No Second Probation An'Exposition, by Dr. William Evans
i Peter 3 : 18 - 20 — For Christ also hath once suffered, for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to de'dth in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit; by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometimes were disobedient, when once the long suffering of God waited in the days \ SECOND probation for 4 the human * * --ra ce has been based upon these pas sages. The preaching spoken o f here is made to mean the proclamation o f the good news o f salvation. Accordingly men, who- have lived a sinful life while on the earth, and who died in their sin, will be given another chance after death. I f they then repent and believe they will be saved. Without doubt this is a pleasant' doctrine for some people, but is it the true teaching o f these verses? Two different words are used to describe the preaching spoken o f in these passages; in 3:19 the word means “to . herald”—a word sometimes used o f preaching the Gos pel, but one which carries with it also the idea o f “ a herald.” It is the word used by the victorious gladiator in the arena, who, with his foot upon his conquered antag onist, cries out triumphantly o f his vic tory. The word used in 4 :6 is the regular word used for the proclamation o f the good news, and is not, I think, used in any other sense—-as is the case with the word used in 3:19—in the New Testament. With this understanding o f the principal words o f these passages before us, let us endeavor to ascertain their meaning. In the Old Testament times the world o f the departed dead was divided into two parts: the Upper part being called Paradise or Abraham’s bosom, in which Lazarus, after his death, found himself (Luke 16:22, 23) and the lower part, known as “shed” (hades), in which Dives, the godless rich
of Noah, while: the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 1 Peter 4 : 6 +—“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 man found himself on awaking in that other world. Into the upper part went all the Old Testament saints, also the dying thief on the cross (Luke 23:43) ; into the lower part, went all the godless o f the Old Testament times, described, by way o f illus tration in the text as those “which some time were disobedient, when once the long- suffering o f God waited in the days o f Noah, while the ark was a preparing.” It was to this latter class that Christ heralded his victory over sin, death, and the devil. Fdr this reason the word “ her ald” is used. If Christ had preached to these lost souls the good news o f salva tion then another and different word might, probably should, have been used. Christ’s purpose in visiting the world o f lost spirits was to proclaim himself victor, to make a shew o f principalities openly and to triumph over them. (Col. 2:15.) To the Old Testament saints in the upper part o f the world o f the dead Christ went also.- But it was with a different purpose in mind that the S6n o f God visited the place that contained J the spirits o f the righteous dead. What was that purpose? We are told in Ephesians 4:8 that “when he ascended up on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.” All the Old Tes- tament saints who died previous to Christ’s death and resurrection were, in a sense, under the power and sovereignty o f the ruler '„of death, that is the devil (Heb. 2:14). .But when Jesus. Christ died on the CroSs he paid the penalty due to sin, and
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