Read 1 Peter 3:18-4:6.

Note 1: In chapter three, verse twenty-one, the Greek word translated, “antitype”, refers to something that is the counterpart of some previous entity, that previous entity being known as the “type” and the “antitype” being the fulfillment of that which the type represents.

Note 2: The Greek preposition, δια, coupled with a genitive noun usually has the meaning, “through,” but it can also convey the meaning, “with” (Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament, (London: United Bible Societies, 1971), 41.) In the latter part of verse twenty-one it seems preferable to understand the preposition in the sense of “with,” rather than “through,” hence, the translation, “with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

Note 3: When verse five of chapter four speaks of the gospel being preached “to those who are dead,” it is referring to the gospel being preached to men in their present state of being spiritually dead in their trespasses and sins (cf. Eph. 2:1).

Introduction⤒🔗

A middle-aged husband and wife pack up their children and a few cherished belongs and turn their backs on suburbia. They leave behind the luxuries and comforts of their upscale home in order to relocate in the north woods, two hundred miles away from civilization. That’s a radical lifestyle!

One day a young woman tunes in a T.V. show promoting the latest physical fitness program, she gets hooked and goes on a health kick: a strict vegetarian diet, 5 a.m. jogs along the beach, a household full of exercise equipment, and a library full of diet cookbooks. That’s a radical lifestyle!

A teenage couple leave their Harley motorcycle in the parking lot and stride into the mall: their hair is dyed in matching shades of orange; their leather jackets are weighed down with gaudy chains of jewelry. That’s a radical lifestyle!

Examples of radical lifestyles? Not really. Take away the different wardrobes or diets or residences, get down to the heart and the outlook on life, and you will find a basic conformity: conformity to this world.

Do you want to see a really radical lifestyle? Look in the mirror. As someone who has been born again by the Spirit of God, someone who has died to the world and been made alive unto God, you have a radically different motivation, orientation and perspective; and that should express itself in a radically different lifestyle! Because you have made a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you must now live the radical lifestyle that is consistent with that profession of faith.

Because of Your Profession of Faith in Christ, You Must Live for the Will of God←⤒🔗

Peter’s reference to the days of Noah and the great flood, the time when “[only] eight souls, were saved through [the] water” (3:20), leads him to a discussion of Christian baptism: [There is] an anti-type that now also saves us, baptism—not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the appeal of a good conscience unto God—with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (3:21)

Peter informs us that that O.T. event, (Noah being saved from the deluge by means of the ark), has its N.T. “anti-type.” The Greek word, αντιτUπος (translated, “antitype”), refers to something that is the counterpart of some previous entity, that previous entity being known as the “type” and the “antitype” being the fulfillment of that which the type represents. In the present instance, the N.T. “anti-type” of that O.T. event (i.e. Noah and his family in the safety of the ark passed through the flood waters of judgment) is baptism. But what is the baptism to which the Apostle Peter is referring?

Peter makes clear that the baptism of which he writes is not the sacrament, as he phrases it, it is “not the removal of the filth of the flesh;” rather it is the spiritual baptism of which the sacrament is the sign and seal, it is the spiritual baptism administered by the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul informs the Corinthian Christians, “by one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13a). More precisely, it was by means of this spiritual baptism that we were baptized into Christ’s death. In writing to the Romans, Paul asks them if they are unaware of the fact that “all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death” (Rom. 6:3). When, by His sovereign and redeeming working, the Holy Spirit causes a person to place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting in His atoning death for the forgiveness of their sins, at the same time, He causes that person to become personally and spiritually united to Christ in His death. The consequence of this union with Christ in His death is the death of the person’s old sinful nature: “our old man [i.e. our old sinful nature] was crucified with [him]” (Rom. 6:6a).

But since the person has become united to Christ in our Lord’s death, he has also become united to Christ in our Lord’s resurrection: “we were buried with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life; ⁵for if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be [in the likeness of his] resurrection” (Rom. 6:4-5). The resurrection of our bodies shall not occur until the day of our Lord’s appearing in glory; but from the moment of our conversion, we have already begun to share in His resurrection life, a life that “he lives unto God” (Rom. 6:10b). By virtue of being united to Christ in His resurrection, we have been regenerated (or, born again), and our new, regenerated life is nothing other than sharing with Christ in His resurrection life, the very life that “he lives unto God.”

This is what Peter means when he speaks of the baptism that saves us; not the sacrament, (or, as he expresses it, “the removal of the filth of the flesh”), but the baptism administered by the Holy Spirit, the baptism that produces “the appeal of a good conscience unto God” as that baptism is inseparably connected “with resurrection of Jesus Christ.” As believers in Christ we can now approach God with the appeal of “a good conscience;” what Peter is expressing here is the equivalent of the Apostle Paul’s confident declaration, “[there is] therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1a). Such is the case because, by virtue of Christ’s death, and our faith in His sin-atoning death, our sins have been forgiven; and in addition to that, by virtue of our spiritual union with Christ in His death our old sinful nature has been put to death. Furthermore, by virtue of our union with Christ in His resurrection, we now share in His resurrection life, a life that “he [and we in Him] lives unto God.” Just as Noah and his family, in the safety of the ark, passed through the flood waters of judgment and entered into a renewed creation; so the Christian, by virtue of his relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, has passed safely through the judgment of God and has become a new creation, partaking of God’s new creation to be fully revealed with our Lord’s return in glory (2 Pet. 3:13).

Thus it is that now in 1 Peter 4:1-2, Peter informs us that by virtue of His death, Christ “is done with sin” (vs. 1). That is to say, He was removed from this present world that is dominated by sin; He no longer had to bear it and interact with it; note, again, Romans 6:10, “The death [Christ] died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.” Because of the Christian’s spiritual union with Christ in Christ’s death and resurrection, the Christian must no longer live the remainder of his earthly life “for human desires, but for the will of God” (vs. 2). We are no longer to live for the sake of indulging and satisfying the sinful lusts; rather, we are to live for God, since we participate in Christ’s resurrection life, which is a life lived in the presence of God and for God. Note the Apostle Paul’s appeal to the Church in Corinth:

Do you not realize that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, ¹⁰nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Cor. 6:9-11

As believers in Christ, our hearts have been cleansed from the practice of sin and have been renewed; now we must not allow ourselves to tolerate those sinful practices in our lives any longer. Because of our profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we must now live our lives for the will of God. As a believer in Christ, your new pre-occupation and governing principle is obedience to the will of God, as that holy will is defined by His commandments. It is by reliance upon the Holy Spirit, and submission to the process of sanctification that He carries out in the Christian’s life, that this new life manifests itself in our everyday existence: our decisions, our priorities, our conduct.

Because of Your Profession of Faith in Christ, You Must Live a Life that Astounds the World←⤒🔗

In verse three of chapter four, the Apostle Peter describes the lifestyle that was commonplace in his day (and is very much so in our day as well):

• “debauchery,” (or, “wanton sensuality”); casting off or disregarding moral restraint; indulging and gratifying the lusts of the body and of the mind; indecency: abandoning modesty in dress, in conduct, in relationships
   
• “lust,” (or, “passions”); allowing one’s self to be controlled by ungodly emotions, (such as unrestrained sexual desires, jealousy, covetousness, bitterness, rage, etc.); the failure to exercise self-control
   
• “drunkenness;” allowing one’s self to be controlled by intoxicating drink; resorting to liquor, or drugs, as a way of escape rather than turning to Christ
   
• “orgies, carousing;” parties that degenerate into all sorts of sexually immoral and perverse behavior; parties that feature drinking to excess with the end result being intoxication with all of its attendant evils, such as blasphemy, sexually misconduct, and brawling
   
• “detestable idolatry;” it is significant that Peter places the pagans’ religion at the end of the list of their vices. Their religion did not have an uplifting influence in their lives; on the contrary, it was a contributing factor to their sinful conduct and was often times indistinguishable from the grossest acts of that conduct

In contrast, our faith in Christ must have a radically different affect upon our life and conduct: lifting us out of sin and into holiness; if not, something is radically wrong. Consider the following “testimonies” made by unbelievers as they observe and describe the character of professing “Christians:”

'He curses, he steals, he holds grudges, he gets drunk, he lives with his girlfriend, and he goes to church.'

'He’s just like us! He just has this little quirk that he goes to church; a tradition from the past he hasn’t managed to shake off.'

If such “testimonies” describe you, and if you see no contradiction between such scenarios and a genuine Christian life, there is something radically wrong with your view of Christianity, something radically wrong with your life, something radically wrong with your heart. There is no evidence of conversion unto Christ.

In verse four, Peter reports the reaction of the pagan community (the neighbors, the friends or former friends, the relatives, the co-workers) to the new and godly lifestyle of these Christian people: “they think that it is strange for you not to plunge with them into the same flood of dissolute living, so they malign you.” The pagan community is astonished. They find it amazing, even strange, that the Christians do not join them as they plunge themselves into “a flood of dissolute living,” (i.e. unrestrained lawlessness, riotousness). Do we ever find ourselves as Christians being viewed by the pagan community around us as being strange because of our Christian lifestyle? As Christians, we are called to become like Christ, of whom it is written, He “knew no sin,” i.e. Christ had no affiliation with sin (2 Cor. 5:21); not like those of whom the Apostle John wrote, those who boasted that they “know the deep things of Satan” (Rev. 2:24).

Furthermore, the pagan community heaped abuse upon these Christian people. Because these Christians did not join with their pagan neighbors in their lifestyle of ungodliness and immorality, but rather stood as a witness against them. The Christians to whom and about whom Peter writes were, by their lives, putting into practice the admonition the Apostle Paul gave to the church in Ephesus:

Previously, you were [part of the] darkness, but now you belong to the light in the Lord; [therefore], walk as children of light. ⁹The fruit of the light consists of all goodness and righteousness and truth; ¹⁰demonstrating what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹Do not participate in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead rebuke them, ¹²for it is shameful to even speak about the things that they are doing in secret. Eph. 5:8-12

By living out their new life in Christ, as we are called to do, these Christian people were experiencing the very reaction of the world foretold by our Lord Himself:

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before you. ¹⁹If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore, the world hates you. Jn. 15:18-19

In verse five, Peter goes on to warn that there is coming a day of accountability. Speaking of the apostate world as it mocks and persecutes the life of Christ as it is manifested in His disciples, Peter writes: “They will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” The whole world shall finally give an account of their lives, when they stand before the LORD God their Creator and Judge, as the Apostle Paul declared to the Athenians: “[God] has appointed a day in which he will judge the world with righteousness” (Acts 17:31).

Referring to the appointed day of judgment, Peter declares, “This, indeed, is why the gospel was preached to those who are dead [in their sins], so that they might be condemned as men who indulge their sinful nature, and that they might live for God by the Spirit” (vs. 6). “Those who are dead,” as the added words in brackets indicate, are those spiritually dead in their sins and trespasses (cf. Eph. 2:1). Likewise, “men in the flesh” are those who are still living in the old sinful nature and indulging that nature. The gospel graciously contains the warning that if they do not repent, they will be condemned. The purpose of the gospel is to call men to repentance and faith in Christ the Savior, that they might receive forgiveness in order that they might live for God, doing so by the Holy Spirit (cf. Eph. 2:8-10).

But not only the apostate world, but the Christian, too, shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of his life:

...we make it our goal, whether at home [in the body] or absent [from the body], to be well-pleasing to [Christ]; ¹⁰because all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ; so that each one may receive the just reward for the deeds done while living in this earthly body. Each one will be rewarded for what he has done, according to whether it was good or bad. 2 Cor. 5:9-10

In the light of these things, we must soberly consider such questions as these: How do I live? For what do I live? For whom do I live?

Because of our profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we must live lives that astound the pagan world. We must live such lives because we no longer belong to the world, but to Christ. We must be keenly aware of the fact that we, together with the whole world, shall give an account of ourselves to Christ.

Conclusion←⤒🔗

Do you want to see a real, honest to goodness radical? Look in the mirror. As one who has been born again by the Spirit of God, as one who has died to the world and been made alive to God, you have a radically different identity. You have a new heart, a new mind, a new nature, a new perspective, a new motivation; and all this must express itself in a radically new and different lifestyle. Because you have made a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you must now, by the grace of God, live the radical lifestyle that is consistent with that profession.

Discussion Questions←⤒🔗

1. If, in the providence of God, we are called upon to suffer unjust treatment, what two things need we to remember? See 1 Pet. 3:18. Christian, when you suffer unjust treatment, do you recall that Christ has also suffered far greater injustice, and that He endured it for you? Also, will you bear in mind that God honored Christ by raising Him from the dead? With all this before us, what does the Apostle Peter urge us to do? See 1 Pet. 4:19,

Christ, indeed, suffered for sins once for all, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones, so that he might bring us to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive [again] by the Spirit. 1 Pet. 3:18

Therefore, let those who are suffering in accordance with the will of God commit their souls in doing what is right to a faithful Creator. 1 Pet. 4:19

2. To whom, by means of His Holy Spirit, did Christ preach in the distant past of O.T. history? See 1 Pet. 3:19-20. By what man did the Spirit carry out this ministry? See 2 Pet. 2:5. How does Peter describe the people of Noah’s day; how did they respond when God’s patiently was calling them to repentance; and what ultimately happened to them? What does the Apostle Paul warn us about neglecting God’s long-suffering call to repentance? See Rom. 2:4-5; cp. Heb. 4:7b,

By whom he also went and preached to the spirits who [now] are bound; ²⁰[that is to say], to those who were disobedient back when the patience of God was waiting in the days of Noah, while the ark was being built, by means of which a few, that is, [only] eight souls, were saved through [the] water. 1 Pet. 3:19-20

...[God] did not spare the ancient world, (although he did protect Noah, a preacher of righteousness, along with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly)... 2 Pet. 2:5

Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? ⁵But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God...Rom. 2:4-5

Today, if you should hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Heb. 4:7b

3. What does Peter tell us is the “antitype” (i.e. the N.T. counterpart) to Noah being saved from the judgment of the deluge by passing safely through the deluge in the ark? See 1 Pet. 3:21. What is the baptism to which Peter refers, and how is it linked to the resurrection of Jesus Christ? See 1 Cor. 12:13; Rom. 6:3-4. What is the result of this spiritual baptism by which a person is joined to Christ in His death and, consequently, also shares with Christ in His resurrection life? See Rom. 6:11,

[There is] an anti-type that now also saves us, baptism—not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the appeal of a good conscience unto God—with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Pet. 3:21

Indeed, by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether [we were] Jews or Greeks, whether [we were] slaves or freemen, and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 1 Cor. 12:13

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Rom. 6:3-4

When the Holy Spirit causes a man to place his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, He unites that man to Christ in both Christ’s death and resurrection, causing the man to enter into the resurrection life of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the baptism of which the Apostle Peter is speaking.

Likewise, you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom. 6:11

4. Since we, by virtue of our spiritual union with Christ in His death and resurrection, have become “dead unto sin” and “alive unto God,” how must we now live? See 1 Pet. 4:2. By the grace of God and in reliance upon the Holy Spirit, are you seeking to live the new life of godliness that corresponds to your new identity in Christ?

As a result, he does not live the remainder of his [earthly] life for [evil] human desires, but for the will of God. 1 Pet. 4:2

5. As we live out our earthly lives in conformity to our new identity in Christ, how does the world react to us? See 1 Pet. 4:3-4. But in the midst of the world’s hostility, of what can we be certain? See 1 Pet. 4:5. In light of this, how must we react to the world? Note, again, 1 Pet. 4:19,

You have spent enough time in the past doing what the Gentiles choose to do: living for debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry. ⁴Engaged in such a lifestyle, they think that it is strange for you not to plunge with them into the same flood of dissolute living, so they malign you. ⁵They will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 1 Pet. 4:3-5

Therefore, let those who are suffering in accordance with the will of God commit their souls in doing what is right to a faithful Creator. 1 Pet. 4:19