I trust Christ for my rescue

Posted on August 13, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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I trust Christ for my rescue

1 Peter 3:21-22 (JDV)

1 Peter 3:21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, is now rescuing you (not as the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
1 Peter 3:22 who has gone into the sky and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.

I trust Christ for my rescue

Peter is not teaching baptismal regeneration here. He is comparing baptism to the experience Noah and his family had on the ark. Those eight people were saved because they trusted God to rescue them from the coming flood. But getting into the ark was a sign of that trust. In the same manner, we are saved when we put our faith in Christ to rescue us from the coming wrath. Baptism testifies to that trust.

Many believers sincerely struggle with the issue of who is responsible for their salvation. If you could ask Noah and his family, I’m pretty sure they would not say they trusted in their own free will to save them from destruction. God saved them and he used the ark to do it. If God had not sovereignly saved them, they could have built a thousand arks and they would have still drowned. Likewise, people can be baptized all day every day and it would mean nothing if Christ had not been raised and exalted. Our baptism symbolizes his death and resurrection. It says “I trust Christ for my rescue.”

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the fuller rescue

Posted on August 12, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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the fuller rescue

1 Peter 3:18b-20 (JDV)

1 Peter 3:18b He was put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Breath,
1 Peter 3:19 by which he also went and proclaimed to the breaths in prison
1 Peter 3:20 who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared. In it a few — that is, eight people — were saved through water.

the fuller rescue

This passage does not teach that Jesus went to hell and proclaimed something to the lost while his body was dead in the tomb. The Sacred Breath (Holy Spirit) was the means or agent by which Jesus proclaimed something to the breaths in prison. What prison were they in? In Peter’s time, all these breaths were in the prison of death. But Jesus proclaimed the possibility of deliverance to them by the Holy Spirit and Moses while they were still alive during the days of Noah.

Peter is drawing attention to the fact that believers have been baptized, symbolizing our willingness to patiently suffer and even die for Christ because we — like Noah and his family — are seeking the fuller rescue — the resurrection at Christ’s return.

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Christ also suffered

Posted on August 11, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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Christ also suffered

1 Peter 3:17-18a (JDV)

1 Peter 3:17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will than for doing evil.
1 Peter 3:18a For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God.

Christ also suffered

Peter had just written that unjust suffering can give believers a chance to witness to their faith in Christ as Lord. Now, he says that it can also give them a chance to demonstrate Christlikeness. By submitting to God’s will and suffering unjustly, we show our connection to Christ, whose unjust suffering brought us back to God.

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don’t miss mistreatment

Posted on August 10, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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don’t miss mistreatment

1 Peter 3:13-16 (JDV)

1 Peter 3:13 Who then should mistreat you if you are devoted to what is good?
1 Peter 3:14 But even if you might suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear or be intimidated,
1 Peter 3:15 but in your hearts keep sacred Christ the Lord, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.
1 Peter 3:16 Yet do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that when you are accused, those who verbally attack your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame.

don’t miss mistreatment

Peter had written that Christians should return a blessing even when done wrong or insulted (3:9). Here is a gospel reason to do that. It gives an opportunity to share Christ with those who wrong you. Anyone who holds Christ’s Lordship as sacred will be looking for opportunities to witness. Mistreatment is one of those opportunities. Don’t miss it.

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selfish submission

Posted on August 9, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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selfish submission

1 Peter 3:10-12 (JDV)

1 Peter 3:10 You see, the one who wants to care about life and to see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit,
1 Peter 3:11 and let him turn away from evil and do what is good. Let him seek peace and pursue it,
1 Peter 3:12 because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do what is evil.

selfish submission

Peter prescribes mutual and reciprocal submission to every creature, and living that way is wise because it is in our self interest. Our God sets himself against those who do not pursue peace with others.

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give as you will be given

Posted on August 8, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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give as you will be given

1 Peter 3:8-9 (JDV)

1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you be harmonious and sympathetic, love one another, and be compassionate and humble,
1 Peter 3:9 not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you may inherit a blessing.

give as you will be given

Peter had called on husbands and wives to practice mutual and reciprocal submission and honor. He now calls on all believers to practice that lifestyle. In fact, he tells believers not to treat others as others treat them. He tells them to treat others the way God has treated them. He has by his grace given us a blessing as an inheritance. So, Peter tells them all to give a blessing to others, because that is what God has done to them.

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husbands, honor your wives

Posted on August 7, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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husbands, honor your wives

1 Peter 3:7 (JDV)

1 Peter 3:7 Husbands, likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker container, showing them due honor as coheirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

husbands, honor your wives

Peter’s command for husbands (relating back to the original command to submit to all creatures (2:13) is to follow the example of how Sarah deferred to Abraham. Husbands should likewise defer to their wives, showing them the honor due them as coheirs of the grace of life. Both Christian husbands and wives contain the same treasure of God’s grace, and the wife should not be treated as a second-class treasure simply because her husband’s container might be stronger.

This is the radical equality that Peter is preaching. It calls for husbands to sacrifice dominance to display the glory of God’s grace in their wives. We, husbands, cannot obey this command if we insist our wives are separate but equal. Coheirs have no hierarchy. They share equally in God’s grace.

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wives, submit yourselves

Posted on August 6, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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wives, submit yourselves

1 Peter 3:1-6 (JDV)

1 Peter 3:1 In the same way, wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, even if some disobey the word, they may be won without a word by the way their wives live
1 Peter 3:2 when they observe your pure, reverent lives.
1 Peter 3:3 Don’t let your beauty consist of outward things like elaborate hairstyles and wearing gold jewelry,
1 Peter 3:4 but rather what is inside the heart — the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet breath, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
1 Peter 3:5 Because in the past, the devoted women who put their hope in God also adorned themselves in this way, submitting to their own husbands,
1 Peter 3:6 just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You have become her children when you do what is good and do not fear anything intimidating.

wives, submit yourselves

Peter had just told house slaves to submit to their masters so they could win them to Christ. He now tells wives to do the same thing. He is not endorsing a new theology of authority here. His goal is the same. He is talking about the gospel, not governance. He is asking Christian wives to submit to their husbands to win them to Christ. Godly women in every age learn that adorning themselves with pure reverent lives is the best way to overcome a tyrranical husband. These are Sarah’s children.

There are abusive husbands who will take advantage of their wives’ commitment to Christ, and Peter is not speaking to that situation. Neither is Peter setting aside all females and telling them to submit to the rule of all males. He is not defining the role of a woman here. He is encouraging wives to remain godly — to set the standard for their families. This submission is voluntary. It is evangelistic. It is not about a defined role as a second-class citizen. It is defining a mission as an equal partner in life.

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called to submit

Posted on August 5, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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called to submit

1 Peter 2:21-25 (JDV)

1 Peter 2:21 For you have been called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
1 Peter 2:22 He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth;
1 Peter 2:23 when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.
1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed.
1 Peter 2:25 For you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

called to submit

The command that the house slaves were called to is “submit to every creature.” Their masters are fellow creatures, so the slaves are to submit to them — voluntarily, the same way Christ submitted to us. He did not go to the cross for us because we had authority over him. We did not. We do not. He has all authority over all things. His example is that of voluntarily submitting to the cross. The house slaves were to think of Jesus and continue to submit to their masters. Winning their masters to Christ was worth suffering if need be.

Peter has the gospel in mind, not any contrived doctrine of governance and authority.

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the witness of house slaves

Posted on August 4, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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the witness of house slaves

1 Peter 2:18-20 (JDV)

1 Peter 2:18 House slaves, submit to your masters with all reverence not only to the good and gentle ones but also to the cruel.
1 Peter 2:19 Because it brings favor if, because of a consciousness of God, someone endures grief from suffering unjustly.
1 Peter 2:20 Because what credit is there if when you do wrong and are beaten, you endure it? But when you do what is good and suffer, if you endure it, this brings favor with God.

the witness of house slaves

Peter encourages Christian house slaves to submit to their earthly masters, not because their masters have God-ordained authority over them, but for the same reason all Christians should submit to everybody: the gospel. A servant who endures unjust suffering is witnessing to his master. There is no “separate but equal” doctrine implied here. There is no justification for slavery of any kind. This is merely an instance of obedience to the apostle’s command to submit to every human creature (2:13). Why? The answer is always the same: “because of the Lord.”

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