1 Peter 3:1-7 Not all spouses

Here is my paraphrase of 1 Peter 3:1-7

Advice to witnessing wives

1You unequally-yoked wives, be submitting yourselves to your own husbands so that even though they do not yet believe the Word, through your conduct without using a word, they may be won to faith in Christ, 2 when they observe your God-fearing, pure conduct

• 3not outward adorning or special coiffure, or the wearing of gold, jewelry and fine clothes 4but the inner adorning of the heart by your incorruptible meek and quiet spirit which is of great value before God
• 5for indeed this is how the holy women of old, who kept hoping in God, adorned themselves as they submitted themselves to their own husbands.

6Sarah, for example, trusted in God and submitted to Abraham her husband after the angel came. You are now her daughters by your well doing and your fearlessness of any disappointment.

Advice to witnessing husbands

7Likewise you unequally-yoked husbands, use good sense as you dwell with your unsaved wife while she is the weaker partner, treating her with dignity as a fellow human being, so that your prayers for her salvation might not be hindered.

Not all spouses are ready to receive Christ when their partner first comes to Christ. It can be a sad and distressing experience to find that the other spouse is not ready, is closed, or even hostile, to the good news about Jesus. It is hard for a new believer to realize that just because one of them now has and understands new life in Christ, that the other may not yet be ready to believe!

In verses 1-7, Peter tells these Christians how to get their message across, even if they find themselves prevented from speaking a single word! First he addresses Christian wives with unsaved husbands, and then he writes advice for Christian husbands with unsaved wives.

These spouses are for at least a time “unequally yoked.” These spouses are joined together in marriage but each one is not pulling their full weight in the spiritual realm. One is alive in Christ. The other, as yet, is not.

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Have you read the foundational research that makes all these studies possible? Please read The Book of Eden, Genesis 2-3 by Bruce C. E. Fleming (based on the research of Dr. Joy Fleming).

The Tru316 Foundation (www.Tru316.com) is the home of The Eden Podcast with Bruce C. E. Fleming where we “true” the verse of Genesis 3:16. The Tru316 Message is that “God didn’t curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way.” Once Genesis 3:16 is made clear the other passages on women and men become clear too. You are encouraged to access the episodes of Seasons 1-11 of The Eden Podcast for teaching on the seven key passages on women and men. Are you a reader? We invite you to get from Amazon the four books by Bruce C. E. Fleming in The Eden Book Series (Tru316.com/trubooks). Would you like to support the work of the Tru316 Foundation? You can become a Tru Partner here: www.Tru316.com/partner