1 Peter 3
SIBVer. 1, 2. And, while Christian subjects and servants are careful to honour their religion by a conscientious performance of the duties of their station, do you Christian wives behave with the most obliging and affectionate 4 submission to your husbands in all things lawful; that, if any be ignorant, regardless, or contemners of the word and ordinances, of God, those ordinary means of conversion, they may, by your meek, humble, sweet, and engaging, temper and carriage, and your pure, sober, chaste, modest, and reverential, deportment, influenced by a religious reverence of God, and regard to his authority, be allured and gained over to a good esteem of Christ and his ways: 3, 4. And labour to recommend yourselves and your religion to your husbands, not by the external ornaments of dress, but by knowledge, virtue, truth, grace, and holiness of heart, manifested by good works in your life, which are far more beautiful, excellent, advantageous, and lasting; particularly by a modest, humble, gentle, calm, tractable, and peaceable, temper of spirit, free from pride and turbulent passion, which, however overlooked by vain minds, is inexpressibly valuable in God’s account. 5, 6. For in this endearing and submissive manner the ancient holy women, who trusted in God for his blessings of time and eternity, endeavoured to ingratiate themselves with their husbands; particularly Sarah, who, in the very name she gave to her husband Abraham, marked her high respect for him,—whose daughters, not only in a natural, but in a moral and spiritual, sense, ye are while ye behave rightly towards your husbands and others, without being deterred from your religion through fear of their displeasure, and without any unbelieving confusion or doubt relative to God’s fulfilment of his promises
1 Peter 3:7
And do you husbands, on all occasions, live with your wives in a faithful, friendly, and familiar, manner, treating them with that decency, kindness, and cheerfulness, which prudence and knowledge of the gospel require;—delighting in their persons, consulting their comfort and happiness, supporting their credit and authority in the family, providing honourably for them, putting due confidence in them, and sympathizing with, and helping them under, their manifold infirmities, that, if Christians, they may be honoured and encouraged, as heirs of eternal happiness, equally with yourselves; and, if not, may be allured to the Christian religion; and every proper method taken to promote your joint worshipping of God, by yourselves and with the family, in a manner comfortable to you and acceptable to God. 8, 9. In fine, let all of you, who profess to believe in Christ, labour to cultivate a mutual agreement in the important doctrines of the gospel, and answerable thereto; and an harmonious temper, feelingly sympathizing with one another in all afflictions.—As children of the same heavenly Father, maintain and exercise an affectionate brotherly love, in thought, word, and deed, towards each other. Manifest the most tender sympathy towards such as are under weakness or afflictions, temporal or spiritual. And let your whole carriage be affable, friendly, and engaging, to every one. Never return injuries on reproaches to such as have injured or reproached you, but earnestly pray for blessings to them, and watch for opportunities to do them real favours,—knowing that ye are called by the authority and example of Christ to this amiable conduct, as a mean of his gracious bestowal of temporal, spiritual, and eternal, blessings upon you, as his children and heirs of his promises. 10, 11. For nothing can be more plain, from the oracles of God, than they who wish for peace, comfort, and prosperity, in this world, ought to guard against all profane, filthy, opprobrious, false, or deceitful, language; and to abhor, and carefully avoid, every thing sinful in itself and prejudicial to others; and practise every thing good and beneficial; labouring, to the utmost of their power, and as far as they can with a good conscience, to live peaceably with all men, and studying to promote peace among neighbours, friends, or enemies. 12, 13. For the great Lord of all takes special notice of, dearly loves, and kindly watches over and cares for, such as, being clothed with Jesus’ imputed righteousness, are upright, holy, and righteous, in their hearts and lives; and he is graciously attentive to, and ready to answer, all their prayers, which are offered up to him in humility, faith, and fervency;—but in a terrible manner he manifests his just indignation against such as indulge themselves in wickedness. And, if he be your Friend and Protector, what man or devil can do you any real hurt, while, depending on his grace, and devoted to his service, ye imitate him and his saints in goodness and holiness? Nay, what man would be so malicious or cruel as to seek the hurt of an inoffensive and beneficent neighbour?
1 Peter 3:14-16
But if God should permit any to reproach and persecute you for adherence to Christ and his gospel, his love and favour will render you happy under such treatment: never therefore be terrified, discouraged, or perplexed, as if their threatenings or abuse would issue in your disgrace or ruin;—but always preserve high thoughts, and a reverential fear, of God in your hearts, and entire trust in his infinite wisdom, power, mercy, and faithfulness, for your security, and for ordering every event to your everlasting honour and joy. And, in a dependance on his direction and assistance, be always ready, by word or deed, in courts of judicature, and every where else, to defend, and account for, the grounds of your hopes of salvation, according to the gospel, for which ye willingly suffer. And let this be done with a meek and modest air, temper, and language, and with a holy reverence of God, and fear of offending him by unfaithfulness; and even with a cautious fear of offending those to whom ye speak by any thing disrespectful;—in every thing conscientiously studying, that if your enemies will reproach you as injurious to society or public welfare, your blameless, humble, and benevolent, practice, springing from faith in Christ, may effectually confute them, and force them with shame to retract their slanders
1 Peter 3:17
For, if it please God that you should suffer for your adherence to his truths and ways, this is far more honourable, advantageous, and comfortable, than if you were to suffer for your own crimes and follies
1 Peter 3:18
For in patiently and boldly suffering for righteousness’ sake ye are conformed unto your great Lord and Saviour, who, though infinitely holy and righteous in his divine nature, and perfectly pure in his manhood, did, once for all, offer up himself in his sufferings as an atoning sacrifice, in the room of us unrighteous and ungodly sinners, that he might reconcile us to God, and bring us to spiritual fellowship with him here and immediate enjoyment of him hereafter;—he having been crucified in his manhood, but quickly after raised again to an immortal life of blessedness and glory by the influence of his divine nature and of his Holy Spirit; 19, 20. By whom, through the ministry of Noah, in manifold admonitions and strivings, he preached the righteousness of faith, and the necessity of repentance and reformation, to those ungodly sinners who lived on the earth before the flood, but are now shut up in the prison of hell, for the punishment of their obstinate rebellion against God, and contemptuous abuse of his long continued mercies and patience. 21, 22. And, as then Noah and his family were saved out of, and even by means of, water, so baptism, not as a mere washing of our body with water, but as it represents and seals the application of Christ’s blood and 13 R Spirit to our conscience, purifying it from dead works, and making us to act answerably to our solemn obligation to be the Lord’s (therein contracted, is now a noted representation and mean of our salvation, by the death and resurrection of Christ our only Saviour; who, as a pledge, earnest, evidence, and security, of it, and as our Forerunner, to open our way and prepare mansions for us, is now ascended into heaven, enthroned at the right hand of God, and invested with all power over angels, magistrates, and every other creature. **
REFLECTIONS UPON CHAP. III.**—Modesty, meekness, and humility, from a principle of faith in God, are the most engaging ornaments of women, married or unmarried. And an honourable, humane, and tender, treatment of a wife is the most substantial evidence of an husband’s affection. Never ought a family to exist without much daily fervent prayer, both secret and private. And it is an honour to the Christian religion, and a comfort and happiness to professors, when harmony in sentiments, unanimity in affection, readiness to render good for evil, useful converse, a stedfast cleaving to every good principle and practice, and readiness to account or suffer with meekness for their religion, constantly and every where prevail.—To live down calumny by a holy, kind, and circumspect, practice, is the best confutation of it. And the more we live in the fear of God, the less we shall be influenced by the fears or reproaches of men.—Why should we ever repine at suffering for Christ, that God-man, who suffered for us, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. Deep was his debasement, and high his glory that followed. And rich, full, and extensive, is that salvation from sin and wrath which he purchased and effects. How important an ordinance is baptism! Alas, unhappy is the thought that many rest on it, as if it were a Saviour, while others use it as a mere ceremony or fancied charm! **