1 Peter 3 Study Notes

3:15 Peter urged believers to regard Christ the Lord as holy from the center of their being. This inner reverence for Christ should lead believers to be ready at any time, especially in the midst of persecution and suffering, to give a frank defense of the hope within them. On “hope,” cp. v. 5; 1:3,21.

3:16-17 Christians ought to defend their faith with gentleness and respect, not anger and arrogance. By this means, unbelievers will be humiliated when they malign believers at the last judgment. Note from v. 17 that suffering is ultimately from the will of God.

3:18-22 Peter pointed to Christ’s example of innocent suffering at the hands of this world’s citizens. Jesus’s innocent suffering, death, and resurrection/exaltation are the foundation for the salvation and vindication of believers.

3:19-20a The statement that Christ made proclamation to the spirits in prison who in the past were disobedient is extremely difficult to interpret. According to one plausible view, the term spirits refers to the souls of people who died in the great flood (Gn 6-7). The “proclamation” was made by the pre-incarnate Christ through Noah’s preaching to his disobedient contemporaries. This preaching of repentance occurred while Noah made preparations for the flood. Peter could refer to Noah’s contemporaries as the “spirits in prison” because when he wrote this letter they had long been dead, were incorporeal spirits, and were under confinement awaiting God’s final judgment. The position taken in the text of the CSB is that Christ after his death and resurrection made a proclamation of victory over the demonic spirits. In this view the “spirits” are evil angels.

Makrothumia refers to patient perseverance in withstanding a difficult situation. The patience of the faithful witnesses and martyrs of old is an example for present-day believers (Heb 6:12; Jms 5:10). Paul prayed that the Colossian church would have great endurance and patience (Col 1:11). Elsewhere, makrothumia speaks of patience within the context of personal relationships, referring to the patience of people toward one another or of God toward humanity. Paul exhorts Timothy to encourage his congregation with patience (2Tm 4:2), and believers should demonstrate patience toward each other (Col 3:12). In reference to God, makrothumia always indicates his slowness in bringing about judgment. God’s patience waited while Noah prepared an ark (1Pt 3:20), and God’s patience in bringing judgment provides present opportunity for repentance (Rm 2:4). Similarly, the patience of Jesus in bringing judgment should be considered as a present opportunity for salvation (2Pt 3:15).

3:20b-21 Noah and his family were saved through water, or brought safely through the floodwaters, whereas the wicked were destroyed (Gn 7:22-23). Baptism in the NT corresponds to this OT event in that both involve breaks from past lives and a fresh start and entrance into new life. Water cannot save, but baptism with water does symbolically depict the changed life of a person whose conscience is at peace with God through faith in Christ. That the act of “baptism” is viewed symbolically and does not actually save us is explained by Peter in the latter half of v. 21 with the words not as the removal of dirt from the body.