Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from 1 Pet 3:1-2 and following. Indeed, the Apostle Peter says, “Likewise, you women…, you, husbands…, you young men…” (1 P 5.5-7). This is always the same motive as in 1 Pet 2:13-17: the love of the Lord, which dictates to each one the conduct he must have in his family and in the Assembly. A Christian woman reveals where her affections are by her way of adorning herself. Is she concerned about the hidden beauty of the heart, the one that the Lord alone sees? And is she looking for what is a great price before God: “a gentle and peaceful spirit”? This “ornament” is part of what is incorruptible, as is the Word (1 Pet 1:22-25) and the heavenly inheritance (1 Pet 1:3-5). So, God’s fashion hasn’t changed since Sarah.
We have already seen that the apostle places particular importance on conduct, but especially here, where the public witness entrusted to the woman does not consist in what she may have to say, nor in her adornment, but in the man hidden from the heart. These women to whom the apostle was addressing could be related to Jewish husbands over whom the Word of Christ had not yet had any influence, hence what is said here: “If there are any who do not obey the Word.” But we have seen that what distinguished Christianity from Judaism was precisely this obedience called in 1 Pet 1:2 the obedience of Jesus Christ. For by admitting in the husband this unbelief and this state of disobedience as to Christ, the wife could be tempted to convince him by speaking to him, to reason with her husband in order to win him over to the truth; but the wife had to be convinced that her husband could be converted and won over by his conduct to her, without the word, and because he had before his eyes a pure conduct, free from the defilements of the world, and directed by the fear of God. What was to distinguish the Christian woman was not an adornment similar to that which the world seeks, but an incorruptible adornment, not of the body, but of the spirit, characterized by gentleness and peace which, before God, is of great price. This was the character of the holy women of old. Their habit was submission to their husbands; they had the example of Sarah, of whom, while being Christians, they had become children and feared nothing, doing good. Doesn’t “doing good” characterize Christ’s conduct to the same degree as obedience? (Acts 10:38).
As we have seen above, the role of the Spirit in the resurrection of Christ, we see at the beginning of the judgment of the creation of then, and its renewal by the waters of the flood. It was through the Spirit that Christ had once gone to warn the unbelievers who, according to the character of this whole epistle, are called the disobedient, and whom God had patiently endured until then. For the Spirit who spoke to these unbelievers through Noah to save them from the final disaster, was the same Spirit who had proclaimed the salvation accomplished by Christ’s resurrection from the dead. God once showed all His patience with the world of that time, but there comes a time when patience ends. The ark that Noah and his sons had taken so many years to build was Noah’s preaching. She “condemned the world” without needing words to explain herself and what seemed foolish to the unbelievers was what saved the patriarch and his family through the waters of death. These men could be saved by faith in the same way as we can; now they are “spirits in prison.” Stripped of their bodies, they are held in hades, in the “great impassable chasm firmly established” between believers and unbelievers, awaiting the judgment of the great day.
Seth’s believing generation had been withdrawn in time from the disaster. Only eight people had been saved, but passing through the death that water, in the Word, still represents, while also signifying the life into which death introduces the believer. The same was true of those to whom this epistle is addressed. They had come out by grace from the mass of those who did not believe, to belong to a new generation, on the very eve of the judgment that would reach the incredulous Jewish nation. All this was a figure. First of all, the salvation of a few always remains a capital truth as in the time of the flood, a truth all the more important as these Christians were on the verge of seeing the collapse of their nation under judgment. Then the apostle insists on the crucial truth that one is saved only through water. Either water, death engulfs us, or it saves us when we have the ark as our refuge. But this same figure, the water of death, also saves us now. How important this was to present to these Jews who had become Christians!
For they had come out of Judaism by baptism which was in figure what had saved Noah and his family: indeed, if a Jew was not baptized, he was not saved at all. In baptism, which means the death of Christ, man asks to have a good conscience, being saved, through death, by the resurrection of the One with whom he went through death. This was the case in the flood. The ark, a Christ who has gone through death, brings in resurrection to the other side those who have found their refuge in Him. Like the ark, on Mount Ararat, our Ark stopped at the top. The work is complete; and I can have a good conscience. God no longer remembers my sins and the one who gives me this good conscience is in heaven. I am not there now, according to the doctrine of the Apostle Peter, although I have the happy and complete certainty that the work that will give me access to it is done forever. For he who has acquired this share from me is at the right hand of God, having angels, authorities and powers under his feet. This is where Christian baptism introduces me!
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
The married life of Christians:
- Qualities of the woman: modesty
Gen 24:66 The servant told Isaac all the things he had done. 1 Tim 2:9-10 I also want women, dressed in a decent manner, with modesty and modesty, not to adorn themselves with braids, gold, pearls, or sumptuous clothes, 10 but to adorn themselves with good works, as befits women who profess to serve God. 1 Pet 3:1-2 Women, be equally submissive to your husbands, that if some do not obey the word, they may be won over without words by the conduct of their wives, 2 by seeing your chaste and reserved way of life.
- Christian virtues are an example of Spiritual Fruit
Rom 5:3-4 Moreover, we even boast of afflictions, knowing that affliction produces perseverance, 4 perseverance victories in trial, and this victory brings hope. 2 Cor 6:6 by purity, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by goodness, by a holy spirit, by sincere charity, 2 Cor 8:7 Just as you excel in all things, in faith, in word, in knowledge, in zeal in all respects, and in your love for us, make sure that you also excel in this work of charity. 2 Pet 1:5-7 because of this very fact, make every effort to join virtue to your faith, to virtue to science, 6 to science temperance, to temperance patience, to patience piety, 7 to piety fraternal love, to fraternal love charity.
- Good works
-Glorify God Mt 5:16 May your light shine before men in this way, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
-Enrich life 1 Tim 6:18 Recommend that they do good, be rich in good works, have generosity,
-Offer an example to follow Tt 2:7 showing yourself in all respects a model of good works, and giving a pure, dignified teaching,
-Tend to push others to accomplish their task Hb 10:24 Let’s look upon one another, to excite us to charity and good works.
-Demonstrate reality in faith Jas 2:17-18 So it is with faith: if it does not have the works, it is dead in itself. 18 But someone will say: You have faith; and I have the works. Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith through my works. 1 Pet 2:12 Be among the Gentiles good conduct, that even where they slander you as if you were evildoers, they will notice your good works, and glorify God, on the day He visits them.
- Legacy of the Righteous
Ps 61:6 For you, O God, grant my wishes, You give me the inheritance of those who fear your name. Ps 119:111 Your precepts are forever my inheritance, for they are the joy of my heart. Acts 20:32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, to the one who can build up and give the inheritance with all the sanctified. Acts 26:18 that you may open their eyes, that they may pass from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive, through faith in me, the forgiveness of sins and inheritance with the sanctified. Col 1:12 Give thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light,
From all of the above, we note that our title as heirs to the grace of life and blessing constitutes, along with the example given to us by the One who is good (1 Pet 3:13-15; 1 Pet 2:18-25), a compelling ground for not rendering contempt for contempt. The long quotation from Ps. 34 reminds us of what God’s government is. If evil is found in our mouths or in our ways, painful consequences, permitted by the Lord, may result from it here on earth. Conversely, a walk in good and peace is the sure way to be blessed. In addition to this legitimate desire of every man we will enjoy the communion of the Lord. Christ suffered on the cross, He the Righteous for us the unjust. In return, we are granted to suffer somewhat for Him (Phil 1:27-30). By doing good, we suffer with Him, as He suffered. Finally, in all our moral sorrows, the Lord sympathizes with us (1 Pet 3:8-12). However, when our conduct is not good before men, talking to them about the Lord can only transfer to Him the contempt we deserve. May the Spirit of Christ use us to warn our fellow men as He once used Noah building his ark to preach to the unbelievers of his time! The flood is the image of judgment ready to melt on the world. He speaks to us of death, the wages of sin. In figure, believers have crossed it in baptism and are sheltered in the ark, which is Christ. He suffered death in their place and they will be resurrected with Him for a new life. If you suffer for righteousness, you are blessed (Mat 5:3-12). Let us ask God to guard us from all human fear and give us his fear accompanied by gentleness, to witness at all times to the hope that is in us. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow ” breaking with sin to live according to God’s will.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.