EIGHT WERE SAVED. 1st Peter 3:19-20 The good news of salvation is not limited to a few people. We know that God speaks many times, and in many ways, so that all people in every nation who fear God will be accepted by Him. Every person is responsible to act on the light they have been given, and when faith in God is exercised, no matter how limited their understanding is, God knows and, by His sovereign will, saves those who believe in Him and condemns those who choose not to believe in Him. Every person has the opportunity to learn and know that God is real. Evidence of Him is found in creation, conscience, the goodness of God, the consistent testimony of Christians who love the Lord, and the preaching of the Gospel.
The Spirit of Christ, through Noah, preached to those who are now in Hades (disembodied spirits). The disobedient are not identified. Noah was faithful, and the eight souls were saved. The water wasn’t their salvation; it was the judgment God brought them through. Spirits in prison are those who, in disobedience, reject God’s mercy. That unbelief, disobedience, and rejection have eternal consequences even though God is long-suffering.
God not only spoke through His servant Noah then, but He also speaks today when the Gospel is preached. He demonstrates Christ's victory on the cross over all the hosts of sin, hell, and the powers of darkness, the spiritual wickedness that continues to work in the world today, through the changed lives of those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. God saves those who seek Him with all their hearts. The victorious death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Christ declare victory over every enemy, even death itself.
An end of suffering for believers will come, and beyond that is glory. The Spirit of God, who raised Christ from the dead, has given us new life. The Holy Spirit, through the preaching of Noah, presented the truth of salvation to people whose spirits are now imprisoned because they rejected his warning message. Noah was ignored by the people who heard his preaching, and they learned that "My Spirit shall not always strive with man" is an indisputable fact. They were lost because they were disobedient to the message and rejected the truth.
There were 120 years of preaching, and the visible testimony of the ark that Noah built for his family left people without excuse. Noah "prepared the ark for the saving of his house (family)" by faith in the warning God gave him. Others could have been saved by faith if they had listened. The ark was not built to save everyone in the flood, but they could have been saved from it. The ark is a picture of salvation and security. It was in the ark that Noah and his family were saved through the judgment of the flood. Those who heard the Gospel preached by Noah before the flood had ample opportunity to be saved.
God has worked in the power of His Spirit, preaching truth both in and out of season, never failing in the divine intent and always fulfilling the purpose for which He was sent. Convicting, revealing, regenerating, awakening, striving, and prophesying, He did all this in the ancient days of old. Through Noah, He preached a warning of the flood, but instead of repenting and heeding the truth, mankind kept on practicing their unholy deeds. Those who, through Noah, heard the Spirit speak are now in a place far beyond the reach of light and life, of salvation and reason. They are now incarcerated in hell’s dark prison. No longer does the Spirit strive with them. No longer do they hear a preacher, as they did when they were alive and in the body.
Separated from their bodies and, far more, from God, no one brings warnings from God’s Holy Word. Lost to life, to friends, forever without hope, the Spirit of God no longer quotes life-giving scriptures but, in the dark, lost souls still remember the servant of God stirring the conscience like an ember. But because of the world and its awful attraction, the preacher was a nuisance, an unwelcome distraction. Now imprisoned with no hope, no life, no light, consigned forever to everlasting night.
Noah and his family were forever separated from their old life. There was no going back. Their new life was governed by new rules. They were saved "to walk in newness of life." When a believer is saved, they have died with Christ. The "baptism" of the cross was the means by which our sins were dealt with. The baptism of the Spirit occurred because of the Lord's death, burial, and resurrection, and has been imputed to the believer. The baptism of a believer in water is a visible representation of that fact. Baptism does not put away our sins. That was done when "Christ suffered for sins." Rather, baptism is the act of obedience to the demands of a good conscience. Our conscience appeals to us to be committed to what we expressed in baptism.
Often, people want to hear a headcount, measuring success as the Gospel spreads from place to place: “How many were saved?” But I can’t tell those to whom God gave new life and rescued them until I see evidence of the Spirit’s work, which became evident when they entered “The Ark,” making Christ their Lord and living out their faith in life, guided by His Word.
Noah preached for 120 years. As he worked, he preached and probably shed many tears. While relatives and friends went on about their lives, paying no attention, the Holy Spirit strove to save them and deliver them from the coming judgment. But Noah’s message did reach those in his own home. So, we know of at least eight whom God saved, and that’s the number the Spirit has given us to have.
Maybe there were others God saved who died. Perhaps some were drowned, their faith hidden in fear. They didn’t enter the ark – they were not physically saved. It could be that a few heard Noah’s message and believed, but for one reason or another, as happens here today, they didn’t make it known, so I am not able to say how many trusted Christ as their Savior and their Lord. We won’t know all the results until the day of reward.