THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S are now in prison. One w riter, Mr. William Kelly, has argued fo r th is in terp retation w ith a g reat deal of ability and skill and w ith a large display of knowledge of Greek gramm ar. Of Mr. K elly’s unusual knowledge of Greek th ere can £e no question, bu t none the less I th in k he fails to make out his case. A fter all has been said, it seems to me th is in terp retation is an evasion. The spirit in verse 18 cannot mean the Holy Spirit. A contrast is being drawn between the two p arts of Christ’s n a tu re, the flesh in which He was pu t to death and the sp irit in which He was quickened (th a t is, made alive) a t the time. He was pu t to death in the fleSh. In His sp irit in which He was made alive, while th e body lay motionless in death, He went and preached unto the spirits in prison. .It seems to me th a t this is the only fair in terp retation to put upon th e words,-’ and if we are to take the Scriptures as meaning exactly what they say, th is is w hat we must take, them as meaning. But does not this involve a second probation for those who have died in disobedience to God and who consequently haye gone to the place of penalty and suffering? Even if it did, we ought not to dodge it on th a t account: we ought to be fair w ith the Scriptures w hether they conform to our theories or not. But in point of fact this does not in a n y ' wise involve a second probation for those who have died in disobedience, and who conse quently have gone to the place of penalty and suffering. This is apparent if we notice three things: F irst, if we notice to whom Jesus preached, and, second, if we notice what He preached to them , and, third, if we notice what were the results of His preaching.
28
^uiHiuiiiiiiiiwuiiiiiiruiuiuiuiiijliiiiiiiiiniiinriiTiaiiiiiinjiuiiiiiuiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiliumiiiiiil^
|
Difficult Passages J
1
Selected from the Writings of DR. R. A. TORREY
|
^illllllllllllllllUllIHlillUlllinilllllijlllinilllllllllllllllUlliiniillllllllllllllllllHIIIllUlHnillllllilillUlllHIIIIIII^
DID JESUS GO INTO THE ABODE OF THE DEAD, AND PREACH TO THE SPIRITS IN PRISON? AND IS THERE ANOTHER PROBA TION AFTER DEATH? x
THINK I have never had a question box in any city but what someone p u t in th e ques tion, “W hat does 1 P ete r 3:
18-20 mean when it says th a t Jesus went and preached unto th e spirits in p rison?” A very simple answer to this question is th a t it means ju st what it says, hut let us notice Carefully exactly w hat it does say. * “ Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, th a t he m ight bring us to God; being pu t to death in th e flesh, bu t quickened in the sp irit; in which also he went and preached unto th e spirits in ' prison, which aforetim e were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in th e days of Noah, while th e a rk was a preparing, wherein few, th a t is eight souls, were saved th rough w ater” (R. Y .). .The point of difficulty w ith this passage w ith many people is the thought th a t seems to be conveyed th a t Jesus actually went into the abode of th e dead and there preached to spirits in prison, and this would seem to imply to many th a t th e re is an opportunity for rep en t ance afte r death. Many have attem p t ed to explain th e verses in order to avoid th is conclusion, by saying th a t th e sp irit here mentioned in which Jesus was quickened, is the Holy Spirit, and th a t in th e Holy Spirit Jesu s Christ preached th rough Noah while the ark was preparing, to the spirits which were then disobedient and who consequently
F irst of all, then, to whom did Jesus preach? “The spirits in prison.” But who were these spirits in prison? Were they the spirits of departed, KEEP THE SILVER DOLLAR SMILING
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker