1 Peter 3:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: when they see your respectful and pure conduct.

NIV: when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

NASB: as they observe your pure and respectful behavior.

CSB: when they observe your pure, reverent lives.

NLT: by observing your pure and reverent lives.

KJV: While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.

NKJV: when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.

This verse concludes a sentence begun in verse one. Note that the context of "submission" does not always include "obedience." Christians are never to follow instructions from other people which go against God's will (Acts 5:29). We are, however, to "submit" to their authority, even their punishment, if that is required.

In the previous verse, Peter instructed wives to be subject even to their unsaved husbands. In particular, men who "do not obey the word." The "word" here likely refers to the gospel of Jesus or to Jesus Himself. Peter wrote that a wife's demonstration of submission to her husband had the potential to "win" him, possibly even to faith in Christ, without her having to convince him with persuasive speech.

Peter's case to wives who want their husbands to trust in Christ is this: Don't try to talk him into your faith. Don't beg him to believe. And don't decide that, because you are free in Christ, you needn't submit to his authority. Instead, show him the difference Christ has made in you. Allow him to see the difference between you and the world. Let him see the purity of your life: your single-minded devotion to Christ. Let him see your reverence for God. And then let him see that those things contribute to your submission to your husband.

The big picture Peter is painting is that Christ makes people better citizens, better workers, and better wives. Believers should be those who endure unfair treatment, with joyful confidence in their future and their God. That attitude is attractive. That attraction makes those with little official clout in the world into a powerful influence for Christ.

1 Peter 3:1–7 continues Peter’s command to Christians, specifically, that they should be subject to human authorities. Here he tells Christian wives to be subject to their husbands, even unbelieving husbands. Why? In part, husbands may be won to Christ by the example of their Christ-changed wives. Christian husbands are also commanded to honor their wives or risk having their prayers hindered.

Peter continues teaching about Christian submission to human authorities, now addressing Christian wives. Believing wives must be subject to their own husbands, even if the husband is not a follower of Christ. By doing so, they might win them to Christ through the example of their own changed lives and hearts. Christian husbands must honor their wives. All believers must live in unity together and refuse to seek revenge. In part, God means to use our hopeful response to suffering to provoke the world to see His power in us. Christ, too, suffered and then died, was resurrected, and ascended to heaven.

Peter’s letter to persecuted Christians is about how to endure suffering for faith in Christ. Thus far, he has assured Christians that their future is secure in eternity with God. We are His holy people, set apart for His specific purposes. Because of this, it matters that we live out that truth, even when we suffer. Christians are called to live in submission to every human authority, including kings, governors, and slave masters.

Some 30 years after the resurrection of Jesus, Christians are facing greater persecution for their faith. How should they respond? How should we respond to suffering today? The apostle Peter writes this letter both to comfort believers and to encourage them to stay strong. He urges them to put all their hope in their perfect future with Christ, and to obey and trust Him in the present, even in their suffering. Christ suffered greatly; now the Christ-followers have the opportunity to follow Him even in this, showing His grace and power in their hopefulness, obedience, and faith.