Thematic Bible: Why the gospel was preached

Therefore, since Christ has suffered physically, you people should fortify yourselves with the same attitude He had. For the person who has suffered physically [i.e., in standing for Christ] has quit sinning. So then, you should no longer live the rest of your lives [to satisfy] the sinful desires of your body, but to do what God wants. For the time you have [already] spent in the past [i.e., as Gentile unbelievers] was long enough to have practiced unrestrained, indecent conduct, improper sexual cravings, riotous living, wild parties, drunken orgies and disgusting idol worship. read more.
Now, those people you used to run around with cannot understand why you have stopped living such wasteful lives, so they just "badmouth" you. But, they will have to answer to God, who will judge both those who are now alive and those who have already died, [for the way they have lived]. This is the purpose that the Gospel was preached to those who have died physically [for the faith]: It was so that, even though they had been judged physically [i.e., by suffering death at the hands of men], they could still live spiritually in the presence of God.