Re: Christ Preached to the spirits in hades-
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 10:47 am
The meaning of this is similar to verse 13 ("These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth."). They saw the promise of a redeemer, and were saved through their faith in Him, but He did not come during their lifetimes. So they did not receive the blessing of living under the New Covenant. A major theme of the book of Hebrews is the superiority of the New Covenant to the Old Covenant, what we have to what the Old Testament saints had.haithabu wrote:Paul,
Your theory that OT saints enjoyed retroactive application of Christ's sacrifice runs up against Hebrews 11:39,40. They were commended for their faith, but they (specifically including Enoch) did not receive what was promised so that they would not be made perfect apart from us. Ie, they had to wait for Jesus to die.
That's my plain and simple reading of it anyway.
