1 Peter 4:6

For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

To this end ... has the effect of "with the final judgment in view."

Was the gospel preached even to the dead ... "The dead" here are exactly the same as the dead in the previous verse, all who had lived on earth and had died previously from the time of Peter's words, there being, it seems, a particular reference to Christians who had recently died and who were the object of certain anxieties on the part of their Christian relatives. Paul, it will be remembered, addressed the Thessalonians on the same subject. Barnes spoke of this thus:

It was natural in such a connection to speak of those who had died in the faith, and to show for their encouragement that, though they had been put to death, yet they still lived to God.[9]

Significantly, the dead mentioned here "were dead at the time of Peter's writing, but were not dead when the gospel was preached to them."[10] Fancy theories built upon ignorance of what this verse says and envisioning all kinds of campaigns to preach the gospel to the hosts of the dead, with the postulation of a glorious second chance for all who were disobedient in life - such notions are not merely preposterous; they are contradictory to many plain teachings of the New Testament.

Judged ... according to men ... but live according to God ... Bruce's explanation of this is excellent:

Deceased Christians are not deprived of the benefits of the gospel. "According to men" they are judged in the flesh (suffered bodily death); yet "according to God" (from God's point of view), the spiritual life which they received ... endures for ever.[11]

The plain meaning is that the gospel was preached to people when living, who are now dead; just as it would be perfectly correct to say that it was preached to saints in glory, or to souls that are in perdition, meaning that it was preached to them when on earth.[12]

This verse with such a mention of preaching "to the dead" has been grossly misunderstood; but the real motivation for the misunderstanding does not lie in any unusual difficulty in the text itself, but in the desire of people who are enraptured with the thought of a second chance. As Barclay put it, "It gives a breath-taking glimpse of a gospel of a second chance!"[13]

Peter's thought here is squarely directed against objections which the Christian community encountered from their pagan contemporaries, the thought of the objection being, "You people die just like the rest of us; what then could be the advantage of being a Christian?" Peter's reply is:

"No," the apostle said, "Those who have died (the dead) may be judged in the flesh like men, by suffering physical death; but because the gospel was preached to them (while alive, when they responded), they are now living in the spirit like God."[14]

[9] Albert Barnes, Barnes' Notes on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1953), p. 191.

[10] Raymond C. Kelcy, op. cit., p. 86.

[11] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 129.

[12] Daniel D. Wheedon, Commentary on the New Testament, Vol. V (New York: Hunton and Eaton, 1890), p. 216.

[13] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 249.

[14] David H. Wheaton, op. cit., p. 1245.