Understanding 1 Peter 3:19

1 Peter 3:18-4:6 has been a difficult passage to understand. I would like to recommend one line of interpretation that is not heard of much.

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, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 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. 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, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him. 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, 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. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

The key to understanding this passage seems to lie in the concept of baptism as a dying to self and a resurrection to live for God. This concept is seen in Romans 6:1-6 and Galatians 2:20.

So, verse 18 begins with the thought that on the cross Jesus suffered for our sins and rose again by the Spirit which becomes a type for the antitype of baptism.

Verse 19-20 taken together says, that “by whom”, i.e. the Spirit, Jesus preached to those who sinned in the time of Noah. Only those came through the flood was saved – eight souls. This is best seen as the Spirit preaching through Noah to his generation.

The confusion comes by the term ‘preached to the spirits in prison’. That gives rise to interpretations that Jesus went and preached to them sometime in His ministry. Many see this as between the death and the resurrection as said in the Nicene creed – he descended in to hell. But the expression could mean, those spirits who were condemned and sent to hell. In the present when Peter is writing they are in prison, but when the word was preached to them they were one earth. If you look at the passage carefully, you will find that nowhere it says when this word was preached to them. Peter did not explain probably because he was clear in his mind as to what he was saying.

In verse 21 he now links this to baptism, which is not seen as a washing away of sins, but a regeneration and a new person. Just as Noah and his family were saved coming through the judgement on the world, we also are saved by coming through the judgement of the cross with Jesus.

1 Peter 4:1 has another difficult statement based on the same idea, ‘he who has suffered does not sin.’ This is same thought in Romans 6:1-6. He who has died in baptism does not sin or commit himself to sin. Suffering here is death continuing the thought of 1 Peter 3:18, and not physical suffering as such.

We see this idea of judging the flesh also in 1 Peter 4:6 where the gospel is preached to the spiritually dead so that in baptism they can die and live by the Spirit. This is the purpose of preaching.

What is the Old Covenant and what is the New?

Jeremiah 31 speaks of the new covenant God will make with Israel. But what is the old covenant that is being replaced. Most Christians tend to think that the old covenant is salvation by works and the new covenant salvation by faith. But that this erroneous is apparent from Paul’s argument in Romans 2 to 4 and 9. The old covenant was also salvation by faith!!

What is the old covenant? The old covenant grows out of God’s covenant with Abraham. So let us look at these covenants with Abraham and Moses.

The first covenant with Abraham is Genesis 12:1-3 where no works are demanded except to get out of his father’s house and to go to the promised land. If he went to the Promised Land God would bless him and make him a blessing.

The second covenant with Abraham is in Genesis 15:1-11 where an unconditional promise is given to Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation. In this covenant, the Exodus event is indicated in verses 13-14 as a part of the covenant with Abraham. This passage also contains the well-known verse 15:6, “Abraham believed God, and He accounted it to him for righteousness”. It is important here to note that the word righteousness carries within it the meaning of salvation.

The third covenant with Abraham is in Genesis 17:1-14. Here God begins in verse 4 saying that God’s covenant is with Abraham, to make him the father of many nations. Verse 7 says that this would be an everlasting covenant with his descendants and God would give these descendants the promised land. No conditions are given. The sign of this covenant, that they were chosen by God, was circumcision (vs 10). To remain in this covenant relationship, they needed to carry on them the sign of the covenant, otherwise they were cast off (vs 14).

We now come to the covenant with Moses in Exodus. The Exodus event begins with the Passover celebration. Again here no conditions are put. God has rescued them and they were to put the blood of the Passover lamb on their houses so the judgment would not come on them. No works were required, only an expression of their faith in Yahweh and the Passover sacrifice.

In Exodus 19:4-6

 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

Verse 5 “if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me “ is seen as a verse expressing salvation by works. But is that true? Verse 4 says that God has, with no conditions, brought them out of Egypt to HIMSELF.  Now if they lived by obedience to Yahweh, God would make them a nation of priests, or they would fulfill God’s purpose for them.

The succeeding verses then spells how they could make themselves into a nation of priests.

The book of Deuteronomy often speaks of the Old Testament. These need to be studied carefully. You should note that the disobedience that leads to separation from God is worshiping other gods and not breaking one of the commands.

Deuteronomy 4:3-4 makes this very clear. Those who left Yahweh died and those who stayed with Yahweh lived. Verse 5 and 6 says that if they lived by the Law they would be a testimony to the nations around them. This is the covenant referred to in verse 13 and the Laws are spelt out in the succeeding verses.

Deuteronomy 4:23 says that forgetting the covenant was to worship other gods. Similarly, if you read Deuteronomy 9-12 carefully, you will see that these chapters speak of God’s unconditional love for Israel and how if Israel obeyed the commands they would fulfill God’s purpose for them.

This is essentially the same relationship we have with God in the New Covenant. He saved us in Jesus, and if we are loyal to Him and avoid other gods, we have salvation. The more we live by the teachings of Jesus the more we fulfill His purpose for us.

Then what is the difference between the Old Covenant and the New?

Primarily two.

One is obvious, which is the finished work of Jesus, so that we know how secure our future with God is. But what Jeremiah refers to is the writing of the Law in our hearts (Jer 31:33) and we do not need anyone to teach us (Jer 31:34). Compare this with 1 John 2:27. Here it is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes this a reality. So the difference between the Old Covenant and the New is not Works and Grace, but the out pouring of the Holy Spirit on all flesh as prophesied in Joel. In the Old I had to fulfil God’s purpose on my own, in the New I fulfil with the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, let us leave the Old and move on to the New.

Consequence of sin - can we escape it?

In 2 Samuel 12:7-12 Nathan’s brings God’s word against David for his sin. This word includes “Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised Me …” (verse 10).

David then in verse 13 says I have sinned and Nathan says that God has put away your sin. He then says “because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die (verse 14).

The question which arises from vs 13 is “If David’s sin was put away by God, why was the punishment of vs 10 not put away?”

Is the punishment like Karma, a must that cannot be avoided and only escape from banishment to hell the only protection in Jesus Christ? That is not acceptable in the light of Jonah’s preaching turning away the destruction of Nineveh, at least temporarily.

Is there then an alternative understanding of verse 10 not as a punishment but a prophecy of the consequence of the sin? Just as excessive drinking leads to a ‘cirrhosis of the liver’ so the despising of God by David led to despising of God by his children and resultant internecine fighting. Can verse 10 be interpreted as a prophecy instead of a judgement? Or possibly both?

Does that mean that the consequences cannot be reversed while the punishment can? That would be pushing God into a box. I would rather say that the ‘cirrhosis’ can be cured miraculously and so the consequence avoided, but this is not the norm by which God works. Usually we go through the consequences with God at our side.

Does sin separate us from God?

When I make the statement ‘sin does not separate us from God’ it causes some confusion because the Bible has many passages on how our sins have separated us from God (Ephesians 2:1, Colossians 2:13). The problem is that once we have set right our relationship with Jesus if sin separated us from God we could never have security in our salvation.

So what does sin do? When Adam sinned, he hid from God, but God has no problem coming to him, speaking to him, making clothes for him etc. Sin did not separate God from Adam, but Adam from God. Sin destroys the victory in your life and the confidence in your relationship with God but does not take God away from you.

What Ephesians 2:1 says is that because of our sins we were dead or separated from God. But when we surrendered our lives to Jesus, we are raised as a new creation. Now we live for Jesus and if we err or sin, it does not affect our relationship with God. Otherwise none of us would ever have a strong and confident relationship with God.

However, there are some sins that does take God away from us as shown in the vision of God leaving the Temple in Ezekiel chapters 8-10. This is the sin of idolatry or having other gods in our life. Most of the prophecies against Israel in the Old Testament was against their idolatry and God’s punishment in the form of exile comes because of the sin of Idolatry.

We also see the prophets speaking against social injustice and oppression of the poor which essentially comes from a love of money and is the worship of other gods.

Then are there different levels off sin? The Roman Catholic Church had the concept of mortal sins and venial sins. There is some Biblical support for this in the unforgiveable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and sin unto death in 1 John 5:16.

In my perspective sin is secondary to having other gods. 1 Timothy 6:10 says that love of money is the root of ALL evil. James 1:13-14 says that temptation leading to sin comes from chasing the things of this world. It is this trust in things other than God that is what the Old Testament prophets railed against and said that the sin of the people has separated them from God. It is this worship of other gods that lets sin flood our lives. The problem is not sin, which is a symptom of the presence of other gods in our life, just as fever is the symptom of the presence of infection in our bodies. This truth is also brought out in Romans Chapter 1:18-32

Using the terminology of the Roman Catholic Church, worship of other gods is a mortal sin that separates us from God. But where I do not worship other gods, I do not normally sin. But if I do make an error or transgress a Law that does not separate me from God, and is like what we call in the Old Testament the unintentional sin. Hence I have security in my relationship with God.

When I sin repeatedly, I need to identify the god that is still dominating my life and repent from that god rather than trying by determination to overcome the sin. Sin is not the problem, other gods are.

So am I advocating taking a light view of sin and leading a life filled with sin? As Paul said when accused of the same, by no means! How can he who has died to sin live again in sin. Or as I would say, He who has repented from other gods go back to them? What I am advocating is not to let the fear and worry of sin dominate your life, but be free to serve God and man which is the only reason for your existence. God has and will deal with the sin.

Leviticus 2

Leviticus 2

The grain offering

The grain offering is offered either in conjunction with other animal sacrifices or by itself as a free will offering to Yahweh. The grain offering formed a part of the ritual offerings at festivals too and at other times but was often offered as an offering of one’s income and necessities to Yahweh.

vs 1 The grain is never offered but only the flour obtained after grinding the grain into a fine flour. It is always offered with oil and frankincense, except in case of sin offerings (Chapter 5).  Only a handful was burnt (vs 2) and the rest was given to the priest (vs 3), and had to be consumed within the Temple or Tabernacle (Lev 6:16) by the male descendants of Aaron or the priests and was not for their family. So their partaking of the sin offering was a ritual requirement probably signifying their identification with the people.

The grain offering also reminds us that when we give to God we need to give to His ministers as well. We cannot come to God without giving support for the workers in ministry.

The concept of the priesthood of all believers should not cloud the fact that the church and mission organizations need people who work their ‘full-time’ and they need our support.

Frankincense was added to the flour and all of it was burnt as an offering to Yahweh. This frankincense provided the aroma of the offering. Paul says that our witness and testimony is the aroma of the sacrifice before God 2 Corinthians 2:15f. In Ephesians 5:2 Paul says that our love within the fellowship is the aroma before God. We cannot come to God without bringing the ‘frankincense’ of our love for the members of the church before God. Ultimately the aroma looks forward to the aroma of Jesus Christ and His offering.

Oil was poured on the flour and signified the presence of the Holy Spirit sanctifying the motive for the gift and the gift itself by its anointing.

The grain could be cooked as either in an oven (vs 4), open pan (vs 5) or covered pan (vs 6). It was never leavened (vs 11), as leaven represented putrefaction and hence decay. While this is symbolic, it teaches us that our offerings need to be holy and what has been earned with proper relationships with people and not have anything evil in it as black-marketing, oppression, bribes etc.

The baked flour was broken into pieces and a portion was then burnt on the altar and the rest given to the priesthood (vs 10).

Interestingly honey was seen also like leaven and not offered to God.  It could be because it fermented when left for long.

Salt was also to be added (vs 13) representing the covenant they made with God on the basis of which these offerings were being made.

First-fruits were different from grain offerings and not burnt on the altar (vs 12). These were offerings which went to the Levites and the priesthood. However, a memorial portion of the first-fruits could be burnt (vs 16) at the altar.

 

 

Leviticus 1

Leviticus 1

The offerings of Israel are also described by God. A broad outline had been given in Exodus 29 of the regular daily offerings. Here we deal with the special offerings of the individuals.

The burnt offering

The sacrificial offerings to be given for the burnt offering is from the livestock and not from the agricultural produce, because without blood there is no remission of sin (Hebrews 9:22). For the burnt offering it had to be a male animal and not female.

This offering is to be offered by one’s own freewill (vs 3). That means it is offered by a sincere desire to set right one’s relationship with God and not because the “Law says so.”

This burnt offering was meant to be an atonement for our sins (vs 4). When John the Baptist in John 1:29 says “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world”, he was possibly referring to this atoning sacrifice.

The laying of his hands on the sacrifice (vs 4) was meant to be a transfer one’s authority and self to the lamb, signifying that the lamb was his representative (accepted on his behalf). It is a mistake to see this as a transferring of sin.

Our sin warranted our death. In our place we offer the animal. This animal was fully burnt to signify our total surrender of our lives to Yahweh. It is a mistake to see this ritual as a cleansing or bathing process of cleansing from sin, but rather as a repeated surrender and reminder of our surrender in totality to Yahweh.

1 John 4:10 says that Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. For this Jesus in baptism identified with mankind, and we in baptism identify with Jesus so that we die with Him and live with Him (Romans 6:4). It is a total surrender of our life to Jesus and the imagery is the same as in the burnt offering. As Paul writes in many places we now live for Jesus not ourselves. (2 Corinthians 5:15)

The life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11) and the pouring of the blood at the altar (vs 5) signified the surrender of the life to Yahweh.

The offering was not burnt as one piece but was cut into pieces and burnt, probably to ensure that all of it was burnt and it took place quickly. This breaking symbolized our own brokenness before God. The exception was when the offering was a bird and it was burnt whole but partially cut (vs 17).

The entrails and feet were washed to make sure that no dirt and excreta are there (vs 9).

The skin was not burnt and was given to the priest according to Leviticus 7:8. There is probably no spiritual meaning in this apart from an income to the priest. We need to provide for the support of the workers in the ministry.

People who could not afford a bull could offer a ram or a he-goat (vs 10), and the very poor a dove or a pigeon (vs 14). Atonement was available to all. It was not to be priced out of their reach. The only cost was the surrender of self to Yahweh.

The Tabernacle faced east (Ex 27:9-15) and the burnt offering was killed to the right as one entered (vs 11). The waste was thrown to the east or towards the entrance probably for ease in clearing.

AUTHOR STIR

1. God made the ritual affordable to all. But the true cost was one’s life. Have you made the burnt offering of your life to Jesus? What does it involve?
2. What have you offered to the one who helped you in the process?

 

 

1 Corinthians 11:10 reference to angels

The reference to angels 1 Corinthians 11:10 has always been a problem to understand. One possibility which came to me seems to be a way out.

Hebrews 2:2 says “word spoken through angels” referring to the giving of the Law to Moses. There seems to have been a tradition that the Law came to Moses via angels. The same idea is given in Acts 7:53 “who have received the Law by the direction of angels” and Galatians 3:19 “(the Law) was appointed through angels”

This idea could have developed from Deuteronomy 33:2 “The Lord came from Sinai … with ten thousand of saints”.

Is it possible that the term ‘because of the angels’ in 1 Corinthians 11:10 refers to the giving of the Law?

In 1 Corinthians 14:34 Paul says that as per the LAW women were to submit to men. Is Paul making a similar appeal to the Law in 1 Corinthians 11:10 for women to show her submissiveness to men in public by covering their head?

In that case ‘because of the angels’ basically means because of the Law and is parallel to 1 Corinthians 14:34.