Ignorant Historian

This was an assignment for my Gender Roles in the Bible class. I wrote this while I was sick, so it might not be as purty as I would like. I would love to know what you think, if you are interested.
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I. Wives, submit to your husbands. (v. 1-2)

A. Submit to your husband.
First of all, it is important to notice that women aren’t commanded to submit to every man, but to their husband. Though this is not the only authority over them (government, church leaders, etc.), the marriage relationship is special and needs these specific instructions. “Likewise” here connects it to the previous sections about the subject/government and slave/master relationships. Like in these previous discussions, Peter is talking not to the superior but to the inferior in the relationship. He does go on to give instructions to husbands in verse 7, which is important to note.

Secondly, we should make clear that Peter is urging wives to be subject to their husbands, not be slaves to them. There is a difference of relationship between a husband and his wife and a master and his slave. Husbands are never commanded to make their wives submit, but rather it comes from the Lord and out of willingness in the wife’s heart. This cannot be seen as meaning the wife is of lesser value, because Jesus Christ is said to submit.[1]

The first woman on the United States Supreme Court, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor practiced this type of submission. While she could have remained on the court for several more years, she decided to retire to stay home and care for her ailing husband. Though she would have gained more prestige by staying on the Supreme Court, she decided to choose the option that would most honor her husband.

B. Submit even to your unbelieving husband.
Here we can see that more is at stake than a good marriage. By submitting to an unbelieving husband and behaving in a way becoming of your Savior, you have the opportunity to be a powerful witness to your husband. The gospel itself is at stake. It’s easy to act like a Christian in public, but if Christian behavior is in the home even with a proper attitude, this is a strong witness indeed.[2]

Though an unbelieving husband may call on his wife to act immorally, she can still be submissive to him without following through on the action. By humbling refusing she can acknowledge his leadership over her while at the same time indicating that her allegiance is first of all to Christ.

Submitting to any husband, let alone an unbelieving husband will be hard. The husband may be openly against Christianity, making it difficult for the wife to live out her faith in or even outside the home.[3] However, the “sweet and gentle submission of godly wives will be so compelling that eventually husbands will be led to embrace Christ, even without verbal pleadings.”[4] Though the wife must remember that it is ultimately the husband’s decision whether he wants to follow Christ or not.

C. Submit in a way that reflects your calling in Christ.
The wife should be respectful and honoring, even when it is not deserved. She should have an attitude of submission that recognizes God’s order in the home and marriage. The purity mentioned here is that of “innocence, modesty, chasteness, freedom from admixture of evil.”[5] The fact that the wife’s behavior is pure is another reminder that her obedience and submission to her husband does not go so far as to be disobedient to the Lord.

II. Women, focus on growing in internal beauty, not external. (v. 3-4)

A. Don’t dwell on external beauty.
Peter is not saying here that a woman should ignore external beauty, but that it should not be that which is most important. He is saying, “Don’t let your adorning be merely external…” He mentions here three things that can be used to enhance external beauty: hair braids, wearing gold, and the wearing of clothing. He cannot be outright prohibiting these, or he would be requiring women to walk around without clothes, which certainly would go against teaching elsewhere in scripture of modesty.[6]

The specific examples of what it means to enhance external beauty today have changed. Today’s women are more likely to focus on the latest clothing styles, looking youthful, and getting the figure they want, naturally or artificially. While some attention should be given to outward appearance, this should not be what takes the majority of a woman’s time, resources, and thoughts.

B. Cultivate the inner beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.
More important than the external/physical is the internal/spiritual. Just like outer beauty, inner beauty requires work. Though it is not as easy to measure the growth internally of godliness, it should be pursued.

True beauty must come from the inside and must be the work of God. Only by pursuing Christlikeness to the glory of God can you really grow. There is something very attractive about a woman who is resting in the Lord.

C. Seek holiness as God is holy.
The measure of a person’s character cannot be determined on the outside. As God told Samuel, “God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”[7] You should not try to measure your growth in character based on your popularity or what others think of you. What is important is your standing in God’s eyes, not man’s. Right here we see that what is precious in God’s sight is a gentle and quiet spirit.

Just because our culture magnifies the outer beauty of a woman, does not mean you have to pursue that. If you struggle with this, you may have to cut out what has been influential in your life: fashion magazines, makeover shows, or time spent at the mall. Why none of these things are inherently bad, you must be careful about how much time and thought you are putting towards them. Pursuing the inner beauty that God desires should be a greater concern to you than keeping up with the trends or having the perfect body.

III. God gives women examples to follow. (v. 5-6)

A. Follow the example of the holy women who went before.
In case we have a hard time understanding what Peter means in the first few verses, he goes on to give us examples in scripture. We much know the Bible to learn from them. There is much to be learned from studying the character of women in the Bible: Sarah, Deborah, Ruth, Mary, and others.

There are other holy women that God has placed in our path that we might learn from them. By befriending and learning from the older, godly women in our church we can learn a lot about what it means to be submissive to our husbands as well as what it means to grow in the inner beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.

B. Follow Sarah as an example.
Sarah is given as a specific example of a godly wife. She was by no means perfect, as the Scripture clearly indicates, but that does not mean we can’t learn from her. She obeyed and respected her husband, Abraham, in a way that brought him honor. “Lord” here is emphasized in the Greek, which shows us the important of this kind of honor. While we today don’t necessarily need to call our husbands “lord,” we should treat them with respect. Not only should be seek to honor them, but we should seek ways to show them and others that we honor them.

C. We can become daughters of Sarah when we behave like her.
Not only can we be precious in God’s sight, we can become daughters of Sarah if we act accordingly to this inner beauty. This is an honor that we can have if we “do right without being frightened by any fear.” The honor of being Sarah’s daughter “is to be a joint heir of the promises.”[8]

Perseverance is required of the Christian walk, and not just for women.[9] To do “right” is a “specific reference to the wife’s dutiful regard for her husband.”[10] In 2:15 this same doing good silences “the ignorance of foolish men,” while in 2:20 it “finds favor with God.” By doing what is right, a woman has the opportunity to be a great witness to others and pleasing to God.

The fear mentioned here is “a state of terror or of being startled.”[11] A woman who is grounded in her fear of the Lord has no need to be afraid of anything else.

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[1] 1 Corinthians 15:28.

[2] Paige Patterson, A Pilgrim Priesthood: an Exposition of the Epistle of First Peter (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), 105.

[3] Curtis Vaughn and Thomas D. Lea, 1,2 Peter, Jude (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988), 71.

[4] Patterson, Pilgrim, 104.

[5] Vaughn and Lea, 1,2 Peter, Jude, 73.

[6] 1 Timothy 2:9, Proverbs 31:22.

[7] 1 Samuel 16:7b, NASU.

[8] Wayne Grudem, 1 Peter (Grand Rapids: Eedrmans, 1997), 142.

[9] Thomas R. Schreiner, 1,2 Peter, Jude (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2003), 158.

[10] Vaughn and Lea, 1,2 Peter, Jude, 76.

[11] Patterson, Pilgrim, 110.