1 Peter 3:8-9 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: 9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

I believe the Bible to be divinely inspired, that is, it’s writing was directed by God through His Apostles and Prophets. Every one of these 66 Books reflects the mind of God. As God never changes (Hebrews 13:8; Malachi 3:6; Numbers 23:19; Isaiah 40:8, et al), I believe each Book supports the other.

These Scriptures are 66 Books that are in one accord,
all to the glory of God.

Word Study: Since the Bible reflects the mind of God, I cherish and study every word. I hope you do, too. Let’s research our focal text for today. The first word in our focal text is “Finally”. I thought to look up the word “Finally” in the King James, and found the word “Finally” SIX TIMES in the King James. It is in – by order:

2 Corinthians 13:11 FINALLY, brethren, farewell …
Ephesians 6:10 FINALLY, my brethren, be strong in the Lord …
Philippians 3:1 FINALLY, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord …
Philippians 4:8 FINALLY, brethren, whatsoever things are true ….
2 Thessalonians 3:1 FINALLY, brethren, pray for us …

In the first FIVE instances where “FINALLY” is found, this is the Greek λοιπόν loipon, which means “Finally, moreover, furthermore, henceforth”. This is kind of like when a preacher says, “Finally or in conclusion”. By the way, when I do this it means nothing at all :). Listen – the word translated “FINALLY” in our focal text is the conjunction (δέ dé, {pronounced deh}), which can be rendered “AND”, “THEN”, “NOW”, “BUT”. The conjunction ties Biblical truths together. When we read:

1 Peter 3:8 {dé – AND / BUT}, be ye all of one mind…

Does Your “One Mindedness” Extend To God’s Design?

This tells us to look at what came before verse 8. We are called of God to “be ye all of one mind”, for we experienced “one mindedness” through something that happened or was written earlier in the text. What did God through Peter discuss earlier?

Biblical Marriage

When Satan wanted to destroy Paradise, and to entrap humanity in sin, he did so by perverting Biblical Marriage. The Bible says that the serpent tempted Eve to eat that which was forbidden, that

Genesis 3:6 … she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Adam could have stopped the transaction at any time, but did not. The Biblical truth is that Eve – the woman – was not even created when God gave Adam the command NOT to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17-18). As a matter of fact, God never commanded Eve to work, guard, or tend the Garden of Eden. “The Lord God took THE MAN, and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Who caused the fall of mankind into sin? The Bible says:

Romans 5:12 BY ONE MAN sin entered into the world, and death by sin …

Romans 5:17 BY ONE MAN’S OFFENSE DEATH REIGNED …

Adam was the Keeper of the Garden. Eve his wife was called of God to follow Adam. “By one man’s disobedience many were made sinners” (Romans 5:19). The Apostle said that “the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning” (2 Corinthians 11:3, ESV). The Scripture says:

1 Timothy 2:14 (ESV) Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.

God designed marriage.

God designed marriage in the Garden of Eden.

Biblical marriage is based on the pattern of the Garden.

When our Lord Jesus was asked about marriage, He replied, “Haven’t you read that He which made them at the beginning made them MALE and FEMALE?”

Obergefell v. Hodges: In our day Biblical marriage and human sexuality is under attack. But this is no different than any other age of humanity. It may seem more widespread, but mankind has, from the fall of Adam, drifted away from God’s standards. In America, in 2015 the Supreme Court heard the case of Obergefell {pronounced OH-bər-gə-fel} v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644. Jim Obergefell sued the state of Ohio because Ohio did not recognize same sex marriages as marriage. Jim – himself a wife by his definition – wanted his partner named John Arthur to be recognized as his “husband”. The Supreme Court …

“… ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The 5–4 ruling requires all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and the Insular Areas to perform and recognize the marriages of same-sex couples on the same terms and conditions as the marriages of opposite-sex couples, with all the accompanying rights and responsibilities.”

The Baptist Faith and Message that we adhere to states that:

“XVIII. The Family … Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.

The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.”

As God calls His people to “be of one mind”, He ties this to the context, which explores Biblical Marriage. The world not only MAY, but HAS defined marriage in ways that depart from what the Scripture says. This should not surprise anyone, nor should it be a great cause of alarm. Those who are unsaved “love darkness rather than light” (John 3:19). The Scripture says:

Proverbs 4:19 The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble.

The lost soul “does not know nor do they understand; they walk about in darkness” (Psalm 82:5). Our Lord Jesus could not change the hearts of those hardened by sin and self righteousness. Jesus said,

Matthew 15:14 Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.

“If anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the Light is not in them” John 11:10). God has a standard – a design – for all things. God has a pattern for marriage. Those who love the Lord are to heed His pattern.

Do You Agree With God’s Pattern For The Godly Wife?

1 Peter 3:1-2 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; 2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.

At this time in Church history, many women who were married to unbelieving men were hearing the Gospel of Christ and were – by faith – being saved. Many of these women had questions about how their faith should effect their marriage. Now that a woman is saved, should she – out of love for Jesus – leave her husband who was an unbeliever. After all, didn’t Jesus teach? …

Luke 14:26 (ESV) If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Should the wife abandon the unbelieving husband. Peter says:

1 Peter 3:1 Likewise, ye wives

Word Study: The word “Likewise” is the Greek ὁμοίως homoiōs, which means “In the same way”. In chapter 2, the Apostle said:

1 Peter 2:18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.

The SERVANT was to SUBMIT their masters. Not to just the good and kind masters, but to ALL masters. Further we read:

1 Peter 2:13-14 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.

The CHRISTIAN is to follow the laws of the land that are around us. Certainly we do not disobey the Word of God to do the word of man. As Jesus said, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). We never rob from God the glory He is due. But insomuch as His command of our lives is not abrogated, we are to obey the laws of the land around us. When the laws of the land commanded that the Apostles not preach the Gospel,

Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

Christians are to obey the laws of the land as long as we may honor God in doing so. Servants are to obey even cruel masters. And now we have, “Likewise, ye wives”.

When God created the institution of marriage (and God created it – not the Supreme Court), Man was to be the leader and Woman
the follower in that union. Only Satan endorses anarchy!

This concept has come under attack because of certain forms of feminism and social justice militants. People think that submission is to degrade, or to make lesser. The truth is, no unit comprised or two or more persons can ever advance unless there is a leader. Let’s consider

The Trinity of God: Who is the Head or the Leader of the Trinity? It is God the Father. The Bible says:

1 John 4:10 (ESV) {God the Father} loved us and sent his Son to be the {atonement or covering} for our sins.

The Father sent the Son. He told His Son to GO. When Jesus came He said:

John 6:38 (ESV) I have come down from Heaven, not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.

Jesus was SENT. Jesus was under SUBMISSION. Jesus submitted to the Father so much that He said,

John 14:9 (ESV) Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father.

The Father GAVE the Son for our sins (John 3:16). The Father MADE JESUS AN OFFERING for sins (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane three times, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42, ESV). Jesus submitted to the Father.

Does Jesus’ submission to the Father diminish Him as a Person? No! The Father said to the Son …

Hebrews 1:8 (ESV) … “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.”

The Son submits to the Father. The Holy Spirit submits to the Father, on the prayer of the Son. Jesus said:

John 14:16-17 (ESV) And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Neither Son nor Spirit are diminished by submitting to the Father. Submission does not denigrate you.

Compound units like God, like Governments, like Businesses, like Militaries, like First Responders, like Marriages and families must have leaders and followers, or they will not long exist.

Russell Moore wrote:

“In Scripture, every creature is called to submit, often in different ways and at different times. Children are to submit to their parents, although this is certainly a different sort of submission than that envisioned for marriage. Church members are to submit to faithful pastors (Hebrews 13:17). All of us are to submit to the governing authorities (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-17). Of course, we are all to submit, as creatures, to our God (James 4:7). … And, yes, wives are called to submit to their husbands (Ephesians 5:22; 1 Peter 3:1-6). … “to your own husbands” (1 Peter 3:1)”.

What does God tell Godly women who are married to ungodly men to do? Leave them? No!

1 Peter 3:1 … Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the Word, they also may without the Word be won by the conversation (ἀναστροφή anastrophē, the way of life) of the wives

Peter – who himself was married (Matthew 8:14-15; Mark 1:29-31; Luke 4:38-39), lived for Jesus so that his wife could see how his life had changed. He now encourages women who are married to men who “obey not the Word” to live for Jesus, following the leadership of their husbands. A Godly and loving wife can make a great impression on an unsaved fellow. That man’s life is precious – Jesus died for him, too. Wives are to “be in subjection to your own husbands”. This is not to imply a woman should be degraded or humiliated by her husband. But that she should – insofar as it pleases the Lord our Savior – follow her husband’s lead. We are told:

1 Peter 3:2 While they behold your chaste conversation (ἀναστροφή anastrophē, the way of life) coupled with fear.

The Godly woman is the one who focuses more on her spiritual state than she does her outward shell. The Apostle does not say that women should not groom themselves, but that the priority in their lives needs to be their walk with God.

1 Peter 3:3-4 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

Word Study: No woman has ever nagged her husband to the altar of God. The Apostle tells the wife to not focus on her fancy clothing or jewelry, but to instead pursue a “meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price”. Let’s look at these words. “Meek” is the Greek πραΰς praÿs, {pronounced prah-ooce’}, which means “mild” or “humble”, “Gentle of Spirit”. Our Lord Jesus preached in His Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek {praÿs} for they shall inherit the earth.

It is not the loud, the arrogant, the narcissist, the braggart that will inherit God’s Kingdom. It is the humble spirit that will stand with Christ in glory. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem just prior to His crucifixion, He rode in “meek {praÿs}, and sitting on an ass” (Matthew 21:5).

Word Study: The wife is also to have a “quiet spirit”. This is the Greek ἡσύχιος hēsýchios, {pronounced hay-soo’-khee-os}, which means “one who pursues peace”. This is commanded of all Christians. We are not to go about stirring up trouble, but are to be peacemakers (see 1 Thessalonians 4:11; 2 Thessalonians 3:12; 1 Timothy 2:2,11,12). The Apostle now refers to Sarah, Abraham’s wife:

1 Peter 3:5-6 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: 6 Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.

Abraham is recognized in the Scripture as the father of faith. His wife Sarah is the mother of faith. She followed Abraham as he traveled following the Lord into the Promised Land. When Abram (young in his faith) asked Sarai to say “I am Abram’s sister” (Genesis 12:10-20), she did so, even though what he asked was faithless. God honored and protected Sarai, and later Sarah, as she followed Abram’s lead. Sarai never had to worry about being mistreated. Beloved, God will take care of you!

Do You Agree With God’s Pattern For The Godly Husband?

1 Peter 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

Word Study: Earlier the Apostle addressed the wives with “Likewise, ye wives”. Now he uses the same form, but toward the men: “Likewise, ye husbands”. The word “Likewise” is again the Greek ὁμοίως homoiōs Likewise, which means “in a similar manner, in the same way”.

The wife submits to the leadership of her husband,
but the husband submits to and honors his wife.

The Apostle Paul explores the man’s submission in the marriage in:

Ephesians 5:25-29 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

As Jesus loves His Church and gives Himself for us, we are to love our wives. We are to be willing to die for our wives as the need arises. We are to love our wives “as our own bodies”. Peter said – as the Spirit led him – that husbands are to “give honor unto the wife”. The phrase “give honor” is the Greek ἀπονέμω τιμή aponemō timē, which means “to bestow or dispense honor as befitting the rank of another, to highly value as a precious creation”. Paul related the marriage between husband and wife as similar to the marriage between Christ and Church. Jesus bestows honor and blessing on His Church. He demands that we excel, and works through the Spirit of God to make us excel. Jesus Christ gave up everything for our benefit as His Church. In like manner, the husband – once married – is to give up everything to His wife.

I find so many young couples today who – after experimentally “living together” (something the Bible calls “fornication” [Ephesians 5:3; Galatians 5:19; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; et al] or “sexual immorality” [1 Corinthians 6:18; Matt. 19:9; 1 Corinthians 6:13; Ephesians 5:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:3]), they want to be married and yet remain single at the same time. The first thing I ask when young couples come to me is, “So whose bank account will be closed?”. I get some awfully silly looks. You cannot come into a marriage with an unmarried mindset. God has specifically designed marriage a certain way. In that marriage the husband leads the unit, the wife follows, and together they – with one mind – raise their children. The husband is to respect and care for his wife, following Christ as she follows him. The husband is to regard “as unto the weaker vessel”. She does not have the body strength that a man has. When husbands regard their wives as “weaker vessels”, this does not mean they are less spiritual or lower class citizens. The Apostle said:

1 Peter 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life…

Your wife is just as valuable to God as you are. She is equally a believer-priest, with access to our High Priest, Jesus Christ. She is an heir of God just as you are. When salvation and the blessings of salvation are ministered by God, the Scripture says:

Galatians 3:8 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

It is in the marriage unit that we learn – through that intimate bond – how to respond to and interact with others. Going back to our focal text:

1 Peter 3:8-9 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: 9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

I believe that much of the madness that has grasped America and America’s Churches is because we as a nation has wandered away from God’s design for marriage. As goes the marriage, so goes the community and the country. If the marriage is a mess, then the fruit of that marriage, the children, will be a mess.

God calls His people to a better walk. We are not to “render evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing”. People learn to do this in the environment of a Biblical marriage. Children learn to respect authority in a Biblical marriage. May God lead you to the joy of a Biblical marriage! It is in this that you will “inherit a blessing”. And the good Lord knows, we as a nation need a blessing. For Christ’s glory, and through His Spirit. Amen and Amen.