Husbands And Wives Doing Good Series

Let us continue our worship of God by learning from His Word.

Open your Bibles to 1 Peter 3….

We note that the main instructions starts with “In the same way…” What way? This phrase is similar to our favorite Bible word “therefore”; we have to look at the truths stated earlier before moving forward. God gives truths then He gives instructions “in the same way”. Make a note of this.

What are the key verses before 1 Peter 3?

Look again at 1 Peter 2:12: Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Christians are to do good in all areas of life! We are to go against evil and do good because Christians belong to a good God. But we can really only do good when we return to the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ.

Look again at 1 Peter 2:25: For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

In order to do good, Christians are to always remember what Christ has done, listen to, pray to, and follow Him.

Now, we will read in Chapter 3 of 1 Peter ways of doing good as a Christian wife and as a Christian husband. To those of you who are not married, this does not mean you can go to sleep. There are plenty of Biblical principles in this passage applicable to all Christians. Also, you may want to marry someday and sadly many Christians do not really know what they are getting into before getting married! Better listen up!

Now, this passage is very personal and may actually be difficult for many of us; and so, let us all take a quiet time to pray before reading the text. Right where you are, pray quietly to Jesus Christ, remember what He did for you; ask the Lord Jesus to help you understand His instructions and how to apply them in practical ways……..

Read along with me now 1 Peter 3:1-7……….

v1: Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands. Other English Translation of this verse states, “Wives, be subject to your own husbands.” I know some of you ladies are thinking, “Did God really say that?”

How do we know God wrote this stuff? You see, first of all, if man just wrote this thing we call the Bible, man would mess it up!! And if man just wrote the Bible, we would not include the command for husbands!!

God wrote the Bible; and if He says submit, that’s what it means! However, we also know God wrote what we are reading because God explains it in context! God says submit “in the same way”!! What way is God talking about? We noted it from 1 Peter 2, all Christians are to submit to all authorities unless it is a sin against God. And so, in order to submit to all authorities and in order for wives to submit to their husbands, they must first submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ!

We can also note that we are reading words from God because God tells us that there are positive results in following His instructions (v1b). God is a good God and all His instructions are always good! Wives will be blessed with godly husbands when they submit to Jesus Christ and to their own husbands. Ladies, God is on your side! Of course, us men need all the help we can get and we really will not change for the good without God in the house! So Ladies, please take note, you really have a big role in helping men with their spiritual lives! We cannot force spiritual growth on anyone BUT we can create an environment for spiritual growth!! Wives, please create a good spiritual environment for your family!

What else do we note God desires for wives?

v2: live pure and reverent lives… Let’s keep it simple, this basically means live with God’s presence! When we think of the Triune God in our presence and yield to them, we will live pure and reverent lives! And when we do this, we create a good environment for spiritual growth for those around us! All these instructions really support one another; why? – because all these words come from One person, God Himself! – another reason to appreciate the bible as the Word of God!

Now look again at v3-4………

v3-4 actually goes along with this attitude of living in God’s presence; for what is the first thing that God looks at in a person???

God looks at the heart first!!

Now ladies, please take note, God starts with the statement “Your beauty!” Every person, especially you ladies, were created by a beautiful God; therefore, you are to keep in step with your beautiful God; but again, it must start within, a gentle and quiet spirit! I will give a help later on this.