First, I’d like to offer a few points for consideration:

  • Men’s thoughts of God’s ways shouldn’t go beyond what is written:
    1 Corinthians 4:6 “And these things, brethren, I’ve transferred in a figure to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that you might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.”
  • This overview has been posted with a desire to express God’s glory in what I believe to be part of the revelation of the Fathers great love for His Son and His love for His children; the beauty of the humble ministry of Holy Spirit, the excellence & purity of Christ, and God’s gracious promise of eternal hope that has been granted to the Saints through Christ.
  • Study to see if what is written here is true, Ref: Acts 17:11.
    When there’s an alternative perspective believed instead of the truth, there’s a subsequent loss of representation of God’s glory by man. 

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The verse being considered here is 1 Peter 3:19, but before quoting the verse or other verses which deliver it’s context, the following verses are presented for consideration relating to the question “Where was Christ between His death & resurrection?“, the answer to this question is given and confirmed in scripture by “comparing spiritual things with spiritual“.

And Jesus said unto him, Truly I say unto you, Today you shall be with me in paradise.
(Luke 23:43)

And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit: and having said this, he gave up the ghost.
(Luke 23:46)

And without doubt great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

1 Timothy 3:16

  • In consideration of the verse Luke 23:43, “Today” is translated from the Greek word sēmeron: Thayer defines it as: this (very) day, We’re told that Jesus was in paradise on that very day, not after three days when His body was resurrected.
  • Then in consideration of the verse Luke 23:46, the word “hands” is used to express the care and security of the Father (ref. Gen 8:9, Gen 39:8, Psalm 37:24, Son 8:3, Isa 22:21) whereas in other verses the word “feet” is often used to express judgment by metaphor of being trodden under foot (ref. 2 Kings 9:33, Isaiah 14:25, 18:7, Lam 1:15…). The word “commend” is translated from the Greek word paratithēmi: Thayer defines it as: to place down (from one’s self or for one’s self) with any one to deposit to entrust, commit to one’s charge. Jesus commended/entrusted His Spirit into His Father’s hands according to His will, not into Hades where there is no peace or favour of the Fathers presence.

Consideration of 1 Peter 3:18-20 (KJV) in point form:

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by which also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly were disobedient, when the long-suffering of God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.” (1 Peter 3:18-20)

  1. “made alive”: Jesus body is spoken of here as being brought back to life, some translations use the word “quickened“, His earthly body which had commenced life in the womb of Mary, had died when He entrusted His Spirit to His Father, Colossians 1:21&22 tell of his earthly body which housed His spirit “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death,”, then His body was placed in a tomb where it lay before being quickened when His Spirit again occupied it on the 3rd day after death, but Jesus exists eternally before the commencement of the life of His earthly body as well as during it’s deceased condition and after it’s resurrection to life; this point of His eternal existence was expressed by Jesus when He said to the Jews “before Abraham was, I Am“,  He’s not speaking of His earthly body being in existence before Abraham, He’s referring to eternal existence of Himself, whereas His earthly body commenced existence at its miraculous conception.
  2. “by the Spirit,”: Jesus’ body which had ceased to live when He gave up His Spirit to the Father, was brought back to life (resurrected) “by the Spirit,”.
    Thayer translation of Greek 4151 “Spirit”
    • the third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, coequal, co-eternal with the Father and the Son
      1. sometimes referred to in a way which emphasises His personality and character (the “Holy” Spirit)
      2. sometimes referred to in a way which emphasises His work and power.
        • 2,3,4,5…(these are not related to the context of this topic but can be found at this link)
  3. “by which also He went“: God commands all men to live according to the righteousness of His only begotten Son Jesus, who was expressed in Noah by the power of Holy Spirit. There is no example of perfect righteousness in any being other than Jesus, who “went” and preached His righteousness through/by Holy Spirit working to produce righteous words and works in Noah. ref.
    • Isaiah 61:10 “…He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,…“
    • Rev. 19:8 “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.“
  4. “and preached”: The word “preached” expresses an announcement or proclamation to the people of Noah’s time before the flood, to obey God’s will, but we’re told in verse 20 that they were “disobedient” despite God being patient with them “while the ark was being prepared“.
    No one is preached to after death, that’s a concept contrary to God’s Word, for example were told in:
    • Hebrews 9:27 “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,“, there is no second chance for repentance after death of the body,
    • Revelation 20:11-15 “And I saw a great white throne and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works, and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”.
    • When Jesus told the disciples and Pharisees the story of Lazarus and the rich man (see Luke 16) Abraham told the rich man that regarding his 5 brothers who were still alive, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them“.

      Preaching has a place under the sun, but when we leave this created realm under the sun, the time of reckoning and reward or penalty commences, with no more preaching to be delivered.

A substantial part of 1 Peter 3 & 4 preaches that we are to recognise God’s commandment to live holy lives:

  • As seen in contrast to the godless ways of the world of Noah’s time which will also be the ways of the world before Christ’s second coming.
  • We’re told that those who don’t obey God’s commandment will be judged on the basis of their rejection of the preaching. 2Th 2:12 “that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. “

Understanding of 1 Peter 3 & 4 is helped by reading through the subsequent verses through to the following chapter including to at least 1 Peter 4:6 where we’re told: “For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead,“. (NIV)

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The relevance of Noah in this verse.

The scriptures speak of the preaching of God to man, in more ways than through the written Word of God, for example…

  • (Psalm 19:1) “…The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.“
  • (Psalm 50:6) “Let the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is Judge. Selah.”
  • (Romans 1:20) “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”
  • (Hebrews 11:7) “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.“

Holy Spirit has been active on earth at least as early as is mentioned in Genesis 1:2 “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters“, one of His works is spoken of in John 16:7-11 where Jesus tells of Holy Spirit coming to convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment, “in regard to righteousness because you will no longer see Me;“.

Holy Spirit presently convicts the world of righteousness through the life of Jesus, and He has been actively speaking to men by Jesus’s righteousness through various persons including Noah. Stephen spoke of the admonition of Holy Spirit when he said:

You stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.
(Acts 7:51)

Noah was an instrument of Holy Spirit’s work in convicting the world through the righteousness of Christ: The people who were alive at the time of Noah preparing the Ark, were preached* to, by Christ through Holy Spirit in Noah; Noah wasn’t just a man building an ark to save his family, he was responding in faithful obedience to what God had instructed him to do, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, representing a clear difference from what the rest of mankind was doing, as the scripture says in Genesis 6:5 “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.“, but Noah could say the words expressed by Isaiah:

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
(Isaiah 61:10)

There’s no righteousness of man that’s acceptable to God as we’re told in Isaiah 64:6 “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness’s are as filthy rags;”, only the righteousness of Christ is acceptable to God, and it was this very righteousness of Christ by Holy Spirit in Noah that was expressed as “preaching*” to the people who were referred to in 1 Peter 3:19 in their present place as the “spirits in prison”, which is also where the “rich man” is; Luke 16:23 “And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes…“.

Context: from Latin contextus, from con- ‘together’ + texere ‘to weave’. (Oxford dictionary)

The 1 Peter 3:19 portion of the chapter is better understood when reading past the end of the chapter through to at least 1 Peter 4:6 which tells that the gospel was “preached also to them that are dead“, here the text is delivered with the same style/sense of imparting the present location of those mentioned in 1 Peter 3:19 who are “…in prison“, both verses are parts of the body of doctrine being delivered which serve to identify the current place where those who rejected the preaching are now, not as some interpret it to be as identifying the location of the persons when they received the preaching:

For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
(1 Peter 4:6)

These ones are spoken of as presently being mortally dead “them that are dead“, but they weren’t preached to when they were mortally dead, they were alive when they heard the command to repent which was delivered by the preaching, they had been commanded by the preaching to “live according to God in the spirit.” (4:2) so that they should no longer live the rest of their time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. People who are in heaven don’t need instruction to live according to God’s will, they are free from corruption from that point on eternally, and people who have died and gone to hades will never be reconciled to God so they won’t be warned or exhorted to repent, they have lost all opportunity for repentance and reconciliation to God eternally: “Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.” (John 8:21)

A substantial portion of the teaching here, is that after having read of the judgment and penalty to be delivered to those who are now mortally dead waiting in hades (prison), Christians should understand, and be governed by this understanding of the depth of what has been granted in eternal salvation through Christ Jesus, as contrasted with the dark eternal state of the disobedient. The good news of salvation has been delivered to us by Holy Spirit from God’s Word by those who’ve been sent, so that we should no longer live the rest of our time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

Those who are now held in “prison” awaiting judgment and eternal penalty were warned, and they rejected the warning, we’re currently being preached to, don’t take it lightly, respond in obedience and be changed by Him to be more like Christ.
The teaching of these verses also has application to those who are still alive but haven’t repented, it’s saying to them “Listen to the warning of eternal penalty, consider it seriously and repent, because today is the day of salvation, you don’t have any guarantee of being alive tomorrow,”, but after death comes the judgment for those who die in their sin, so listen to the warning, repent and be reconciled to God, this is the good news of the gospel, God can enable man to be free from the weight of sin, through Christ Jesus.

The warning was preached before the flood:

The length of time which Noah was occupied with building the ark (approx. 100 years), is spoken of as the time “…when once the Divine long-suffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, …” 1 Peter 3:20; 
It was a time of the grace of God being extended to man by way of patiently warning the people of the Judgement of their sin which would come to them if they didn’t repent!

The fact of Noah’s preaching being that of Christ, and not a personal condemnation of the people by himself, is evident in the statement in scripture, when Christ says “let him that is without sin cast the first stone” John 8:7; No man has God’s authority to cast a stone/condemn, it’s only Christ who can do this, because He’s the only one without sin, and He’s “the judge of all the earth”: Gen 18:25, Acts 17:31, 2 Timothy 4:1,

Christ judges through His righteousness in His people; Revelation 19:8 tells us that “it was given to her* (*the Church) that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright [and] pure; for the fine linen is the righteousness’s of the saints.”, note that “it was given to her”, it wasn’t decided, or acquired, or developed by her, but “given her” by God.

In the statement of Hebrews 11:7,… by “preparing an ark to the saving of his house;…he condemned the world;”, By his righteous action, in obediently faithfully preparing the ark, Holy Spirit patiently preached Christ to those who lived to themselves; just as many are doing today…

But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.“.
(Matthew 24:37-39)

So also today, God is still preaching Christ through Holy Spirit in the Saints, commanding all men everywhere to repent to salvation and many think the gospel is foolishness, as 1 Peter 4 continues the theme of the previous chapter:

4 Wherein they think it strange that you don’t run with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: 5 Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For for this cause the gospel was preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
(1 Peter 4:4-6)

  • “they think it strange that you don’t run with them to the same excess of riot” (v4)
    I expect the people of Noah’s day also thought it strange that he chose to spend his time building a massive boat, rather than filling his time with selfish pursuits as they did…
  • “Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the living and the dead” (v5)
    We’re told in Ephesians 5:16 and Colossians 4:5 to redeem the time, there are no further chances of doing this after death of the body. Christ Jesus who is the means of salvation, “ was preached also to them that are dead,” through Noah by the work of Holy Spirit, to direct them to “live according to God in the spirit.“, to turn them to live according to God’s commandments which He wrote in their hearts which as revealed in Romans 2:15 :They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.), but because they didn’t repent, they will stand before the great white throne to be judged according to the words and actions they expressed while they were alive on earth: “that they might be judged according to men in the flesh“. (v6)

And as it was in the days of Noah, so it shall be also in the days of the Son of man. They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
(Luke 17:26-27)

It’s been said:

“Christ went to hell to preach His victory over death & Sin.”

1) This statement is contrary to the Scriptural account of the passages quoted earlier from Luke 23:43 & 46, as well as Hebrews 1:3 “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:”

2) Christ’s victory over the grave has been known by deceased men since the first man waited in Hell for the final judgement; as he and each subsequent person look across the great chasm to the saints in God’s presence, they can see the Saints, among whom is Abel, waiting in peace & comfort there because of the victory Christ has won for the Saints:

3) It was Christ, who told His disciples of the peace of Lazarus & Abraham, when He talked to them before His crucifixion…

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and sees Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And 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.
(Luke 16: 22-24)

4) Job didn’t live to see Christ’s birth or death, as his life was approx. 2200-1700 BC, but he knew that he wasn’t saved from Hell by “his own righteousness”, he knew that he was saved from Hell by Christ’s death, and he stated this in Job 19:25  “For I know that my redeemer lives, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:”

It’s also been said:

“On the day that Christ stated ‘Today you will be with me in paradise’, He didn’t go to heaven to be with the thief, because he didn’t ascend to The Father until the third day after His death.”.

There are some points to be considered in regard to the scriptures which speak contrary to this statement: Its important to understand that Christ’s body was removed from the cross, placed in the tomb (“the lower parts of the earth” Ephesians 4:9), and resurrected on the third day, but between the time of Him “giving up the ghost” and His resurrection, He was sitting down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: (ref. Hebrews 1:3)

  1. Christ never lies: “…Today you shall be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:42), “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither a son of man, that he should repent. Shall he say and not do?…” (Numbers 23:19)
  2. Christ’s body of flesh was in the tomb* for three days: “Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the *earth? He that *descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.,” (Ephesians 4:9),
    “Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. 7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:6)
    But Christ is the first to be resurrected “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.”(1 Corinthians 15:20).
    He was in Paradise as He told the thief He would be, and on the third day, He was united with His resurrected body; not so for the bodies of Saints who die before the Christ’s appearing… “Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” (Romans 8:23)
  3. The deceased body of Christ was precious to His disciples, just as it was to The Father; This appreciation of Christ’s body by the disciples, is consistent with Godly principles of respect established in scripture, an example of which is shown in Genesis 50:5 “My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have dug for me in the land of Canaan, you shall bury me there. Now therefore let me go up, I ask you, and bury my father, and I will come again.”;
    and Acts 8:2 “And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.” 
  4. It wasn’t until after Mary Magdalene had gone to see the tomb of Christ on the third day after His death, that Christ in the form of being in His resurrected body, ascended to The Father; “Jesus says to her, Do not touch me; for I’m not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” (John 20:17),
    so that even the earthly hands of Mary were not allowed to touch Him before His perfectly resurrected body was presented to The Father first; but after Christ had ascended in His resurrected body, then He appeared to His disciples, until leaving them with instruction to preach the gospel.

Regarding Acts 2:29-32

“Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31 He seeing this before spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. 32 This Jesus has God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.”

  • In Psalm 16:10-11, David prophetically said God wouldn’t leave (H5800) Christ’s soul (H5315) in Hell (H7585); but rather …“You will show me the path of life: in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”, Ref: Hebrews 1:3 “when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high“
    Consider…
    H5800 leave, is either: to depart from, leave behind, let alone, abandon, forsake, neglect, deserted…
    H7585 Hell, is either: Sheol, underworld, grave or pit.
    After His dying, Christ was in Paradise just as He said to the thief; 
    The prophesy speaks of God’s love for His son being such that He wouldn’t leave (H5800 forsake…) Him to go to Hell H7585, He would never again leave Him, as He did when Christ was on the cross in darkness between the sixth hour and the ninth hour, where He experienced “dark” separation from His Fathers loving presence during that time; but in the tomb, only His body lay temporarily separated from His Spirit, in the lower part of the earth (H7585 the tomb) for three days, as prophesied, and as spoken of in Matthew 12:40 “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.“, not the Spirit of Christ in the grave, but His body only.
    Gods love of Christ is further confirmed by the statement in the remainder of the verse: “Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.“. This portion of scripture is reiterated in Acts 13: where the meaning is explained in verses 35-37: “You will not let your holy one see corruption….Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.’ (NKJV)
    The rest we have in God fulfilling His promise to His son, is that He will also fulfil His promises to His children, who after death, will never again experience corruption in ourselves, and we can boldly say…“O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55); otherwise if Christ hadn’t risen, the scripture states that our faith would be in vain, worthless; but as it is true that Christ rose from the grave victorious over death, so also His Saints will rise to never die again, but will be eternally in Gods presence, where He’s gone to prepare a place for us.

As more of the truth of God’s Word is understood, the greater the rest of man’s heart, and the brighter the light of God shines through him to the world; man must decrease.

Where was Christ between the time of His death, and His resurrection?

God doesn’t have to answer to man at any time, but in His grace, He reveals by Holy Spirit through Christ, as much, or as little of Himself as He desires. He’s revealed the beauty of His fulfilment of His promises, both concerning His Son, and His people. He’s told us as much as we need to know of where the man Christ Jesus was, where He went, and where He is.

I believe the three following verses give the answer plainly…

  • (Luke 23:43)  And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto you, To day shall you be with me in paradise.
  • (Luke 23:46) And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit: and having said this, he gave up the ghost.
  • (Hebrews 1:3) Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:

If you ask for a fish, He won’t give you a serpent.

By Holy Spirit giving understanding of The Word, man decreases, and God subsequently  increases in mans perception*. (*God is already greater than all, regardless of His creations acknowledgement of the fact)

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost  teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
(1 Corinthians 2:13)

Holy Spirit applies The Word to the conscience of man, just as He did at the time of the flood; and although they didn’t have The Word of God in the same form as we do today, the righteousness of Christ was no less relevant for them as the measure required, than it was for Adam, or is for us today. The Word of God, became flesh and dwelt among us, The Word was spoken in the garden…
“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.“, (Genesis 2:17) Christ is The Word.

Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.
(Psalm 19:105)

What a blessed place to be when we rest in the knowledge that God still speaks to mankind, to keep us from our “intelligence” so that we’re vessels to honour, sanctified and serviceable to Him, for every good work.

2 Timothy 2:1
“You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.“

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Another gem in the truth:

Treasure is to be searched for: A key to be recognised in the verse of 1 Peter 3:18, is: 
“the Spirit (G4151 Pneuma) by which also he went and preached”.

Holy Spirit directs/guides and sanctifies in service to God’s children for the Glory of God through Christ:

And Moses took of the anointing oil, and of the blood which was upon the altar, and sprinkled it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon his sons’ garments with him; and sanctified Aaron, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him.
(Leviticus 8:30)

Then to the present time, where Christ prayed the Father to send The Comforter for the work of teaching and ministering to the Saints,

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I’ve said to you.
(John 14:26)

Noah’s father said of Him “This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed.” (Genesis 5:29). Can you imagine the comfort Noah was to His family, as Holy Spirit preached the righteousness of Christ through him while all other men thought only evil continually? We’re often saddened at the presence of evil in our time, but in his day, the proportion of evil compared to good was so substantial, and yet he wasn’t deterred from completing the task given. He lived by faith in the strength of God.

The people of Noah’s day ignored the warning to repent, which Holy spirit preached through the righteousness of Christ in Noah. And similarly, at the commencement of the chapter, 1 Peter 3:1 states the righteousness of Christ preached through a wife’s behavior to her husband, as being the means by which the husband may be won, as her righteous life preaches Christ by her “meek and quiet spirit”, which is after the pattern of the Spirit of God.

When men reject the righteousness of Christ preached by men, the Word says “He therefore that despises, despises not man, but God, who has also given unto us his holy Spirit.” (1 Thessalonians 4:8)

We’re not to be like the people of Noah’s day, who rejected the preaching of Christ by Holy Spirit through Noah; but rather, we’re to walk in humility and obedience, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:16; We’re to walk as new creations. Peter speaks in the chapter, of the practical application of this new life in our relationships; As we deny ourselves and fulfil our responsibilities in love, our prayers will be effective. God who sees our ways, blesses those who suffer for righteousness, but is against those who do evil. He’s long suffering today, even as He’s always been, as when the ark was being built.
By the light of God seen in His people, the world are directed to repent and follow Christ, and through Holy Spirit’s presence, the Saints are strengthened to live and deliver the gospel daily, being changed from glory to glory.

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
(2 Corinthians 3:18)

“He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches;”
(Revelation 2:7)

Through Christ Jesus to God The Father’s glory.  

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