Expert: Marvin Howard - 7/19/2006

Question
Do you believe that an unrighteous man who has confessed Jesus to be the Christ can be saved?
 Also, what do you understand from the passage found in 1 Peter 3:18-20? What is this prison spoken of that Christ went to preach at?  

Answer
Hi!

Thank you for the opportunity to answer these questions for you. I wish to begin with Scripture.

1st Peter 4:17-19, "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator."

The righteous are barely going to be saved. The unrighteous don't even have a chance if they remain in that situation.  We have the opportunity to keep our souls while here. Once we die, God will keep them for us.

Romans 10:9, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

It is true that this verse says that confession saves us. However, this verse, even by itself, demonstrates that it takes more than confession to receive salvation since it also requires belief.

James 2:19, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble."

Matthew 8:29, "And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?"

Not only do all the devils believe according to James, these even confessed that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the exact confession made by the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter 8, before his salvation. I seriously doubt that you believe these devils in Matthew were saved. Therefore, there must be yet more things than confession involved with salvation: things not mentioned in the passages we have heretofore observed. Yea, even more than belief. We must take all of God's Word as truth, on this or any other subject, rather than just the parts that we understand or like. Just because we don't understand the purpose behind some Scriptures, just because they sound different from anything we have ever learned, does not mean that they are untrue and may be discarded.

My friend, much is said today about being saved and being in the church. If it isn’t coming from the mouth of God, through the scriptures (all of them), don’t believe it. Here is what God says about how to be added to the church; how to be added to the one body, the church, which will be saved according to Ephesians 4:4, Collossians 1:18, and Ephesians 5:23.

The Bible mentions six different things we must "DO" to be saved. Proving any one of them in no way disproves another. I will list them here, and ask you to check them whether they are so.

1. You must first hear in order to be saved: Romans 10:17
2. You must believe Jesus is the Son of God in order to be saved: Romans 10:17 Luke 8:13 John 1:12 John 8:24 John 20:31
3. You must repent in order to be saved: Luke 13:3,5 Acts 3:19
4. You must confess that Jesus is Christ in order to be saved: Luke 12:8 Romans 10:9 1st John 4:15 Acts 8:37
5. You must be baptized (not rhontized, which is the separate word used for sprinkling) in order to be saved: John 3:5 Mark 16:16 Acts 2:38 1st Peter 3:21 Galatians 3:27
6. You must remain faithful unto death in order to be saved: Revelation 2:10 1st Timothy 4:16 1st John 2:24,25

The first five of these are one time actions, while the last is a continuing process. The first five tell you how to BE saved. The sixth tells you how to STAY saved. My friend will you not consider the one way of God rather than the many, differing ways of man before it is everlastingly too late?

Perhaps you are one that places an undue distinction between what is said by Jesus and what is said by the authors of Scripture (which is everything that Jesus said anyway according to John 14:26). For the record, Jesus said all of the following:

Matthew 11:15, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

John 8:24, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”

Luke 13:3, “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

Matthew 10:32, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.”

Mark 16:16, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

Revelation 2:10, "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days; be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."

Everything Jesus said, between belief and baptism is required. If one doesn't believe, they have not even taken the first step toward Heaven. There is no way that such a one can be saved, because they will never have an opportunity to learn the rest. I do not know you, nor do I know what you may have been taught. If you have learned something different as a plan of salvation, it is not from God, but Satan. While it is true that you must believe to be saved, you must believe on His terms, not yours. The same is true for each of the other successive steps to reach Heaven. If you read what has often been termed "Faith's Hall of Fame," Hebrews chapter 11, you will see that each instance of faith was proven by obedience. In short, if there is no obedience (no actions or works on our part) there is no faith in the first place, and there can be no salvation. We just cannot substitute our own works, according to the prohibition in Ephesians 2:8-9. This is the only, possible way to demonstrate that both Paul and James (James 2:17-26) are true. Protestants like Paul, while catholics like James. Neither one likes the other so they dismiss it, to their own destruction and condemnation. Only the church holds to both at the same time.

Now, let us turn to your second question. To begin, we must get the entire context of the passage.

1st Peter 3:18-22, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him."

This context is demonstrating the contrast between those saved, and those unsaved. From the time of man's fall in the Garden, a Savior was promised (Genesis 3:15). Jesus went to this "prison" to show the people that He came as promised, and they had no excuse for disobedience. So, we need a definition to get a good handle on this subject.

φυλακή
phulakē
foo-lak-ay'
A guarding or (concretely guard), the act, the parson; figuratively the place, the condition, or (specifically) the time (as a division of day or night), literally or figuratively: - cage, hold, (im-) prison (-ment), ward, watch.

This is a reference to a time in which souls are guarded. One may ask, "Guarded against what?" This is a reference to the conditions found in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, found in Luke 16:19-31. They are guarded against unjustly crossing over from one side to the other by a huge gulf fixed between the two.

For futher dissertation on the location of departed souls, please copy and paste the following address (for one part of my online ministry) in a new browser window:

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-epjVoQIhaaMlzt_TlaGJyQ58PoC8f5ml?p=217

God has always demanded obedience. People who obey are guarded in Paradise, within Hades, and held for the future time of the judgment. These souls will be assigned to a permanent place in Heaven. People who disobey are guarded in Tatarus, also within Hades, and held for the future time of the judgment. These souls will be assigned a permanent place in Gehenna (Hell).

When Jesus died, before His resurrection, He went to this Hadean prison to prove that He had come in accordance with prophecy. Jesus gave hope to those in Paradise, and declared the justness of God concerning the torment being received in Tatarus.

The same way that Noah obeyed, those in Tatarus could have obeyed the commands of God. The same way that Noah obeyed, today we can obey in baptism, and thus we can be saved by water just as was Noah. Baptism does not save us because we get wet, but because it is obedience. It is through baptism that our heart answers God's demand of obedience, and it can be done with a clean conscience because it is in accordance with His Word, rather than the commands of men.

Once again, I thank you for the opportunity to answer these questions for you. I pray you find this information to be both beneficial and edifying, for it is of a truth the whole counsel of God, rather than only a part of His message as taught by the lost and confused majority of the religious world. Should you have any further questions regarding the Scriptures, I would appreciate the opportunity to answer them, as well.

In His Service,
Marvin Howard
http://www.geocities.com/preacherman_1962
http://360.yahoo.com/preacherman_1962