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I Peter 3:20,
"Which sometime were disobedient, when
once the longsuffering of God
waited in the days of
Noah, while the ark was a
preparing, wherein few, that
is, eight souls were saved by
water."
This morning, perhaps one of the
hardest things to
do is to convince someone that
they are teaching a
true concept but using the wrong
verse to do it. Many
times, Job's three miserable
comforters spoke things
that were indeed correct, but
they misapplied them
when referring to Job. God does
indeed punish His
children, but this was not such
a case with Job as
they perceived it to be. It is
incumbent upon us to
not only teach correct
principles and precepts, but to
use the proper source, passage,
and context to do it.
Lately, I have heard this verse
used a lot in
preaching, but I have been
hearing the wrong sound
come from the preacher in
rightly dividing it. There
is abundant proof that the ark
saved Noah and his
family during the world-wide
flood that engulfed every
plot of ground on the entire
globe. However, this
verse is NOT teaching a
salvation that occurred by the
ark. Notice, salvation by the
ark is a correct
principle, but this verse should
not be used to teach
such as that is not the true
meaning of the verse. I
have even heard one minister
lately misquote the
latter portion of the verse
thusly, "eight souls were
saved from water." Were they
saved from water? Most
certainly! However, that is not
the reading or
meaning of this
verse.
Noah and his
family were saved
BY water in the flood in this
regard: it separated
Noah and his family from the
untoward generation that
they were living in. No longer
did they live in a
society that was wholly given to
evil. No longer was
Noah the center of ridicule and
railing. God spared
this family from having to be
surrounded by wickedness
that is vexing to the soul. Did
this salvation have a
price? Most certainly again.
They were shut up
during the time of the flood
having to live in a large
ship for close to a year. They
had to rebuild a life
after they left the ark. They
most certainly had
hardships in their situation.
But, there was still a
salvation there. In our lives,
the LORD delivers us
from things that may not be
pleasant for us to go
through. However, His salvation
is always for our
benefit. This old flesh dislikes
giving up some
things (especially pride), but
the Lord is merciful.
Therefore, when studying on the
salvation of the LORD,
let us ever strive to find the
correct teaching and
proper
application.
In Hope,
Bro Philip
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