«　WEEK 38　DAY 3　»

　　1 Pet. 3:18-20 For Christ…on the one hand being put to death in the flesh, but on the other, made alive in the Spirit; in which also He went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, who had formerly disobeyed when the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah…

　　First Peter 3:19-20 tells us that immediately after the death of His body, Christ was strong and active in His Spirit and went to proclaim His victory to those disobedient ones at Noah’s time. In the Spirit (v. 18) does not refer to the Holy Spirit but to the Spirit that is Christ’s spiritual nature (Mark 2:8; Luke 23:46). (CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “God’s New Testament Economy,” p.158)

　　After He was buried, Christ went in His living Spirit to the spirits in prison (the rebellious angels) to proclaim God’s victory, through His incarnation in Christ and Christ's death in the flesh, over Satan's scheme to derange the divine plan.

　　The crucifixion put Christ to death only in His flesh which He received through incarnation, not in His Spirit. Instead of dying at the cross when His flesh did, Christ's Spirit was made alive, enlivened with new power of life, so that in this empowered Spirit Christ made a proclamation to the fallen angels after His death in the flesh and before His resurrection. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 782-783)

　　We should not interpret “made alive in the Spirit” [in 1 Peter 3:18] as referring to Christ’s resurrection…Rather, this verse indicates that when Christ was buried in the tomb, in His empowered Spirit, He went before His resurrection to the abyss to proclaim God’s victory to the rebellious angels.

　　The phrase in which [in verse 19] refers to the Spirit in verse 18, indicating and proving that in this Spirit Christ, after dying in His flesh, was still active. In particular, in His enlivened Spirit He made a proclamation to the spirits in prison. Throughout the centuries great teachers of different schools have had varying interpretations concerning the spirits in prison. The most acceptable according to the Scriptures is as follows. The spirits here do not refer to the disembodied spirits of dead human beings held in Hades but to the angels (angels are spirits—Heb. 1:14) who fell through disobedience at Noah’s time (1 Pet. 3:20…) and are imprisoned in pits of gloom for the judgment of the great day (2 Pet. 2:4-5; Jude 6). After His death in the flesh, Christ in His living Spirit went (probably to the abyss—Rom. 10:7) to these rebellious angels to proclaim, perhaps, God’s victory, through His incarnation in Christ and Christ's death in the flesh, over Satan's scheme to derange the divine plan.

　　The prison in 1 Peter 3:19 refers to Tartarus, the deep and gloomy pits (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6) where the fallen angels are kept. The word proclaimed [in 1 Peter 3:19] does not indicate the preaching of the good news but the proclaiming of the triumphant victory. This proclamation was made to those “who had formerly disobeyed” (v. 20)…The spirits in prison do not refer to the disembodied spirits of dead human beings held in Hades but to angels who fell through their disobedience at the time of Noah. Those angels left their own place, came down to earth, and used human bodies to commit fornication with the daughters of men, polluting the human race and producing giants (Gen. 6:4).

　　Christ died on the cross for our redemption. But although He was put to death in His body, He was enlivened and empowered in His Spirit, even before the resurrection. In this enlivened and empowered Spirit He went to proclaim to the rebellious angels God’s victory over Satan, their leader. Hence, Christ’s death not only accomplished redemption for us but also gained the victory over Satan and his followers. After His death and before His resurrection, Christ proclaimed to Satan’s followers God’s victory over the devil through the crucifixion of Christ. This was Christ's work in His burial. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 783-784)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 24; The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 72