To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout the earth, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance. You are invited to come to the Wednesday evening prayer meeting and pray. (8:30 PM EDT Wed., Nov. 7, 2001) (If you have e-mail prayer requests, please send them before 5:00 PM.)

"Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers." (1 Peter 3:1-7 - NIV)

Today's passage is first to wives and then to husbands. It starts out, "Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands..." Peter says, "in the same way." What way is the "same way?" It's the same way that all of us are submissive to the governing authorities. In chapter 2, verse 13 Peter says, "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men." He is referring to the governing authorities.

Also, in chapter 2, verse 18 Peter says, "Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect." He tells us to do this not only if our masters (or our bosses, or any others who have authority over us) are good and considerate, but even if they treat us harshly. If we do this, we are following the example of Christ who suffered for us and set an example for us to follow in his footsteps (v21).

But, Peter says, "In the same way, wives be submissive to your husbands." What is that way? Jesus set an example for us to follow. In choosing to die in our behalf, for our sins, he prayed to the Father, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done (Luke 22:42)." He was able to pray that way because he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly (1 Peter 2:23b). We follow his example by entrusting ourselves to the one who judges justly -- the creator of the universe -- our creator -- the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Peter is telling us that we are submissive by trusting God, who tells us to be submissive. But how can you make yourself trust God? When you travel in an airliner, you entrust yourself to the pilots. You don't even see them, but you assume that they are there and trust them to get you to where you are going in one piece. (They probably don't judge justly, either.) And even when you ride in a car, you are entrusting your life to the driver. Even nonbelievers do this. But how do you make yourself trust God?

Joe Walton -- If you're reading this Joe, I'm assuming I have your permission to use your testimony. Joe Walton, a while back, said that he had been struggling considerably trying to figure out how he could make himself believe. Then, at some point, he said, "I'll just believe." And after that, he believed. How does that work? Actually, in case you don't already know, we don't make ourselves believe and we can't make ourselves believe. We aren't able to. But God gives us faith as a gift so that we believe. We are saved by grace so that no one can boast. It's the gift of God.v

At the beginning of his letter, Peter says that he is writing to God's elect -- to those whom God has chosen -- scattered in a bunch of places which he names, and chosen by God the father through the sanctifying work of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood (1 Peter 1:1,2). Also, according to 1 Peter 1:3, God, in his great mercy, has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The reason we have the "living hope" is that God has given us the "new birth." The reason we are even interested at all in what Peter has to say to us is that God has given us new birth into a living hope. Joe Walton will have to confirm this, but I am sure that the reason that he wanted so much to make himself believe is that he really already believed.

So, wives, in the same way (that is, by entrusting yourselves to God), 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. This goes back to what Peter said in chapter 2 verse 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." Wives, if your husband is not a believer, Peter is telling you to consider yourself responsible for his salvation -- to consider that it is in your hands whether he has eternal life or is eternally condemned.

Furthermore, Verse 1 literally says, "Wives, be submissive to your own husbands, so that if any do not believe the word, they may be won over by the behavior of the wives." The NIV translators left out the word "own" and substituted "their wives" for "the wives." Wives, what Peter is telling you is that by your behavior toward your own husband, whether he is a believer or not, you may win (or lose) the salvation of other unbelieving husbands. If any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of the wives, when they see the reverence and purity of your lives. You are not only to consider yourself responsible for the salvation of your own husband, but for others as well.

Wives, here's what to do. And this is not me speaking, nor is it even Peter, but the Holy Spirit of God speaking through Peter. Make your beauty come, not from the way you look outwardly, but from what is inside of you. To quote another writer: "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are renewed day by day." (2 Cor. 4:16) The unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit is of great worth in God's sight. I looked up the adjective that's translated "of great worth" in a lexicon. It gave the meaning "of great worth" and also said that, in referring to people, it meant lavish or extravagant. Do you want to be lavish and extravagant in what you do before God, in his sight? Have a gentle and quiet spirit.

In verse 5, Peter tells us that the holy women in the past who put their hope in God made themselves beautiful by being submissive to their own husbands. This verse says more than that there were some women in the past who made themselves beautiful by being submissive to their husbands. It says that these women were holy women and that they put their hope in God. When you consider Peter's teaching, where is your hope? Are you putting your hope in God, or is it somewhere else? Put your hope in God.

Peter uses Sarah as an example of this (v6). Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him her master. Literally, she called him lord. That's not part of our present tradition, but try to think what might be equivalent to it today. Children used to be taught to call their parents and other adults "sir" and "ma'am" to show respect. Wives, how do you speak to your husbands to show respect?

Peter's last statement to the wives is this: "You are her (Sarah's) daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. Doing what is right is submitting to your husband as Sarah did. Giving way to fear is not trusting God. Sarah had her hope in God. Where is your hope? (By the way, when Sarah came with Abraham to Canaan and then went down into Egypt, she was no young girl -- at least well into middle age by our reckoning, but she was a very beautiful woman. Both Abraham and the Egyptians thought so (see Genesis 12:11-15) Why was she so beautiful?)

To go on, verse 7 is Peter's word to husbands -- believing husbands, in this case: "Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers." Even though Peter has devoted only one verse to husbands, there is still quite a bit in it. (God has more to say to husbands than this one verse, but he has said most of it through the apostle Paul. If you want to find out more about this, read Ephesians 5:25-33.)

When Peter says to husbands, "In the same way be considerate as you live with your wives." He is using the same phrase as he used in speaking to the wives: "In the same way." That way is the way of following the example of Jesus and trusting God. "Being considerate" actually means taking into consideration who your wife really is -- that is, who she really is in God's eyes. Peter's phrase, "so that nothing will hinder your prayers," tells us that if you are not taking into consideration who your wife really is, you are sinning and disobeying God. He won't help you to pray and he won't listen to your prayers (unless, of course, it's a prayer of repentance. He always listens to that kind of prayer.).

Who is your wife in God's eyes? In the Jewish culture, inheritances were generally passed on to sons. Daughters didn't usually inherit property. But, in God's kingdom, believing wives have the same inheritance as their husbands -- an inheritance that can never perish spoil or fade, kept in heaven (1 Peter 1:4), and "praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (1 Peter 1:7), and the salvation of their souls (1 Peter 1:9), the gift of life (v7). Right now your wife is the "weaker partner," so you must treat respect, literally, give her honor -- that is, treat her as something very precious, which is what she is. She is your fellow heir.

These days, when we talk about submission and serving, we think that these are degrading things. These things somehow make you less than human. But Jesus came, not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). The truth is that submission and serving make you more than human. Husbands, love your wives. The Ephesians 5 passage says, "Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (Eph. 5:25).

Last week, I mentioned that there was a provision in the Law of Moses for a slave, who would normally have to be freed after six years of service, to decide that because he loved his master and his family, he would serve his master for life. Do you think that anyone ever did this. I think they did. We think that the prospect of serving anyone for life sounds like a bad deal. We think that serving goes only one direction. That the one who does the submitting does the serving. That's the world's way of thinking. Jesus served us by giving his life for us and we ought to do the same for each other. God's way is so much better than man's way. Jesus is our Lord and Master, but he gave his life for us. Jesus is our Lord and Master, so he gave his life for us. He loves us. He put his love in our hearts. Though we have not seen him, we love him.

Come and let's pray for each other as well as for the whole church. Come and encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Love them.

Love in Christ,
Dean

PS: If you absolutely can't make it to the prayer meeting, send your prayer requests back to me by e-mail and we'll pray for them.