1 Peter 3:13-22
Today's Passage: 1 Peter 3:13-22
“Who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?” Peter’s point in verses 13–17 is that you will suffer, so it is far better to suffer for doing good.
CPC is quite familiar with 1 Peter 3:18 declaring Christ’s suffering and what he accomplished. Verses 19 and following are considerably more difficult to understand. Many questions pop up as we keep reading: Who are the spirits in prison? Why are we now talking about Noah? Is Peter saying that Baptism brings salvation? Etc. I wouldn’t claim to have the definitive answer on this passage, but here’s some of the conclusions of what I think Peter is doing.
In the context of suffering for doing the right thing, Noah provides a case study for Peter’s point. He was ridiculed year after year for building a boat in a land that had never seen rain. Like Jesus, Noah was obedient to the Lord in an extreme way.
I think the “spirits in prison” are those people who died in the great flood (There’s like four major interpretive views here. I think this one is the best, but I reserve the right to be wrong). Salvation was proclaimed through Noah in such a way that it’s fair to say that Christ proclaimed it. They rejected the message of salvation and were in “prison” (Sheol).
The ark wasn’t really what saved Noah and his family, rather it was symbolic of the faith Noah had in the God who saves. It literally carried him, but it was God who saved him. Likewise, Baptism is not the means of salvation, rather it is symbolic of our identifying with the Savior. In our tradition, we reject baptismal regeneration to such a degree that we sometimes inadvertently minimize the importance of Baptism. Baptism does not save; Jesus is the only means for salvation. Yet, part of our confession (Romans 10:9–10) does include the public declaration of our faith in Baptism. The New Testament never has in view a believer who remains unbaptized.
The ark was a physical sign of Noah’s faith in God. For the ark, Noah was ridiculed. However, as the rain fell, Noah’s shame became his salvation. Those same people who once taunted, banged on the side of the ship as they breathed their last. Their boasting turned to doom. In the exact same way, for centuries Christians have been rejected, ridiculed, jailed, or even killed because they surrendered to Baptism. And in the same way, all of them will one day wish they had surrendered themselves to Christ in Baptism as they realize the cost.
We don’t see this a lot in our context, but in college I watched as a Muslim friend wrestled through identifying with Christ in Baptism because his family back overseas would disown him and try to kill him if he went home. Likewise, I sat at the old Panera as I heard a young woman tell me that she hesitated to get baptized for a long time because when she did her atheist father said, “You’re no longer my daughter.”
Very few of us have had to experience the full weight Jesus’ words in Luke 14, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” These two people counted the cost of losing their families and their futures and concluded that Jesus was worth it.
Most of us have been able to fold our Christianity into our lives without too much cost—at least it seems so to us. Even atheists will sometimes congratulate people for getting baptized in Lexington. Not so in Peter’s day as Nero was burning Christians on poles to provide lighting for garden parties.
The day may be quickly approaching (and in some ways already exists) where Christians see persecution here in the US. In that day, we will read this passage with fresh eyes and Peter’s question will carry more weight, “Will you suffer for doing good?”
Written By: Tyler Short
“Who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?” Peter’s point in verses 13–17 is that you will suffer, so it is far better to suffer for doing good.
CPC is quite familiar with 1 Peter 3:18 declaring Christ’s suffering and what he accomplished. Verses 19 and following are considerably more difficult to understand. Many questions pop up as we keep reading: Who are the spirits in prison? Why are we now talking about Noah? Is Peter saying that Baptism brings salvation? Etc. I wouldn’t claim to have the definitive answer on this passage, but here’s some of the conclusions of what I think Peter is doing.
In the context of suffering for doing the right thing, Noah provides a case study for Peter’s point. He was ridiculed year after year for building a boat in a land that had never seen rain. Like Jesus, Noah was obedient to the Lord in an extreme way.
I think the “spirits in prison” are those people who died in the great flood (There’s like four major interpretive views here. I think this one is the best, but I reserve the right to be wrong). Salvation was proclaimed through Noah in such a way that it’s fair to say that Christ proclaimed it. They rejected the message of salvation and were in “prison” (Sheol).
The ark wasn’t really what saved Noah and his family, rather it was symbolic of the faith Noah had in the God who saves. It literally carried him, but it was God who saved him. Likewise, Baptism is not the means of salvation, rather it is symbolic of our identifying with the Savior. In our tradition, we reject baptismal regeneration to such a degree that we sometimes inadvertently minimize the importance of Baptism. Baptism does not save; Jesus is the only means for salvation. Yet, part of our confession (Romans 10:9–10) does include the public declaration of our faith in Baptism. The New Testament never has in view a believer who remains unbaptized.
The ark was a physical sign of Noah’s faith in God. For the ark, Noah was ridiculed. However, as the rain fell, Noah’s shame became his salvation. Those same people who once taunted, banged on the side of the ship as they breathed their last. Their boasting turned to doom. In the exact same way, for centuries Christians have been rejected, ridiculed, jailed, or even killed because they surrendered to Baptism. And in the same way, all of them will one day wish they had surrendered themselves to Christ in Baptism as they realize the cost.
We don’t see this a lot in our context, but in college I watched as a Muslim friend wrestled through identifying with Christ in Baptism because his family back overseas would disown him and try to kill him if he went home. Likewise, I sat at the old Panera as I heard a young woman tell me that she hesitated to get baptized for a long time because when she did her atheist father said, “You’re no longer my daughter.”
Very few of us have had to experience the full weight Jesus’ words in Luke 14, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” These two people counted the cost of losing their families and their futures and concluded that Jesus was worth it.
Most of us have been able to fold our Christianity into our lives without too much cost—at least it seems so to us. Even atheists will sometimes congratulate people for getting baptized in Lexington. Not so in Peter’s day as Nero was burning Christians on poles to provide lighting for garden parties.
The day may be quickly approaching (and in some ways already exists) where Christians see persecution here in the US. In that day, we will read this passage with fresh eyes and Peter’s question will carry more weight, “Will you suffer for doing good?”
Written By: Tyler Short
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