Need to go ahead and make a correction to an interpretation we had from last week.

In 1 Peter 4:6, "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."

we interpreted those who are dead as being spiritually dead and then made alive in the spirit through the work of the gospel. Meaning the subject of the passage were those who were persecuting Christians in verse 3-5.

Turns out, dead means physically dead and that those that are dead are Christians. The tenses give it away, as well as the context of the passage.

The gospel has still been preached for the purposes of allowing man to live in the spirit according to the will of God, but we're talking about suffering Christians, and the judgment in the flesh as men means the judgment Christians are receiving as part of verses 3-5. But that judgment doesn't matter because we have something better than that. That even if we are put to death in the flesh, we are alive in the spirit.

So, 4:6, dead means physically dead, the Christians who are physically dead. The gospel was preached to them, who are now dead.

Jeff