of Christ is universal and that there is no
corner of the universe into which the grace of God has not reached.
The Baptism Of The Christian (1 Peter 3:18-22)
3:18-22 For Christ
also died once and for all for our sins, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring us to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but he was
raised to life in the Spirit, in which also he went and preached to the
spirits who are in prison, the spirits who were once upon a time
disobedient in the time when the patience of God waited in the days of
Noah, while the ark was being built, in which some few--that is, eight
souls--were brought in safety through the water. And water now saves
you, who were symbolically represented in Noah and his company, I mean
the water of baptism; and baptism is not merely the removal of dirt from
the body, but the pledge to God of a good conscience, through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, because
he went to heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been made
subject to him.
Peter has been speaking about the wicked men who were
disobedient and corrupt in the days of Noah; they were ultimately
destroyed. But in the destruction by the flood eight people--Noah and
his wife, his sons Shem, Ham and Japheth, and their wives--were brought
to safety in the ark. Immediately the idea of being brought to safety
through the water turns Peter's thoughts to Christian baptism, which is
also a bringing to safety through the water. What Peter literally says
is that baptism is an antitype of Noah and his people in the ark.
This word introduces us to a special way of looking at the Old
Testament. There are two closely connected words. There is tupos (Greek #5179), type, which means a seal, and there is antitupos (Greek #499),
antitype, which means the impression of the seal. Clearly, between the
seal and its impression there is the closest possible correspondence. So
there are people and events and customs in the Old Testament which are
types, and which find their antitypes in the New Testament. The Old
Testament event or person is like the seal; the New Testament event or
person is like the impression; the two answer to each other. We might
put it that the Old Testament event symbolically represents and
foreshadows the New Testament event. The science of finding types and
antitypes in the Old and the New Testaments is very highly developed.
But to take very simple and obvious examples, the Passover Lamb and the
scapegoat, who bore the sins of the people, are types of Jesus; and the
work of the High Priest in making sacrifice for the sins of the people
is a type of his saving work. Here Peter sees the bringing safely
through the waters of Noah and his family as a type of baptism.
In this passage Peter has three great things to say about
baptism. It must be remembered that at this stage of the Church's
history we are still dealing with adult baptism, the baptism of people
who had come straight from heathenism into Christianity and who were
taking upon themselves a new way of life.
(i) Baptism is not merely a physical cleansing; it is a
spiritual cleansing of the whole heart and soul and life. Its effect
must be on a man's very soul and on his whole life.
(ii) Peter calls baptism the pledge of a good conscience to God (1 Peter 3:21). The word Peter uses for pledge is eperotema (Greek #1906).
In every business contract there was a definite question and answer
which made the contract binding. The question was: "Do you accept the
terms of this contract, and bind yourself to observe them?" And the
answer, before witnesses was: "Yes." Without that question and answer
the contract was not valid. The technical word for that question and
answer clause is eperotema (Greek #1906) in Greek, stipulatio in Latin.
Peter is, in effect, saying that in baptism God said to the man
coming direct from heathenism: "Do you accept the terms of my service?
Do you accept its privileges and promises, and do you undertake its
responsibilities and its demands?" And in the act of being baptized the
man answered: "Yes."
Some use the word sacrament. Sacrament is derived from the Latin
sacramentum, which means a soldier's oath of loyalty on entering the
army. Here we have basically the same picture. We cannot very well apply
this question and answer in infant baptism, unless it be to the
parents; but, as we have said, baptism in the very early church was of
adult men and women coming spontaneously from heathenism into the
Church. The modern parallel is entering upon full membership of the
Church. When we enter upon Church membership, God asks us: "Do you
accept the conditions of my service, with all privileges and all its
responsibilities, with all its promises and all its demands?" and we
answer; "Yes." It would be well if all were clearly to understand what
they are doing when they take upon themselves membership of the Church.
(iii) The whole idea and effectiveness of baptism is dependent
on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the grace of the Risen Lord
which cleanses us; it is to the Risen, Living Lord that we pledge
ourselves; it is to the Risen, Living Lord that we look for strength to
keep the pledge that we have given. Once again, where infant baptism is
the practice, we must take these great conceptions and apply them to the
time when we enter upon full membership of the Church.
-Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)