1 Peter 3:18-20

Christ's Preaching In the Days of Noah

Christ's suffering included dying for us. Jesus certainly is an example of one who suffered for doing what was right. He was a righteous person suffering for those who are not righteous (Ephesians 2:1-6, 13:16). He suffered "once for all" time, which is the more literal meaning of the word translated "once." His only purpose in that death was to bring man back to God. Jesus died physically, but he was "brought to active life in the realm of the spirit" (Woods). The spirit is that eternal part of man in contrast to his fleshly body, which is temporary.

The "spirits in prison" would have to be the disembodied spirits of the disobedient God waited on in the days of Noah. Their prison would be the Hadean realm where they awaited the day of judgment (compare 2 Peter 2:4-5; Judges 1:6). Just as Christ is said to have preached to the Gentiles through the apostles (Ephesians 2:17), he preached to the people before the flood through Noah (2 Peter 2:5).

There is no indication these spirits were in prison when preached to, only that they were in prison when Peter wrote. Since all men will be judged based upon the deeds done in their body, the doctrine of a second chance after death is a false one (1 Peter 3:18-19; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Matthew 25:31-46).

When these spirits were still in the body, they disobeyed God's will. Particularly, they were disobedient during the period when God waited for the ark to be prepared, which could have been one hundred years (Genesis 5:32; Genesis 7:6). Noah was a preacher of righteousness, so God waited for them to repent. Compared with the multitudes who drowned, eight souls were certainly few. Those eight were saved in the ark by the very water that destroyed the disobedient. The water was the instrument God used to exercise his saving power (1 Peter 3:20).