For to this end was the Gospel preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed as men in the flesh, but live as to God in the spirit.
that they might be judged according to men in the flesh: Even though they were judged and persecuted by men when they were alive, they endured faithfully as a Christian. The people to whom Peter is writing are undergoing the same kinds of persecutions; and he writes to encourage them to be faithful.