In Or Out

DEVOTION 1 PETER IN OR OUT 1 Peter 3:17-22 17 It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also — not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand — with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. NIV I should just leave this alone for it appears there is just so much here that I could not possibly deal with all of it, yet I cannot separate it either. There is no question about the fact Christ died for all our sins, past, present and future and that we need not have to bring any type of sacrifice to God for our sin for Christ was and is the ultimate sacrifice. The sticky part is this going and preaching to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago. Some would use this to teach Jesus descended into hell to preach to those lost souls waiting for the last Day of Judgment, but they would be incorrect in that teaching. While the whole of the passage includes Noah and thus this is talking about those people God in his mercy who had already condemned them to perish in the flood, waited patiently for them to repent giving Noah the Spirit of Christ to preach to them. In the original language it is not Christ preaching to the spirits , but the Spirit of Christ preaching to those in prison, those who had already been condemned by God to die in the flood. It is certain the Ark is a for shadowing of the cross. God was showing the world that only those within the safety of the Ark would be saved and thus only those in the safety of the cross will be saved. As He waited patiently for them to repent, He waits now, for more to repent, and as He closed the door to the Ark, He will close this door someday and those who refuse to repent and enter the safety of the cross will perish, not in a flood this time, but in the destruction of fire, the burning lake of sulfur. The other sticky point is the being saved by through baptism, which some would claim is true. Once again, this would be adding something to Jesus, Jesus plus. This is not the case in which God is making His point through Peter. It is about the Ark on the water and those it were saved, the ark was not a submarine. It is about having a good conscience before God. Being in Christ and following Him. As Noah was saved because of a good conscience, he found favor in God sight, so as we enter the cross, through faith in Christ, we find favor in Gods sight and are saved. It is simply and plain, either we are in or out.