LAB108 The Saving Power of a Fearless Wife

Ὁμοίως [αἱ] γυναῖκες, ὑποτασσόμεναι τοῖς ἰδίοις ἀνδράσιν, ἵνα καὶ εἴ τινες ἀπειθοῦσιν τῷ λόγῳ, διὰ τῆς τῶν γυναικῶν ἀναστροφῆς ἄνευ λόγου κερδηθήσονται,

ἐποπτεύσαντες τὴν ἐν φόβῳ ἁγνὴν ἀναστροφὴν ὑμῶν.

ὧν ἔστω οὐχ ὁ ἔξωθεν ἐμπλοκῆς τριχῶν καὶ περιθέσεως χρυσίων ἢ ἐνδύσεως ἱματίων κόσμος

ἀλλʼ ὁ κρυπτὸς τῆς καρδίας ἄνθρωπος ἐν τῷ ἀφθάρτῳ τοῦ πραέως καὶ ἡσυχίου πνεύματος, ὅ ἐστιν ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ πολυτελές.

οὕτως γάρ ποτε καὶ αἱ ἅγιαι γυναῖκες αἱ ἐλπίζουσαι εἰς θεὸν ἐκόσμουν ἑαυτὰς ὑποτασσόμεναι τοῖς ἰδίοις ἀνδράσιν,

ὡς Σάρρα ὑπήκουσεν τῷ Ἀβραὰμ κύριον αὐτὸν καλοῦσα, ἧς ἐγενήθητε τέκνα ἀγαθοποιοῦσαι καὶ μὴ φοβούμεναι μηδεμίαν πτόησιν.

phrasing

1 Peter 3:1-6

esv

mine

Preaching to my soul

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,

In the same way as being exiles, in subjects to governments, and slaves to masters, wives, be subject to your own husbands not any other. See 1 Peter 2:9 - 25. Do not badger, manipulate, nag or excessively cajole your husbands into faith. But primarily by your good conduct, the husbands may be won over to the faith

when they see your respectful and pure conduct.

when they watch carefully your conduct which is a conduct borne in fear of God, and is pure in the sight of God

Do not let your adorning be external— the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—

Do not let your beauty and primary means to win your husband over be through outward physical appearances

but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

but let your beauty that you want your husband to know be mainly coming from your inner heart, something hidden from your husband but which God sees and knows, and considers very precious. Out of this inner person, with a hope in God, you will then have an unfading, unending, eternal beauty that will be tasted as a gentle and quiet spirit

For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands,

Follow the example of women who were holy by hoping in God, who formed their beauty by submission to their own husbands, not out of fear of the husbands, nor out of passivity or hopelessness, but out of fear and respect for God

as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

One example of this submission is Sarah, when she called Abraham adonai, the only time, in Genesis 18:9-12. She was being culturally contextually appropriate in showing due respect to Abraham at that point of her recorded life.

Notes

Takeaway To have a quiet and gentle spirit, which is beautiful to God, I must first hope in God As an outflow of that hope, I can then be fearless towards those in this world Dr Piper's Questions: 1. Explain the “Likewise” at the beginning of 1 Peter 3:1 . What in the previous verses is Peter comparing the current situation to and why? Peter is continuing the overall theme 1 Peter 2:11-18 of being sojourners and exiles among non-believers for all Christians, then moves specifically to subjects to governments, slaves to masters and now wives. to husbands. 2. Why would Peter say, “Be subject to your own husbands,” here ( 1 Peter 3:1 )? What distinction is he making, and how does that relate to what he was doing in 1 Peter 2:13–14 ? Because "wives do not have the same kind of submission towards every man" that is to their own husbands. The wives are exile in their own marriage. This is a similar distinction in 1 Peter 2:13-14 to be subject to emperor differently from being subject to other authorities. 3. What does Peter mean when he says the husband does not “obey the word” ( 1 Peter 3:1 )? What are the possible meanings, and what do you think Peter meant? After you’ve decided, look to 1 Peter 2:7 and 4:17 for help. Before looking up the other two references: I would think of a husband who may be a believer but is being disobedient to the LORD. Or the husband who does not believe the gospel, as the word is also known as the gospel earlier, according to my memory. And obedience in an earlier LAB, means to believe the gospel. After looking at 1 Peter 2:7 and 1 Peter 4:17 -- it means the husbands are not believers. Because these verses point to believing is obedience, and the word refers to the gospel. 4:17. 4. Read 1 Peter 3:1–2 and 1 Peter 2:11–12 . What similarities do you see between the two passages, and what might that mean for how we apply Peter’s instructions to wives? 1 Peter 2:11-12 is the general overarching instruction to living as exiles, to conduct ourselves in such a way that our good deeds may be seen and non believers would glorify God, be won over by the conduct. And 1 Peter 3:1-2 is the specifics of what that good conduct would look like for wives who are exiles in their relationship to their husbands. 5. What might it mean for a wife to win her husband “without a word” ( 1 Peter 3:2 )? How does 1 Peter 1:23–25 inform or effect how you read that phrase? 1 Peter 1:23-25 shows how the Word of the LORD must be known by the husband. It does not mean the husband does not need to know the wife's faith. But it means without a "nagging, pressured, excessive, manipulative" word. The conduct is what will make the difference. 6. “Respectful” ( 1 Peter 3:2 ) can be translated literally “in fear.” How do you understand the phrase “in fear” here, in light of texts in 1 Peter like 1 Peter 1:17 , 2:17–18 , and 3:6 ? It would be fear towards God as per the references cited. "Conduct yourselves with fear. . .(of God). . . "Servants to be subject to masters with all respect i.e. in all fear of God. So don't fear the husband but fear God. Respect towards God. 7. Why would Peter turn to jewelry and clothing ( 1 Peter 3:3–6 ) when he’s talking to wives about winning their husbands to faith in Jesus ( 1 Peter 3:1–2 )? Because the wife might want to win over the husband through outward beauty, which is a cultural idea. 8. Do these verses mean a woman should never do her hair or wear jewelry? Why or why not? Try and argue from 1 Peter 3:1–6 before going elsewhere. It does not mean that the women cannot wear jewellery or clothing, because of v.3. Rather don't let the focus and primary means to win over the husband be via the outward beauty. 9. Again, based on 1 Peter 3:1–6 , how does a woman cultivate the kind of beauty Peter is describing? The beauty is hidden, so the husband cannot see her heart. v.4. The wife is to cultivate an imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit that the world cannot reproduce. God can see this, and sees this as precious. The woman gets to this as seen in v.5 to hope in God and to become fearless. Gentle and quiet spirit is not a temperament or character, i.e. hoping in God leads to fearlessness which leads to be tranquil in the face of difficult circumstances. Then the husband will ask why this is, see 1 Peter 3:15-16, answering in gentleness and respect. 10. Why does Peter turn to the “holy women” ( 1 Peter 3:5 ) at this point in his argument about submission ( 1 Peter 3:1–6 )? What is he attempting to do? Peter is providing foundation for his argument. This foundation is going back in bible history, to holy women from the past. To Sarah. 11. Take the ideas of hope, holiness, fearlessness, good deeds, and submission from 1 Peter 3:1–6 , and arrange them in some logical order. How might they progress or relate to one another in Peter’s mind? 1) Hope in God 2) I belong first and foremost to God, therefore this is Holiness 3) To become fearless, courageous towards those in this world, in this case unbelieving husbands, fearless in God, quiet and gentle 4) To do good deeds - not avoidance, not denial. Not a passive woman. 5) Submission to the husband (within the proper order, not a submission to the husband above God) 12. Why would Peter use Sarah as an example? Based on what we’ve learned about submission in 1 Peter, what might Peter have said about the incident when Abraham told Sarah to lie about being his wife in Egypt ( Genesis 12:10–20 )? Peter did not approve of Abraham asking his wife to lie. Peter does not approve of Sarah following Abraham into sin, because God is above all. This is because of how Peter argues for the ultimate obedience to God. But Peter does approve of when Sarah called Abraham lord, Gen 18:9-12. This is the only place where she does so, her default heart is to speak respectfully to her husband. Peter chooses Sarah's good example at this point - to be respectful in the cultural context. Let a heart of respect and submission be so default that her natural way of speaking is one of culturally appropriate respect. 13. Looking specifically at 1 Peter 3:1–6 , what can you say that godly submission to a husband is not ? What might someone wrongly assume about submission that needs to be corrected or balanced? The submission is not 1) Agreeing with the husband on all important matters 3:1 (she does not agree with his unbelief) 2) leaving the brain at the altar 3:1ff 3) avoiding the effort to change her husband 3:1 4) putting the will of the husband before the will of Christ 3:1 5) getting all her spiritual strength the husband 3:5 6) acting in fear toward him 3:6. She has God dependent meekness and fearless courage. Submission is the divine calling of the wife to joyfully and fearlessly honour and affirm her husband's leadership and to help his leadership through, to carry it through according to her gifts. 14. Read 1 Peter 3:1–6 again. What is Peter’s main point or objective in these six verses? How would explain his purpose in communicating this vision for submission to someone? - "to magnify God's superior worth by hoping in Him, through Christ (see larger context), as more precious and more resourceful than her husband, and by showing that this hope results in a life that is more husband honouring and husband-winning that if her were the idol he would like to be" - Dr Piper 15. Now reread 1 Peter 2:9–12 . How, if at all, do those verses effect your answer to the previous question? Peter wants the wives to magnify God's superior worth as answered above, as part of a larger call for all exiles and sojourners in Christ here on earth, to so hope in God, through the salvation received from Christ, to be holy and set apart for God, set apart from the passions of our flesh, and apart from the world that unbelievers would see the good conduct and glorify God when Christ visits them and reveals Himself to them.

notes

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