2.21 Reading Notes on 1 Pet 4:1-6

1 Peter 4

New International Version (NIV)

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. ² As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. ³ For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. ⁴ They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. ⁵ But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. ⁶ For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

Rebecca brought up the question last night in our reading as to what v6 actually means. A lot of people apparently had this question even back into Spurgeon's day (if not much earlier).

The difficulty hinges on v5 where God judges the living and the dead. V6 then references those who are now dead, that the Gospel is preached to those now dead, so that they might (present or future tensing) be judged. From 5a and 5b, the immediate feeling is that God is the one judging these dead. This is problematic because we have 5c where the implication is that these are Saints who live in the Spirit.  The phrasing "for this reason" ties this verse immediately into its predecessor.

Further and more glaringly, does this suggest that the Gospel was preached to those now dead after they died? Is God judging His Saints in some way according to human standards that then allows them to live according to Him?

Spurgeon commented on this and it makes a fair amount of sense.

"This is a very difficult passage to expound, but I suppose the meaning is that the gospel was preached to those departed saints who had been called to die for Christ’s sake, and that it was preached to them for this very reason, that, while they were judged by wicked men, and were by them condemned to die, they still live a far more glorious life than they lived here, because they were thus enabled, by their martyr death, to consummate their consecration to God."

The trouble is likely that despite the obvious links between "dead" and "judged" between the two verses, we're looking at different groups. V5, where God judges the living and the dead is a comprehensive statement of God's judgement purview. The "they" (sinful Gentiles abusing Christians) from v4 will be forced to give account of their actions to the One who judges everyone. In v6, the contrast is with the saints, judged "according to human standards" (i.e. by humans) negatively, according to their evil standards as referenced in v4, where they heap abuse on them.

The words sound the same so we're caught up in a problem question. But the context appears fairly straightforward. If we reserve our immediate inclination to say the "dead" in both verses must be the same and "judges/judged" is the same judgment from God, then the greater context establishes the meaning clearly.

The rendering of Verse 6 may be thus that the Gospel was preached to those Saints when they were alive, who are now dead, who are judged by sinful humans. It was preached so that those Saints may live according to God and in regard to the spirit. Further it was preached to invite censure from the Gentiles, which in turn would help the Saints living according to God.

The meaning is quite rich in retrospect.