Sermon Tone Analysis

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Opening Prayer:

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Introduction:

 

Beth and I will be celebrating 25 years together in marriage next month.

While thinking of this and how blessed I am to have such a wonderful wife I began to reflect on our relationship.

How did our relationship hold together for so long?

Some would say that Beth saw the potential in me, and helped me to be the man I am today (LOL!).

Others might say that since we were in the Army, every time things got a bit rough I would be deployed somewhere for a length of time, and when I returned we missed each other so much that we forgot about the earlier time.

Although these things may hold some merit, I think there is something else.

And that leads me to my message today…

 

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*The Title of my message is: For the Sake of the Gospel – A look at 1 Peter 3, verses 1 – 7.*

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I can't tell you how many people questioned my wanting to preach this message on the first opportunity at my home church.

Everyone thought I was crazy for wanting to discuss a topic as controversial as this.

But I prayed about it and prayed about it.

I questioned my motives, and prayed some more about it.

When it was all said and done, I knew this is the topic God wants me to preach on.

I believe the reason why this scripture is so controversial is simply due to its being misunderstood.

There are two schools of thought on how this passage should be interpreted.

One is a woman should submit to her husband in the same way a slave does to his master.

The second is a woman should submit to her husband for the Lord's sake.

Which is correct?

And when we speak of submission, what exactly does that mean?

To gain a proper understanding of this passage, we must determine whether 1 Peter 3:1 and 3:7 refer back to 1 Peter 2:18 or 2:13.

My hope (and my prayer) is that after this morning you will look at this topic in a whole new way.

So let's take a look at 1 Peter, chapter 3, verses 1 through 7.

 

[Begin with the ASV and so on, and so on…]

 

What's my point?

My point is no matter how we try to dance around it, the word "submit" is there.

But before you make any hasty judgments about where I'm going with this, let's take a look at this passage in more detail.

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Overview & Historical - Cultural Background

 

·        Written by Peter the Apostle in A.D. 63 or early 64 to the churches in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey).

·        Written to both Jewish and Gentile converts.

"Resident Aliens" and "Visiting Strangers."

(This is a whole other sermon!)

·        The purpose of the letter

1.     to teach and encourage Christians to live as good witnesses in a hostile land.

2.     to teach Christians how to endure suffering for the gospel's sake.

·        Roman society and culture revolved around pagan worship.

·        Typical of wives to adopt their husband’s religion.

·        Families worshipped together for appearances sake.

·        When a woman converted to Christianity, she no longer worshiped images of false gods - her absence would have been very obvious and an insult to the husband's authority.

Side Note:  During this time, women were more apt to convert to Christianity than men simply because of the way they were treated.

Women were cherished in the Judeo-Christian world!

·        Peter was instructing the Christians of this time to uphold family traditions in Roman society.

Even so, they were still tormented and persecuted.

·        Peter's response was to take on an attitude of deference and a behavior marked by respect.

·        This didn't mean Christians should accept the religion of Rome, but it did rule out any retaliation.

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Verse by Verse Exposition

 

Wives, in the same way be submissive to your 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, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.  1 Peter 3:1-2 (NIV)

·        The adverb "in the same way" has been interpreted in several ways.

·        I believe this is the key to a proper interpretation of this verse.

Ø It is meant as a simple connective introducing an item among other items in a list

Ø It is attached to "submit yourselves" in verse 2:18.

In this view, the idea becomes as slaves are to subject themselves to their masters, so also wives are to subject themselves to their own husbands.

§  One major problem with this interpretation is it would mean the same thing in verse 7.

But nowhere in scripture does it say a man should place himself under the authority of his wife.

Ø It refers back to 2:13.

Peter is instructing wives to voluntarily submit to their husbands for the Lord's sake.

§  In this interpretation, the usage in verse 7 is consistent.

*Side note:*  This is a good example of how we must read scripture in the context of the entire Bible.

If a verse is inconsistent with another verse, than chances are good that we are taking it out of context.

·        In the same way also refers us back to 2:21 - 25.  Just as Jesus was submissive and obedient to God's will, so a Christian husband and wife should follow His example.

[Read 2:21 - 24]

·        This is the key point to understanding this passage!

[Expound]

 

·        The word "submit" is the next word.

In the original language, the word is defined as "/voluntary submission/."

·        Throughout the New Testament, the word is defined the identical way…even when referring to slaves.

·        An interesting note about translations:  In the RSV the word was translated differently.

In verse 3:1 and 2:18 it was translated "Submissive" but in verse 2:13 it was translated as "subject."

I think because of this, the norm was to take "in the same way" in verse 3:1 back to 2:18 and that's where the idea that a wife needs to submit to their husband as a slave to his master comes from.

In the newer translations, the word is translated the same in all three verses and it is easier to see how it applies to 2:13 too.

·        Another interesting point of this word is it does not mean to obey someone or to do the will of another person, but to lose or surrender one's own rights or will.

In its original usage, the word described the submission and obedience of soldiers in an Army to those of superior rank.

The term always implies a relationship of submission to authority.

Ø /Isn’t this exactly what Christ did?/

·        The thing to remember here is God has a place for everything.

He has ordained various levels of authority.

*[Read 2:13 and 14]*

·        He has ordained that the husband be the head of the home.

*[Eph 5:21 - 24]*

·        As the husband submits to Christ, his wife should submit to him.

·        Headship is not dictatorship, but the loving exercise of divine authority under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

·        Peter’s instructions to submit to authorities (1 Pet 2:13–17) and to husbands (1 Pet 3:1–6) involved normal and not abusive situations.

·        The key point here is that Peter is instructing wives to submit to their husband for two reasons:

·        Submission is an obligation:  according to God's wisdom, this is the best arrangement for a happy fulfilling marriage.

Ø A wife must keep in mind that she submits to her husband not for his sake (to appease her husband’s vanity or to boost his social image), nor for her own sake (to boast in her martyrdom).

Rather, she submits to him for the Lord’s sake (2:13).

·        Submission is an opportunity:  God uses a wife's submission as a powerful spiritual influence in a home.

Ø This doesn't mean the wife should preach to her husband, but rather through her character and conduct win the husband to Christ.

Ø The term "without words" does not refer to without the Word of God, because salvation comes through the Word.

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Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.

Instead, 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.

For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful.

They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master.

You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.  1 Peter 3:3-6 (NIV)

·        What Peter is saying is a Christian woman should be adorned with the Christian attributes.

·        Roman women were addicted to extravagance in the adornment of their hair.

·        Peter is exhorting Christian woman not to adorn themselves in the same way as a pagan woman.

·        If they did, the husbands would only see their Christian wife imitating the ways of the world.