Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Peter 3:22

"who is one the right hand of God, having gone into heaven; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him." — 1 Peter 3:22 (ASV)

Who is gone into heaven. (See Barnes on Acts 1:9).

And is on the right hand of God. (See Barnes on Mark 16:19).

Angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him. (See Barnes on Ephesians 1:20-21).

The reason why the apostle here refers to the fact that the Lord Jesus is raised up to the right hand of God, and is so honored in heaven, seems to have been to encourage those to whom he wrote to persevere in the service of God, though they were persecuted.

The Lord Jesus was persecuted in the same way. He was reviled, rejected, and put to death. Yet He ultimately triumphed; He was raised from the dead and was exalted to the highest place of honor in the universe. Even so, they, if they did not faint, might hope to be triumphant in the end.

As Noah, who had been faithful and steadfast when surrounded by a scoffing world, was at last preserved by his faith from ruin, and as the Redeemer, though persecuted and put to death, was at last exalted to the right hand of God, so it would be with them if they bore their trials patiently and did not faint or fail in the persecutions they endured.

In view of the exposition in 1 Peter 3:1–2, we may remark:

1. That it is our duty to seek the conversion and salvation of our impenitent relatives and friends. All Christians have relatives and friends who are impenitent; it is a rare thing that some members of their own families are not so. In most families, even Christian families, there is a husband or a wife, a father or a mother, a son or daughter, a brother or sister, who is not converted.

   To all these, Christians owe important duties, and none is more important than seeking their conversion. That this is a duty is clearly implied in this passage concerning a wife, and for the same reason, it is a duty concerning all other people. It may be further apparent from these considerations:

   • It is an important part of the responsibility of all Christians to seek the salvation of others. This is clearly the duty of ministers of the gospel, but it is no less the duty of all who profess to be followers of the Savior and to take Him as their example and guide. .

   • It is a duty that particularly falls to those who have relatives who are unconverted, because of the advantages they have for doing so. They are with them constantly; they have their confidence and affection; they can feel more for them than anyone else can; and if they are not concerned for their salvation, they cannot hope that any others will be.

   • It is not an entirely improper motive to seek their salvation from the happiness it would bring to those who are already Christians. For example, it is not improper for a wife to be motivated to desire her husband's conversion because of the increased enjoyment she would have if her partner in life were united with her in the same hope of heaven. This also includes the pleasure of enjoying family worship and the help it would provide in raising her children in the Lord. A Christian wife and mother has important duties toward her children, and it is not improper for her to earnestly desire her husband's cooperation in performing those duties.

2. Those who have impenitent husbands and friends should be encouraged in seeking their conversion. It is plainly implied in 1 Peter 3:1–2 that it was not to be regarded as a hopeless thing, but that in all cases they were to regard it as possible that unbelieving husbands might be brought to the knowledge of the truth. If this is true of husbands, it is no less true of other friends. We should never despair of the conversion of a friend as long as life lasts, however far they may be from the path of virtue and piety.

   The grounds of encouragement are these:

   • You have an influence over them that no one else has; and that influence may be regarded as a valuable asset that gives you great advantages in seeking their conversion.

   • You have access to them at times when their minds are most open to serious impressions. Every person has times when they may be approached on the subject of religion: when they are pensive and serious, when they are disappointed and sad, when the affairs of this world are not going well for them, and their thoughts are drawn toward something better.

     There are times in every person's life when they are ready to open their mind to a friend on the subject of religion and would welcome a word of friendly counsel and encouragement. It is a great advantage to have access to a person at such times.

   • If all the facts that have occurred were known, there would be no lack of encouragement to work for the conversion of impenitent relatives and friends. Many a husband owes his salvation to the persevering concern and prayers of a wife; many a son will enter heaven because a mother never ceased to pray for his salvation, even when, humanly speaking, there seemed no hope of it.

3. We may learn from 1 Peter 3:1–2 what are the principal means by which we are to hope to secure the conversion and salvation of impenitent friends. It is to be mainly by a pure life, by a holy walk, by a consistent example. Conversation, in the true sense of the word, is not to be regarded as excluded from those means, but the main dependence is to be on a holy life.

   This is so for these reasons:

   • Most people form their ideas about religion from what they see in the lives of those who profess it. It is not so much what they hear from the pulpit, for they often regard preaching as a mere professional business by which a person earns a living. Nor is it so much from books defending and explaining religion, for they seldom or never read them. Nor is it from what religion enabled the martyrs to do, for they may have scarcely heard the names of even the most illustrious martyrs.

     Instead, it is by what they see in the lifestyle and behavior of those who profess to be Christians, especially their near relatives. The husband constantly forms his views of religion from what he sees in his wife who professes to be Christian; the brother from what he sees in his sister; the child from what he sees in the parent.

   • Those who profess to be Christians have an opportunity to show the power of religion in a way that is superior to any abstract argument. It controls their temper; it makes them kind and gentle; it sustains them in trial; it prompts them to acts of benevolence; it disposes them to be content, forgiving, and patient in the setbacks of life. Everyone may thus always be doing something to make an impression favorable to religion on the minds of others.

     Yet it is also true that much can and should be done for the conversion of others by conversation in the true sense of the word, or by direct address and appeal. However, nothing requires more prudence than conversation with non-Christians or direct efforts to lead them to consider the subject of religion. In this regard, the following may be observed:

     • That it does no good to be always talking with them. Such a course only produces disgust.

     • It does no good to talk to them at unseasonable and improper times. If they are particularly busy with their affairs and would not like to be interrupted—if they are in company with others, or even with their family—it does little good to attempt a conversation with them. It is the word that is fitly spoken that is like apples of gold in pictures of silver (Proverbs 25:11).

     • It does no good to scold them on the subject of religion, intending to make them Christians. In such a case, you show a spirit the very reverse of that religion which you are claiming to be trying to persuade them to embrace.

     • All conversation with impenitent sinners should be kind, tender, and respectful. It should be addressed to them when they will be disposed to listen—usually when they are alone, and especially when, due to trials or other causes, they may be in a state of mind where they are willing to listen.

       It may be added that impenitent sinners are much more frequently in such a state of mind than most Christians suppose, and they often wonder why their Christian friends do not speak to them about the salvation of their soul.

From the exposition given of the important 1 Peter 3:18–21, we may derive the following inferences:

1. The pre-existence of Christ. If He preached to the people who lived before the flood in the time of Noah, He must have existed at that time.

2. His divinity. If He was "quickened" or restored to life by His own exalted nature, He must be divine; for there is no more inalienable attribute of the Deity than the power of raising the dead.

3. If Christ preached to the people of the world in the time of Noah, for the same reason it may be regarded as true that all the messages that are brought to people, calling them to repentance, in any age or country, are through Him. Thus it was Christ who spoke by the prophets and by the apostles; and thus He speaks now by His ministers.

4. If this interpretation is well-founded, it takes away one of the strongest supports of the doctrine of purgatory. There is no stronger passage of the Bible in support of this doctrine than the one before us; and if this does not support it, it may be safely affirmed that it has not a shadow of proof in the Sacred Scriptures.

5. It follows that there is no hope or prospect that the gospel will be preached to those who are lost. This is the only passage in the Bible that could be supposed to teach any such doctrine. If the interpretation proposed above is correct, this provides no basis for believing that if a person dies impenitent, they will ever be favored with another offer of mercy.

   This interpretation also aligns with all other representations in the Bible, such as As the tree falls, so it lies, and He that is holy, let him be holy still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still.

   All representations in the Bible lead us to suppose that the eternal destiny of the soul after death is fixed. The only change that can ever occur in the future state is that which will be produced by DEVELOPMENT: the development of the principles of piety in heaven, and the development of the principles of evil in hell.

6. It follows that if there is not a place of purgatory in the future world, there is a place of punishment. If the word prison, in the passage before us, does not mean purgatory, and does not refer to a detention with a prospect or possibility of release, it must refer to detention of another kind, and for another purpose. That can only be with reference to the judgment of the great day (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6). From that gloomy prison, there is no evidence that any have been or will be released.

7. People should embrace the gospel at once. Now it is offered to them; in the future world, it will not be. But even if it could be proved that the gospel would be offered to them in the future world, it would be better to embrace it now.

   Why should people go down to that world to suffer long before they become reconciled to God? Why choose to taste the sorrows of hell before they embrace the offers of mercy? Why go to that world of woe at all? Are people so in love with suffering and danger that they consider it wise to go down to that dark prison-house, with the intention or the hope that the gospel may be offered to them there, and that when there they may be disposed to embrace it?

   Even if it could be shown, therefore, that they might again hear the voice of mercy and salvation, how much wiser would it be to listen to the voice now, become reconciled to God here, and never experience in any way the pangs of the second death! But of any such offer of mercy in the world of despair, the Bible contains no intimation; and anyone who goes to the eternal world unreconciled to God perishes forever. The moment they cross the line between time and eternity, they go forever beyond the boundaries of hope.