1 Peter - Chapter 3
Marriage is one of the Lord’s most important creations. It was the first thing the Lord arranged with our first parents after preparing the garden itself to receive them. Remember that when Peter wrote this letter, it was usual and customary for husbands and wives to be of the same faith. But Peter had seen some women accept the gospel, and Jesus Christ, but their husbands had not (or at least not yet). Peter finds it necessary to discuss how a Christian wife should behave in that situation.
1 – 2:
A Christian wife should live a holy life (1 Peter 1:15). She should respect and obey her husband unless he asks her to do something that is sinful. In that case, she must not obey him. A husband will see his wife behaves better that those women not of the faith, and he will one day want to know the Lord also, but this change may take a long time. She should pray for her husband while trusting God to change his heart.
3 – 4:
While a woman may try to make herself beautiful on the outside, a Christian woman should also be beautiful in spirit as well. She will not manipulate others nor create fighting but rather possess a meek & quiet spirit that brings peace and is of great value to God.
Outside appearance may be important to man, but it is the loving spirit inside which is important to God.
5 – 6:
While Abraham and Sarah lived nearly 2000 years before Peter, he reminds us that the lessons of Genesis chapters 11-25 are still true, and now almost 2000 years later, again, these lessons still speak to us.
Sarah was a holy woman who trusted God and did what was right (almost always) and called her husband “lord” out of respect and love. Peter reminds the women of his time that they are daughters of Sarah, and should trust God as part of the same “spiritual family”.
7:
Behavior of the husband is also important. He must learn how to care for his wife and not consider her less than him as he protects her in life. God made men and women different with women generally weaker, but only of body, not of spirit. Both will receive an equal inheritance from the Lord (Gal 3:27-29). The term “grace of life” refers to their new spiritual life. A husband should honor and respect his wife, for she is precious to him. A man, who behaves badly toward his wife, disobeys God.
8:
Even Christian families sometimes disagree. Generally the worst arguments occur from pride or selfishness. Those who believe should be humble and work our differences in love.
9:
How easy it is to behave well when we are given kindness in word and action toward us. We show true obedience when we return kindness toward those who bring ill will toward us. Our example is surely Jesus who did not return the discord and hate that came His way. Remember he warned that the world hated Him, and they will hate us also. This verse is our instruction as to how we handle the situation when His warning becomes true in our lives.
10 – 12:
To “love life and have good days” does not mean Christians will not have trouble in our lives. It means that if we live as directed in ways pleasing to Him, he will guide us and provide us care. Christians should not lie or say evil things. Our lives and words should encourage peace.
13 – 14:
Christians should always do what is right, even if it means they must suffer as they do it. We should remember that nothing here can take away our blessing of life. Sin comes only if we yield and Satan cannot deter us without our willing agreement as we yield.
15:
Christ is Lord of all things with all authority. People who may do bad things to Christians are not in control. If we trust in Him, others will notice and may ask us about this “hope”. It is this hope that keeps us separate (holy) from others not of faith. Each instance of mistreatment is an opportunity to witness to others of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus and of the inheritance we have in Him through faith into life eternal.
16:
Obedience to God brings a clear conscience. Christians should not worry when opposition is against us. The day will come when God will give them a guilty conscience for having spoken what is wrong.
17:
Even good people will suffer but must, even in suffering, continue to trust God. Trusting through suffering is one of the purest forms of faith. It is likely that our understanding in this important area will be renewed by reading the book of Job from time to time. How faithful was this servant who suffered so terribly but after having lost almost all he had, still refused to curse God.
18:
In this verse, we see a basic lesson taught again. God is holy and sin separates us from God. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Jesus never sinned but removed all our sin by his sacrifice, and even though dead, lived anew by His power to lay down His life and to take it up again. As His believers, we also who were dead in sin and trespass are “quickened”, made alive through Him and His completed work on the cross.
19 – 20:
In his next letter, we will see that Peter calls Noah “a preacher of right behavior” (2 Peter 2:5), and now we see Peter teaches that the Holy Spirit spoke through Noah. He warned the people of his time to change their wicked ways and they did not do so. As a result, they perished while Noah and his family alone were saved from the flood.
Christ, put to death in body, but alive again by His power, went and preached unto the spirits in prison.
There is more than one possible meaning to these verses and they have been among the most debated verses for centuries. In verses that are subject to various interpretations, it is always good to focus upon the actual words and the words before and after. In this case the operative words are “preached unto the spirits in prison”.
There are several strong scriptural statements about this event concerning the time between the death of Christ and when He arose. It seems that we have good wisdom to support His efforts spiritually during these three days (known as The Harrowing of Hell):
Acts 2:27 Peter’s sermon quoting Psalm 16:10
Romans 10:6-7 Quoting Deut 30:13 “Who will ascend into heaven or who will descend into the abyss?”
Ephesians 4:8-9 “He ascended but He also descended into the lower parts of the earth” and the interesting teaching that “…He led captivity captive”.
It is generally believed that it was this period that Christ used to visit the portion of hell (not the portion of the damned but rather the portion known as paradise or Abraham’s bosom) and led away those faithful spirits who had been awaiting his work on the cross to mark their change in location. Remember also the teaching that after He arose, certain saints rose from their graves and walked about in Jerusalem (Matt 27:52-53), signifying the mastery Jesus commanded over death itself.
21:
Baptism is an outward sign of inward change as we accept the gospel and invite Christ into our lives as LORD & MASTER (let us not forget the second one). The baptism water is like the water of the flood that washed away the evil things. As we arise from this baptism water we are a new creation rising from old life into new, as did our Lord.
22:
Jesus has returned to Heaven, from which he came to arrange our salvation, and He sits at the Father’s right hand, the position of all power and authority. Even powerful authorities and angels are now under His authority.
Jesus taught us in His earthly ministry that He and the Father are one. Having seen the Son, believers also have seen the Father.