Question:
Please explain 1 Peter 4:6. Does it mean that the gospel was preached to some who were dead?
Answer:
Notice what Peter says: “For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead” (1 Peter 4:6). He does not say that they were dead when they heard it. He is speaking of people who had heard the gospel while living but were dead when he wrote.
There is nothing unusual about that. Noah preached righteousness to the people before the Flood (2 Peter 2:5). The gospel was preached to Abraham (Galatians 3:8), and to the Israelites in the wilderness (Hebrews 4:2). These people later died, but they were alive when the message reached them.
We must read Peter’s words in harmony with what Scripture teaches about death:
“His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.”
—Psalm 146:4
The dead cannot hear a sermon or respond to an appeal. The gospel calls living people to repentance and faith in Christ. Peter’s statement gives us no reason to conclude that this work continues after death.
The point is simple: the gospel had been preached to people who were now dead. It had not been preached to them while they were dead.
