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First Peter 3, verses 1–6. Let's read it together. I'm reading it from the Ineos. Let's read it today. “In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands, so that if any of them are disobedient to the word, the word by the behavior of their wives. As they observe your chaste and respectful your adornment must not be merely external braiding the hair and wearing gold jewelry or putting on dresses but let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit which is precious in the sight of God. This way in former times the who hoped in God used to adorn themselves being submissive to their own husbands just as Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him Lord and you have become her children if you do what is right not being frightened by any fear.”
The title of today's sermon is “Adorned With Grace, How the Gospel Enhances a Woman's Beauty.” A lot of liberal theologians or liberal feminists, egalitarians, they argue that this passage represents first century Roman household, first century Roman household codes rather than universal moral principles.
They find the language used in an offensive, in this passage, they find the language here offensive to and emphasize the significant difference between historical norms and today's values of equality and respect. I just want to mention to you that don't be swayed by today's popular opinion of womanhood. Don't be swayed by feminism.
And feminism is not just a response to male chauvinism. While men have abused women over many years and centuries and women is still going on, both feminism and male chauvinism are sinful in the sight of the Lord. Feminism is also a cry from the fallen heart stemming from the heart of the reader. After the fall, God said to Eve in Genesis 3 verse 1, “Your desire will be for your husband,” reflecting a sinful desire to overpower her man.
And this ongoing struggles for women to assert control and to resist submission. This mentality has also entered into Christian homes. Some women don't see it as a reality. And also parents fail to teach biblical womanhood to their daughters. And without teaching biblical womanhood, they marry off their to men and problems continue in marriages.
Today is about women, so next week we will talk about men. And this has to do with families and family structures. The point is that women should not control their husbands or use conflict. Some resort to emotional manipulation which is another form of control.
Should be avoided. Basically what we are trying to understand from the scriptures is that we are all both men and women are accountable to God for our conduct. Wives are accountable to God for their conduct. A redeemed woman should strive to meet God's standards, to live by God's standards and should pray consistently and ask the Lord to teach her how to joyfully live by this principle of submission in home for the glory of the Lord.
We will try to understand what Peter meant here. We will look at three things here. A joyous view of biblical submission in marriages. 2. The qualities that women should aspire to. 3. The 21st century women should follow biblical examples. 1. A Biblical view on marriage rules. Submission and sacrificial love are alien topics in the 21st century marriage.
Why are the 21st century values are so different from those of all the previous centuries? Why? Are we any well off? Yes, probably in technological advancements. Yes. More comforts. Yes. More innovations. Yes. But are we better off in values? Not only in the Bible or in the biblical times, but many cultures during the time of the operated under patriarchal family systems where submission by women was seen as a virtue. However, the Bible respects women, recognizing their role as a suitable helpmates.
The issue in the 21st century is the rise of which has led women to fight for equality in all areas, from jobs to personal choices, everywhere and they are viewing submission as oppressive rather than an expression of love. I acknowledge that women have faced abuse in many cultures, but the solution to that is not reward. Instead it's turning both husband both wife and husbands then the solution is there in return to the Bible, understanding their roles. Your value and dignity are in what God has given. Peter
does not specifically speak about roles here. Nevertheless, he discusses the role of wife that is submission. In other epistles written by Paul, we observe the specific roles of a husband who is called to lead the family with sacrificial love and a wife who should respectfully submit to the church of our husband. And there is a lot of chaos and confusion in our marriages because we do not follow the divine order.
If couples diligently study the word together and seek to understand how a Christian home should function and prayerfully submit to it, our marriages would be much better and our marriages would bring much glory to God as well. The roles of a husband lead and a wife and the role of a wife to submit are based on scriptural authority and twisting these roles means twisting the Scriptures.
Your marriage reflects your commitment to scriptural authority. Your marriage reflects your commitment to scriptural authority which is demonstrated through your conduct as husband and wife. It doesn't matter how the people around you are or what values they follow. It goes without saying that Christian homes should be lived in a specific way if it is to be called a Christian home. You cannot do whatever you want, you cannot function however you want and still call, you cannot still call it as a Christian home.
Ephesians 5 verse 22 Paul says, “Wives, subject to your own husbands as to the Lord.” And Paul also says in Colossians chapter 3 verse 18, “Wives, be subject to your husbands as is fitting to the Lord.” Titus 2 verses 4 and 5 Paul says this, “so that they may encourage the young woman” — is talking to the older woman — “to love their husbands, to love, be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the Word of God will not be dishonored.” I remember saying this when we were studying the of Ephesians. In chapter 5 verse 23 Paul shows that Christ is the head of the church, and in verse 24 he states, in chapter 5 verse 24 he states that the church is subject to Christ, and he compares marriage to the union of Christ with the church.
Wives’ submission to their husbands is according to the pattern of Church’s submission to Christ. That is the universal principle that Paul is bringing here. Therefore, a wife should submit to her husband because God has given the husband a role of authority over his wife. This is the divine order in marriage. These roles cannot be reversed. First, the roles of Christ and the church cannot be reversed. So the roles of the husband and the wife cannot be reversed. Christ will be the example for husband to love sacrificially their own wives. And the church’s submission should be an example as well to the wife’s submission to their own husbands.
So this is a big paradigm of submission. Secondly, what qualities should women aspire to? As soon as these feminists or egalitarians read these words of submission and phrases like a gentle and quiet spirit, they are offended. Firstly, they ignore God's established roles for a household.
The leadership of a man and the submission of a woman is the design for Christian marriages. Women, wife is a helpmate who contributes to the health of the family. And these are timeless principles of God honoring home. If this were not a timeless principle, Paul wouldn't have given the headship of Christ and submission of the church as an example for human marriages.
Secondly, when people read the words submission and phrases like a gentle, they often assume that Peter must be referring to a situation of abuse in marriage. That’s not the case. Peter is not talking about abusive situations in marriage. They think that if a wife is experiencing abuse, women should endure it and display a gentle and quiet spirit.
He’s not talking about that. However, that is not necessarily the case here. What Peter is addressing here is a general disposition of a woman, claimed by the Gospel. A woman in general, every Christian woman should aspire these qualities. A gentle and quiet spirit. Or you may say, “Oh brother, that’s not my personality.”
God says you should aspire these qualities. You should aspire for a gentle and a quiet spirit. Because they are pleasing in the sight of the Lord. Let us once again read these first four verses of 1 Peter chapter 1. Sorry, 1 Peter chapter 3.
Verse 1, “In the same way, you wives be submissive to your own husbands, so that if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be disobeyed by the behavior of their wives. As they observe your chaste and respectful behavior, your adornment must not be merely external, braiding the hair and wearing gold jewelry or putting on dresses, but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with an imperishable quality, which is precious in the sight of God.”
Okay, now I want you to put on the lens here and look into the scriptures. It is time for some dialogue. What do you think is the main point? The main point is not on my face, it is in the Bible. So look in your Bibles. What is the main point here?
In the passage in verses 1 to 4, you can voice out. Zorsepul, I can’t hear. How should the heart of a Christian wife be? Any other? Okay, do you think that is the main point? Okay. Heart of the woman. How the heart, okay, why should be, that should be precious in the sight of God, okay. The internal appearance is more important than the external appearance, right?
God looks at the heart. Yes. Good. Okay. How will you determine main point when you’re studying the Bible? Context, yes. Another key aspect is that the main points are derived from the main words. The main words are in the main clauses, right? The words are those words that call us to action. They are the commandments, they are the instructions. So what are the words here? Can you be submissive, okay, and sorry, okay, master, don’t. Yes. Yeah. So verse 1 and verse 3 and 4, your adornment must be.
So these are the words here. But all these words that look like verbs in the English language are not always verbs in the original language. There is only one verb here in verses 1 to 4, and that is verse 3 and verse 4. Your adornment must be, and adornment must not be, and must be. And verse 4, verse 3, this is a verb here in the, you know, for convenience, the only verbs here are must not be and must be. So the main point here should be your adornment must be the hidden person of the heart with the an imperishable of a gentle and quiet spirit.
Then what about the phrase in verse 1, be submissive? It’s not a verb in the original language, it is a participle. Okay, I’m not trying to take an English class here, but I want to understand the main point here. What do participles do in a biblical Greek text? They act as adjectives. What do adjectives do? They modify the noun, right? Like beautiful woman, beautiful is an adjective, right? So here, submissive acts as an adjective.
And sometimes they also, participles act as, no, adverbs, modifying verbs. Other times they give us verbal qualities, and in such cases they act as imperatives or commandments. So I think the word submissive is after the noun wives here, so it acts also as a verbal adjective showing the quality of the woman here. It shows both the quality and also the action of the wife. What is the quality of the woman here? She is a wife. So what does a wife do? She submits. That’s an action. Okay. And since there is another main verb here in verses 3 and 4, the verb here shows the quality of submission. In other words, what should be the heart of the submission? We will come to that in a little while, but we cannot bypass submission as a main point here because it is
one of the themes of this book. It is one of the themes of this book, and therefore this participle submission gets the imperative force or the commandment force. Look at verse 1, it starts with this phrase, “in the same way.” It is “likewise.”
So in the same way, in what way? So this points to the previous verse. And the thought of submission begins in — look at chapter 2 verse 11. Chapter 2 verses 11 and 12. Can someone read verses 11 and 12? Chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 11 and 12.
So here Peter gives instructions to the believers to abstain from a certain way of life, calling Christians to keep their behavior excellent among the Gentiles so that they may observe your good life and glorify God. After these words, Peter begins his instructions on submission. Look at 1 Peter 2 verse 13. He says, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority.” So firstly gives the instruction to be a good citizen.
In 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 18 he is talking to servants. He says, “Be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle but also to those who are unreasonable.” That’s a second instruction you see there on submission. And then in chapter 3 verse 3 it says, “In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands.” Do you see the theme of submission here? Peter shows how all social relationships are transformed by. The government authorities in that time were persecuting Christians. So he is calling Christians to be faithful citizens even then.
Be faithful citizens, respect your king, submit to your king, live properly. In those days the masters were cruel. But he is calling Christian servants to be loyal, to be faithful in their work. retaliate, do not revolt. And he’s calling also wives and husbands here to live in a certain way.
They call to chapter 2 verses 11 and 12 that we have read, we need to avoid the worldly way of living and we are called to live a life that is set apart for God’s purposes. How different is your life from the world around you?
How different is your life from the world around you? How different are your value systems from the world you live in? What is your marriage value system? Are you more aligned to the scriptures or are you more feministic, chauvinistic? How different is your family life from the world around you?
What do your neighbors testify of you? What do your close relatives testify of you, close friends testify of you. What do they see in your marriages? Is your conduct honorable in the sight of the Lord? What propels this biblical submission in a moment?
Usually when people talk about a wife submission, generally it’s done, submission is done with a lot of grumbling, arguments and with much reluctance. Even for small decisions, there’s usually a discussion and an order. And then they should come to a consensus. Okay, and then agreement and stuff like that. But the biblical view is very different.
It’s based on respect. From verse 6 we can understand. Respect is key here. Where is the key here? And Paul says in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 33 that the wife must see to it that she respects her husband. She must see through that she respects her husband.
In times of disagreement, you must respectfully disagree with your spouse. It’s not that you must agree with him at all times. No, but if you are disagreeing with him on the scriptural grounds, you must do it respectfully. I understand that when you look at your husband, you may see his flaws, right? You may have many reasons why he might not seem deserving of respect. You may give no and he doesn’t deserve respect. For the moment you got married, you start getting to know your husband really well. You start thinking that, okay, should I respect this man? Is he really worthy of that respect? All these thoughts may come to your mind, and that is, that may be
true, undeserving of your respect. Nevertheless, you should respectfully submit your husband because, because the scriptures instruct us to do so. And as a believer, you’re called to live under the scriptures. You must submit respectfully because God is worthy of your devotion. And he is going to honor your submission. Your husband may not value it, your family may not value it, but God is looking and he is going to honor it. He is going to reward you. So how does that happen? You cannot force respect out of your heart, right? There is a solution to that in this text.
Look at verse 3. It says, “Your adornment must not be merely external.” I am reading from NASB version. Let us switch to NASB version. “Your adornment must not be merely external, braiding the hair and wearing gold jewelry or but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with an imperishable quality of gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.” Firstly, here your focus should not be on external appearance. So this is a 21st century problem, this is an age-old problem. Focusing on external appearance is an problem.
And NASB adds the word here, “Your adornment must not be merely external.” It actually gives us a proper meaning here. “Your adornment must not be merely external.” The sense here is that let your focus, let not your focus solely be on external appearance.
It doesn’t mean that you don’t comb your hair. No, it doesn’t mean that. Don’t come to church next Sunday like that. Okay, it doesn’t mean that. The point is that the world around us is image conscious. Women are more prone to feel that pressure.
And Peter speaks of three external aspects that women tend to focus on here. Hair, probably that includes face as well. Jewelry. And Peter is not prohibiting taking care of their hair or face or wearing suitable jewelry or proper clothing. Now if you come to that conclusion that no you should not put on jewelry then is he forbidding them to put on dresses?
That Peter says that “as obedient children, you should not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance.” According to this verse, women should not conform to the desires of the world. You should not crave them. Do not promote external appearance in a way that promotes worldliness or materialism.
Look at what Paul says in 1 Timothy 2 verse 9 and verse 10. He says, “I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly, discreetly, not with braided hair, gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.”
So Peter and Paul are commanding here. These are not suggestions. He is commanding women, they are commanding women to focus on certain aspect of your life. Do not be obsessed with looking good. Spend too much money on these external things. Do not spend too much money on the braiding of your hair, makeup, expensive clothing or whatever. Look good.
How much time do you give to your physical appearance? To spend on looking good, to groom yourself and how much time do you spend cultivating godly character? How much time do you spend cultivating godly characteristics? How much time do you put your own heart in the light of the scriptures and try to submit to the—How much time do you spend on contemplating on these things?
That’s the first thing. Secondly, look at verse 4. “But let it be the hidden person with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.” As a redeemed person, you must focus on your inner person. Why should you focus on the inner person?
You should be concerned with what matters to God. You must be concerned with what is acceptable to God. You must be focused on what is beautiful in the eyes of God. Thomas Schreiner says, “what matters to God is not what people see on the outside but their godly character.” Dear woman, if you call yourself a child of God, if you believe that you have yielded to the gospel of Jesus Christ, consider and you consider that you are the Lord and Savior then you must focus and strive to cultivate these qualities and these specific qualities that Peter focuses here are a gentle
and quiet spirit. You must seek to adorn yourself. What is being gentle? It is being mild in nature, mild in your demeanor, in your behavior, not being harsh. It is being kind even when others provoke you to anger. This is the opposite of being harsh or being rough. It is opposite of being domineering, opinionated, manipulative and judgmental.
this quality is not natural to us the Spirit of God brings a spirit of gentleness in us and by striving to grow in his aspect you are growing my dear sister in the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ look at what Matthew says or Lord Jesus Christ says about himself in Matthew chapter 11 verse 8 take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls by becoming gentle you're becoming like our Lord Jesus Christ right quality is quiet spirit so quiet spirit doesn't mean that you're silent all the right it
is the inner disposition of the heart. What actions do you take when your husband disagrees with you? Question not lovely your own heart, your own self. What actions do you take when your husband disagrees with you? I’ll give you a moment. Do you become upset, moody and sulk until he changes his mind?
Or do you fight and argue with him? How do respond? And when he provokes you to anger, do you respond by falling or creating an emotional drama? How do you respond? This is a serious question, brothers and sisters, expository sisters. This is a serious question. How do you respond? You must evaluate your responses in the light of the scriptures.
Keep in mind, dear woman of God, that you are accountable to God for all your words and actions, and may I tell you that every improper response to your husband, every disrespectful demeanor, whether it is right or wrong, every disrespectful demeanor is taken into account before the Lord, and you must repent of it.
What do you mean by repent? You must repent before the Lord. What do you mean by repenting? You examine your own heart and you weigh your actions and your words in the light of the scriptures, and you, if you see a pattern of things that are being repeated in your relationship with your husband, right in the sight of God you take them into account and you confess it before the Lord and ask the Lord that he will not repeat those things. That is true repentance. You’re turning away from such behavior, you’re turning away from such kind of words and actions, manipulations or whatever. You’re submitting to the scripture of already, and then you seek forgiveness for your own, asking for the way for
the ways and use for the actions that you’ve done, for every behavior. And sister, this is very important in the sight of the Lord. You should repent before God and seek forgiveness from your husband each time you argue with him disrespectfully, raise your voice or attempt to manipulate him in any way.
Dear sisters, you should strive to grow in this quiet spirit, which is a self-controlled and gentle disposition, free from passion, unrestrained anger, manifesting in calm and obliging behavior towards your husband. The quiet spirit is a refusal to quarrel. It is a refusal to fight back.
It is submitting to God’s sovereignty. Trusting in God’s wisdom is. So focus on your inner quality rather than external appearance. We are living in times where we seek all social media attention. We post pictures for likes and comments. All these are temporary. Peter says these qualities of a gentle and quiet spirit are imperishable, and they are precious in the sight of God. If you cultivate the qualities of gentleness and quietness, resistance, you are more pleasing to the sight of God. The Lord is more pleased at you.
You know what happens when the Lord is pleased? In 1 Peter chapter 5 itself, he says a beautiful thing there. Can you read that verse? 1 Peter 5 and verse 5. 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 5. When God is pleased with you, what happens is, instead of opposing you, He gives grace.
He gives grace. He gives grace to be a one. He gives grace to you be a woman of influence. You will be a blessing to others, to your own husband, to your family and others. And thirdly, submission is the reflection of that gentle and quiet spirit.
Submission should flow from that gentle and quiet spirit. Only then it is a submission. He says in verse 1, “In the same way you wives should submit to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives.”
Do you think that Christian women do not know that they are supposed to submit to their husbands? They know if they read their Bibles. But why is it almost an impossible task? Why is it done with so much of grumbling and complaining? The reason is that you are not focusing on your heart. You are not adorned by the imperishable qualities of a gentle and quiet spirit. As you develop these qualities, you will be able to submit to even a difficult husband. You can face difficult things, challenging times in life through God’s grace.
So Biblical God-pleasing submission to your husband is an imperative in this text. It is a commandment in this text. It is not a suggestion. It is not saying it is good for you to submit. It is saying be submissive. These qualities and the foundation of this submission is a gentle and a quiet spirit, and if you are not cultivating these qualities, you won’t grow in biblical God-honoring submission to your husband. You are not submitting to and honoring your spouse, you’re failing as a wife before God, and you’re accountable to the Lord. If you look this way, by cultivating a gentle and quiet spirit, your marriage will be, your home will be much calmer, your kids will enjoy your home.
You’ll be a great example to your own daughters. You will have a greater influence on your kids. They will learn from you how they should live as wives, and your sons will look up to you, they will honor you. Look at verse 1 again. It says, “Be submissive to your own husband so that even if any of them,” and these words are very important here, the words, these are only there in NASB and ESV, all of the versions do not have this, right? Most of the versions, the words “even if” indicate that the majority of the husbands are believers. So he is saying that you
must honor them even if they are disobedient to the word. Even if they are not godly husbands. Even if they do not live according to the word. You must honor them. You must submit to them. In some cases, even if their husbands are unbelievers, a wife should submit to their husbands. And when a Christian woman consistently demonstrates this behavior, what behavior? A submissive behavior, a gentle and a quiet spirit. She must consistently demonstrate, not once in a while.
If you consistently demonstrate such a behavior, what behavior? Look at verse 2, “as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior.” These qualities are towards God. Your chaste is being pure or holy and respectful is reverence towards God that dominates all of your life.
Not just reading your Bible and praying. Some women are good at reading the Bible and praying. They yell at their kids and their husbands and everyone. They are good at doing this. But all of your life is dominated by the Scriptures. Governed by the Scriptures.
Your actions, your words are governed by the Word of God. and control the Holy Spirit. As and when and every time you demonstrate this chaste and respectful behavior, God honoring behavior or reverential behavior, that calm disposition before God, and who is an unbecoming spouse, who is not respecting you, is not valuing you, is not honoring you, when he demeanor in you, brother, sister, you will win your husband.
Your goal should not be winning the argument. Temporary, you can calm, you can silence your husband by arguing back, fighting back. That is temporary. But in his heart, he will not have respectful behavior of you, he will fear you. He will fear you.
Either these two things will happen. If he is calm, he is afraid of you. If he is dominating, no. Or he is abusing you, he is not like you. Either of these things will happen. As he sees your respectful behavior, your honoring behavior, one day you will win your husband to the Lord. You will lead him to repentance. That should be your goal as a believer, not winning the argument but winning your husband. Brother and sister, marriage, I don’t know what you thought about marriage before you entered into marriage, but marriage sanctifies us.
If you suffer to the scriptures, you will see your own flaws, your spouse’s flaws, and we together are sanctified in our marriage. And such respect is also shown in how you treat your husband. Here chaste or holy behavior means not following your husband into sin and respectfully refusing anything that is sinful.
Because you are pure in the sight of God, you are committed to honor God, so you will not follow your husband into sin. Respectfully say no to it. As you consistently demonstrate your faithfulness to God and respect for your husband, you may one day win him over. You may be given an opportunity to witness.
And when that happens, your conduct does not contradict your witness. Your conduct will not contradict your witness. Monica was a godly woman born in AD 322 in Northern Africa, in present-day Algeria. She married a pagan man called Patricius. We do not know when she came to know the Lord, but her husband hated her because of her Christian practices.
Patricius was also an unfaithful husband and was abusive with words. Later, their son Augustine, one of the early church fathers, recorded in his book called Confessions, he wrote about his mother’s submission to her husband. He mentioned that his father would abuse his mother, but he never would beat her up.
Because it was for men to beat up their wives, but Monica prayed consistently, persistently for her unbelieving husband and a wayward son Augustine, and she did that for many years with a gentle and calm spirit. After many years Monica’s came to know the Lord. Even our son came to know the Lord and the son became one of the church fathers.
And Monica always had a sweet and patient demeanor and she also had a good influence over other abused wives. Other abused wives looked up to Monica. She was a blessing. Gave courage to a lot of women to trust the Lord. And I want to make it clear that this passage in 1 Peter doesn’t speak of abuse, but a general disposition of a Christian woman. Sister, if you are not married yet, ask for these qualities.
If you are married, it’s not too late. You can aspire for these qualities. You can grow in these qualities. Because these qualities are pleasing in the sight of the Lord. Young men who are not married yet, don’t be swayed by the mere beauty of a woman.
Or be swayed by some cognitive skills, they are important, but look for the inner beauty of a person. And at the same time work on your own character as well. You have your own flaws, you have to work on your own character, prepare yourself to be a godly husband.
Finally follow the examples from history. Verse 5, “For in this way in former times the holy women of the world, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves being submissive to their own husbands.” There were a few women in the Bible who were called holy. We don’t know who they were. They were holy because they lived in God and were set apart for His purposes. They trusted in God rather than in people or their own husbands or in earthly circumstances. These women didn’t submit to their husbands because they believed their men were intellectually superior. Instead they submitted because they trusted that God would reward those who put their hope in Him.
And what is the sign that you are hoping in God? That you are submitting your husband. You are submitting your husband with the hope in God. And these women used to adorn themselves with what? Not merely with jewelry and proper clothing. They might have done that.
But they have adorned themselves with these qualities that I mentioned in verse 4, at the time of the Christ Spirit. And the word used to adorn is a verb here and it is in the imperfect tense and imperfect tense in Greek is continuous tense which means that they adorn these consistently, they always endeavored to cultivate these qualities. It's not that they prayed a prayer once, “Lord give me a gentle and a quiet spirit.” No, they consistently pursued these qualities. They saw that these are precious in the sight of God. They saw the worth of these qualities as imperishable and pleasing in the sight of God. They pursued these qualities with great passion, with great consistency, persistence, they pursued these things. And how did these women adorn themselves? You see here being, he says that in verse 5 second part, being submissive. Beings of misery.
The word being is a participle which is how they adorn themselves. These gentle and quiet spirits were demonstrated in their submission to their husbands. And Peter calls on all the Christian women to follow their example. He calls people not to follow the former lusts of this world, which were yours in ignorance in chapter 1, but he calls women who put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to follow this holy woman of God.
Just as Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him Lord. There is a connection between verses 5 and 6. The holy woman in verse 5 submitted to their husbands as Sarah did. What's interesting in verse 6 is that Sarah obeyed Abraham. Sarah followed her husband.
Abraham was both wrong and right. Obedience is involved in submission. You can't submit and not obey. Obedience is involved in submission. Peter was not suggesting that wives submit and obey the same way as children. This wife-husband dynamics is different. But what can be implied from Sarah's life is that wife should the leadership of their husbands.
Abraham, if you know the life of Abraham and Sarah, Abraham put her in some dangerous and risky situations, right? Their life was not a bed of roses within the four walled house. They were like nomads from place to place. We have an instance in Genesis chapter 12. Abraham and Sarah were called to leave their home country and were asked to go to the land that the Lord would show them, not knowing what that land would look like. They simply obeyed the Lord and obeyed his call. They left their home, they left their comfort zones. He took his wife on that journey.
He wouldn't know how long this journey would last for. But his wife and his wife followed him. His wife followed him because she believed that it is from the Lord. Right? If you believe that something is from the Lord, if something is biblical, you follow him. You follow him.
And on their journey to the land they stumble upon Egypt. They enter Egypt and out of fear he introduces Sarah as his sister to protect her. That was not right on Abraham's part and the princes of Egypt desired Sarah. They wanted to take her.
But God intervenes and protects Sarah. God intervenes and protects Sarah because God honoured Sarah's submission for her husband. In 1 Peter 3 verse 5, women hope in God. Women hope in God, not hope in their husbands, not trust in their leadership capacities, abilities of their husbands or their cognitive skills. And no all the things women of God, holy women of God hold in relationship to their husbands and we can infer that Sarah hold in God. Sarah trusted in the sovereignty of God, not in her husband. When you think that okay, I don't know, when you think that you don't need, still use
trust. You let your husband fail. That is better than fighting, grumbling, complaining. And Peter mentions Sarah, right? Probably referring to Genesis chapter 18 verse 12. Here, the Lord announces that she will have a son next year. And upon hearing this, Sarah who was old, and casually commented about becoming pregnant. And in this comment, Sarah addresses her husband as Lord.
And what might impress Peter was that even during an informal talk, Sarah showed respect and dignity toward Abraham rather than dismissing him as just an old man. Even in the form informal talk, in a casual remark, she respects her husband. Do you respect your husband? How often do you dismiss him? You defame him outside your home. You talk disrespectfully with him and before others. This demonstrates honoring
husband was deeply engrained in Sarah’s character, not merely a public display. Look at verse 6, Christian woman become Sarah’s daughters by following her example of godly behavior. Look at verse 6, the second part. “You have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.”
Now part of following her example is that you do not fear anything frightening. Sometimes you may have to follow your husband and it may not be a wrong thing, but a good thing. Things may include danger, risk or positional issues. Your husband strongly feels that you must probably relocate to some other place, or maybe there’s an impression on his heart, or probably he feels that he should move to other place which is not safe but you will have more opportunities to serve the Lord. What will you do? How long will you resist your husband? There is risk involved, persecution involved.
What you must do as a wife, you must trust the Lord like Sarah. The way you live as whether you are a woman of faith or not, this is a thing, dear sister, the way you live as a wife shows whether you are a woman of faith or not. If you are consistently a rebellious, complaining, grumbling, fighting, maybe you should check your faith.
Maybe that was only an intellectual assent to the faith, but there was no deeper work done in your soul. Are you consistently a rebellious, complaining, grumbling, fighting, arguing wife? It doesn’t matter what you believe. It doesn’t matter what you confess. If your life doesn’t show these qualities, if you’re not growing in these qualities, you’re not a woman of faith. You may be struggling to submit your husband. You may be struggling with these things. You may be, but you’re still striving.
You are seeking God’s grace, you are crying out to God’s grace. “Oh Lord, give me grace to suffer to this man.” You are crying out to the Lord. And you may fail at times, but you repent. Then you are a woman of faith. You are in the category of that holy woman who was saved by faith.
So dear sisters, accept your role as a wife to respectfully submit to your husband. This is the word of God. This is the authority of the Spirit. It’s not what you feel. It’s not what you desire. It’s not, it’s what the Lord is saying. It is a call for you. It is your calling for you as a wife. You honor the Lord by respectfully submitting to your husband and this submission, the submission Peter describes isn’t reluctant compliance but joyful cooperation rooted in trust and confidence in the Lord both in your spouse and ultimately in God’s sovereign goodness.
Submission is a choice when rooted in security. Security in Christ’s love and God’s sovereignty and in the knowledge that godly submission is a form of worship not weakness. Godly submission is not a weakness but it is a worship on the Lord. You are not worshiping, honoring the Lord as a wife if you are not cultivating this gentle and quiet spirit.
Remember how Peter addresses his recipients in chapter 1 verse 1, he receives them as elect exiles. We all are exiles here waiting for our true home. As long as we live here we are called to live as God commanded us. I know such a submission is hard but Peter calls you to Peter chapter 5 verse 6, the final verse or probably one of the last verses. 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 6, he says, “Humble yourselves therefore the mighty hand of God so that the proper time he may exalt you,” verse 7, “casting all your anxieties on him,” because how, what should be your disposition as a wife? You humble yourself under the mighty hand of God because he has
called you to do this. You live there, you live like that, and at proper time, He will exalt you. He will honor you. By casting all your anxieties on Him, you will be having many doubts. Oh, I don’t know how this man will lead. What will he do? Where will he take us? All these things may be troubling in your mind, but you are at the same time casting them before the Lord. You’re trusting the Lord.
You’re putting all your cares before the Lord. That’s how you live. Yes, there is a rule. We are not talking about those things. There are rules where you sit together, discuss things, you plan things and all those, and you pray together. Those are very much part of family life. It’s not like husband makes a decision, wife simply follows. But yes, you discuss, you pray, and what is right, you do it.
And wife follows that. Peter is not talking those dynamics here, so we are not going there. And our greatest example — I will close with this — our greatest example of obedience is Christ Jesus. In Philippians chapter 2 Paul exhorts believers not to do anything out of selfish ambition but encourages them to have the mind of Christ though equal with God, when he became man, he humbled himself for us. He lived on this earth not with the reputation of God as God, though he was God, he did not live with that reputation, but he embraced the identity of a servant.
He humbled himself in the time of becoming a servant. He humbled himself, he became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. Are you humbling more than Christ Jesus? God of all glory became a servant, lived like a servant, suffered like a servant, and was sacrificed like a servant. That's not the end. Then came the glory, the exaltation. The Father exalted him, Father of all names, and every knee bowed before him will confess him that he is the Lord.
You may not be recognized in this world, your service may not be recognized in this world, but God takes note of your service as a wife. And God will honor it. For you have served well if you are submitting to your husband with a gentle and a quiet spirit. You have served well. You have done well. You have served. You have honored the Lord. You have glorified the Lord.