On Seeing Good Days: First Peter Explained, Volume Four

By Dennis Prutow

First Peter Explained, Volume Four includes nine lessons on 1 Pete 3:1-12 where Peter turns to marriage. In volume three, Peter urges submission within the God-ordained human institutions of government and business. Now, in volume four, Peter continues his discussion of submission. He shows that both husbands and wives have responsibilities in the area of marriage. The pattern for their submission within this institution is the image of God, and the foundation for submission is not an innate superiority or inferiority but a difference in role or function. God’s promise is a happy life of blessing in this world and the next. It is the promise of seeing good days, and biblical submission links inextricably to seeing good days now and eternally.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dennis Prutow
• Release date: Nov 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9781945305504

Dennis Prutow

Denny Prutow was born in 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended the US Military Academy at West Point (1959-1963), Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California (1965-1968), and Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, Florida (1995-1998). Denny was an Army Chaplain, a pastor in both the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, and the Professor of Homiletics and Pastoral Theology at Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, PA. He developed Westminster Evangelistic Ministries and remains its administratior. Denny retired in 2013 after forty-five years of active ministry and is now RPTS Professor Emeritus of Homiletics. His books include So Pastor, What's Your Point?, Joyful Voices, Public Worship 101, The Visions of Revelation, You Cannot Escape from God, Biblical Baptism, and What is Saving Faith? He and his wife, Erma, live in Indianapolis, IN. They have three grown daughters and eleven grandchildren.

Book preview

On Seeing Good Days

First Peter Explained, Volume Four

By

Dennis J. Prutow

Westminster Evangelistic Ministries

Indianapolis, Indiana

Copyright © 1993, 2022 by Dennis J. Prutow

All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible ®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the author’s prior permission.

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ISBN 978-1-945305-49-8 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-945305-50-4 (ePub)

ISBN 978-1-945305-51-1 (Kindle)

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

MARRIAGE, GOD’S IMAGE, AND SUBMISSION (1 Peter 3:1)

GOD’S IMAGE, SUBMISSION, AND REVERSAL OF THE FALL (1 Peter 3:1)

SUBMISSION AND UNBELIEVING HUSBANDS (1 Peter 3:1-2)

WHAT IS REALLY PRECIOUS (1 Peter 3:3-4)

THE DAUGHTERS OF SARAH (1 Peter 3:5-6)

HUSBANDS’ SUBMISSION (1 Peter 3:7)

HUSBANDS, HONOR YOUR WIVES (1 Peter 3:7)

CONFIRM YOUR CALLING (1 Peter 3:8-9)

ON SEEING GOOD DAYS (1 Peter 3:10-12)

WORKS CITED

Introduction

In First Peter Explained, Volume Four, Peter turns to the subject of marriage. In volume three, Peter urges submission within the God-ordained human institutions of government and business. Now, in volume four, Peter continues his discussion of submission. He shows that both husbands and wives have responsibilities in the area of marriage. The pattern for their submission within this institution is the image of God. The foundation for submission is not an innate superiority or inferiority but a difference in role or function.

Peter forcefully lays out the tasks and duties of husbands and wives and uses Psalm 34 to bolster his argument. These responsibilities are essential to Christian living, and God’s promise is a happy life of blessing in this world and the next. It is the promise of seeing good days, and biblical submission is inextricably linked to good days now and eternally.

The following lessons are sermons preached early in my ministry in a congregation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma. They bear little resemblance to what I taught at Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary. They are more exegetical, have fewer illustrations, and have less application. Even so, I hope these expositions encourage readers in their Christian lives and foster the assurance needed for a good life in this world.

MARRIAGE, GOD’S IMAGE, AND SUBMISSION

In the same way, you wives be submissive to your own husbands (1 Peter 3:1).

The text has a familiar ring. In the same way, you wives be submissive to your own husbands (1 Peter 3:1). Perhaps it is because the Apostle Paul repeatedly says precisely the same thing. Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord (Ephesians 5:22). Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord (Colossians 3:18). And in Titus 2:5, he urges the older women to be subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored.

Peter’s call for wives to be submissive goes back to chapter 2 and verse 13. In talking to Christians, Peter exhorts submission in the context of certain human institutions. First, in verses 13-14, he exhorts submission to civil authority or government. Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and praise of those who do right.

Second, he urges submission in the master/servant or employer/employee relationship. Verse 18 commands this submission in the context of business and employment. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. We studied these two facets of the basic exhortation. See 1 Peter Explained, Volume Three. Now we come to the third institution that requires submission.

First Peter 3:1 exhorts submission in the context of marriage. In the same way, you wives be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives. In our day, this teaching of Scripture evokes no small controversy. Some are so tenacious in holding to what Peter says that they mock what the Bible teaches. When couples are having marital trouble, it is simplistic to tell a wife, Submit to your husband, and all will be well.

First, considering the various feelings this concept evokes, we need to make some preliminary remarks. Second, the idea of submission involves the image of God. Third, once we make these points, we can discuss the meaning of submission.

So, allow me to make some preliminary remarks concerning 1 Peter 3:1. There are extremes in interpreting the concept of submission. On one side, some encourage husbands to imprudence and harshness. In using authority, they become bossy, dictatorial, and abusive. On the other side, women are disinclined to be submissive. Some encourage them to throw off the so-called shackles of their role as women. Many women attempt to assume the role of men. Christians must reject all such extremes; they are unbiblical.

For Christians, the Bible and the Bible alone is the infallible and inerrant rule for life. As Christians, you and I must bring our lives into conformity to the Bible. If you are not prepared to conform to the standards of the Bible, repent, change, and place yourself under God’s word. Trust in Christ; believe His word.

If you are not a Christian, I call upon you to come to Christ as your Savior and Lord. You need to confess your sins. Those sins against husband, wife, children, and neighbors are ever-present. Raising your voice in anger, being physically abusive, breaking promises you have made, and cheating at the office or in school are all patterns of sinful behavior. You need to confess such sins and receive forgiveness. You see, Christ died on the cross as a sacrifice. He paid the death penalty for the sins of people like you. When you trust the sacrifice of Christ as the only adequate payment for your sins, you receive forgiveness from God.

In addition, you must also pledge allegiance to the risen Jesus Christ as the Lord and King of your life. The standards of the Bible must become your standard of conduct. But, you say, I need help following Jesus Christ. Help is present in the form of the Holy Spirit, who energizes and enables you to follow Christ. He changes your life.

Through faith in Jesus Christ, you experience new life. You get a new start on life because God wipes away the scars of life with His forgiveness. You also get a fresh start on life with the new birth, when the Holy Spirit changes your attitudes and desires. And because of this wonderful new start on the life God provides, you desire to follow Him.

The point is that Peter is talking to Christians. He is talking to people who want to serve Jesus Christ. He is talking to men and women, young people and children, who dedicate themselves to God. They are born again; they have new hearts. They have a new direction and purpose in life.

Further, if the Bible is our infallible guide for life, we must not confine ourselves to a few words in it. We must bring the whole Bible into play. What we learn from 1 Peter 3:1 must be compatible with the rest of the Bible. We must not build our lives on one or two obscure Bible passages. To do so leads to trouble. For example, well-meaning people in Kentucky develop their form of worship on an obscure and often misunderstood statement in a disputed passage at the end of the gospel of Mark.

There is good evidence that Mark did not write the passage in question. This passage says followers of Christ will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it shall not hurt them (Mark 16:18). Newer Bibles usually have a note indicating that the oldest manuscripts of the gospel of Mark do not contain verses 9-20. Even so, well-meaning people handle poisonous snakes in their worship and drink poison.

Is the text before us that urges submission in this category? No! As mentioned, the Apostle Paul lays out the same exhortation in three other places. For this reason, I ask you to work with me as we study the Bible, God’s word. Put away your preconceived notions and extreme feelings. Wrestle, genuinely wrestle with what the Bible has to say.

One reason I ask you to wrestle with the Bible is that the teaching might be clear to you. You can misunderstand Peter’s statement, and you can misunderstand the biblical principles underlying 1 Peter 3:1.

And for this reason alone, you may be very critical of what I have to say. I accept that. The probability of my receiving violent criticism is great. But before being too critical, make sure your own views on submission and 1 Peter 3:1 do not represent unbiblical extremes. Wrestle with Scripture. Bring your life into conformity to the word of God, the Bible.

The stakes are very high as we seek to come to the word of God. The peace, happiness, and future of our families