1 Peter 3:18
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
Study Note
Study Note
'Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God' is one of the New Testament's most precise statements of substitutionary atonement, with the Greek hapax dikaios hyper adikōn ('the righteous for the unrighteous') capturing both the moral asymmetry and the substitutionary logic of the cross. The purpose clause — 'that he might bring us to God' — frames the atonement in relational rather than merely legal terms: the goal is restored access and communion, not merely acquittal. The contrast 'put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit' anticipates the following descent tradition (3:19) and grounds Peter's theology of suffering in a pattern established by Christ himself — death yields to resurrection life through the same Spirit who empowers the church's witness.
Other Translations
Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
because also Christ once for sin did suffer--righteous for unrighteous--that he might lead us to God, having been put to death indeed, in the flesh, and having been made alive in the spirit,
Because Christ once went through pain for sins, the upright one taking the place of sinners, so that through him we might come back to God; being put to death in the flesh, but given life in the Spirit;
Cross References
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And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that …
But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;
For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak …
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the …
Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, …