How Should We Then Live

Old Testament Reading – Isaiah 3:13-26 – New Testament Reading – Ephesians 5:15-33

How Should We Then Live
“To Make Christ Known”
1 Peter 3:1-7

Wayne J. Edwards, Pastor

According to 1 Peter 4:12-17, Christians should expect persecution to increase as we approach the end of this age, for God ordained it to purge the Church of false believers.

• • How should Christians respond to such persecution? Should we get angry at those who are persecuting us, if God so ordained it?
  • The timeless truth of 1 Peter 3:1-7 explains why the Christian’s response to persecution is to submit to it and suffer through it, for in so doing we are making Christ known to the unbelievers.
  • The Apostle Peter said that includes the witnessing opportunity afforded to those who live and work in an atmosphere that is hostile toward God, and especially towards Christianity, as well as those who live with an unbelieving spouse.
  • Our daily conduct should always reflect the character of Christ. We die to ourselves, that others might see Christ in us, and be drawn to Him.

   Viewing current events through the lens of the Scriptures, we can see many major prophetic implications.

• • We are witnessing what Jesus described in Matthew 24 as “end-time events;” global activities He said would indicate the end of this age.
  • According to my eschatology, we are at the end of the church-age Jesus described in Revelation 2-3. The missionary zeal of the Philadelphia church-age is being replaced by the self-focused Laodicean church-age, which is so weak theologically, it will welcome the Antichrist, and assist him in the formation of the New World Order.
  • Soon, the remaining remnant of true believers will be removed from the earth via the Rapture, and as the Apostle Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, when the Restrainer is removed, (the Holy Spirit) the whole world will become engulfed in utter lawlessness.
  • With the commotion caused by the sudden disappearance of millions of people, those who will be left behind will demand someone rise to lead the new world order.
  • The Antichrist will emerge, forge his peace agreement with the Jews and the Arab nations, lead the world into the Tribulation, including the Gog-Magog war, and 7-years later, Jesus will return as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
  • This is where we are on God’s prophetic timeline, and why the current events are so important to us as Christians.
  • In 1 Peter 4:17, the Apostle said God’s judgment will begin with His Church; the House of God, to purge the Church of the false believers, and such persecution is now rising in the West.
  • Christians should not incite conflict by our fleshly anger at those who are persecuting us, for it is to such suffering we have been called, and our submission to it is the evidence of our submission to Christ, and to the control of the Holy Spirit.
  • If we endure such persecution because of our confession of faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior, we should not be ashamed, for in doing so, we not only glorify God the Father, but we also make Christ known to our neighbors and to the nations.
  • The Christian’s response to persecution is to submit and to suffer.

The Apostle Peter wrote his two letters to those Christians who had left Rome to avoid persecution, only to find themselves enduring the same hostility in the Roman Provinces of Asia Minor.

• • Rather than comfort them with pious platitudes, the Apostle Peter challenged them to get their minds off of their persecutors and on to the One who had purchased them with His precious blood.
  • In chapter 1:3 – Peter urged them to remember who they were, and to keep their focus on their eternal salvation.
  • In chapter 2:12 – Peter urged them to remember whose they were, as well as their responsibility to live before others in such a way that Christ could be seen in them.
  • In chapter 4:7 – Peter warned them, since the end of the age was near, that they should get serious about their lives, and watchful in their prayers, even if their personal persecution became worse.

If we are to have an effective witness to a world that is becoming increasingly hostile toward Christianity, how should we then live?

• • Chapter 2:13 – Submit to every ordinance of man. (Government)
  • Chapter 2:18 – Submit to those in authority over us. (Work)
  • Chapter 3:1-7 – Submit to the order God established for a marriage. (Home)

   Peter began by addressing wives who had become Christians, but who were living with unbelieving husbands.

1. Be Submissive to her Husband – 1 Peter 3:1 – “Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands.”

• • Rather than leaving him, if the unbelieving husband is willing to live with her, the believing wife should stay with him for two reasons:
    • The blessings God pours out on the believing wife will also benefit the unbelieving husband.
    • Her willingness to submit unto him, even though he is not a believer, could convince him of his need for a Savior.

2. Be Accommodating to her Husband – 1 Peter 3:1b-2 – “They may be won by the conduct of their wives.”

• • The greatest evangelistic tool a believing wife has to win her unbelieving husband to the Lord is her submission unto him.
  • That submission is manifested by her:
    • Faithfulness – vs 2 – “Her chaste and respectful behavior.”
    • Modesty – allowing her adornment to arise from the “hidden person of the heart [through her] gentle and quiet spirit.”
    • Obedience – “as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord.”

“Older women are to teach the young women to love their husbands
and their children. They are to teach them to think before they act, to
be pure, to be workers at home, to be kind, and to obey their own
husbands. In this way, the Word of God is honored.”
Titus 2:4-5

Peter then addressed husbands who had become Christians, but who were living with unbelieving wives.

• “Likewise,” means the principle of submission Peter described for the wife also applies to the husband, but it is manifested in different ways.

1. Consideration – vs 7 – “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding.”

• • Rather than leaving her, Peter said the believing husband should “dwell” with his wife in an understanding way; being sensitive to her deepest emotional and physical needs.
  • In Ephesians 5:25-29, the Apostle Paul said husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for her. “Husbands are to love their wives as they love their own bodies, for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the Church.”

2. Courtesy – vs 7 – “Giving honor to the wife, as the weaker vessel.”

• • Certainly, women are not weaker than men spiritually or intellectually, but as a rule, they are weaker physically, which means they need their husband’s protection, and they are weaker emotionally, which means they need his compassion.
  • Peter’s admonition was for the believing husband to recognize the impoverished position of all women, and to live with his wife in such a way that she would be drawn to Christ by his sensitivity toward her special needs.

3. Companionship – vs 7 – “As being heirs together of the grace of life.”

• • Even if his wife is not a believer, the believing husband is to live with her, and develop their friendship into a relationship so close, and so intimate, they become “one flesh!” Otherwise, his prayers, even for the salvation of his wife, will not be answered.