Old Paths In Portrait

About 1 Peter 3:1:

“There is an odd phrase used by the apostle Peter, which we must glance at for a moment: “Even as Sara,” he says, “obeyed Abraham, calling him lord.” Have you been interested in the change of fashion with respect to this matter? One can read about people in the eighteenth century and notice how the wife habitually referred to her husband as Mr. So-and-so. You may smile at that, you may ridicule it, and I will agree with you; but I am quite sure that we have gone too far to the opposite extreme. There is a right balance in these matters. Sara called Abraham “lord,” and thereby she recognized the biblical principle. Then we read, “whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.” The meaning is this: Christian wives are to pay deference to their husbands, and Peter tells them that they should do so in spite of what the pagan women round about them might say. Here was something new: it was rare, it was exceptional, and, of course, it created a great stir. When the pagan women, who were restless and rebellious—and rightly so—saw a woman behaving in this manner, offering and paying this deference to her husband, many of them would attack her and persecute her. What Peter is saying is this: Go on doing it because it is right; do not let them frighten you, do not let their persecution make the slightest difference to you. Let them insult you as much as they like; take no notice of them. Do not be afraid with any amazement! And indeed, even if the husband misunderstands it and abuses it, go on doing it, says the apostle; “Do not be afraid with any amazement.” Do what is right! Do not be worried at what other people may say. This twentieth- century pagan world in which we are living says the same thing still; Christian wives will be told that they are being foolish, that they are denying their rights as women. “Do not pay any attention,” says Peter, “let the people of the world say what they will. What do they understand? They have not got Christian minds, they are not filled with the Spirit. Realize always that you are meant to do that which is right, that which is good; and do not be frightened, do not be put off, do not allow them to interfere with your conduct and your behavior.” Such, then, is the apostle’s last injunction. We cannot but comment on the wonderful balance which is ever preserved in the Scriptures.”

-D.M. Lloyd-Jones  Welsh Minister  1899-1991