First Baptist Church, South Haven
Join us for in-person worship in the sanctuary or live on Facebook at 10:30am. The service will also be posted to YouTube and Archive later in the week.
Balance, Not Extremes
1 Peter 3:1-2
Pastor Jerry Koller
Reminders:
1. The Apostle Peter did not address this letter to you.
2. This letter was written around the middle of the first century
3. It was written to people living in what is referred to as an Oriental culture.
4. It was written to people living in a patriarchal society.
5. It was written to people who were governed by Rome.
Peter is addressing a sub-group of saints. He is addressing wives.
The overarching subject? It is submission.
Back in the Day:
· They had few or limited rights (again, unlike today).
· They were they not considered equal as partners.
· They were not considered companions to their husbands in any real sense.
· They did not eat with their husbands.
· They didn't go out by themselves.
· They had all the real marital duties while their husbands had all the marital privileges.
· A woman would never go out and mix with the general public or even talk to a man. But a man could go out and flirt with as many women as he wanted without any social stigma attached to his actions.
The Church offered liberties and personal value that society did not.
Galatians 3:28-29 NIV
Value or worth is not being addressed in today’s Scripture passage.
· Relationship is being addressed.
· Respect is being addressed.
· Social norms and expectations are being addressed.
Scripture is not silent on the subject of submission between wives and husbands (see Ephesians 5:21-33 and Colossians 3:18-19).
There is a God-ordained order of responsibility and accountability within the family unit. It is not based on who is ruling the world at the time. It is not based on society’s standards. It is not based on culture. It is not based on worth.
Within the Godhead—Father, Son, and Spirit, we find the element submission, respect, and obedience. When it comes to the family unit, we find God’s design also includes submission, respect, and obedience.
Ephesians 5:23 NIV
Ephesians 5:22 NIV
We are not told the Church is to submit to Christ. Paul says it (already) submits to Christ.
Submitting to their husbands as the Church submits to Christ means wives are the recipients of ultimate love.
Ephesians 5:29 NIV
There is a comparison drawn between the physical and the spiritual.
Why submit? ...So that, if any of them (husbands) do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.
· Purity means being free from moral defilement (chaste).
· Reverence comes from the same word as respect, which carries with it an element of healthy fear.
“Actions speak louder than words.”
James 2:17-18 NIV
This is not an either/or issue. This is actually a both/and issue.
“Peter’s words are not to be so understood as though a holy life alone could lead the unbelieving to Christ, but that it often softens and pacifies their minds, so that they might have less dislike to religion; for as bad examples create offenses, so good ones afford no small help.”
~ John Calvin
· Balance is the key.
· Words are important.
Romans 10:17 NIV
Actions are also important.
James 2:17 NIV
APPLICATION
Must wives still submit to their husbands today? The answer is, yes.
1. God says they are to submit.
2. It is a part of God’s design for marital relationships and family order.
3. If you are in a marriage where both of you are believers, you are not the only one who is expected to follow God’s design.
4. Brow-beating an unbelieving spouse with the Gospel may do more harm than good. Live holy and upright lives and look for opportunity to share with them the reason for they joy you have in your heart.
· Sandi Starland is recovering from knee replacement surgery.
· Tom Craig & Family upon the death of his wife, Darlene, on 1/10.
· Tina Dell & Family upon the loss of her brother, Matt Chambers, on 1/7.
· Marge Benham is recovering from a fall that fractured both of her ankles.
· Roberta Newton is recovering at home following a procedure to repair a leaking blood vessel. Cards can be sent to Roberta Newton, P.O. Box 51, Palmadale FL 33944.
· Curt & Patty Bales and their family upon the loss of Curt’s mom, Norma Bales, on 12/21.
· Caroline Bocock received a really bad concussion on 11/5 while playing soccer. Doctors are concerned because she is still vomiting, dizzy, and having constant headaches. She has to see a Sports Medicine doctor before they will schedule a neurological appointment. Please pray that this appointment will be scheduled quickly and continue to pray for healing, wisdom for the doctors, and that the Lyme’s Disease hasn’t been triggered. Old symptoms are surfacing but can’t determine if they are concussion symptoms vs. Lyme’s symptoms because they are the same symptoms for both.
· Walter Hatfield is recovering from hernia surgery.
· Annette Koller is recovering from knee replacement surgery.
· Keith Buckley is recovering from injuries due to a fall off a ladder.
· Nolan Marshall (son of Dan & Tracy) got diagnosis results earlier than expected. He is in the process of having his current medications reduced. Dan & Tracy are trying to find a new psychiatrist and working with Nolan’s school to find a safe plan to keep him in the classroom while changes are in process and doctors are evaluating his needs and medicinal changes.
· Shannon French (son of Curt & Patty Bales) continues eye drop treatment for an infection. It looks the damaged part is creating new cells and hopefully healing.
· Joyce Bocock finished radiation on the large tumor in her spine. She is handling the medication for the endocrine therapy well.
· Pete Danapilis is recovering from a successful back surgery.
· Linda Newell is recovering from surgery to have a rotator cuff repaired.
· Vincent Bryant (Miriam Bryant’s son) is recovering from a broken ankle.
· Check out our monthly prayer card on-line at southhavenfbc.com under “Weekly Bulletins” for a list of those with on-going needs.
First Baptist Church
1635 76th Street
South Haven, MI 49090
269-637-1291
southhavenfbc@gmail.com