Ephesians
5:24b
"...is
subject unto Christ, so (in like manner then) let the
wives be to their own husbands in every thing."
Do
you see the analogy? For goodness sakes, Christ has never brow beaten
a member of the Body of Christ, has He? Christ has never made life
miserable for a member of the Body. Though the Holy Spirit while we
are in what I have called our first estate of Redemption are indeed
made to sense an uneasiness of soul. It is through this uneasiness
that He trains, tutors, teaches and leads us out of darkness and
prepares us to become sons of God. But Christ has never made unfair
demands on the Body, neither should a husband do that to his wife or
children. Do you see the analogy? Unless people stop to think, "Well
that’s just Paul talking," let’s turn to 1Peter, and as
amazing as it seems, Peter uses almost the same kind of language, so
far as this martial relationship is concerned. My goodness these are
two totally different apostles, their personalities are not the same
in their view of things, but when it comes to this marriage
relationship under God, they can use the same style of language.
1Peter
3:1a
"Likewise,
ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands;..."
Oh,
I can just hear the feminists, and the equal rights amendment people,
because they do not like this kind of language, but this is God’s
format. The rest of this verse deals with a Christian wife with an
unbelieving husband. She is unequally yoked, but look at these
instructions for that particular circumstance. The rolls maybe changed at times depending on each situation of course but the pattern is the same.
1Peter
3:1b
"...that,
if any (husband, is an unbeliever) obey not the
word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation
(manner of living, or the lifestyle) of the wives;"
My
that is quite a statement isn’t it? Do you know what Peter is
saying? Listen believing wives do not preach at your husband, do not
try and drag him to the Church house against his will, do not nag him
to get into the Bible, but rather you practice the Christian walk
so that he can not help but be amazed at what an example of
Christianity you as his wife really are. This kind of wife depicts the fruit of the Spirit which is long suffering and patient. When that wife operates
under those conditions, realizing that she is doing it with God’s
help, and that her whole desire is that her husband will come to a
knowledge of redemption, God’s going to honor it. It may take
longer or shorter, depending on the case, but sooner or later, God’s
going to honor that wife’s testimony. We have seen it happen, and
have already rehearsed it before, it was extreme, but in a matter of
months that fellow, highly educated, tremendous income, and yet
because of that Christian walk of his wife, he suddenly realized what
a reprobate he really was. He’ll tell you himself , he told us at
the time, "I just fell on my knees in my office, and said God
I’m a sinner, I want the salvation that my wife has." And this
fellow became a real trophy of God’s Grace. He became active in a
local assembly, and went on from there.
1Peter
3:2
"While
they (the unsaved husband) behold your chaste
(pure) conversation (manner of living) coupled
with fear."
That
is not the kind of fear we think of when we are just scared to death.
No this is a fear of respect, and reverence. Here in verse 3 is how
the wife is to actually have an impact on that unsaved husband.
1Peter
3:3
"Whose
adorning (beauty) let it not be that outward adorning
(beauty) of plaiting* the hair, and of wearing
of gold, or of putting on of apparel**;"
*fixing,
the habit of braiding golden jewels into the hair.
**this is like the belly
dancers dress because the whores of the day wore this kind of dress
as did they fix the hair.
Here
is where some groups have taken the Scripture completely out of
context, and say that you cannot fix your hair, you cannot look
decent, you cannot wear jewelry, but that is not what this verse
says. All this verse says is, "if the woman is going to make an
appeal to the man’s lost estate, of lust, instead of trying to do
it with her outward attraction, do it with the inner, and that is
what Peter says in the vary next verse.
1Peter
3:4
"But
let it be the hidden man (woman) of the heart*,
in that which is not corruptible, (in the realm of the
spirit) even the ornament (of dressing up) of a
meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price."
*let
her salvation experience literally have an impact on that old boy who
is out there lost.
The
book of Proverbs chapter 31:10-31, says it even better than that. It tells all she can do, and will do.
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