seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Peter 3:1 Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For,
“Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
and their lips from deceitful speech.
11 They must turn from evil and do good;
they must seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”[a]
and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
and their lips from deceitful speech.
11 They must turn from evil and do good;
they must seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”[a]
13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats[b]; do not be frightened.”[c] 15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 19 After being made alive,[d] he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.[e] It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
a. 1 Peter 3:12 Psalm 34:12-16
b. 1 Peter 3:14 Or fear what they fear
c. 1 Peter 3:14 Isaiah 8:12
d. 1 Peter 3:19 Or but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which also
e. 1 Peter 3:21 Or but an appeal to God for a clear conscience
This is from the easy English site.
Marriage is very important to God. He created marriage. You can read about this at the beginning of the Bible, in Genesis 2:20-25. God decided that a husband is the head. His wife should respect and obey him. A husband has more responsibility than his wife has. This does not mean that men are more important than women are. God loves everyone, but he does not give all people the same work to do. When Peter wrote this letter, it was unusual for a wife to have a different religion from her husband. Some women had become Christians, but their husbands had not. Peter had to explain how a Christian wife should behave in that situation.
A Christian wife must live a holy life (1 Peter 1:15). She should respect and obey her husband, even if he still does not obey God. But sometimes her husband may tell her to do something that is a sin. This is the only time that she must not obey him. A husband will see that his wife behaves better because she is a Christian. One day he will want to know God too, but it may take a long time. She should pray for her husband. She herself should live a holy life and trust God.
A woman can make herself beautiful on the outside. This is not wrong. However, a Christian woman should be beautiful in her spirit too. A ‘gentle spirit’ means that she does not insist that she is always right. She does not make other people do what she wants to do. She does not argue or fight. A ‘quiet spirit’ means that she is peaceful in her spirit. Then she helps other people to feel peaceful too. This is what is important to God. 1 Samuel 16:7 says that people decide what other people are like by what they look like on the outside. But God looks at their spirit. Beautiful clothes will wear out. The good things in the spirit of a person will never wear out.
Members of a family sometimes argue and fight. This can happen even in a Christian family. God does not want this. People argue because they are selfish and proud. Sometimes they do not love each other. Christians must learn to agree and not to argue. Humble people care more about other people than they care about themselves. They are kind and do not fight.
It is quite easy to behave well when people are kind. When people behave badly towards another person, that person’s natural reaction is to be bad in return. This is not what Jesus did (see chapter 2:23). Whatever other people say, a Christian should always reply with good words. God only blesses people when they do what is right.
To ‘enjoy life and have good days’ does not mean that Christians can live without troubles in their lives. It means that God will care for them, if they live the right way. They should be careful what they say. Sometimes Christians say evil things and tell lies. This causes trouble. Instead, they must do and say things that encourage peace. Then God will listen to their prayers and help them. If they live the wrong way, then God will oppose them. Their lives will not be happy.
Christ is Lord of all circumstances. He has all authority. The people who do bad things to Christians are not in control. Christians should always trust Christ. Other people will notice this. They may ask you about this ‘hope’ that you say you have. Sure hope in Jesus Christ is what makes Christians different from other people. You can tell them that Jesus Christ died to forgive our sins. Christians who suffer can explain about their inheritance in heaven (1 Peter 1:2-5). Christians should be kind and patient as they answer, because only God can change a person’s outlook.
‘Conscience’ is the part of people that feels guilty when they do wrong things. If people obey God, their conscience will be innocent. Christians should not worry when people oppose them. One day God will give these people a guilty conscience, because they have spoken what is wrong.
God sometimes allows even good people to suffer. They must continue to trust God. This will show that they have a genuine faith in God. Suffering is the right punishment only when a person does evil.
The story about Noah and the flood is in Genesis 6:11-9:17. Noah was a righteous man, but the rest of the people at that time were wicked. God decided to destroy the wicked people. He told Noah to build a big boat. He was patient while Noah took many years to build it. Then God flooded the world and all the wicked people drowned. God kept 8 people safe in the boat until the flood was over. These 8 people were Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives.
In his second letter, Peter says that Noah was a preacher of right behaviour (2 Peter 2:5). The Holy Spirit spoke through Noah. He warned the people to stop their wicked behaviour. But they would not obey God, so they died in the flood. When Christ rose from death, he went and preached to the spirits in prison. The ‘prison’ refers to the place of dead people.
Baptism does not make someone a Christian. Their faith in Jesus Christ does. But baptism is a sign of what has happened. The water is like the flood that washed away all the evil in the days of Noah. The boat is like salvation that saves people from death. A Christian comes out of the baptism water and begins a new life. When people put their trust in Jesus, God forgives their sins. That takes away their bad conscience. Because Jesus rose from death, he gives eternal life to those who trust him.
God lives in heaven. God is a spirit. He does not have a body. Jesus is now ‘at the right hand of God’. This means that Jesus has the same power and authority as God. Even powerful angels with great authority are under his control.
This commentary is from enduringword.com.
That even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives: The benefit of submission is shown in the way that it affects husbands for God. A wife’s submission is a powerful expression of her trust in God. This kind of faith and obedience can accomplish great things, even without a word.
Wives may want to shape their husbands, either guiding them to Jesus or guiding them in Jesus through their words. Peter reminds them that God’s plan is that wives impact their husbands not through persuasive lectures, but through godly submission, chaste conduct, and the fear of God.
There is a sense in which a wife’s efforts to shape her husband through her own words and efforts may hinder the power of God’s working on the husband. It is much more effective to submit in the way God says to, thus demonstrating trust in Him, and to let God have his way with the husband.
“The attractiveness of a wife’s submissive behaviour even to an unbelieving husband suggests that God has inscribed the rightness and beauty of role distinctions to include male leadership or headship in the family and female acceptance of and responsiveness to that leadership… The unbelieving husband sees this behaviour and deep within perceives the beauty of it. Within his heart there is a witness that this is right, this is how God intended men and women to relate as husband as wife. He concludes, therefore, that the gospel which his wife believes must be true as well.” (Grudem)
Do not obey the word: This refers to an unbelieving husband, but it is a stronger idea than merely “do not believe.” It has the idea of someone in active disobedience to God’s word. Even these husbands can be won through the godly conduct of loving wives.
Women.... Be submissive to your husbands. It's not the same as it was back then. Peter was talking about how to act in church. Women shouldn't be doing the preaching when the preacher is around..... but when the preacher isn't coming.... a woman can step up. Back when Peter was writing this letter... they were still establishing the new church.... and women talked to other women [of course] and more women were showing up in the church... while the men just weren't buy this whole "survived the cross" story.
Women weren't allowed in the Jewish Temple. Men were the only ones who went in to Holy area of the Temple. [Not the Holy of Holies but the Holy]. Women and slaves had to wait outside. Men didn't get the Gospel as easily as women did. Men thought leaving the Temple was a horrible sin. Good Jewish brothers would have been reluctant to accept the Word.
This chapter of the Bible has caused me more problems, personally, than any human can comprehend. I married a guy who was a bit odd.... but I like him because he was odd. I had no idea how odd he was. When the first man walked on the moon.... I went home from work early to watch the event. I walked in on my husband with a man. So.... what's a good Christian woman going to do? I was raised in the church... I didn't know men did this thing. The church never talked about it.
It took me a long long time before I could tell my mother. Now my mother had also been raised in the church. My grandmother was a lay ministeress. She raised the money to build her little church. A traveling preacher use to preach there... but when he couldn't get up to the church because of the weather... my grandmom would preach. My mom was raised on hell fire and damnation. My mom was the second oldest of seven kids.... my mom didn't want a bunch of kids.... they were just work. There was no legal abortion when I was a kid. I'm the oldest of five.
My mom told me... the Bible says you have to stay with him. He can see God in you and then he will be changed.
It took me a much longer time to tell a preacher. The preacher told me the same thing. I had to stay in the marriage. Marriage is important to God.
BUT.... when he tried to throw me out of a car going down the interstate at 60 miles an hour because he thought I was going to turn him in for using a stolen credit card.... then I could leave.
I could leave but I couldn't divorce him. Mom said "We don't do divorce. It will ruin our reputation."
I was married to that man for ten years..... I had three children..... they were all in diapers.... and I left in the middle of the night with three kids in diapers and $5.00 in my pocket.... and the church didn't want anything to do with me because of what I married.
I find it interesting that Peter brought Noah up right after talking about how women can bring their unbelieving husbands to Christ. Noah had three sons. Seth was the great great great whatever grandfather of Jesus the Messiah. Japheth's family went on to be the family of Gomer [wonderful woman]. They were the people of Europe and Asia.... North and West. Ham's family was cursed. Ham said something when he saw his dad [Noah] naked.... and Noah cursed him. Ham's family settled in the South and West.
So there were three sons of Noah.... all humanity came from those three sons.... so we are all God's children.... so what do I think Ham said to Noah that got him cursed? I think it had something to do with Noah's naked niceness. And that was the beginning of what my first husband and I went through.... I figure.... I guess.
A preacher tracked me down before my husband tried to throw me out of the car. He visited me several times... trying to get me back in the church.... and when I get to the Book of Jude... I can point out the verses he used to set me back on track..... but I was trapped for almost 10 years.... I was lucky....that man didn't care if he was with a man or a woman.... so I got three children out of the marriage.
So.... unequally yoked..... that's what the preacher in Virginia Beach called it when I was 10. Don't marry a Catholic because you are a Baptist and you will be unequally yoked. My ex husband was not a Catholic. I didn't know the other thing existed..... and the church wanted nothing to do with me..... because of him
So Peter was saying.... women... if you act Christian... your husbands will fall in line.
I've been through all of this.... I can tell you.... I stuck to my guns. I didn't leave that man because the church [and my mom] told me I had to stay. I counted on my faith.... It went on hold [didn't grow but stayed the same] because the only Bible I could find was a KJV that I could not understand..... but I didn't leave my faith. I gleaned the Word from Bible Stories I had memorized.... and the 23rd Psalm and any TV preacher I could find.
All this because Ham said something that Noah didn't like. The church won't talk about it.... but if God didn't want Ham to be cursed by Noah.... I figure Ham wouldn't have survived the flood.... Ham would have missed the boat. God does know what we are going to do before we do it.... God knows how the story ends.....
So.... wives... submit to your husbands. Because ALL humans are related and I met a lot of gay people who wanted to hear about Jesus. There are a lot of homosexual people in the church.... and they are not preying on children.... they are praying for the children.
