ONCE AND FOR ALL
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2010 · 25 July 2010
“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; 19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, 20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. 21 And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.”
To catch on to what this paragraph is all about we need to see how it relates to what goes before and what comes after. Just before in verse 17 Peter calls Christians to suffer if that is God's will for them: "It is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong."
So in verse 18 Peter begins this paragraph by saying, "For Christ also died [suffered] for sins once for all . . . " The word "for" shows us that Peter is beginning to explain or give us a reason why it is sometimes God's will for us to suffer for doing what is right.
Between these two calls to suffer comes our text, verses 18–22. So the main point of these verses is to help us get ready to suffer with Jesus for doing what is right, not for doing what is wrong. Peter's intention is to help us arm ourselves with faith to suffer for the sake of Christ and His kingdom.
The Norm throughout Most of History. If that sounds irrelevant to you, it may be because you, like most Americans, are insulated from the bigger world outside our own country (about 5% of total) and outside our own little American era (about 5% of the last 6,000 years).
For most of the world and for most of history being a Christian has not been safe. Stephen Neil says in his History of Christian Missions (p. 43) that in the first three centuries, when the Church was spreading like wildfire, "Every Christian knew that sooner or later he might have to testify to his faith at the cost of his life."
And we have invented names for places where it's dangerous to be a Christian. We call them "closed" countries, which is odd indeed. We have taken the false assumption that safety is normal, and used that false assumption to define where the mission of the church can advance. Peter and Paul would have found this whole idea incomprehensible.
The Norm throughout Most of the World. Today it is normal in most places to suffer for being Christians. To be safe and respected is the exception, not the rule. Let me give you just one example. Evangelical missionaries entered Cambodia in the 1920s. By the time they were expelled in 1965 there were about 600 believers.
Between 1965 and 1975 during the civil war the Christian population soared to an estimated 90,000. It was an amazing work of God. But when the Khmer Rouge took control and Pol Pot unleashed his fury on the nation, most of these Christians died or fled the country.
This story can be retold hundreds of times over and over around the world and along the centuries. It is normal for Christians to be hated. Jesus said this in Matthew 24:9, "You will be hated by all nations on account of my name."
There is a warning here for us in America. As John Piper puts it, “I get the impression that we are in a bitter, reactionary mood as Christians in America. The atmosphere seems to be one of acrimony and rancor and mean-spiritedness in the public square—as if the liberal, secular, relativistic cultural elites have taken our Christian world from us.”
Now the time is right for a heavy dose of the teaching of 1 Peter 4:12, "Do not be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes upon you as though something strange were happening to you." And we read in Matthew 10:25, "It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebub, how much more the members of his house."
So in this text tonight, and in the whole letter, Peter is helping us to be ready to suffer, if God should will it. That is why verses 18-22 were written. Let's look at the five ways that Peter uses to strengthen us for that possibility.
1. Remember That Christ Suffered. First, our great King and our Savior suffered. 1 Peter 3:17–18: "It is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong, FOR Christ also suffered."
Throughout the New Testament the mindset of Christianity is: our Lord suffered and we will follow him in suffering. Jesus Himself said in Mark 8:34, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." I bear the cross; so you will bear the cross.
The first great encouragement to prepare ourselves for suffering for doing what is right is that this is what happened to Jesus, the greatest, most loving, caring, truthful, holy man that ever lived.
2. Peter strengthens us to suffer by telling us that Christ has triumphed over our greatest enemy and brought us safe to God. Why would anyone become a Christian if what you could offer them was that things in this world would probably become worse for them and that their lives would be at risk?
The answer is that the greatest human needs are not to live long on the earth and be comfortable. The biggest human needs are to have our sins forgiven and to overcome our separation from God and to live forever with happiness in his presence instead of living forever in misery in hell.
That's so much more important than living long on this earth and being comfortable for a minute percentage of your existence. This is what the death of Jesus accomplishes. Verse 18: "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God."
Christ died "for sins." This is what separates me from God. This is my biggest need. These are my biggest enemy, not Satan. Isaiah 59:2, "Your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear."
Compared to suffering for righteousness' sake, suffering the wrath of God because my sins have not been forgiven is much more terrifying. Jesus died "for sins." This is the greatest thing in the world. I do not have to die for my sins. There is forgiveness. This is why people should believe on Jesus even if it might cost them their lives.
Christ died "the just for the unjust." His death was a substitutionary death. He took my place. He stood under the wrath and penalty that I deserved and bore it for me. His death was an innocent death. It was all for other people’s sins, and not his own.
Christ died "once for all," which means, his death was final and all-sufficient to accomplish the forgiveness of all who believe on Him. He does not have to ever offer another sacrifice. It was finished. It was all that was necessary to take away the guilt of my sins, the debt is paid in full.
All of the things that Christ did bring me and you and all of us who believe to God. Verse 18, "Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that he might bring us to God."
This is the great comfort of martyrs and suffering Christians. Our worst enemy, sin has been defeated. And Jesus has made sure that we will be safe with God. He has brought us to God. The separation has been removed. God is near us, and He loves us. Our lives are hidden in him.
3. Remember the Days of Noah. The third way that Peter strengthens us for suffering is reminding us what happened in Noah's day. After referring to Jesus being made alive in the spirit (v. 18), verses 19–20 say, “In which [i.e., in the spirit] also He [Jesus] went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, 20) who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.”
There is a lot of controversy over the interpretation of these verses. Let me tell you what I understand and how this relates to Peter’s main point. This is related to the time when people in Noah's day were disobedient, ridiculing him as a crazy man, and that Jesus, in the spirit, was sent by God in those days to preach to those people through Noah.
The Spirit of Jesus was in the Old Testament prophets preaching and predicting his coming just like it says in 1 Peter 1:11, “searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.”
So the same Spirit of Jesus was in Noah preaching to the disobedient people of Noah's day. They are NOW in prison that is in a place of torment awaiting the final judgment. Just like the rich man in Luke 16:24, “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”
This verse does not refer to Jesus' going to the place of the dead and preaching to the spirits there, though many wise and good people interpret it that way. One main reason is: if Peter's point is that Jesus went to preach to all the dead, why would he say that they were once disobedient on the days of Noah? There were millions of spirits there who had not lived in the days of Noah.
So this means that Jesus went to preach in the days of Noah to people who, because they rejected that preaching, are NOW in prison awaiting final judgment. This assures us of the greatness of Christ. He is not bound by space and time.
He was there preaching thousands of years before and He is here preaching today. He will be with you, as he said, to the end of the age, in China and Indonesia and Uganda and Canada and Uzbekistan and Iraq and Afghanistan and in Denver, wherever you may suffer, both now and forever.
It is better to obey him and suffer than to disobey and be cast into the prison of verse 19. That is what happened to the spirits (the people) in Noah's day. They thought it was foolish to obey the call of God like Noah did. So they stayed comfortable and self-righteous until the rain started.
And it is no disadvantage to you to be a small rejected minority. That's the point in verse 20 where it says that in the ark "a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water." If you are a minority but with God, you will be in the majority and be saved while everyone else will not. So when suffering comes, be confident in the Lord because that has a great reward.
The fourth way that Peter strengthens us for suffering is by describing the meaning of baptism. The flood waters that brought judgment on the world in Noah's day reminded Peter of Christian baptism.
Verse 21: "And corresponding to that [the flood], baptism now saves you, not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
And Peter knows that this will be misunderstood if he does not explain it. So when he says, "Baptism now saves you," he adds, "Not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience." This is virtually a definition of baptism.
Baptism is an outward expression of a spiritual, inward appeal to God for cleansing. In other words, baptism is a way of saying to God: "I believe that the death of Jesus paid for my sins and that through His resurrection it brings me into new and everlasting life."
Baptism may cleanse the body because it was by immersion. But that is not why Peter says it saves. It saves for one reason: it is an expression of faith. Paul said in Romans 10:13 that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Baptism is such a calling. It is an appeal to the Lord.
The suffering we are experiencing is not the condemnation of God. That has already been experienced for us by Christ. We have received that by faith and we have expressed our faith by baptism. It stands as a constant reminder that the worst suffering has been averted.
Christ suffered for us. We will never have to come into judgment. There is now no condemnation. We have already died that death in Christ and been raised in Him. Therefore our present suffering is not the wrath of God but the loving discipline of our Father and the preparation for glory.
The fifth way Peter strengthens us for suffering is in that he shows us that Christ is at the right hand of God ruling over all angels, authorities and powers. Verse 22: "He is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him."
Take this one thought with you in preparation for your suffering. No harassing, oppressing, deceiving, accusing demon is free to do as he pleases. All angels, authorities, powers, devils, evil spirits, demons, and Satan himself are subject to Jesus Christ.
Jesus reigns at God's right hand and the devil is under Him. We can say to him: you can do nothing without his permission. You are on a chain. You cannot touch me unless He lets you. And He will only let you to the degree that your touch will turn for my good and for his glory.
So stand firm believers. Stand firm in this great faith, and arm yourselves with the purpose of Christ. The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Let's also follow Him.