1 Peter 3:1-2
There is no quick and easy answer to make the suffering feel better. The whole of our lives is bound up in Christ. Our interaction with our culture and our relationships within the marriage and family are important to our response to difficult times. We can imagine these hurting people saying, "What does the marriage relationship have to do with surviving suffering?" Suffering is a normal part of the life of the Christian. We don't wait for suffering to go away to get back to normal; to our life, family and relationships. Our relationships are part of who we are, they go with us in good times and bad. 'Normal' is what we are going through is this season. Healthy relationships, a biblical worldview, walking in the spirit, being in fellowship with other believers and being in the word; all these things become normal, regardless of world circumstances.
If a proper order isn't maintained in our relationship to government, our masters or our spouses, we are spiritually compromised. We will be weakened and less able to stand in times of persecution and suffering.
Submission is the proper order of things according to God. Remember these things we submit to are part of a what we were called to. This submission isn't assuming a position of less honor, dignity or importance. A wife submitted to her husband doesn't make her less of a person. A wife submitted to her husband is modeling Jesus Christ. She is accepting where the Lord has placed her and trusting Him in that place.
When a wife submits to her husband, she places the responsibility on him to lead. Men are poor spiritual leaders at times. We tend to not touch the spiritual things unless we have to. Here's what this may look like. The wife is saying, "Yes dear I submit to your authority." This can be a silent, but spiritual kick in the backside to her husband, saying essentially, "Now do something!"
This submission was really important in those days because prior to Christianity a woman was always of the same faith as her husband. Now, as Peter writes this some women were Christian while their husbands weren't. Now Peter says that wives should likewise submit to their husbands. When a man became a believer, he brought his whole family into the church. When a woman became a believer, she came alone.
Now in Peter's day these women were coming to Christ. They were saying, do I leave this unbelieving man? Do I stay with Him? Peter said stay with your husband and submit to him. This conduct and respect will win him over. The clear implication is the wife is submitting but she has a huge impact and influence over her husband, the leader of this family.
Peter is saying that the woman should live submissively to her husband and living a godly life becomes a witness to her husband.
1 Peter 3:3-6
The inner beauty and gentle spirit is more attractive and establishes where your priority is. Relying on fashion and adornment is the worldly answer. Having a gentle and quiet spirit creates an incorruptible beauty that reveals the hidden person of the heart. This is very precious in the sight of God. While it sounds like Peter is just talking to the Ladies you have to remember this was written to both men and women. Peter is talking to both husbands and wives. Neither should make this outward beauty a priority. This focus on inward beauty is one of those things God establishes to lead to a strong and lasting marriage. The outward beauty and adornment won't last forever but the inner beauty and quiet spirit can.
1 Peter 3:7
The ladies took the lead at being an example. Peter then said, "likewise" to the husbands. This is a call to submission for the men. This is direction for men to take their place in the order of things. This is assuming the role God called you to. Part of that role is submitting to the needs of your wife. Guys, the bible says you have to "dwell with them with understanding." You have to understand them!! And Honor them! You don't get to just roll your eyes and say "whatever" and walk away.
This is speaking to the believing husband who likewise must dwell with an unbelieving or disobedient wife. This believing husband must assume the role of a godly husband. When she can see the grace and love you offer, she can more likely come to understand the grace that Jesus offers. Husbands, you are to become a model of Christ to her.
If you don't assume this role, Peter says, your prayers for her will be hindered. A man can't wait to lead until he sees his wife assume her role. He submits to the place of a godly man. And part of that would then to be in prayer for her salvation. This submission and understanding doesn't come easy, it comes only as the result of commitment. For most men, these things don't come naturally and we have to work at them.
Men, do you give honor to your wife? We are to honor them and submit to their needs. Not waiting for her to submit to you. Peter didn't place any conditions on the verse. We are to honor our wives as the weaker vessel.
The husband is to have respect and honor for the wife regardless of circumstances. She needs your love and protection. When a husband and wife assume their roles and responsibility, they will be heirs together. Peter said, heirs together of the grace of life. This 'grace of life' is the gift of a healthy marriage relationship that survives anything this world can throw at it.
1 Peter 3:8
Remember Peter is answering a question with this letter. That Question is, As a Christian, how do I receive suffering and persecution? How should it affect me? What should my thought process look like? What's the right attitude to have? Peter said you were called to redemption. And that doesn't change because the circumstances of your life change. And you were called to holiness. God is holy, unchanging, even in suffering you are to be holy. You were called to the suffering you experience. It's not accidental. It's not bad luck. It's not that God fell asleep and wasn't watching. The suffering you experience is for you from God. Receive it, learn your lessons well and pursue God through it. And you were called to submission. Just as Jesus submitted, you submit. Take your place. This is the path God set you on. Submit to Him first and then submit to the authorities in your life as you model Jesus.
Whether you are suffering or not, you are called to redemption, holiness, suffering and submission. Our attitude towards suffering and our behavior is to be framed by the understanding of these 4 things. I don't think the people Peter was writing to were probably surprised that they were called to redemption, holiness, suffering and submission. But I think they were looking for something additional or an exception clause for those that were suffering. It's our old sinful nature that tells us we are too good to suffer.
When Peter started verse 8 with 'finallly' he was giving a summation of this framework he established. This is what this calling to the Lord will look like applied to the life of the believer in a fallen world. It applies to good times, bad times, young and old, blessed and persecuted. No exceptions.
This probably isn't what these folks wanted to hear. In the face of suffering, our first reaction is to fight back, all the while thinking, it's not fair. I don't deserve this and I have every right to get even. That's the way any natural man or woman would respond. But as Christians we are to be different. We aren't to be ruled by the natural. Our response ought to be based on the supernatural work of God.
Since these believers were Jews and they were brought up believing they were the Lord's chosen and that the gentiles were unbelieving dogs, they might have expected a more proactive and protective response from God through the words of Peter. They may have believed God wouldn't allow them to suffer and that by their salvation that bad things would no longer happen to them. And it's funny you can still hear teaching like that today from false teachers. One of the best tools of Satan is leading people to believe they are a good person. And bad things shouldn't happen to good people. The false teachers then jump on this and teach that if you have bad things happening, you just need more faith. You need to send your money in and plant a seed.
In truth, there are no good people. The only good thing we have is the righteousness of Christ. That righteousness came to us by His suffering. We are born again by that suffering. Our identity is all wrapped up in suffering. From that suffering came new life.
To those who trust in Christ, Peter said, have one mind. This is a call to Christian unity. It's a call to be joined together and be bonded in Jesus. We all come from many walks of life. We have many different ways about us and that's fine but we are to be likeminded in Christ. To do this we have to know that mind. That means our common bond is knowing the revealed word of God. We are called from our diversity to be unified as a group of believers that study God's word and seek the mind of Christ.
Peter then said, we are to be compassionate toward one another, loving each other as family, polite and courteous. This seems like it would be obvious if the body is of the mind of Christ. God's people should reflect the God they serve, not reflect the culture they live in. Peter says there is no room for vengeance. We are to return an insult with a blessing. That's hard. But, just imagine if everyone actually did this. Upon insult, you respond.......
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
and give you peace.
We are called to do this........be tenderhearted, be courteous; 9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, and in doing so we may inherit a blessing also.
This is one of those passages we can easily think of all kinds of other people who need to hear this. None of us automatically said, "Yes, Lord I need to guard my ways. But we are to be about the hard work of applying this to our self. I need to be tenderhearted, courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but offering a blessing instead.
1 Peter 3:10-12
Verses 10, 11 and 12 are a quote from Psalm 34:12-14. It's an ancient recipe for a good life. Peter is using showing these folks and us, that the truth he is speaking a scriptural. We must guard our tongue, turn away from evil, do well, and seek peace. And in our world those things may be answered with wickedness and evil. But God's eyes are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to the prayers of the righteous. God's face is against those who do evil. We can't assume the role of God in dealing with evil men. Vengeance belongs to God. When we set ourselves up to point out everyone's sin and correct every wrong, we'll begin to get cynical and bitter. Someone once said, carrying around resentment and bitterness against someone is like drinking poison and hoping they die. It reinforces Peter's point - Trust the Lord in your situation. Trust the Lord in your suffering. Leave all the other junk in his hands.
(See also John 10:10; Romans 12:14,17; Matthew 5:38-48; 1 Thessalonians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 4:12 and 5:11.)
Note: Peter dropped the last half of the phrase he quoted; "But His face is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth." Peter ended his quote where there was actually a comma. I wonder why? Is it possible that Peter was focused on the grace and love of God and wanted to see people respond rightly because they saw the good things, not because there was the threat of being considered evil and being 'cut off'? Do we come to God because we fear the alternative or because we understand our need and what He has to offer? It's something to think about.
1 Peter 3:13-14
Who will harm you if you walk with God? You are called to suffering by God, not by our government or by the guy next door. You aren't at the mercy of a merciless, fallen world full of hatred. You are at the mercy, and in the mercy, of a merciful God.
1 Peter 3:14b
This phrase comes from Isaiah 8:12-13. If our heart is right and our attitude is godly then we really can't be harmed because we are walking in the Spirit. Our attitude and joy come from the eternal, found in the Lord. And not from the corrupt and fallen of this world. Don't be troubled by the threats of this world.
This takes practice. This isn't something that passively happens but we have to be purposeful and diligent to not be troubled. Our eyes and ears and heart will want to lead us to rise up, be troubled, fight or flee. Peter tells us we can stand in the Lord and trust.
1 Peter 3:15-16
We sanctify the Lord God in our hearts by setting Him apart, high and above all else. We are marked with the Holy Spirit and sealed for Christ and there is nothing that can be done to us to change that. This should set our hearts at ease and we should have no fear. As we set Christ as Lord in our lives and in our hearts, we can be prepared to give that reason for our hope. If you live a life as called, trusting in your redemption, pursuing holiness, accepting suffering as if called to it and submitting, then we will stick out like a sore thumb in this world. You will be noticeable and people will wonder what you possess that makes you different. We need to be ready to answer the questions when we are asked. As a Christian, you are being watched whether you realize it or not. We must answer those questions with meekness and fear. This meekness is the picture of you standing strong in the Lord, confident in your faith but not smug or arrogant. It's very similar to the picture of a Jesus humbling himself to allow sinful man to nail him to a cross. He wasn't at the mercy of those men.
We have the power of Jesus Christ in our life and it's our desire to share that knowledge with others. We do it gently and reverently. We were once the spiritually poor, naked and hungry and now we possess an amazing truth. We should handle it with care and share it with the poor, naked and hungry.
Everyone has a story. Every wicked heart is wicked in response to a shame or sin in their life. Any human that seems as though they would drive the nails into the hand of Christ are just scared and afraid, lost in this life and looking for solid answers. Every bitter and hateful soul is unknowingly reflecting the gods they serve, they just need a new god. In many cases, the evildoers that defame you, if you were honest with yourself, may remind you of yourself not all that long ago.
1 Peter 3:17
The suffering seems to be a given. We live in a fallen world. There will be suffering and persecution. We just aren't to give them a reason to persecute us. If you suffer it should be for the good things you've done. If we act this way and respond this way, we begin to look like Christ. This should be considered "normal" in our life. How is your reflection of the God who called you to redemption, holiness, submission and suffering?
1 Peter 3:18-22
When a child falls off their bike and skins their knee it is a major event in their life. They are leaking blood and they feel the sting of pain. They blame the bike, and this whole bike riding thing is just something they won't be able to do even though billions of other kids have done it. They are consumed entirely on their physical pain. Their focus is narrowed down to only that one thing; the cause of the pain and how to escape it. If they can shift their attention at all from this focal point, it is only to cry out for someone to do something about this pain.
As a parent or adult, what do we do? We reach down and lift their chin. We pull their eyes away to look in our eyes and let them know that its all going to be okay. We broaden their perspective and remind them of the bigger picture. And the child is reassured, comforted and encouraged.
This is a good picture of us in our suffering. We become consumed with the junk in our life. We put our head down and focus on the pain, failure or disappointment. We are overwhelmed with situations that feel as though they are out of our control. What do we do? When's it going to get better? Why is this happening? Through God's word, through the words of Peter, by the Holy Spirit, we are ministered to. It's as if God were reaching down to lift our head from the pain and suffering; to pull our focus away from that thing that is consuming our life. And He reminds us of a bigger picture.
Peter is teaching us to see our circumstances in light of God and not to see God in light of our circumstances. This is to say, we don't evaluate God or God's worth by our situation in life. Instead we view our situation with the established and unchangeable truth that God is there, right in the middle of it. The little boy with the skinned knee says, where was God when I crashed? How can He let this happen to me? It's not fair. I don't deserve this. That little boy is evaluating God in light of the circumstances of his life. To see the circumstances in the light of God is to know that God was there from the beginning. To have a bike is a gift of God. To be able to ride it is a great blessing. Yes, I will fall. I may even skin my knee. But God is with me. He allows these experiences in my life to grow me and teach me. Maybe most little boys don't understand this. Maybe most adults don't understand this. That's who Peter is speaking to. It's every one of us. We should see every circumstance in our life, good and bad and everything in between, in light of God.
In Verse 18, Peter likens our suffering to the suffering of Christ. 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, There is a similarity in that we suffer much like Christ suffered. But there are also huge differences. First off, while we suffer, God is present with us, Christi is present in us, the Holy Spirit is guiding us. This is God ministering to you when you suffer. He's lifting your eyes from our hurt and putting it in perspective. When Jesus suffered, He suffered alone. Since He took the sin of the world on His shoulders, When He suffered, God looked away. God had to look away because He bore our sin and God could not look on that sin.
The biggest difference is Jesus didn't deserve to suffer but you and I do. Jesus was the perfect sinless sacrifice. He was the only one who could be our substitute. He suffered verse 18 says, the just for the unjust. He took the suffering we deserve. Whatever suffering any man might experience is nothing compared to what Jesus experienced when the wrath of the Almighty fell on Him. Jesus suffered alone unjustly. Any suffering we experience is much less than what we deserve and we do so with the presence of God.
He suffered for all the sin of humanity even though much of humankind will never receive the free gift of grace offered to them. Imagine that. Jesus endured this horrendous suffering and people just thumb their nose at him; they mock his name and follow other gods. If a person doesn't trust that Jesus suffered for them, they will stand in their sins, in essence choosing to pay their own sin debt. God will cast them away, unable to look on them because they bear their sin.
Revelation 20:12
And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God,[c] and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.[d] 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
This is the great white throne judgment. Those not found in Christ will be judged by their works. Those in Christ escaped this judgment because their works were already paid for by Jesus on the Christ.
Jesus suffered that He might bring us to God. At the beginning of this study of Peter we talked about this picture of us being an unworthy peasant that has been granted access into the court of the king. The king not only calls us in but he invites us to stay. He clothes us with His righteousness and allows us to identify with Him. That's what this phrase in verse 18 means. Jesus suffered that He might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit. This is talking about Jesus. He was put to death in the flesh but the Spirit was made alive. In doing so, he made a way to bring us into the presence of our creator.
1 Peter 3:19-20
Jesus was killed in the flesh but alive in the Spirit. That spirit was always alive, unchanged from death to life. That Spirit went to the spirits in prison and preached to them. These spirits Jesus preached to are bound in the abyss of death. It was their work that had been unleashed on the world in the days of Noah. God's longsuffering allowed this to continue for a time as the ark was prepared.
Peter used the word 'Preached' which means heralding or declaring. Jesus announced himself to the fallen angels who disobeyed long ago. Even though He had died physically, He was alive in the Spirit. He announced his victory over sin, death, and Satan
Colossians 2:15
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
This is a declaration and heralding of victory. Any accusation of these spirits being unjustly bound in prison was disarmed. He made a public spectacle of them.
1 Peter 3:21-22
Peter said that the ark was the prepared to save 8 souls from wrath of God in Noah's time. Verse 21 says, There is also an antitype which now saves us. This 'antitype' is to say, we have access to something along the same lines, something similar. In our time, baptism is available to us. Peter quickly makes it clear, this is not the immersion in water that saves a person. Peter is talking the immersion in Jesus Christ.
In the days of Noah those saved went through the water while being saved from the water. For us, we are saved by our ark, Jesus Christ.
Romans 6:1-4.
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
When we are in Him, we are saved from the wrath of God that we deserve. We all have sinned and deserve death. But when we trust in the work of the cross we are covered by Christ. (See also 2 Corinthians 5:21; Acts 4:12; John 14:6.) Our sin debt was paid and we get to wear his righteousness like a robe. After the unjust suffering of Christ, He was exalted to the right hand of God. There He has all power, majesty, authority and honor. (Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20,21; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:3-9; Hebrews 6:20; Hebrews 8:1 and Hebrews 12:2.)
It is in the glory of Jesus and our identification with Him that our eyes are lifted from the suffering of this life. We can see that we have a great future and inheritance. Noah was ridiculed for his ark for 120 years as he built it. Why spend his life for something so bizarre? He trusted the Lord and was obedient, no matter the circumstances. We see the same obedience in Jesus. In the same way, we find our salvation in Jesus. And the world says, why spend your life on something like that? Why worry about judgment? It's never happened before! I can imagine many came to understand after the door was closed on the ark. Access to the ark of Jesus Christ remains open, but not at our convenience and not according to our timing.
©2020 Doug Ford
Facebook