Monthly Archive for October, 1997

1 Peter 4:2b

Published on October 31, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.”

but for the will of God

If we count ourselves dead to sin in the death of Christ, we can live to the will of God. When Christians live for the will of God, they affirm that the will of God is best for them. Making the will of God our rule of life demonstrates our essential motivation for life (v.1).

“If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority” (John 7:17).

If we are willing to be lead, God will show us his will. We must be willing to do his will before he will show it to us.

“So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, ‘The will of the Lord be done’” (Acts 21:14).

Acceptance of God’s will is an important attitude for the believer. God opens doors and closes doors. God is the God of providence. No circumstance comes into our lives without His will. We do not knock doors down. We wait until He opens the door. A closed door is as good as an open door if the Lord closed the door. We love open doors but we are not enthusiastic about shut ones.

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).

We prove the will of God as God transforms our minds.

“Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:17).

It is possible to understand the will of God. God’s will is no esoteric idea difficult to grasp. God does not tease us with His will by making us wonder what it is.

“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Colossians 1:9).

Are you “filled” with the will of God? It is one thing to follow the will of God occasionally and it is another thing to fill our whole lives with the will of God. When we operate like this we will not run contrary to the will of God.

“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” 1 Thessalonians 5:18).

There is no doubt about the will of God here. Christians need to develop a capacity for appreciation for what God has done in their life.

“For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men” (1 Peter 2:15).

A life of integrity shuts the mouth of our critics.

“For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil” (1 Peter 3:17).

The will of God is for Christians to suffer for integrity, not inconsistency.

“Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator” (1 Peter 4:19).

Those who suffer in the will of God understand God’s providence in allowing suffering to enter their lives.

The word “will” carries the idea of purpose and design. Purpose plus design equals the will of God. God has a purpose for our lives. When we enter God’s plan for our lives we enter maximum blessing.


Principle:

God wants our volition to comply with His volition.


Application:

Suffering is for God’s glory and our good (Romans 8:28). If we suffering according to the will of God, we will not allow Satan to slander God’s character when we face trial.

We do not cave into the devil’s lie when he subtly suggests “God is not good because he allows you to go through this problem. God is not fair or kind. If God is good he would never let you suffer like this.” Satan loves to slander God’s character when he tries us to the breaking point (Job 1:21; 1 Samuel 3:18; Matthew 11:26).

When we submit to the will of God, God settles our soul in the trial. We know that we are in the place that God desires for us. Would you rather be a failure in the will of God than a success out of the will of God? That is a hard pill to swallow.

We are safer in the will of God in the most savage place in the world than outside the will of God in the safest place in the world. We should not settle for cheap substitutes for the will of God. People try to sell us on substitutes for name brands. They claim that it is the same, only cheaper. We get what we pay for. Do you let Satan substitute something in place of the will of God?

1 Peter 4:2

Published on October 30, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.”

that he no longer should live

“That” is a term of purpose. We arm ourselves with the mind of Christ so that we can live to the will of God. When a person comes to Christ, our life changes. New birth transforms our experience right to the essence of our motivation (v.1).

The words “no longer” also occur in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15.

“For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”

God does not want us any longer to live to self. The law of the jungle governs most people but the child of God does not rule his life by self. He is sick of living for self. As long as strictly self-interests satisfy us, we will remain outside the will of God.

the rest of his time in the flesh

“The rest of his time in the flesh” is the remainder of our time on earth as a Christian. We had a pattern of life before becoming Christians. Now we are oriented to the will of God for the rest of our lives.

When a person forms the new motivation of verse one, this also negates the old motivations. This is what Peter means by ceasing from sin (v.1). It is possible for a Christian to live with negative motivation throughout his lifetime. He can believe that the lusts of the flesh fulfil his ultimate needs.

for the lusts of men

The word “lusts” means desires. This is our lust pattern. The lust pattern manifests itself in sexual sin, approbation lust, power lust. We should no longer live to the desires of men. We do not please men as our ultimate aim but enter the domain of freedom from pleasing people.

If we live for pleasing people, we become puppets of their pleasure. They pull the strings and we do the jig. God’s view is that when they pull the strings we do not dance. God’s people should be free from pleasing people as their core value.

The world hates those who are different. The doctrine of this world is uniformity. It does not want a deviation from their values; it does not accept nonconformists, dissenters, protestants. It wants everyone stamped out on the same assembly line, everyone to be identical. God’s doctrine is individuality. That is why everyone has a different fingerprint. Every snowflake is different and every leaf is different.


Principle:

God expects the mature Christian to be free from peer pressure and independent of its influence.


Application:

We no longer run with the fast crowd that we ran with before we became Christians. As along as we run with the fast crowd we will not enter the sphere of the will of God. When we break away from the fast crowd we move into the “no longer” bracket.

The fast crowd always looks glamorous. A girl graduates from high schools and goes to college and runs into the fast crowd. At first, that life appeals to her. Then later she breaks off from them after seeing the implications of living like this. She moves into the “no longer” bracket. As soon as she hits the “no longer” bracket, the fast crowd turns on her.

Some athletic or sorority organization puts pressure on her. Does she have the independence and maturity to stand alone? Some girls just jump into this crowd. Some groups, at first, look glamorous such as a football club. She thinks this is the greatest thing and these are the nicest people in the world. She goes around saying how wonderful they are. They always present their best side until she breaks out.

When she breaks out, they immediately hit her with pressure. She sticks to her guns and keeps to her “no longer” bracket. When she does this she enters into the blessing of the will of God.

When a Christian enters the “no longer” category the opposite happens — she enters God’s blessing. This “no longer” bracket begins with confession and proceeds with inculcation with the Word.

1 Peter 4:1d

Published on October 29, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.”

for He who has suffered in the flesh

By arming ourselves with the mind of Christ we will no doubt suffer the same suffering of Jesus. He suffered in the body and so will the Christian. If we suffer like Jesus suffered, we cease from sin. When we identify with Christ’s suffering, we free ourselves from sin. God expects us to make a clean break with habitual sinning.

has ceased from sin

“Cease” means to stop, to make an end. When we think like Jesus thought, our sinful thinking comes to an end. This verse does not say that the Christian has ceased completely from sinning for that would be sinless perfection. No Christian can reach a stage of sinless perfection, but can come to a place of victory over sin.This verse says that the Christian has ceased at a point in the past with the results going on (perfect tense). God gave us release from sin when we received Christ as Savior. God broke the power of sin at Christ’s death. We can translate “cease” as “has been made to cease.” We have been made to cease from sin in the death of Christ.

We do not fight for victory over sin because Christ has already won the victory. We fight a victory already won (Romans 6:6-11, esp. v. 7). God gave us release from sin by Christ’s final suffering for sin. We react to undeserved suffering as a saint, not a sinner. It is God who gave us release from sin. God broke the power of sin by Christ’s death.

Also, God did not free from sins (plural) but from “sin” (singular). Sin in the singular is the depraved capacity for sin that we received when born into this world. The potential for sin is always present in that nature because it never improves, never alters or changes. It cannot improve by education or refinement.


Principle:

Dead men do not sin.


Application:

We lose our tenderness toward Christ if we do not deal decisively with sin. He died to deal with sin and he dealt with it decisively on the cross. If we do not deal with it ourselves, sin will invade our daily relationship with Him.

We deal with sin first in our mind, not by outward rite of religion. Our natural mind is dark and alienated from the life of God (Ephesians 4:18). That make us disingenuous with God. We are blind to our own wicked motivations until we deal with sin.

Some of us are so dull spiritually that we do not even recognize what springs from our sin capacity. Spiritual callousness sets in our soul and we become immune to deal with deadly sin in our lives.

We cannot know the will of God while in this shape. We remain under the jurisdiction of the old taskmaster of the sin capacity. A Christian who gets out from under this taskmaster makes a clean break with the momentum of sin. To take orders from the old slave master is to act out of character, like wearing a mask.

Identification with Christ’s finished suffering sets up a compatibility with Christ that makes it difficult for us to sin. A man just released from the army has his discharge papers. He is now a civilian and free from the authority of the army. As he walks out of the gate of the military base he meets his sergeant who snarls: “Get in the kitchen and do the dishes.” Out of force of habit he may have a tendency to obey but then he remembers that he has his papers so he says, “Oh no, you have no more authority over me. I have my discharge papers.”

When the sin capacity orders us to do something, we need to realize that we have a new boss. His name is Jesus. Whenever we sin, we act out of character. Alas, we do act out of character. When we do this we fail to appropriate the finished work of Christ to the sin master of our lives.

1 Peter 4:1c

Published on October 28, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.”

also with the same mind

“Mind” literally means to put in the mind. “Mind” is a particular manner or way of thinking, a disposition or manner of thought, an attitude. This word “mind” can mean purpose, intention, design. This word deals with forming motivations.

This particular word for “mind” is a rare term in the New Testament. The only other usage of this word in the New Testament is in Hebrews 4:12:

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two- edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

God’s Word discerns morally questionable motivations of our hearts.

We need to intentionally resolve to deal with suffering the way Jesus dealt with suffering. Jesus formed His motivations and unbendingly followed the will of God in undeserved suffering.


Principle:

Orientation to suffering comes by developing the mind (motivation) of Christ.


Application:

Since we face a life-long battle with sin, we should deliberately arm ourselves with the motivation of Christ. With each occasion of suffering that comes our way, we need to form the motivational principle of Christ’s attitude toward suffering. When persecution comes to our mind, we maintain an unbending orientation to follow God.

We need to draw on the same resolution Jesus did toward undeserved suffering. God wants us to think as Jesus thought. This has to do with forming the intention or purpose of our thought life. If we accept identity with Christ, we accept the principle that sinning is no longer acceptable.

It is the Word of God that forms the motivations of our thinking (1 Peter 1:13; Philippians 2:5; 1 Corinthians 2:16). Every Christian has a built-in Bible teacher (the Holy Spirit) who makes the Word of God come alive to each situation. Non-Christians cannot think God’s thoughts because they do not have the empowering of the Holy Spirit. The Bible is a closed book to them. Christians, on the other hand, have the power to conquer sin by developing the mind of Christ. Much of the Christian life is a life of the mind and motivation.

If we do not have our gun loaded and the safety pin off, we will not get a shot off in our spiritual battle. In the military, a new recruit goes through hundreds of drills. This changes his thinking into disciplined excellence. As Christians learn familiarity with our weapons and attitudes about how to use spiritual weapons, we form the attitude of Jesus.

We develop our attitudes the hard way, as a young person develops toughness of mind in boot camp. There are times when we wonder whether it is worth it all. That is where some of us quit and make our first mistake, because we do not arm ourselves with the attitude that Jesus did about suffering. When we get into suffering we must use God’s thinking process. This is the stuff by which God blesses us in suffering.

If you are ever going to suffer for blessing you must have a mental attitude when you are under pressure. When we live in jealousy, vindictiveness, implacability and worry, all suffering is cursing.

We correct that attitude by confessing sin. When we are in fellowship, the cursing turns into blessing. We can never harbor attitude sins and at the same time enjoy blessing in suffering. The longer we log attitude sins in our mind the greater the problem. It will be more difficult to reconcile as time goes on. The only thing that can break this momentum is confession, a shift into God’s way of thinking. “Father, I am implacable and am fighting you.”

It is one thing to confess sin and it is another thing to conquer that sin. We stabilize our Christian life with truth.

1 Peter 4:1b

Published on October 27, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.

arm yourselves
 
 “Arm” means to put on armor with the same care as a soldier. This is the only occurrence of the Greek word in the New Testament. “Arm” was used of a Greek soldier taking up his heavy weapons for war. The noun was used for a soldier who was heavily armed with javelin and large shield. The main idea is that this soldier is heavily armed.
 
Since Christ found it necessary to go to the cross and suffer because of our sin, we should develop the same kind of thinking. God wants us to significantly arm our minds with the same mind that Jesus had in the way he approached undeserved suffering. 
 
There is a suffering that comes from breaking off from the fast crowd (4:1-6). The old friends will not take it lightly that you no longer run with them. This is a form of undeserved suffering. 
 
PRINCIPLE: To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
 
APPLICATION: Are you ready for spiritual battle? Have your armed yourself with the implements of spiritual war? Have you fitted yourself as a spiritual soldier with heavy armor? We need to become as heavily armed as we can to fight spiritual war. We need to deal decisively with sin. 
 
As we bring the Word of God into the battle with sin, the Word changes our thinking about sin (Ps. 119:9,11).  If we appropriate the Word to our lives the influence of that fast crowd weakens. The influence of our peers weakens against the power of the Word.
 
Every time we resist temptation we become stronger to resist the next temptation. Each time we conquer sin this makes us better able to face the next attack. As we build momentum of conquering sin we become more spiritually mature. Spiritual maturity guarantees infrequency of sin in our lives.

1 Peter 4:1

Published on October 25, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.”

Therefore, since Christ suffered for us
 
The “therefore” resumes the idea of 3:18 that Jesus suffered unjustly (1:11; 2:24; 4:13; 5:1). Jesus suffered undeservedly. He did not earn or deserve suffering. In 3:18, Jesus took up the cross and died for our sins. He was made sin and judged for us. He became our substitute and he is therefore the only way of salvation.
 
Peter now draws a new inference for Christians to deal decisively with sin. The phrase “arm yourselves with the same mind” indicates the impact that Jesus’ suffering should make on us. Since he dealt decisively with sin on the cross, we should do the same.  Since we are dead to sin positionally, we are free from the controlling power of sin.
 
in the flesh
 
Christ suffered in the “flesh” or body. As God, Jesus did not die. Eternal life cannot cease to exist. Jesus, therefore, did not die in his deity. That is why he became true humanity. As true humanity he died with a human body. With that body he lived a life free from personal sin and died with that body. It was as man that he suffered undeservedly.  However, it was the second person of the trinity who went to the cross.
 
PRINCIPLE:  If we are dead to sin we are free from sin.
 
APPLICATION: Christ suffered for us in his physical body. The child of God should hate sin because it took Jesus to the cross. Sin causes decay, degeneration, violence, corruption, disease and death. These things are the by-products of sin.
 
There are two reasons Christians suffer:
 
1.     For sin
2.     Undeserved suffering
 
God designs blessing for us for both reasons. If we sin, God brings discipline into our lives. His design for discipline is for restoration, not punishment.  Jesus has already taken the punishment for our sin so God does not punish us for our sin. If we confess our sin, God converts discipline into blessing. Any suffering that comes our way under confession of sin is undeserved suffering. 
 
God designs discipline for our blessing. Whether we enjoy God’s blessing for our lives depends on our acceptance of God’s correction by faith. By faith we confess our sin and enter God’s blessing. This means we believe that Jesus took the punishment for the sin we commit as Christians.
 
God blesses us in undeserved suffering as well. This is a major argument of I Peter. 

1 Peter 3:22

Published on October 25, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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"who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him."

If we read verse 18 immediately into verse 22 we understand the continuity of thought. Jesus died, rose again and then He ascended and received exaltation from the Father. The sequel to the death and resurrection is the ascension and exaltation of Christ.
 
The context of the whole book of 1 Peter argues comparing the suffering of the Lord with the suffering of His followers. Christians are not exceptional in their suffering. Believers in Noah’s day had to endure the scoffing of the unbelieving. We endure the same today. Verses 19-22 rest on the two phrases "being put to death" and "made alive in the spirit."
 
who has gone into heaven
 
This is Jesus’ ascension. Peter witnessed Jesus’ ascension personally (cf. Mark 16:19; Luke 24:51; Acts 1:6-11).
 
and is at the right hand of God,
 
The right hand of God is the place of paramount honor, power and authority. This is the session of Christ in His human nature (Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 8:1; 10:12; 12:2).
 
angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him
 
Here are three ranks of good angels. God exalted Christ above Michael, above Gabriel, above the Seraphim, above the Cherubim. God exalted Him to the very apex of the universe (cf. Psalm 110:1; Hebrews 1:13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2).All are subject to Jesus in his ascension. This is the climax of the argument running from 1 Peter 3:18-22. There was no positional truth for Christians until after the ascension of Christ.
 
Principle:
The ascension of Christ to the throne of the Father guarantees our standing in His presence.
Application:
Opposition from man or demon cannot thwart God’s program of saving His saints. Jesus gained the victory when He rose from the dead and made His victorious proclamation to the fallen demons. The final proof of this is His ascension when God gave Him authority over all the earth. We live in a culture of freedom. This freedom passes into licentiousness. This opens us to demon activity. Jesus is the victor over these forces. God vindicates us in Him. We need not fear. We need to live in the light of the resurrection and ascension of Christ.

1 Peter 3:21

Published on October 24, 1997 in 1 Peter. 2 Comments
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“There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ”

There is also an antitype
 
The word “antitype” comes from two words anti (against) and type. An antitype is that which is set over against the type. The antitype is reality (He 9:24). The eight people in the ark were the type but now we have the reality. The reality is the point of this passage.
 
The type here is the ark and baptism into Christ’s death is the antitype. Baptism of the flood answers to the baptism of Christ’s death. The baptism of the flood foreshadows symbolically the death of Christ for our sins. This is the picture of identification with Christ in his death.
 
TYPE: 
 
ARK – type of Christ
 
WATER – type of Christ’s suffering
 
ANTITYPE: 
 
Baptism of Christ’s death at Calvary
 
which now saves us—baptism
 
The antitype goes back to “water.” “Water” is the antecedent here (gender).  The water represents judgment and symbolizes baptism in the death of Christ. As the flood wiped out the old world so baptism represents a break with our past life. 
 
This baptism is not water baptism for believers. Those who were wet were unbelievers and they drowned. Baptism in water does not save us because those immersed in water died in Noah’s day!!
 
The waters of the flood saves but saves only as a counterpart, not actually. Old Testament sacrifices were counterparts of the reality of Christ’s death on the cross. Those sacrifices did not save them but only in type. Waters of the flood only saved the inmates of the ark only in type. 
 
The ark suffered the judgment of the storm of the flood. The ark was baptized by the flood. Believers were sheltered in the refuge the ark. In it they came out of the flood to a new earth. By analogy, today God saves us by the death of Christ from our sin. At Calvary, Christ was baptized into the wrath of God. In that baptism, believers are saved. God saves us by the death and resurrection of Christ.
 
(not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God),
 
This is not referring to the washing away of our sin. Baptismal regeneration states that you become a Christian by water baptism. The waters of baptism cannot put away sins. Peter makes it clear that he is not dealing with H-2/0. Therefore, this is not dealing with the external rite of baptism. Water baptism does not save for it is simply a counterpart or picture of salvation. To prove this, the Holy Spirit adds this parenthesis.
 
“Answer” is literally a pledge, the pledge of a good conscience toward God. This word is a business term. In business contracts there are commitments that make the commitment binding. God says to Christians, “Do you accept the terms of salvation?” Our position of death in Christ gives us a good conscience toward God. 
 
From what does baptism save us? From a bad conscience. Baptism does not save from sin but from a bad conscience. Baptism is a testimony that we have been saved from sin.
 
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
 
The resurrection of the Lord Jesus is the pledge of our position before God. The resurrection of Christ saves us eternally. The resurrection is the factual indication that the death of Christ was adequate to save us. 
 
At the resurrection and ascension, God accepts the death of Christ to save us. Here lays the basis for our salvation. If the ark were not buoyed up by the flood, Noah and his family would have been lost. If Jesus did not rise from the dead we could not be saved. Our hope rests on the resurrection of Christ.
 
PRINCIPLE: 
 
The resurrection of Jesus brings confidence in God accepting us into his presence. 
 
APPLICATION:  
 
Today, like Noah’s day, we escape through the baptism of Christ’s death. In Christ, God gives us a new status quo. This gives us a “good conscience toward God.” When we enter the true ark (the death of Christ for our sins), God will save our souls. The resurrection stamps a guarantee that God will bring us into his presence in eternity.
 
God shut the door of the ark and those inside are safe eternally.  God saves us in the same sense that the water saved those in the ark. The water lifted the ark and the death of Christ saves our souls.

1 Peter 3:20

Published on October 23, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.”

who formerly were disobedient,
 
The people of Noah’s day rebelled against God’s message while the ark was of being built over a 120-year period (Genesis 6:3). The “spirits” of verse 19 are probably those who rebelled against God during this 120-year period.
 
People of Noah’s generation remained hardened in disobedience of unbelief. With all the warning they received over a 120 years, they remained unmoved. They laughed at Noah for building such a ship on dry land. Their disobedience of unbelief scorned Noah’s message.
The people of Noah’s day showed negative volition over a 120-year period. This rebellion was an angelic inroad into the human race as angels married human females (Genesis 6:1-4). Jesus went to Tartarus to proclaim victory over Satan’s scheme to mingle humans and angels. The incarnation of Jesus was no mingling of human and angel. Jesus defeated this angelic distortion by taking on true human nature and living without sin throughout his life.
when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah,
God held back judgment for 120 years during the construction of the ark. God gave the people of Noah’s day time to repent (Genesis 6:3). “Longsuffering” — God’s patience was a long holding out under provocation. “Waited” comes from two words, wait and eagerly. The double compound means to wait out to the end. God’s patience with their negative volition was extensive.
while the ark was being prepared,
“Prepared” means that Noah was in the process of fitting out the ark. The construction of the ark was a tremendous undertaking. No human ship builder showed Noah how to build a ship of such magnitude. The process of building the ark was itself a sermon of approaching judgment. People wrote him off as a religious “kook.”The ark was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Because of its’ size, it attracted attention to itself. It drew questions about God’s purpose in the world.
in which a few, that is, eight souls,
The eight souls were Noah, his wife, three sons and their wives (Genesis 7:13).”In which” is the ark. They were saved by the ark, not water!! By analogy, Jesus is the ark.
were saved through water
This phrase says they were saved through water, yet the water could drown them. They were actually saved by the ark. The same water that buoyed up the ark drowned unbelievers. It was the same water but the difference was that those saved were in the ark. The analogy is that we died in the waters of Christ’s death, the ark of eternal salvation. The water buoyed up the ark, saving those on board. They were saved before boarding. They were also saved by being on the ark. On the other hand, those not on board were destroyed by water.
“Through” — intermediate agency. The water indirectly saved the eight souls by buoying up the boat. The ark, built by faith in God’s promise was a sign to Noah of a future salvation. The water was a type of death from which God delivers believers. God brings believers to heaven through the death of Christ. God shelters Christians in the refuge of the ark. God saves us through the waters of judgment in the baptism of the ark (Jesus’ death). The ark (Jesus) suffered the water’s judgment.
The water was the intermediate agency and the ark was the immediate, or primary, agency. The flood’s fury fell on the ark but it did not sink it. It was buoyed because of it. This is a picture of Christ’s death for our sin (verse 18). The wrath of God descended on Christ at the cross. When it looked as if all were lost, He rose from the dead! Judgment came upon Christ on the cross but He rose from the dead.
In the antitype, God saves the believer in the baptism of Christ at Calvary. The baptism of the ark is a type of this. It was Christ who was baptized into God’s judgment on the cross, the antitype.
Water was judgment for the unbelievers of Noah’s day. God immersed them in water. Those “under” water were unbelievers. Those eight people above water were safe. So the baptism here of the eight was a dry baptism, not a water or wet baptism. They were dry in the ark.
Principle:
Noah’s baptism in the flood illustrates our participation in the death of Christ.
Application:
Through Christ’s death, we die to sin and the penalty of sin. We are free from paying for sin ourselves.

1 Peter 3:19

Published on October 22, 1997 in 1 Peter. 2 Comments
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"By whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison"

In 1 Peter 3:19-21 Peter focuses on two great judgments:
 
1) the judgment of Noah’s day and
2) the judgment of fallen angels.
Peter presents the ark of Noah’s day as the type of Christ’s suffering on the cross. In verse 21 he gives the antitype (the reality behind the type) as salvation by Christ’s baptism at Calvary.
By whom also
The remainder of this chapter is very difficult to interpret. The best interpretation is that Christ descended into Hades after his crucifixion to proclaim to fallen angels that their fall was unnecessary (2 Peter 2:4-5). This interpretation would equate the fallen angels with the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:1-2.”By whom” refers to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit transported Jesus to Tartarus and enabled him to preach to fallen angels.
He went and preached to the spirits in prison
“He” refers to the Lord Jesus.”Went” — to be transported. The Holy Spirit transported Jesus to Tartarus, the residence of fallen angels. Tartarus is not hell but an underworld for demons (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6).
We better translate the word “preached” as, made an official announcement. This is different from the usual word to preach. It means to make an official announcement by a public crier. The issue is not the gospel here but a victorious proclamation to fallen angels that they did not have to fall because Jesus did not fall. Verse 20 clearly indicates to whom he made the announcement.
Jesus here asserts his triumph over the sin issue. Jesus came to undo the original fall — the fall of angels. Angels were tested and failed. Jesus was tested and succeeded.
“Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15).
“To the spirits in prison” — fallen angels of Genesis 7 (2 Peter 2:4). This was an angelic infiltration into the human race. These angles could not repent but they were brought to subjection (verse 22).
Principle:
God will one day vindicate Himself.
Application:
God demonstrates His vindication of Christ in the resurrection. In His ascension, God seated Him above all angelic powers. As we embrace new life in Christ, we too overcome what brought the angels down.