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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submit as free people

Posted on August 3, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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submit as free people

1 Peter 2:13-17 (JDV)

1 Peter 2:13 Submit to every human creature because of the Lord, whether to the king as the superior
1 Peter 2:14 or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do right.
1 Peter 2:15 For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good.
1 Peter 2:16 Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves.
1 Peter 2:17 Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the king.

submit as free people

Some translations add the word “authority” to todays text but it is not found there. It is not because people have a God-given authority that Peter encourages submission to them. We are to submit to everyone because of the Lord. The instruction is about the gospel, not governance. Our purpose is not to endorse human heirarchy, but to behave properly, as God’s slaves. We are children of God, but we submit to others in order to win them to God’s family as well. We submit voluntarily as free people, not out of necessity. The scriptures have only one purpose — to bring everyone to Christ. There is no secondary purpose of human authority.

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good behavior

Posted on August 2, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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good behavior

1 Peter 2:11-12 (JDV)

1 Peter 2:11 Cherished ones, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from longings of the flesh that wage war against the throat.
1 Peter 2:12 Behave yourselves well among the Gentiles so that even though they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day of reckoning.

good behavior

Peter encourages his readers to behave themselves well for two reasons here. First, the impulses and desires — longings of the flesh — that often result in bad behavior are actually waging war against their own throats. That is, they are putting them in danger of dying. The Gentiles are looking for reasons to kill them, and any transgression or apparent act of defiance would give them a reason. Christians should avoid giving unbelievers justification for persecuting and destroying them.

The second reason for good behavior is that on the day of reckoning, the Great Overseer of all things will call on these same Gentile witnesses to declare what they saw in us. When these unbelievers testify that we behaved well in spite of their slander, our God will be glorified.

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a chosen family

Posted on August 1, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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a chosen family

1 Peter 2:9-10 (JDV)

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen family, a royal priesthood, a devoted nation, a people that he has obtained, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

a chosen family

Those who have rejected Christ (including the Jews) have stumbled over the cornerstone and are not God’s people anymore. But those who have chosen to follow Christ are part of his family, priests of his temple, citizens of his nation, a people that God has obtained. As a believer, you now have a new identity. You have not just chosen God. He has chosen you.

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