1st and 2nd Peter
Tested by Fire: Lesson 3
What is the goal of wives with unbelieving husbands?
Convert husbands to Christianity
How does God say to accomplish that goal?
Use actions, not only words. Words can lead to arguments. Actions speak louder than words.
How would many people in Las Vegas judge a woman’s beauty? What does God consider beautiful?
Miss America is Las Vegas beautiful.
A gentle and quiet spirit is God’s beautiful.
Agree or Disagree: Having braided hair, gold jewelry, and nice clothes is sinful.
Dressing like that would be dressing like a prostitute at Peter’s time. Dressing to encourage lust is sinful in any age. Braided hair, jewelry, and nice clothes are not necessarily sinful today. The fact remains that those things do not make a woman beautiful.
For further reading about what is beautiful in a woman, read Proverbs 31:10-31.
Airports check through our luggage to make sure no one is bringing a dangerous item on board. We submit to these searches because we want the airplane to land safely at our destination. We give up some of our privacy to help ensure security.
Circle the statements that reflect what submission means in 1st Peter.
1. Slaves are not as valuable as slave owners.
2. Employees respect the authority of their employers.
3. Citizens must do whatever the government says.
4. Husbands are superior to wives.
5. A husband is willing to give up anything for the good of his wife.
6. Wives love and honor their husbands as they love and honor Christ.
2, 5, and 6 are correct understandings of submission
Being considerate and treating someone with honor is really the same as submitting to them. Submission is mutual.
Ephesians 5:21-22, 25, 33
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord...25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her...33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
In what way(s) are women weaker than men?
Generally women have less physical strength than men
Sinful human nature tends to take advantage of the weakness of others. What terrible things can happen if men take advantage of the weakness of women?
Physical, verbal, emotional, sexual abuse.
Peter tells husbands that this weakness is an opportunity to show love and honor, not an opportunity to dominate.
What will happen in a marriage if the wife refuses to honor and submit to her husband or the husband refuses to be considerate or respect his wife?
The marriage will be bad or end in divorce.
What has happened or what will happen to their relationship with God?
Our relationship with God suffers when we allow our relationship with others to suffer because of our sinfulness. It can be hard to pray when a relationship issue takes up all your time or energy.
“Live in harmony with one another.” Who is Peter addressing?
Christians
What things in a Christian congregation can cause disharmony and turmoil?
Doctrinal differences
Color of the paint
Worship times
When might you especially need to hear Peter’s quotation of Psalm 34, “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer.”?
Times of trouble—sickness, war, etc.
Who are the righteous?
The righteous are those who trust in Christ
It is generally true that even worldly people will not harm you if you are doing good, though it does happen. Some rescue workers were afraid to help people after Hurricane Katrina because people were shooting at them.
Many unbelievers act as if they fear nothing. They act like they are in charge of every situation. Peter tells us that they do fear something in verse 14. What do ungodly people fear?
Consequences of failure in this life or the next
Isaiah 8:13
13 The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.
What do believers fear?
Believers respect and honor the Lord
Read 3:15-17
Perhaps I am the only one, but I am not always prepared. I often think of a perfect answer to someone minutes, hours, or days after the conversation. How can we be prepared to give an answer for the hope we have?
Continue to study God’s Word and practice answering people’s questions.
Let’s practice. Write down your answer to the following questions/statements.
1. Why do you go to church on Sundays instead of relaxing?
2. I think religion is good because it teaches people to treat each other well.
3. You don’t really believe that God would send people to hell. That is not a very loving God.
Give some examples of evangelism that is not gentle and respectful.
How do we keep our answers gentle and respectful?
Remember that Jesus died for the person we are talking to no matter how nasty and mean they might be.
Peter summarizes the Gospel message in verse 18. How would you tell someone quickly what Jesus has done for them?
What explanations have you heard for verse 19?
v19 means that Jesus went to hell to announce his victory after he rose from the dead.
“He descended into hell.” We say it every time we say the Apostles’ Creed, but what does it mean?
Note these things about Christ’s decent into hell.
A. He did not go to hell to suffer. He already suffered hell and declared the payment made.
Matthew 27:46
46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
John 19:30
30
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It
is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
B. It happened sometime between his burial and Easter morning.
C. He went to announce his victory.
Colossians 2:15
15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
How did water save Noah and his family (3:20)?
The ark floated on the water.
Which of these best describes baptism (3:21)?
1. A promise to God that you will have a clean conscience
2. A guarantee from God that you have a clean conscience
3. A request of God that he forgive your sins
Number 2 is correct. Baptism is a promise from God to us. He promises us that our sins are forgiven, that heaven is our home and that we are his children.
Peter says that baptism “saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” How is your baptism related to Christ’s resurrection?
In baptism our old sinful self is crucified and a new person rises to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
Think of the people Peter is writing to. What comfort would verse 22 give them? What comfort does this verse give you?
Those Christians were persecuted but Jesus was still in control even over the angels and all other powers. He is in control for us today.
Why did Christ suffer in his body?
Christ’s suffering and death brought forgiveness.
Agree or Disagree: Our suffering brings forgiveness of sins (4:1).
Only Christ’s suffering and death brought forgiveness. Our suffering reminds us that this earth is not our home and that we want to pursue our Heavenly Father’s will.
Give some examples of times in your life that God used to focus you on the “will of God” instead of on “earthly life.”
When I was in Junior High, I was on my way to track practice (the coach actually made us walk/run the 6 blocks to the track) when some of my friends were trying to make me say something I knew I shouldn’t say. They heaped abuse on me because I would not join with them. Peter comforts all Christians who swim against the stream in society with verse 5. How does that verse comfort and encourage you to keep swimming against the stream?
God will take care of the final judgment. We do not have to settle any scores here. God knows what we are suffering and will defend us at the proper time.
Verse 6 tells us that people judge us by what we do, how we fit in with them. God judges by what’s inside, by faith.
1 Samuel 16:7
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Explain: “The gospel was preached even to those who are now dead.”
The gospel was preached to living people who are not living at the present time. It was not preached to dead people.