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First Peter, part 18

After asserting that all unbelievers will have to give account of their actions to the Judge at the White Throne judgment, 1 Peter 4:6 says,

⁶ For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God.

Peter has just spoken of unbelievers who “are surprised” that believers no longer run with them in their pursuit of carnal pleasures, and he adds that they will “give account” to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead (verse 5). Verse 6 explains why the dead are included in that judgment. It is because the gospel had been preached to them as well.

Who Are “the Dead”?

There are three main interpretations, but the first one fits best in context:

(1) Formerly living people who heard the gospel (most likely)

(2) Spiritually dead people who presently live in the flesh (less likely)

(3) The spirits in prison (least likely)

In my view Peter was referring to people who heard the gospel in past generations while they were living on earth. They have since died and now stand among “the dead” in verse 5. In other words: “The gospel was preached to people who are now dead.” Paul also makes it clear that the gospel was preached from the beginning in the Star Gospel and creation itself. Romans 1:19-21:

¹⁹ because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. ²¹ For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

This fits naturally with Peter’s pastoral tone as well. He is reassuring believers about those who have already died. As mortals, all—including believers—have been “judged in the flesh as men” on account of Adam’s sin. Nonetheless, they still live according to God’s will in the spirit, which has returned to God, where it originated (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Psalm 146:4; Psalm 31:5; Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59; Hebrews 12:23).

The early church question was this: If believers die, what was the point of the gospel? If Christ paid for sin at the cross, then why do believers continue to die? Does not faith immediately make them immortal?

Peter’s answer: You are thinking in terms of fleshly preservation; God is working toward spiritual transformation. Mortality was decreed from the time Adam sinned and cannot be reversed by simple faith. The gospel was never meant to nullify mortality; it was meant to bring life through death.

We see the same lesson later when Israel refused to enter the Promised Land at Kadesh-barnea. If they had been able to go into Canaan at that time (from the south), they would have been transformed into the image of Christ and would have conquered the land by the sword of the Spirit. However, having refused, they had to wait another 38 years and then they were required to enter from the east by crossing the Jordan River, a symbol of death and resurrection.

No amount of faith could induce God to allow them to enter the land from the south, thereby avoiding the Jordan River. The decrees of God are final, and one must then follow a different path to obtain the promise of God and immortality.

This aligns with your emphasis that the old man must be brought to an end. Flesh is not reformed—it is sentenced to death. Romans 6:6 tells us that “our old self was crucified” and 1 Corinthians 15:50 says that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom.”

So the “judgment” is not failure—it is a necessary termination of the old order and the resurrection of a new order. God is not reforming or resurrecting the old man who is from Adam or Israel. He is creating an entirely new man, a new creation, begotten by the Spirit.

While we are alive, our bodies are dead (mortal), yet we are alive in the spirit, because the spiritual man within each believer has been begotten by immortal and incorruptible seed. This new man has become our new identity, our new seat of consciousness—the real you, as far as God is concerned. The death of the flesh does not diminish the life of this new creation in us; in fact, the new man is released from the confines of the body.

The Culmination of the Present Age

1 Peter 4:7-9 says,

⁷ The end [telos, “end, culmination”] of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. ⁸ Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹ Be hospitable to one another without complaint.

The “end” here is the White Throne judgment culminating the end of the age. Believers are to conduct their lives with this accountability in mind, so that one might qualify as an overcomer. Those believers who fail to qualify will be “saved yet so as by fire” (1 Corinthians 3:15), for his works will be burned like “wood, hay, straw” (1 Corinthians 3:12). The focus is not speculation, but discipline and alignment with the mind of God.

“Above all,” Peter says in verse 8, love is the highest practical expression of readiness for the end. In this he begins to sound much like the apostle John, who declares emphatically that “the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 4:16). Again, he says, “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:8). Many think they know what love is, and many have been informed about love, but unless they put love into practical experience, they do not really know God at all.

Peter also says that “love covers a multitude of sins.” He is not advocating coverups. Love does not ignore sin, but love knows how to forgive, bears with others, and prevents escalation. Peter probably was thinking of Proverbs 10:12,

¹² Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions.

In other words, love does not seek to expose the sins of men but deals with sin privately. There are many ministries that pride themselves on exposing the sins of other ministers. They think they do God a service. There may be a time to expose the sins of individuals, but most of the time those people have set themselves up as judges and have a mere pretense of love. It is one thing to expose false teaching by setting forth the truth (as one sees it); and it is another thing to attack another’s person’s integrity, which inevitably brings shame upon Christ Himself.

1 Peter 4:9 speaks of hospitality, which was critical in the early church (traveling believers, persecution). “Without complaint” reveals the danger of resentment for inconvenience, weariness, and even hidden bitterness. True kingdom service is not merely action—but heart attitude.

1 Peter 4:10, 11 continues,

¹⁰ As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. ¹¹ Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Every believer has a measure of grace. No one is excluded. A “special gift” (charisma) is a grace-gift—not earned, but given by God. “Stewards” are not owners, but managers of God’s resources. “Manifold grace” (ποικίλης χάριτος) means many-colored grace, showing how different gifts reflect different facets of God. Each person functions within a divinely assigned role in the larger plan.

Two Categories of Ministry

In verse 11 Peter divides gifts into two broad types: speaking and serving.

Speaking gifts include teaching, exhortation, proclamation, and these must be done as “utterances of God.”In other words, we are to speak only what we hear our Father say, so that (hopefully) every word we speak is a prophetic utterance. Jesus said in John 12:49, 50,

⁴⁹ “For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰ I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore, the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

Serving gifts have to do with practical ministry, support, and help. These gifts must be done “by the strength which God supplies,” not by human effort alone. We must follow Jesus’ example in John 5:19,

¹⁹ Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.”

The ultimate purpose is “…so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ…” Everything—love, hospitality, gifts—is aimed at the glory of God through Christ.

Peter’s Closing Doxology

Peter writes in verse 11, “…to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” He affirms Christ’s glory and dominion (authority) over all things. This ties back to “the end of all things” and the coming manifestation of His rule, when all things have been put in subjection to Him (1 Corinthians 15:27).