1 Peter 3:7 Sermon Notes
RELATIONSHIPS IN THE LIGHT OF THE CROSS V:
THE CALLING OF HUSBANDS
1 Peter 3:7
(May 1, 2005, Sermon Notes)
It’s easy to overlook what Peter says in 1 Peter 3:7, both because it’s only a few lines long and because when we read it we focus primarily on the phrase “weaker vessel” and risk missing Peter’s point. Peter is applying the good news that Jesus has set us free from sin to live for righteousness and that new life must take shape in the way we treat our wives.
THE HONOUR HUSBANDS MUST RENDER
Peter has told all of us to submit to “every human creature” (2:13), following in Jesus’ footsteps (2:21ff.). Wives, like Christ, are to submit. But husbands, like Christ (“likewise”), are also to submit, though their submission takes a somewhat different form.
Husbands are to live with their wives “according to knowledge,” which is not merely knowledge of the gospel but especially knowledge of the wife. Husbands are to get to know their wives thoroughly, and a lot of the problems men have in their relationship with their wives comes from a failure to get to get to know them. It takes time to develop that knowledge and selfishness makes us resent that investment of time. But Christ died to free us from such selfish desires.
He freed us also to honour our wives. True honour is more than respect; it’s regarding and treating your wife as more important than yourself. That kind of honour never stays hidden in the heart. It comes to expression in your actions: remembering important dates, asking her opinion, showing her courtesy, praising her to others.
Both husbands and wives are jars (“vessels”), but the wife is the weaker one (physically and in terms of authority in the home) — and that’s why she is to be honoured. That weakness isn’t a flaw and men must not take advantage of it. Rather, they are to care for their wives and honour them, protecting them and backing them up in confrontations, recognizing that they are both heirs of the gift of life (1:4, 9).
THE WARNING HUSBANDS MUST RECEIVE
Peter says that husbands must treat their wives with honour “that your prayers may not be hindered.” Your relationship with your wife can’t be separated from your relationship with your Father. If you won’t honour her, He won’t listen to you (see Mal. 2:13-15; Isa. 1:15; 59:1-2; 1 Pet. 3:12).
How can you live without prayer? How can you reach the inheritance God has for His people if you can’t call on God as your Father? If you want God’s blessing, believe the gospel and let it change your life. Jesus died so that, having died to selfishness, you can live for righteousness in your home.
Because you value your relationship with God, value your relationship with your wife. If you want God to hear you, then honour your wife, get to know her, and live considerately with her.