How Did Jesus Preach to the Spirits in Prison?

• Is this verse teaching that there is a possibility of Salvation even after a person dies? Does it teach the doctrine of Purgatory? The Bible clearly teaches that following death, there comes judgment.

1 Pet 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 death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water."

Heb 9:27 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"

• Who are the Spirits in the Prison? every human being born into this world is in the prisoner in the kingdom of Satan until God translates them into the kingdom of his dear Son. Their own sins are wrapped about them, like cords, holding them fast. They are prisoners to sin and to Satan. We all are in the bondage of sin and servants (slaves) to sin. Our Savior gave the Gospel of Grace to us and redeemed us by his precious blood.

John 8:32-34 "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 33They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 34Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin."

Isa 42:6-7 "I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; 7To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house."

Luke 4:18-19 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me [Jesus Christ], because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 9To preach the acceptable year of the Lord."[Isa 61:1]

Acts 26:18 "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me."

• How did Jesus Preach in the days of Noah? Well, let us also go to Galatians 3, and we are just going to look at a verse that is going to help us understand. As we see in Gal 3:8, the Scripture preached unto Abraham. It was God’s Word that these things were declared to Abraham. Jesus preached to the “spirits in prison,” and how did He do that? Through the Scripture, through the Word of God. So Jesus preached or the Scripture preached; it is all one and the same: He is the Word of God. As we see in 2 Pet 2, through Noah, who was a preacher of righteousness, these things were declared to the people of the world of that day, that God would destroy the world with a flood and time was running short. He did this through Noah, which is the same way that this works out today because we are “ambassadors for Christ.” We beseech others “in Christ’s stead” and on His behalf and in His place, “Be ye reconciled to God”; and so Noah would have been building the ark, constructing this ship, and preaching. This physical illustration of building the ship itself, that was preaching to the people of the world.

John 1:1,14 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

2 Tim 3:16 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"

Gal 3:8 "And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed."

2 Pet 2:5 "And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;"

Heb 11:7 "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."

• How then were they condemned? They were condemned because the building of the ark was for a reason. The reason was because of man’s sinfulness. Due to man’s sinfulness, God intended to destroy them, to bring judgment upon them, to complete the condemnation that was already accomplished by His Word. Any unsaved person is already condemned. The Word of God has pronounced the judgment, “For the wages of sin is death,” and people will be condemned if they remain unsaved. So the construction of the ark, especially as it began to take shape and form and people could see what it was more and more, was a constant reminder of their sinfulness and of the fact that God’s wrath was upon them for it and that they would be destroyed.

Heb 11:7 "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."

John 3:17-18 "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."