1 Peter 3:19

Verse 19. By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.

By which?

By the Spirit. The grammatical construction of the sentence requires this answer. The sense of the passage also demands it. He went.

Who went?

Christ, of course.

How did he go?

By the Spirit; same Spirit by which he was quickened, and by this Spirit Christ preached unto the spirits in prison. It is manifestly certain that at some time these spirits heard preaching.

When did they hear it? is the question.

Was it during the time which intervened between the death of Christ and his resurrection, or was it before? By whom was the preaching done? Was it by Christ in person, or by his Spirit in another?

Before proceeding further in the investigation, it becomes necessary, to a clear understanding of the matter, to inquire something more about these spirits in prison. No doubt they were in prison at the time Peter wrote this Epistle, but were they in prison at the time of the preaching mentioned? Who were they, anyhow? Peter leaves us in no doubt on this question, for he fully enlightens us in a subsequent verse. They were the people who lived before the flood. They were the antediluvians. We can now safely proceed. Did Christ preach to these? It is an admitted axiom that what one does by another, he is recognized as doing by himself. Can this axiom be applied to the preaching of Christ to the antediluvians? Let this question be examined in the light of the sacred Scriptures: "And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:17-18). Now, Paul attributes this preaching to Christ, when it is absolutely certain that it was not done by him in person, but by the apostles. Nehemiah also, in the ninth chapter of his book and at the thirtieth verse, regards the Father as testifying against the Jews, and yet asserts that he did so by his Spirit in the prophets. The axiom is unquestionably a Bible principle. If Paul and Nehemiah were correct, may not Peter with equal propriety attribute to Christ what he did by his Spirit in Noah? This view of the matter, which manifestly is the correct one, answers all questions and solves all apparent difficulties. Remember that it is this same Peter who informs us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. (2 Peter 2:5.) The spirits to whom Noah preached were, at the time Peter wrote, in prison. The preaching was done while they lived on the earth. The same Spirit that quickened Christ inspired Noah, and by him preached to the antediluvians. Taking this view of the matter, we can fully comprehend the declaration contained in Genesis 6:3, which reads: "My Spirit shall not always strive with man." Its striving was while Noah preached. Thus Christ may be said to do what he did by his servant Noah. With the language of the apostle Peter before us, this view, and none other, can, with safety, be assumed. In his style of expression the Spirit that inspired the ancient prophets was the Spirit of Christ (1 Peter 1:11.) In fact, he leads us to believe that, from the very beginning, the scheme of redemption, and the whole of it, as the ages passed, down to its complete revelation to humanity, was under the control and direction of Christ.