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NASB | 1 Peter 3:1 In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Peter 3:1 In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands [subordinate, not as inferior, but out of respect for the responsibilities entrusted to husbands and their accountability to God, and so partnering with them] so that even if some do not obey the word [of God], they may be won over [to Christ] without discussion by the godly lives of their wives, [Eph 5:22] |
Bible Question:
So then, how applicable are the submission passages? Back in Bible times they were extremely revelant, becuase of the hierarchy of the family and because of social norms, which dictated that a women necessarily be subservient to her husband, or any man for that fact. Could we not say then that the principle that is being taught is general subservience to each other - man to woman, woman to man, employee to employer, Christian to Christian, etc - the principle of others first. It is a principle that the context of the verses would support, as well as the rest of the Bible. In the submission verses, the principle is more narrowly applied in the context of the culture. The principle today however would take on a different shape, right? I promise, I am really not trying to be argumentative. If I don't question this to it logical conclusion, it just doesn't make sense to me. I guess I keep looking for more concrete and discreet "rules of application" - because it seems that if there aren't any, the application becomes completely subject to man's opinion and sin, as well as being subject to the paradigms which we hold and subconsciously apply to it. |
Bible Answer: Joy: It isn't a matter of consideration of HOW applicable the "submission passages" are. They are either fully applicable or they are not applicable at all. God's commands, His principles, His truth are not meted out by degrees of applicability. His commands to Noah concerning ark building, the illustration I used in a previous post, applied solely to Noah and his immediate family. They did not apply to Abraham, Moses or the apostle Paul -- or to present-day believers. The changing times that have occurred across the centuries since Noah's day, and that occur in our society still, have had absolutely nothing to do with the applicability of God's commands to Noah. The commands applied to Noah and only Noah then, and they apply to Noah and only Noah now. They did not apply to Noah one hundred per cent and to present-day believers fifty per cent or twenty-five per cent because times have changed, and we must make adjustments in the degree of their applicability to us. ..... But the "submission verses" have nothing to do with the one-time-only building of the ark. The "submission verses" that first appear in Scripture are in Genesis 3. They pertained to the divinely ordained relationship between man and woman -- not to Adam and Eve alone. All subsequent scriptural passages, which for convenience we will continue to call "submission verses," that touch upon God's commands concerning the right relationship between man and woman, clearly encompass all men and all women. They have no expiration date. They are as applicable now as when they were first revealed by the Spirit of God. --Hank |