1 Peter 3:18

1 Peter 3:18 ‘For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;'

‘For Christ' -Lest anyone think that suffering for the right thing is. vain and thankless task. Suffering for doing the right thing can accomplish much! Jesus is the ultimate example of suffering for righteousness (1 Peter 3:14); being zealous for what is good (1 Peter 3:13); suffering for well-doing (1 Peter 3:17), and we are to follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21-25).

‘died for sins' -For the sins of others (John 1:29; Isaiah 2:6; Isaiah 2:8; Isaiah 2:11). So let us stop complaining when we suffer because someone else abused their freewill. Jesus also suffered for the wrong and selfish choices of others!

‘once for all' -‘used of what is so done as to be of perpetual validity and never need repetition' (Thayer p. 54) (Hebrews 9:28 ‘so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many..'). Points to Note: 1. Jesus remains the only sacrifice for sin-in any time or in any culture (Mark 16:15). Christianity therefore will remain the only relevant and real way to eternal life. 2. Nothing will replace the sacrifice of Jesus. Another remedy for sin will not be found. 3. Jesus died and suffered ONCE. Thus the Lord's Supper is not. re-sacrifice of Jesus. It is not. ‘mass'. Rather, it is. remembrance. 4. Another route or Savior will not be given for those who reject Jesus. 5. The sacrifice of Jesus doesn't lose it's effectiveness with the passing of time. His sacrifice is just as powerful in the 21 st Century as it was in the First Century.

‘the just for the unjust' -(Romans 5:6). He suffered for what others had done. He had no sins of His own (1 Peter 2:22). We will never realize the true evil and selfishness of our own sins, until we accept the fact that the punishment Jesus endured, was the punishment we deserved. Remember those truths next time you are tempted to sin or tempted the downplay the significance of. sin.

‘in order that He might' -Notice the word “might”. There will be people who refuse God's offer of salvation. Jesus didn't die for. select group of people destined for salvation. Rather He died for all (1 Timothy 2:6), He died for people who might or might not accept Him.

‘bring us to God' -‘Bring'-‘to open. way of access' (Thayer p. 543) (Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:16; Hebrews 10:19). Jesus remains the only means of access to the Father (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).

‘having been put to death in the flesh' -Jesus really died on the cross. An illusion wasn't on the cross, rather, Jesus suffered all the pain associated with being in. physical body. His death was painful and real! (John 1:14). think that even some Christians erroneously think that being crucified wasn't as painful for Jesus as it would be for mere humans. That isn't true. Jesus didn't go into some state of mental meditation which enabled detachment from His body (John 19:28).

‘but made alive in the spirit' -Points to Note: 1. What died on the cross was His body “the flesh”. By the way, note that the word “flesh” doesn't inherently mean something that is sinful. 2. What was inside that body didn't die, i.e. the spirit (Matthew 27:50; Luke 23:46). 3. When Jesus re-entered that body in the tomb, life returned to His physical body. ‘the spiritual nature of Christ' (Vincent p. 656). 4. The passage is not teaching that only the ‘spirit' of Christ was resurrected, for the spirit of Christ never died! Rather, Jesus is an eternal, self-existent spirit (Hebrews 9:14), Who can re-enter. dead physical body at will (John 10:18 ‘…I have authority to take it up again.')