Acts 2:27. The verse says, "Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." This is a prophetic statement by David, and referred to by Peter when he preached to the Jews on the Day of Pentecost. The reference is to Christ, saying that God would not "leave His soul in Hades." The word translated "leave" is the Greek word egkataleipw which means to "forsake or abandon." Thus David is saying that God would not forsake Him or abandon Him to Hades. Hades is not Hell, or "Gehenna," (the Lake of Fire) and the final abode of the unsaved but the temporary abode of the unsaved dead who are awaiting the final judgment (Rev. 20:11-15). The word "hades" also is used to refer to the grave and/or to death. (See 1 Cor. 15:55)

The passage literally means that God would not allow Christ's body and spirit to remain separated by death as explained in Acts. 2:31. (Let the Bible interpret itself) It does not mean that Christ went to the Lake of Fire or to "Hades," the temporary abode of the lost. David was simply stating that God would resurrect Him after His death. The point of Peter using this Old Testament prophecy was to show the Jews present on the day of Pentecost that Jesus was the promised Messiah and that as David prophesied He arose from the grave.

Luke 23:43 records that Jesus said to the thief on the cross, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise." Thus Jesus said He would be in Paradise that day. Paradise is a biblical term and a synonym for heaven and the abode of saved persons in the presence of God. It was also called (See Luke 16:19f)

1 Peter 3:18-20, is another verse improperly used to teach that Jesus went into hell. "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: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water."

Some say that the passage is saying that Jesus after his death went and preached salvation to the "spirits in prison" meaning the unsaved who died in Noah's flood and are now in Hades. However, there are several reasons that this is not the correct interpretation. First, Hebrews 9:27, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." This verse precludes that anyone is given a second chance after death. At death, where a man will spend eternity is determined by whether he is saved or lost. No where in the Bible is man said to be given a second chance to be saved.

2 Peter 2:5 says that Noah preached righteousness to the anti-deluvians. The message of righteousness he preached was that one was to have faith in the coming promised Savior of the world. "And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly." Noah preached the promise God made in Genesis 3:15 that One would come who would undone the work of Satan. "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
These sinful people who were destroyed in the Flood did not ignorantly reject God because the Bible says Noah preached righteousness to them. Noah was not preaching that a man could be saved by being righteous, but that by the coming Redeemer, man could be saved and become righteous by faith. Hebrews 11:7 states this saying, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." Therefore it was Noah...not Christ that actually preached to the people who died in the flood and Noah preached to them before they died. Noah preached Christ to them and they rejected Him...why then should they be given special consideration and given a second chance. Clearly they were not. Those in the spirit prison were there because they refused to repent and believe in the coming Savior and are eternally condemned as are all men who die rejecting God.

Further, verse 20 begins with "which" which explains who the spirits were in prison and when they were preached to. It says God was long suffering in the days of Noah...meaning that Noah for 120 years preached righteousness by faith to the people and they rejected the message. It says only eight souls believed God and were saved.

The bottom line is that none of these passages teach Christ went to hell between His death and resurrection. It says He went to heaven.

           CHRIST'S MIRACLES WERE TO DEMONSTRATE THAT HE WAS THE MESSIAH. It is falsely taught in some circles that Jesus performed miracles as an example for Christians to follow. Jesus' healing ministry, they say for example, is held forth as an example of what healers today are doing. This idea ignores the fact that Jesus healed as a sign that He was the Messiah, the promised Savior, the Son of God. Jesus' healing ministry was not an example for us to follow, but was part of His unique credentials as the Christ. In doing supernatural miracle Jesus proved that He was the Son of God and the promised Messiah. He did heal people, but this was not His main reason. The healings showed He had the power to speak and do things that were not natural. Only God could do the things Jesus did and Nicodemus the Pharisee stated this in John 3:1-4. This is plainly what the Bible teaches. Consider the following Scriptures: John. 5:36; 10:25,37-38; 14:11; 15:24; 20:30-31; Acts 2:22.

           Some point to Christ's statement in John. 14:12, claiming this means Christians should be able to perform miracles. The fact is that since the time of the Apostles, Christians have not been able to do great sign miracles. It is a fact of history that the sign gifts ceased with the passing of the Apostles. The only "sign miracles" witnessed in church history since those days are those of spurious individuals and groups involved in strange and unscriptural doctrines. Among the faithful people of God through the centuries since the Apostles, sign gifts ceased. Instead, God's people have enjoyed the power of God to live holy lives in the face of a godless generation, to withstand persecution, and to preach the Gospel. God has answered the prayers of his children and at times some were marvelously healed. James however, explained that healing was to be after the miracle age ceased saying, "Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." (James 5:13-15) That is fact. God's people have continued to experience miracles, but not sign gifts.

           Along comes the charismatics and faith healer and TV preachers, all claiming that God is giving sign gifts today. It isn't true. There are no true sign gifts among these groups. Those who claim to be healers cannot heal--at least they cannot heal any more consistently than can any faithful pastor who prays at the bedsides of his people. Those who claim to be prophets cannot prophesy inerrantly. They make mistakes proving they are not prophets of God. They make all sorts of embarrassing mistakes and thereby identify themselves as false prophets. Those who claim to be apostles cannot perform the signs of an apostle which Paul witnessed to in 2 Cor. 12:12--"Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds." Jesus and the Apostles preformed the miracle of raising the dead. How many faith healers today claim they can do that. A few have tried to fake it, but they cannot heal. They preform clever tricks that appear to be healings which are proven to be hoaxes.

           What then? What about John. 14:12? I believe the promise of Jesus Christ in Jn. 14:12 was fulfilled in the ministry of the Apostles as recorded in the book of Acts. Since those miracle-filled days, there have been no more periods in church history of true sign miracles. That, dear friends, is fact. Those who deny it are flying in the face of Scripture, of history, and of present reality.

           THE HEALING MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLES WAS UNIQUE AND WAS FOR THE PURPOSE OF AUTHENTICATING THEIR WORK (2 Co. 12:12; Mk. 3:14-15; Ac. 2:43; 4:33; 5:12,15; 19:12; Heb. 2:3-4). Note that the miracles of the Apostles were special and were for the purpose of marking them as the Apostles of Christ. They had miracle-working power to authenticate their unique ministries. That is what Scripture says. All Christians could not do the sign miracles of the Apostles. The only exceptions were a few men upon whom the Apostles had laid hands. There was no general miracle-working experience among the first churches. If there had been, Paul could not have pointed to his miracle-working ability as a special sign. His merely would have been another miracle-working Christian ministry if all could have performed such things. But all could not. If all could have performed miracles as a matter of course, the Christians would not have called for Peter to come and raise Dorcas from the dead (Ac. 9:36-42). Peter's miracle that day was the "sign of an apostle." It has never been God's will for all Christians to be running around performing sign miracles and healing everyone. That has never been the case, and will never be the case in this age. Don't be deceived. Don't seek that which God has NOT promised and thereby leave yourself open to the deception of the devil. Jesus warned that an evil generation seeks a sign (Mt. 12:39). Let's not be identified with evil. Let us seek those humble things which God HAS promised and which He wants to do in and for and through us to the glory of Christ. Seek to live holy, gentle lives. Seek to preach the Gospel and see souls saved and lives changed for the glory of God. Seek to be looking and longing for Christ's return. Seek to be obedient, fruitful Christians.

           Christians are to life by faith putting their trust in God, not healers. They are to live in God's will which often is not to heal, but to comfort, strengthen those who are afflicted. God uses their testimony of faith in the face of adversity to win others to Christ and strengthen the weak in faith. (Most this answer is taken from the "Way of Life Encyclopedia of Christianity and the Bible" by David Cloud. Some material added.)