Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20110717.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
1 Peter: Effective Christian Living In A Spiritually Hostile World
Part X: Living In Holiness As Believers In Marriage
(1 Peter 3:1-7)
  1. Introduction
    1. The evil of the world itself can be so strong and pervasive, it can negatively impact the believer's marital partner and thus harm his marriage itself.
    2. 1 Peter 3:1-7 accordingly directs both wives and husbands about living in holiness in relation to one's spouse especially if the world's evils have negatively impacted the spouse's outlook and behavior:
  2. Living In Holiness As Believers In Marriage, 1 Peter 3:1-7.
    1. Peter called women to relate in holiness to their husbands amid a spiritually hostile world, 1 Peter 3:1-6:
      1. He called the wives to submit to their husbands, a command Paul gave in Ephesians 5:22. (1 Pet. 3:1a)
      2. However, this submission was to be directed not only toward a godly Christian husband, but also toward any who did not obey (apeitheo = "disobey", Arndt & Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament , 1967, p. 82) God's Word, 1 Peter 3:1b. This would apply either to an unsaved husband or to a carnal Christian husband who in some way or to any degree disobeys God's Word!
      3. The goal of such submission is for the godly wife not to make matters worse by nagging her ungodly unsaved or carnal Christian husband so as to harden him against the truth, a route that is insubordinate and thus sinful for her to take, but to win ( kerdaino = "gain", Ibid., p. 430) her husband over to obeying the Lord by her quality spiritual lifestyle (anastrophe = "behavior," Ibid., p. 61), 1 Peter 3:1c.
      4. What impacts the husband who disobeys God to be won over to righteousness is his observation of his wife's respect (phobos = "reverence") for him (Ibid., p. 871) along with her "purity" or separation from the way wives of the world are insubordinate to their husbands (hagnos, Ibid., p. 11-12), 1 Peter 3:2.
      5. To accent and not detract from this effort, godly wives must also not adorn themselves as women of the world do in using excessive material props to enhance their outward beauty, but show their separation from worldliness by stressing the lasting beauty of a meek ( praus = "gentle, humble, considerate, meek," Ibid., p. 705) and quiet (hasuchia = "quietness, rest, silence," Ibid., p. 350) attitude that is of great value to God and contrasts with the ungodly actions of women of the world, 1 Peter 3:3-4.
      6. This command by Peter to Christian wives is supported by the way Old Testament women who trusted in God functioned, women who subjected themselves to their husbands, 1 Peter 3:5.
      7. Specifically, Peter referred to Sarah, noting she obeyed her husband, Abraham, calling him "lord" (KJV), or "kurios" that actually means "master" in this context, 1 Peter 3:6a ( U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 797). Peter alluded to Genesis 18:12 where Sarah said upon hearing that she would bear Abraham a son in her old age, "After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" There, "lord" in the Hebrew text is adonai (Kittel, Biblia Hebraica, p. 23), and means "lord, master." (B. D. B., A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament , p. 10-11)
      8. Similarly, Christian wives are to follow Sarah's level of respect toward their husbands, godly or otherwise, not giving way to terror (ptoesin) in [likely] disobeying their husbands out of failure to trust in the Lord to do what is right, 1 Peter 3:6b; Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 849.
    2. Peter likewise called men to relate in holiness to their wives in a spiritually hostile world, 1 Pet. 3:7 KJV:
      1. Christian men are to relate to their wives, godly or otherwise, "according to knowledge," 1 Peter 3:7a. That expression refers to an awareness of the wife's "spiritual, emotional, and physical needs," Ibid. This aligns with Paul's call for husbands to "protect and care" for their wives, Ephesians 5:28-30, Ibid.
      2. Husbands must respect their wives as "weaker" (asthenstero) partners, to support their wives in their physical or emotional weaknesses that are due to the limitations of their feminine body and nature only, not to the soul and spirit where wives are equally heirs of eternal life with their husbands, 1 Peter 3:7b.
      3. Only then will a man's prayers be heard by God as he will thus relate rightly to his wife, 1 Peter 3:7c!
Lesson: To offset the evil influence of the world on a believer's spouse and hence his marriage, he must function in his respective gender role in respect and consideration for his spouse in obedience to God.

Application: May we believing wives and husbands heed Peter's call for right functioning in marriage.