A Pure Reverent Wife

1 Peter 3:1-6 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4 Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
 
THIS instruction to women to be submissive to your husbands may be one of the most unpopular teachings in the Bible. Let’s understand what the Spirit wants us to know.
   To begin, Peter did not compare a wife’s submissive role to a slave’s. The Greek language points this same way of submission back to Peter’s instructions about living under the government’s authority. A wife, then, is to live under her husband’s authority in the same manner Christians are to obey their rulers. Quiet, obedient lives is one way Christians would make God known. But a Christian must not obey laws against God’s laws. In a like manner, a wife is to accept God’s ordained order of authority for the family. But she is not to submit to the rule of an ungodly husband.
   This would have been very difficult, even life-threatening in the first-century culture and still is a threat in many cultures today. A wife was property without rights. If she stood for Christ against an abusive or disgruntled husband, he could easily set his wife aside without means of support. That’s one reason Peter urges wives not to fear.
   Standing in faith for God against an evil culture is a fearful thing. Peter encourages wives with the example of Sarah. As Abraham is considered the father of the Jews – and of our faith in Christ – Sarah is our spiritual mother. From her womb came Israel to birth the Christ. With a pure and reverent spirit Sarah obeyed Abraham.
   But we know God’s chosen couple was not perfect. For 25 years they lived under God’s promise to have a son. Even as they tried to manipulate God’s promise to bear a son through the slave Hagar, God kept them in his covenant. Sarah needed to put aside her fear, so she would trust God through the long years, even after she was past the childbearing years. Sarah’s patient endurance brought God’s ultimate reward to her.
   A wife called by God needs the Spirit’s substance and strength to obey our Lord against all adversity. Braids and jewelry make for outward beauty, but it is the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. Purity and reverence for God lead to that gentle and quiet spirit. Such a wife will make God known to her husband.