Author: fundyreformed

Submitting to God's Will in Marriage — 1 Pet. 3:1-7 (part 1)

~ fundyreformed ~ 7 Comments

I’m reproducing the outline from a lesson I gave for my small group, recently. I think 1 Peter 3:1-7 is a beautiful passage on marriage that often gets overlooked. Much can be gained from studying just these seven small verses.

Submitting to God’s Will in Marriage (1 Pet. 3:1-7) —
Part 1: The Wife

Introduction

The preceding section (the last half of chapter 2) focuses on the Christian’s call to submit to God in society. He is to submit to ordinances and rulers, kings and governors, and by so doing is to honer God. Chapter 3 verses 1 and 7 both tie in to that context with the words “Likewise”. In marriage both the wife and the husband are called on to honor God through submission to His roles for marriage. in this, they follow the example of Jesus Christ, Who submitted Himself to God and left us an example that we should follow in His steps (2:21). Whether with regards to civil government (2:13-17), employment (2:18-20), marriage (3:1-7), or the church (5:5), we are to be subject to God-ordained authorities “for the Lord’s sake” (2:13).

1. Beautiful Submission — The Wife (1 Pet. 3:1-6)

A. Definition of Submission.

The idea of submission is clearly defined by this text.

Vs. 1-2 — Being subject = husbands see “your respectful and pure conduct”.

Vs. 3-5 — The adornment of a godly woman is the internal “gentle and quiet spirit” which has unfading “beauty”. This internal adornment also involves “submitting to their husbands”.

Gentle means “meek”, “not insistent on one’s own rights”; “not pushy, not selfishly assertive,” or “not demanding one’s own way” (Grudem). “The word refers to the humble and gentle attitude that expresses itself in a patient submissiveness; it could be used in the context of a meek and quiet spirit as a response to slander (Balch, from Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the New Testament, by Cleon Rogers). The adjective form of “gentle” used here, occurs only 3 other times, two of them describing Christ’s gentleness (Matt. 11:20, 21:5, and also Matt. 5:5). The noun form is more frequently used (cf. Gal. 5:23).

Vs. 6 — “Submitting to their husbands” includes willing obedience and respect.

To summarize, submission is “respectful’, “pure”, has unfading “beauty”, involves a “gentle and quiet spirit”, is meek, does not demand one’s own way, and at the very least includes willing obedience and respect. Wayne Grudem defines submission as “an inner quality of gentleness that affirms the leadership of the husband”.

B. Benefits of Submission.

Vs. 1-2 — The conversion of a lost husband (even to a lost man, submission seems right and beautiful, and even compelling).

Vs. 4 — A strong personal beauty which does not fade.

Vs. 4-6 — Special favor from God. A submissive spirit is “of great worth” to God. Being known as “daughters of Sarah” means proving to be genuine Christians, and even more than that, proving worthy of the kind of special honor Sarah receives.

vs. 7 — Honor from a godly husband (and indirectly from all godly men).

C. Hindrances to Submission.

Vs. 1 — The difficulty of a lost (or even a backslidden / overbearing) husband. (Even such a difficult situation does not permit one to shirk the Biblical call to submission.)

Vs. 3 — The temptation to live for worldly status, sexy recognition, etc.

Vs. 6b — Fear of the consequences if she submits (fear of the unknown, worry over her well-being or sense of personhood, fear of other’s thoughts of her, fear of a disobedient or unbelieving husband).

D. Strength for Submission.

Vs. 3-4 — Focus on what God thinks (submission is to Him, “very precious”).

Vs. 5 — Hope in God. He is good, His way is right, His promises are true.

Vs. 6 — Be mindful of the Gospel, and your status as Sarah’s daughters (God’s people).

2:13, 21) — Remember Christ’s example, and that all of this is for the Lord’s sake (it pleases Him).

Free from the Box

~ fundyreformed ~ 2 Comments

For a while now I’ve been meaning to highlight a new blog. Free from the Box is a great blog offering help to those in extreme fundamentalism. The authors seek to create a place for those still on the inside to explore issues and find help. They take pains to make sure we know they are not against independent Fundamental Baptists by any stretch. They stand against some extremist errors which characterize some but not all IFB churches.

Besides their blog, which is one of the best such blogs I know of, they also have an online forum. They will not tolerate unChristian and rude behavior as one often finds in other fundamentalist forums (I’m thinking FFF). So their forums offer hope for a civil and friendly environment where we can duke it out in a good fundamentalist way 😉

I’d encourage you to read some of what they have to say, especially if reforming fundamentalism is one of your goals or interests. This link won’t mean much to many of my readers, but for some of you, it will be a blessing. And you can be a blessing by leaving a friendly note at their site, or by joining the forums.

A Divine Perspective on the Church — C.J. Mahaney

~ fundyreformed ~ 2 Comments

Last Sunday, we had the privilege of hearing C.J. Mahaney preach in our church. His text was 1 Cor. 1:1-9 where Paul surprisingly commends the Corinthian church. He’s about to provide some strong correction for their many errors, but he goes out of his way to thank God for them, and ensure they know how blessed they are of God.

The message encourages us to find the evidences of God’s grace in the lives of those around us. It’s so easy to find fault; but when we study the fruits and gifts of the Spirit as revealed in God’s Word, we will see God at work in many ways in the lives of the people in our churches. This point is underscored by 1 Cor. 4:5. There Paul expects that God will give each minister a “commendation”. Not “condemnation” but “commendation”. This is stunning. At the judgment, and because of Christ’s transforming work in us and his substitutionary work for us, God will find things to praise us for. What wonder!

Now, don’t just enjoy my meager summary of the message. It’s available for free download from our church’s website. Click here. To learn more about C.J. Mahaney, click here. You can find other free sermons by Mahaney at this page, or by searching Sovereign Grace Ministries’ resource library. Also a C.J. Mahaney sermon archive is being created here.

May God grant us eyes to see how He is working in our lives today.

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Pet. 5:10-11)

One last note: I recommend several of Mahaney’s books (a few are listed here). I’ve also reviewed The Cross Centered Life, and Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God.

Football Hall of Famer Art Monk Boasts in the Lord

~ fundyreformed ~ 1 Comment

Recently, Art Monk (along with fellow Washington Redskin Darrell Green) was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame. Instead of boasting in his achievements, however, Art Monk took the opportunity to boast in Jesus. Here is an excerpt from his Hall of Fame induction speech (HT: CJ Mahaney).

…as great as this honor is, it’s not what really defines who I am or the things that I’ve been able to accomplish in my life. …

And even now as a Hall of Famer, the one thing I want to make very clear is that my identity and my security is found in the Lord. And what defines me and my validation comes in having accepted his son Jesus Christ as my personal savior. And what defines me is the Word of God, and it’s the Word of God that will continue to shape and mold me into the person that I know he’s called me to be.

So I’ve learned a long time ago never to put my faith or trust in man, for man will always fail you. Man will always disappoint you. But the Word of God says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. And He will never fail you.

And that is what I live by and what I stand on….

There’s a scripture that I think about almost every day and I’ve come to personalize it to my life. It says: “Lord, who am I that you are mindful of me?” [Psalm 8:4]. And the Apostle Paul says, “Think of what you were when you were called. Not many were wise by human standards. Not many were influential. Not many were born of noble birth” [1 Corinthians 1:26]. And when I look at my life and how I grew up, I certainly had none of those qualities or benefits.

But I understand and I know that I’m here not by, in, and of my own strength””but it’s by the grace and the power of God upon my life, who I know gave me favor along the way, and who provided opportunity and room for me to use my gifts.

So I am very grateful to receive this honor, and I can stand here before you and say, “Hey, look at me, look at what I did.” But if I’m going to boast, I’m going to boast today in the Lord, for it’s because of him that I’m here and I give him thanks and glory and honor for all that he has done for me.

A pretty good message. And its from a NFL football player! Art Monk was one of the game’s great receivers, but from the looks of it, he also has a great testimony of following Jesus Christ. Check out the full post with more excerpts from the speech, at C.J. Mahaney’s blog.

Bigfoot Found

~ fundyreformed ~ 24 Comments

I’m not making this up! Check out this story from Fox News:

Bigfoot Trackers Say They’ve Got a Body

I’ve always been fascinated by the hunt for bigfoot. And I don’t buy the claim that modern science has everything figured out. We’ll have to wait for the news conference Friday, and the results from the testing to come in, but this could be the most interesting news story of the year. Or, then again, maybe not.

Check out the links at the bottom of that story. They link to the pictures of the body, and there’s a Fox News video as well.