z Which Spirits in Priſon. Que. When were theſe Spirits, to whom Chriſt preached by Noah, in Priſon ? Anſw. Then when Peter writ this Epiſtle. The Greek Participle of the Preſent Tenſe 1s here to be tupplied, and the words thus read, preached to the 5 pirits, which are in Pri/»n, viz. now at this time; and fo the time of their being in Priſoo, is oppoſed to the time of their being Diſobedient ; their Diſobedience going before their Impriſonment, g. d. they were cil- obedient then, they are in Priſon now. + Viz. In the days of Noah, when they were upon Earth. / Would not believe what Noah told them in God's Name, nor be brought to Repentance by his Preach- 1Ng. m Not always, but for a determinate time, iz. 120. Fears ; tr hich term being expired, there was no hope left tor them that they ſhould be ſpared. 'n z. e. God in his Patience, and long-ſutfer- ing. 0 For the Repentance and Reformation of their rebellious Ge- neration, þ Till the 120 years were run out, and, the Ark, which wa: a preparing for the Security of him, and his Family, were fin1ſ1- ed. qt. e. Eight Perſons, Noah, and his Wite, iis three Sons, and their Wives. r Either, 1. by Water, is here put for in, as Rom. 4. tr. that believe, though they be not circumciſed, The ſame Greek Prepotition is uſed as here, and the words may be read, by, or through, Or rather in Uncircumcifion ; for Uncircumciſion was not the cauſe or means of their believing. Sce the like uſe of this Particle, .2 Pet. 3. 5. Thus ſaved in the Water, is as much as notwithſtanding the Water, or the Water not hindring; ſo 1 Tim. 2. 15. ſaved in Child-vearing, where the ſame Prepoſition is uſed : Or, 2. by Wa- ter; the Water, which drowned the World, lifting up the Ark and laving Noah and his Houſhold, Queſt. Doth not this Place counte- nance the Papiſt's Limbus, or the place where the Souls of the Old- Teftament Fathers were reſerved (as they pretend ) till Chriſt's coming-in the Fleſh ? Anſw. No: For, 1. The Spirits here ment!1- oned were diſbedient, which' cannot be ſaid of the Fathers of the Old-Teſtament, who were true Believers. 2. The Spirits here imen- tioned, are not ſaid to be delivered out of Priſon, but only that Chriſt by his Spirit Preached to them, and to his preaching to them, their diſobedience is oppoſed. 3. According to the Papiſts, Nah and his Family muſt he in their Limbus, whereas they are op- poſed to thoſe diſobedient Spirits ro whom Chriſt 1s ſaid to Preach.
21 * The like figure / whereunto 7 ever baptilm, doth alſo now ſave us x, (not the putting away of
the filth of the fleſh x, but the anſwer y of a good conſcience = towards God a) by the reſurrection of
Teſus Chriſt b. \ Gr. the Antitype. Twice this word occurs in Scripture, once Heb. 9. 24. where it ſignifies ſimply a Type, er Exemplar, or Re- preſentation ; and here, where it implies either the likeneſs or co- reſpondence of one Type with another in ſignifying the ſame thing ; ſo that here may be two Types, the Deliverance of Noah and his Houſhold in the Flood, and Baptiſm, whereof the former was a Type of the latter, yet ſo as both repreſent the Salvation of the Church, in that as the Waters of the Flood lifting up the Ark, and ſaving Noah's Family ſhut up in it, ſignified the Saivation of the Church : So likewiſe Baptiſm ſignifies the Salvation of thoſe tiat are in the Church (as in an Ark) from that common Deſtrudti- on which involves the reft of the World : Or, it ſignifies the Truth it ſelf, as anſwering the Type or Figure ; and thus the temporal Salvation of Noah, &c. from the Flood, in the Ark, was the Type, and the Eternal Salvation &f Believers by Baptiſm, is the Antitype, or Truth figured by it. Our Tranſlation ſeems to favour the for- mer. # ji. e. The ſaving eight Perſons by Water, q. d. the Salvati- on of Believers now by Baptiſm, anſwers to the Deliverance of Nouh then; and ſo this Relative, whereunto, anſwers to the foregoing Sentence, as its Antecedent. « Viz. with an Eternal Salvation, in anſwer to the temporal Deliverance of Nah by Water; and that not only as.it is a Sign, but a Seal whereby the Spirit of God con- firms in the Hearts of Believers the Faith of their Juſtification pur- chaſed by Chriſt's Death, and witnefſed by his Reſurre&tion, Rom. 4. 25. x Not meerly the waſhing of the Body with Water, or the external part of Baptiſm, which can of it ſelf have no further et- fe, than other bodily Wafhings have, viz. to cleanſe the Fleſh. And ſo he anſivers an Obje&tion which might be made, How Eap- tiſm can be ſaid to ſave us, when ſo many periſh who are baptized, by declaring, as follows, what it is in Baptiſm which 1s ſo effectual, y The Greeh word here uſed, is ſeveral ways rendred, and fo this place differently interpreted : The beſt Tranſlation ſeems to be, either, 1. The Petition of a good Conſcience, and then 1t notes the effe of Baptiſm, viz. that holy Confidence and Security wherewith a Conſcience, ſprinkled with the Blood of Chriſt, addrefles it ſelf to God in Prayer, as a Father, Thus the word is taken, Matth. 15. 23. and 16. I. Rom, 10. 20. Or rather, 2. the Stipulation, which by a Metonymy is taken for the Anſwer, Promiſe, or Reſtipulation required, and this agrees with our Tranſlation. In Baptiſm there is a ſalemn Covenant, or mutual Agreement between God and the Party baptized, wherein God offers, applies, and ſeals his Grace, ſtipulating or requiring the Party's acceptance of that Grace, and devoting himſelf to his Service; and when he out of a good Con- ſcience doth engage, and promiſe this, which is to come up to the terms of the Covenant, that may properly be called the Anſwer of a god Conſcience. It ſeems to be an Alluſion to the manner of Bap- tizing, where the Minter ask'd the Party to be baptized, con- cerning his Faith in Chriſt, and he accordingly anſwered him ; Doſt thou believe ? I believe. Doft thou renounce the Devil, Xc? TI renounce, See Ads 8.37. x A Conſcience purified by Faith from internal and ſpiritual Defilements (in oppoſition to putting away the filth of the
\ GEN. Jo7s
3nd 8. 18.
*EPh. 5.26
PETER | (Nats |