Will We Ever See Vindication?

1 Peter 3:18-4:6

Growing up, I had a good best friend. We were part of a group of about 6-8 of us, always hanging out together on the weekends. We saw our first scary movies together, played all-night games of Risk (with clauses to ensure that we kept our friendship) and even ministered together in different countries. That’s why what he told me when I was 25 hurt so badly. He said he never saw me as a friend but only tolerated me for the sake of the others. That moment changed me because I was betrayed. We’d been friends since 4th grade – he was the one I trusted as an accountability partner and was the first person outside my family that I shared my health struggles with. His denial of our friendship was a complete betrayal and I spent a long time wanting vindication; to be proved right that we were friends, that he did care, and that I was right. But vindication, according to scripture, isn’t so simple. Peter introduces us to it in our passage today. Vindication rarely comes from the person who victimized you. Thankfully we don’t need to rely on humans for our vindication; Christ is our vindication, both now and in the end.

Spiritual Vindication is Now

Jesus is our vindication in a few ways: first, he suffered for you. He vindicated you by taking your punishment on His back—your fully deserved punishment—and brought your spirit to life with God, thus ensuring that you will gain immortality in the presence of the Almighty. You are made right because He made you right. And then, as if that’s not enough, in v19 we see that Jesus, while dead, went and proclaimed to the spirits in hell that He was victorious in bringing life out of death (much in the same way that Noah was the example of bringing life through death in the flood).

One note here on v19 – Jesus did not go to hell to rescue us or to ransom us back from Satan. We don’t need that kind of vindication because we were never in debt to him. Our debt has always been to God – we sinned against God, not against the devil. Scripture does say that Jesus went to hell during the time He was dead, but it was not to get us back, but to make a proclamation. We see that right here. Jesus went to claim victory as the embodiment of the example set all the way back in the flood. And it is that baptism that saves us now.

Another note – Baptism, as we teach it, does not save us. It is a symbolic act that professes we went through death and spiritual resurrection with Christ. What Peter is referring to in v21 is the actual baptism – the death and resurrection of Christ that we SPIRITUALLY joined in when we placed our trust in Christ. We have gone through spiritually what Christ went through physically and that is what has led to our spiritual vindication: we have been made right with God and are sinless in His eyes, the One who we owe.

Physical Vindication Comes Later

And because you went through that baptism with Christ, you are different. And now your life is different. Real experiences change a person. Maybe that experience is significant time overseas and away from family, maybe it’s the loss of a loved one, maybe it’s any of a thousand other things, but if you’ve had a life-changing experience, you know exactly what I am talking about. This is what Peter is explaining here at the start of ch4. When you go through a true life-changing experience like salvation in Christ, it changes you. You no longer want the world’s desires but instead want God. Dating was fun, but I never want to go back to that time in my life again! While there are some happy memories, I am no longer that person and prefer to never go back. We have changed and we are different. With that change comes the promise of this passage in v6 – those who physically die in Christ will live in the Spirit the way God does. Our physical vindication—our immortality—is confirmed.

Next Steps

Christ is our vindication, both now and in the end. Nothing is worth more than living a life that honors and imitates Jesus for the simple reason that it’s better than anything the world offers! This is the cost behind every drug out there from alcohol to violence to sex. It hollows you out and removes your self from your body. Christ pours abundancy into your life, making you right and giving you eternal vindication!

1. Ensure you are joined with Christ and live in His spiritual vindication
2. Walk away from sin that you are freed from
3. Be an example for others who don’t know Jesus

My friend did eventually apologize for his betrayal and walk back his statements, vindicating me. But by then, I was way more secure in Christ by then and had let it go. You can have that too in Jesus. Bring your needs to Him today so He can make it right at the table.