A Godly Household
11/7/25 Bible Thought (1 Peter 3)
God created men and women equal in value but distinct in role.
We see this so clearly in 1 Peter 3 as the apostle Peter gives guidelines for Christian households:
“Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct” (1 Pet. 3:1-2).
“Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered” (1 Pet. 3:7).
Many people think these ideas are outdated or misogynistic.
Some even appeal to the fact that slaves were included in the household codes, so certainly all of these passages are just an antiquated construct that should be tossed aside! The household codes are merely a byproduct of the first-century Greek and Roman culture that can be done away with.
To this, I strongly disagree.
First, slavery was an institution that was manmade and wrong. The New Testament simply gives guidelines for how Christians should live in the midst of that broken and sinful institution.
Marriage is entirely different from slavery. I hope you agree with this!
Marriage is a God-ordained institution, unlike slavery. When Jesus was asked about divorce, these were His comments on marriage:
“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matt. 19:4-6).
It was God who said that a man should leave his father and mother—back in Genesis! It was God who established marriage as a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman. It is rooted in God’s creation design that preceded the fall (Gen. 2:20-25).
That being said, marriage is not part of the problem in a fallen world. Can it be done wrong? Certainly. It is done wrong all the time. Are there sinful people who wreck their marriages through their deeds? It happens every day. Are their husbands who abuse their wives because they are bigger and stronger? Sadly, yes.
However, just because it can be done wrong does not negate that it is still a God-ordained and God-blessed institution that was His idea. Just because it can be done wrong does not mean it cannot be done right. We need not throw out the baby with the bathwater. It is not an outdated, archaic and tortuous construct. It is a picture of Christ and His church (Eph. 5:23) A picture that ought to endure!
Marriage was not just a first-century construct.
Likewise, the biblical authors were not simply products of their culture that lacked the enlightened view of moderns. No, their views of marriage went back to the creation narrative and how God originally ordained things to be.
Adam had work to do but lacked the help necessary. As such, Eve was given as a helper to him (Gen. 2:20).
Marriage is not a consequence of the fall, but a beautiful partnership that God made. Instead, lazy men who refuse to lead their homes are a consequence of the fall. Men who misuse their position as the head of the household that leads to all manners of abuse are a consequence of the fall. Likewise, women who seek to rule over their husbands are a consequence of the fall (see Gen. 3:16b).
God has an order that He established (1 Tim. 2:13). When we are willing to submit to His ways of doing things our marriages will prosper. The idea is not a bad one, it is just often executed poorly.