Dr. Mike Jones

Q: Dr. Mike, what is your theological view on the Bible verse that, “Jesus visited the ‘spirits in prison’?

Q: Dr. Mike, what is your theological view on the Bible verse that, “Jesus visited the ‘spirits in prison’?

A: Jesus, from the cross in His dying agony, spoke to one of the thieves and said to him, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.” This is a clue to the explanation, about Jesus [body headed to the tomb] and His spirit to paradise.

When people ask this question, they are quoting 1 Peter 3:19, “This Jesus, who by the same spirit by which He is raised from the dead goes and preaches to the lost spirits in prison.” Many have used this text to say, here’s the proof that Jesus, after his death and before His resurrection, went to hell. They go further to say that He went into hell to experience the fullness of the magnitude of suffering, which was the penalty/atonement for human sin.

Most Bible believing churches believe that Jesus did not descend into hell, itself, because of the words He uttered from the cross when He declared, “It is finished.” But, that He went into the region of the damned to declare to the captives [the Old Testament saints, such as Abraham, and the patriarchs], that they are now set free from the penalty of sin!

However, since the Apostle Peter doesn’t tell us who the lost ‘spirits in prison’ are or where the prison is, theologically, we can’t for sure say that He also didn’t stop by the portal (gate) of hell for the eternally lost [‘spirits in prison’] to say, “Look upon ME, I am the Messiah: the one that was prophesied throughout the Old Testament that would come and redeem mankind.”