Did Jesus preach the Gospel to the spirits in prison?

In 1 Peter 3:18-20 we read these words, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who were formerly disobedient, when once the Divine long suffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared in which a few, that is eight souls were saved through water” (NKJV).

The phrase He went and preached to the spirits in prison, is a subject of debate. Some, perhaps many that are aware of this account in the church believe this means Jesus between His death and resurrection went to an area in the underworld called paradise and preached the gospel to Old Testament saints like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Daniel, Isaiah, etc. Jesus had to reveal to them that He was the Messiah they must believe in order to receive salvation so they could be taken to heaven when he led captivity captive (Ephesians 4:8).

The word preached in 1 Peter 3:19 is the Greek word kerusso. It means to proclaim or herald. It seems strange to me that OT saints’ spirits would be in prison in the underworld for Jesus to have to release. Jesus proclaimed victory over the rulers of darkness when He died on the cross. The spirits that are bound in prison are evil angels and demonic spirits, not the spirits of OT saints. These are the evil spirits that scholars believe (and I) are those spirits that did not keep their estate or original abode (Gen 6:1-4; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6). Remember there were angels in Genesis 6 that co-habited with women and produced a hybrid offspring – giants some believe. This was prohibited by God. As a result of their sin, God cast them down to Hell – (Greek word Tartarus) in chains and of darkness to await judgment (2 Peter 2:4).

What does the phrase He led captivity captive mean?

In Ephesians 4:8-9 we read the following, “When He ascended on high, He led a host of captives and he gave gifts to men. In saying He ascended, what does it mean but that He had also descended into the lower parts of the earth?”

A common interpretation of these two verses is that Jesus went into Hades or Hell – the non-tormented part and led the OT saints out of captivity from their “prisons” and took them to heaven. Since they had not heard the gospel and Jesus hadn’t died yet, in order for them to be released, they had to believe in Jesus first, then He would take their spirits to heaven. This of course they believed happened between His death and resurrection. I see no proof of that account in scripture.

Where many get tripped up is when reading the phrase, “He descended in the lower regions of the earth. The word lower is the Greek word katōteros. In context the apostle Paul is making reference to two things. 1) Jesus descended from heaven to earth in His incarnation. 2) Jesus death and His resurrection from the dead.  The second reason is most likely more accepted than the first.

Now, the meaning of He (Jesus) leading captivity captive is making reference to delivering all of us who were captives and prisoners of sin. Jesus has freed us from the sin slavery market. Jesus was victorious over His archenemy Satan and his demonic host. Jesus crushed the devil’s head (Genesis 3:15). If one insists on the more popular view, then you have to believe that only the OT saints were captive to sin which is of course is not true. The Bible declares to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So as soon as a believer dies, they are in the presence of the Lord – that would include OT saints (2 Corinthians 5:8). We see a clear example of this when Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt 17:2; Mark 9:2).

So, the preaching mentioned in the 1 Peter 3:19 is not evangelism to OT saints.

When they died their spirits immediately went to heaven because they were already redeemed. Remember what Genesis 15:6 declares, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Meaning when Abraham took God at His word, the Lord justified him on the spot. His spirit did not have to go the underworld and wait 2,000 years later for Jesus as a spirit preach the gospel to him so he could believe. When Abraham walked the earth he already was a believer in God because the gospel had already been preached to him (Galatians 3:4).

Jesus’ preaching in 1 Peter 3:19 was a proclamation of victory over the forces of darkness bound in the blackness of hell for their sin. Colossians 2:15 declares that He defeated them openly, triumphing over them in it. Jesus publicly defeated and embarrassed them when He died on the cross. Jesus’ human humiliation was also His greatest triumph by crushing Satan and liberating all His captives.