The question posed to me for this article is, does 1 Peter
3:18-20 indicate that there is repentance[1]
after death? The key verse to this being verse 19.
“For Christ also died
for sins once for all, the just
for the unjust, so that He
might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in
the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were
disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during
the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were
brought safely through the
water.”
(1Pe 3:18-20) (NASB)
Some people believe that the spirits, in this passage, are dead
people imprisoned in hell that were given the opportunity to repent of their
sins after they had died. Unfortunately, there is no way to support this view
according to the rest of scripture. When we look at other scriptures we find
that they oppose this view.
In order to
understand this passage we must remember that scripture interprets scripture.
First of all this passage does not mention the gospel. However, it does mention
a proclamation. A proclamation simply
means to tell or declare something to someone. That does not necessarily mean
that it is the gospel. Second, even if
it was the gospel that was proclaimed there is no indication in this passage
that Christ gave them an opportunity to repent. It just says He made
proclamation to these spirits now in prison.
When we look through the Bible we do not see anywhere in
scripture where there is any indication that the dead have a second chance to repent
of their sin while they are in Hades or Hell. In fact, we see that they do not
have a second chance. If we look at the story of Lazarus and the rich man in
Luke 16:20-25, we see that Abraham tells the rich man of a great separation
that is between Abrahams Bosom and Hades, which could not be crossed. This indicates there was no way to go between
the two places. Also, if there was repentance after death, the rich man would
have to simply repent and he would have been out of that torturous place. If he
was able to repent, why did he ask for a drop of water on his tongue when he
could have simply repented and been saved. He even asked Abraham to send
Lazarus back to his relatives. If there is repentance after death then there
would have been no need for him to request that Abraham send someone back. If
His relatives had come to that same place they also could have repented, if
this were true. This story indicates there is no repentance after death. We
have a chance to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. If we are to die before we
repent of our sins and believe in Jesus Christ then there is no second chance.
Another verse that we can look at is Hebrews 9:27, “And
inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes
judgment,” This verse states it plainly that man dies once a physical death and
after that comes judgment. There is no way to repent of your sins after you
have died.
If there is repentance after death then why did Jesus command
believers to go into all the world and preach the gospel and make disciples of
all people? If everyone could repent of their sins after they died, then there is
no reason to even preach the gospel. If there is repentance after death then
why is it not mentioned in Revelation 20 at the Great White Throne[2]
or anyplace in Revelation?
We cannot take 1 Peter 3:18-20 and say that this must mean
that there is repentance after death, especially when the opposite is mentioned
everywhere else in the Bible. We must be careful to look at the context of the
passage and we must remember that scripture interprets scripture.
When a person dies they are not given a second chance. There
is no repentance after death.
