1 Peter 3
Theme: Believer’s Manual
\\#1:1-1:12\\ Salvation of the Believer
\\#1:13-2:12\\ Sanctification of the Believer
\\#2:13-3:13\\ Submission of the Believer
\\#2:13-17\\ Rules for everyone concerning submission
\\#2:18-25\\ Rules for slaves concerning submission
\\#3:1-6\\ Rules for wives concerning submission
Perhaps it should be noted that long before Peter told the wives to submit
to their husbands, he told everyone to submit to each other. So did Paul
\\#Eph 5:21-22\\.
Many woman reject the idea of submission, not realizing that:
a. All but a very, very few must learn submission.
b. Submission is protection. The more earthly authority to which one is
required to answer, the less that one is directly accountable to
God. The less earthly authority to which one is required, the more
that one is directly account to God.
#1 Notice the power of submission. It can win a lost husband to
Christ without the power of God’s Word.
\\ 2\\ What’s the difference of "fear" here and "afraid with amazement"
\\ 6\\. Wives should "reverence" the husbands not be "terrorized" of
obeying them.
\\ 2\\ The power comes from the wives having a "chaste connversation"-in
this context a submissive spirit to their husbands—with respect. Living
such a life unleashes the power of God within the marriage.
\\#3:7\\ Rules for husbands concerning submission
\\7\\ Notice a woman’s prayer life is not at jeopardy but a man’s is. Man
is more directly accountable to God and so suffers spiritually for abusing
his authority.
\\#3:8-13\\ Rules for everyone concerning submission
\\10\\ Learning submission gives the promise of long life but (along with
the other characteristics listed) also allows the believer to love the
life given to him.
\\#3:13-5:14\\ Suffering of the Believer
\\#3:13-3:17\\ Conduct in Suffering
\\#3:18-4:6\\ Christ’s Example in Sufffering
\\13\\ Peter moves from the supposition that authority will be good to the
prospect that some is bad.
\\#14\\ "But if" that is the case, suffer well. Sometimes faith greater
than changing the problems is faith that will carry you through the
problems.
"happy are ye" - Being right with God in problems will yield more
peace than being wrong in pleasures.
\\#15\\ So how do we deal with abusive authority? They treat us wrong
when we are doing right?
a. "sanctify the Lord in our hearts" - Don’t take these confrontations
personally. We are not living for ourselves but for the Lord.
b. "be ready to give… an answer" - Have a Bibical reason for what
you do and why.
c. "meekness and fear" - Do not wear garments of pride, revenge,
vindication, self righteousness, pity, retalation, etc. Instead, be meek
and respectful.
\\19\\ "By the which" is a reference back to Holy Spirit, mentioned in the
last part of \\3:18\\. From \\3:19-22\\, Peter turns from his main topic
to discuss what Christ was able to do in the power of the Spirit.
\\19\\ The passage does not say that Jesus went to hell. It says that He
preached to spirits that were in prison (still could be hell). Given the
split nature of paradise at the time of Jesus’ death \\#Luke 16:19-31\\,
it is understood by this writer that Jesus went to paradise where He
preached the news of what He had done (the eternal damned also hearing
it), then took the inhabitants of paradise to heaven \\#Eph 4:8-10\\.
This did not afford the damned an opportunity to repent and be saved.
Concerning the phrase "in prision," spirits on both sides of the gulf were
restricted compared to the freedom of heaven.
\\4:6\\ This is not a reference back to the event of \\#1Peter 3:19\\.
The gospel was preached to those now dead at a time when they were
alive. It benefited them, making them alive "according to God in the
spirit." This is not a verse to claim "second chances" to those already
dead, for after death comes the judgment \\#He 9:27\\.
\\20\\ A second false doctrine comes from these verses concerning
salvation by baptism. If this was the only verse in the Bible
concerning baptism and salvation, we might likewise believe it. Yet it is
not. We must understand that single verses pulled out of context can
be used to prove one side of an argument. Any doctrine can be argued if
the whole Bible is not used to balance the one side of a truth presented
in a single verse.
\\#21\\ "like figure" - Baptism does not save but it is a picture of
salvation (the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus). It is also the
point of clearing the conscience.
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