1 Peter 4:1-11 Questions

Day One

Read 1 Peter 4:1-11.

1. What are some of the things you spend your time on each day?

2. How can we make our time count for eternity?

3. Why do you think suffering in the body causes us to release sin?

Day Two

4. What kind of attitude should we have toward sin?

5. What attitude should we have toward unbelievers? Why?

Day Three

6. What is the difference between “covering over” sin and excusing sin?

7. What commandments did Peter give believers to help keep balance concerning the Lord’s return?

8. How can we obey these commandments in specific practical ways?

Day Four

9. What does Biblical hospitality look like?

10. Is hospitality difficult for you? Why?

Day Five

11. How should Christ’s return impact the way we live our lives today?

12. How is doing the will of God a good investment for the rest of our lives?

For Reflection:

What will you do this week to make your time count more for eternity?

1 Peter 3: 8-12 Spiritual Maturity

Recap:

We have so far looked at how God wants us to respond to the government, our workplace and our husband.

This next section of scripture helps us to see what it means to become a spiritually mature Christian.

How do you know if you are further along in your spiritual development than you were last year?

When you take your children for their yearly physical you can measure their growth with a scale and a growth chart. You can chart their growth.

Sometimes growth can be imperceptible.

Share the book, The Growing Story. 

I don’t think anyone can argue that God expects us to grow in spiritual maturity. In Hebrews 5:11 and following we have a warning against falling away.

^11” We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. ¹² In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³ Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

6      Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God.”

Just as you have an expectation that your child will no longer need the breast or the bottle and that they will progress to solid food; God has that same expectation of us. He expects us to progress from hearing and responding to the Gospel to living a life of obedient faith.

Just as it is unthinkable to put a bottle of formula into a 10 year olds mouth it is unthinkable that we would still require the elementary things of scripture. Spiritual maturity according to this verse can be attained in part by learning to distinguish good from evil. And how does that come about?; by constant use and training. Do you hear the tone of discipline in these words?

So if God expects spiritual maturity from us and one of the ways to obtain maturity is constant use of our faith, how can we determine if we are making any progress?

Turn with me to 1 Peter 3:8-12 

Suffering for Doing Good

⁸ Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. ⁹ Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. ¹⁰ For,

“Whoever would love life

and see good days

must keep his tongue from evil

and his lips from deceitful speech.

¹¹      He must turn from evil and do good;

he must seek peace and pursue it.

¹²      For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous

and his ears are attentive to their prayer,

but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”^[1]

Yardstick for spiritual growth:

8 marks for maturity:

God expects us to grow up spiritually, not just grow old.

Tangible, objective ways to measure your maturity:

Verse 8:

1. Live in Harmony/Unity:

        Like-minded

        Not allowing petty things to cause division.

        Not necessarily relating to doctrine but being of the same mind.

2. Be Sympathetic/Compassionate:  

        Feeling sorrow for those who are sorrowing, joy for those who are joyful

        lack of competition, lack of jealousy.

Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave, you.”

3. Love/ Friendship and Affection

        Recognize the need for friendship. What is brotherly love? What are some of the characteristics?

1 Corinthians 13:4

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

Are you cultivating friends?

4. Humility:

Lowly of spirit, it is internal. Be humble of mind.

“Maturity is the ability to do a job whether you are supervised or not, to finish a job once it is started, to carry money without needing to spend it, and to suffer an injustice without getting even."

5. Willingness to forgive:

Not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead.

Give it to God.

        Entrust yourself to the One who judges justly.

You have been called for this purpose, not to retaliate.

How do I know I am growing up?

        ~When I stop fighting back.

        ~When I return a blessing for a curse.

 6. Tongue Control:      

Stop your tongue! This part of these verses are a quote from Psalm 34.

        What is tongue control?

      Lack of gossip, refrain from telling confidential information.

        Honesty in speech

If you want to love life and see good days, control your tongue!

Epitaph on a tomb stone in England:

“Beneath this sod a lump of clay lies Arabella Young who on the 21^st of May began to hold her tongue.”

Pray about the use of your tongue. Pray that God will put a muzzle on your mouth. Proverbs 21:23, “He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.”

James 1:26, “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.”

A great way to start the day!

A mark of maturity is a controlled tongue.

7. Purity and Peace: vs. 11,12

Seek peace and pursue it. What does it mean to seek peace? What is the difference of being a peace keeper and a peace pursuer? Is it ever wrong to keep the peace?

Live a life of purity/reverence/righteousness. Which we talked about last time. Living a life above reproach so that no one can speak ill against you.

8. Open communication with God:

        In prayer

        In practice

2Chronicles 16:9

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.”

Signs of spiritual growth, spiritual maturity…..Repeat 1-8.

Harmony, sympathy, love, compassion, forgiveness, tongue control, peace, prayer.

So Grow Up not just older.

Our ultimate goal is to have a heart that is completely His.

How mature are you?

We know as moms if you want to ensure proper growth and development in your children you will need to include certain things into their lives.

Physical:

Proper nutrition that is age appropriate.

Enough sleep

Intellectual stimulation

Verbal stimuli

Love/touch

In order to grow spiritually we need certain things as well.

5 Decisions of a Disciple:

1. Decide to follow Jesus:

become a person of faith in Him.

Do you fully understand who He is and what He did for you?

2. Practice Spiritual Disciplines:

Regular consistent diet of the Word,

Jesus says He is the bread of life. God made certain the Israelites had to gather manna on a daily basis.

Prayer

Worship

Giving

Fasting

3. Grow Together:

You are part of a fellowship, not just in a church but in some kind of small group setting where you are allowing yourself to be transparent and known.

4. Serve:

You have gifts that others need, are you serving?

5. Share your faith:

Always be prepared to share when people ask where the hope you have comes from.

This is a process, takes time, focused effort and energy. It doesn’t just happen like physical growth does.

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1 Peter 3:8-22 Questions

Read 1 Peter 3:8-22.
Day One

1. Recall the point of 2:11-3:7. What seems to be the point of 3:8-22?

1. In verse 8 Peter list 5 adjectives describing the attitudes with which Christians should treat other people, especially Christians. What are those adjectives? Of those 5 adjectives, which do you find most difficult and why?

Day Two

1. Why is harmony among Christians crucial? See Matthew 18:19-20, John 17:21.

1. How can Christians disagree while maintaining harmony?

Day Three

1. Peter tells us to give a blessing to those who insult or injure us (3:9).

Luke 6:35-36 and 1 Peter 3:9 give 2 reasons why we should bless those who insult us. What are those reasons?

1. We are told in vs. 15 that we are to set apart Christ as Lord in our hearts. What does that mean to you and what are some practical ways you can do that?

Day Four

1. Why is it important to keep a clear conscience? What does that mean to you?

1. In verse 18, we learn the reasons for the teaching of verses 14-17. It explains why and how “you are blessed” if you “suffer for what is right.”

Day Five:

1. Why did Christ die? (verse 18)

Discussion Questions:
Have you been mistreated for being a Christian or taking a stand for something good? What happened? How did you deal with it? Did it have a strengthening affect on your faith?


Peter talks about having the same mind toward suffering as Jesus had. How can Jesus’ example help you when you face trials?



How does a Christian maintain an eternal perspective when suffering for doing good?

1 Peter 3:1-7 Submission

Background:

The roles of men and women in the Bible have been difficult for me to accept. I was raised by a mother who came into her own during the feminist movement. She was the matriarch of our home. I wasn’t given a very high opinion of men and believed that women were superior to men in most ways. Because of our society’s view of men, television, and to be honest, men themselves, sometimes I still believe that.

When I accepted Jesus as savior and began to read the Bible I was challenged that I needed to believe the whole counsel of God. I couldn’t pick and choose what I wanted it to say and that included the teaching of the roles of women and men. You may want to argue with me or look for loopholes but I feel that I need to teach the Word the way it is written and there are too many complimentary passages regarding this subject that God’s intention cannot be denied. 

I also need to say that just as the word discipline has been misunderstood regarding child -raising I believe submission is a misunderstood concept as well.

Submission is not something that someone does to you.

Submission is a choice you make.

And while it may seem that you are submitting to your husband, the ultimate submission that you are choosing is submission to God.

I also know that when discussing this topic you are going to evaluate under what contexts I might have had to submit. For those of you who know my husband, you may think that submission to a Godly man may be easy or easier than what you have to endure.

But I need to say that submission is never easy. Remember back to the Garden of Eden when the only rule that God put forth was that Adam and Eve not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. All Eve had to do was submit to a holy God in one point and yet she failed, as did Adam.

Submission is not natural, submission is supernatural.

Turn with me to 1Peter 3:1

“Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husband so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,

Because this passage of scripture starts with the clause, “in the same way,” that indicates that we need to go back and say to ourselves, in the same way as what?

What is the context? Good Bible study never takes a verse and lifts it from its setting. The context goes back to 1Peter 2:13-15.

~Submitting to governmental authorities

~Submitting slaves to masters in spite of the way they are treated.

In the same way….you are to submit to your husband.

In the other examples the purpose for submission was so that you would live above reproach, to show others another example, a different way to live and view circumstances.

And it is because of Christ’s suffering that we are able and willing to submit. Because of the example of Jesus we can follow in His Steps. He submitted Himself to the judge who judges justly; living with a situation that is unfair and sometimes unbearable.

Now Peter comes to the subject of marriage as he says,

“in the same way…”

~In the same way as Christ,

~in the same way as servants,

~in the same way as citizens….

A few preliminary points:

First of all we are told that we should be submissive to our own husband, not someone else’s husband

God would never want us to think that submission means to place ourselves or are children in an unsafe environment.

Before we explore what submission means, let’s take a look at verses 1-7:

“Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husband so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, ² when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. ³ Your beauty should not come from outward adornment,(NAS merely external) such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. ⁴ Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. ⁵ For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, ⁶ like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

⁷ Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

Advice for wives:

1. Analyze your actions:

It is obvious from this verse that Peter is talking to wives with unbelieving husbands, “disobedient mates”, they could be husbands who are not pursuing spiritual truth, husbands that care little about the things of God.

So we are told to win our husband by our behavior.

We are to win them without a word, but by our behavior. Without a word… How unnatural is that?

And what is our behavior to be?

          Purity/Chaste: virtuous

        Reverence/Respectful: respect for God and respect for your husband.

Regardless of his response or what his behavior is.

You are not responsible for your husband’s life, only your own. You are not responsible for his make- over. Only God can do that.

Ruth Graham once said, “It is my job to love Billy, it is God’s job to make him good.”

Tom Hale commentary, “Behavior is always more effective than words in winning people to our side. Indeed the best way to bring people to Christ is through our good behavior."

Second piece of advice for wives:

2. Watch your adornment:

        Outer beauty vs. inner beauty.

Let not your adornment be external only.

It doesn’t say let not your adornment be external at all.

There is a middle road regarding external adornment…some may think that it is more spiritual to pay no attention to the external while others spend too much time in physical up-keep. We owe it to ourselves and our husbands to take care of ourselves physically, to work with what we have so that our husbands continue to be attracted to us.

But not to become so obsessed that we are spending too much time, money and effort on the external and let the internal go.

We need to continue to be lovely to our husbands, it shows respect for ourselves and respect for him.

But let’s face it, your outward beauty will fade, but what will never fade and what is valuable to God, what you will take to heaven with you is the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. God says that is of great worth to Him.

What is a gentle and quiet spirit?

3. Check your attitude:

        Gentle and Quiet spirit.

Your adornment should be deep within, a secure calmness. Because you know who you are and who you serve. It takes a lifetime to prepare for this kind of beauty. The hidden person of the heart. Contrast: physical vs. internal.

Let the adornment include the hidden person of the heart.

We can spend lots of time teaching our girls how to dress and miss the lesson on the hidden person of the heart.

God calls the quality of the gentle and quiet spirit as precious. God calls it imperishable and that it is precious.

4. Evaluate your attention:

Adorn for the inner and outer person.

Submissive, cooperative, adaptive, unselfish

Sarah obeyed Abraham,(calling him Lord) she paid attention to him. She considered his needs, she cooperated with his wishes, she adapted to his desires.

Evaluate where you pay most of your attention. It is common when caring for the constant needs of children to put the needs of our husband on hold and that is when marital breakdown can begin.

If you only knew what I was living with….how difficult he can be.

But you have an opportunity to bless.

William Barkley calls this, “Silent preaching of a lovely life.” This is a voluntary unselfishness, seeking the highest good for a husband who doesn’t deserve it.

Husbands: vs 7

Husbands LIKEWISE (equal responsibility)

1. Live with your wife. Live means to dwell together, to be at home with. A close togetherness. Understanding the needs of the home and the woman God has given you.

2. Understand your wife. This means more than knowledge like her likes and dislikes, this communicates a deep knowledge, support her, be sensitive to her, help her feel secure. It takes time, listening, attention.

        As with a weaker vessel. (not weaker in character or determination)

3. Grant her honor as a fellow heir.

So that your prayers may not be hindered.

Write down 4 qualities you appreciate most about your husband and tell him.

Admit the one thing you would most like to change about yourself.

b Eph 5:22; Col 3:18

Wives and Husbands ²² Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

Ephesians 5:22

Rules for Christian Households ¹⁸ Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.  

¹⁹ Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.

1 Corinthians 9:19

1 Peter 3:1-7 Questions

Submission Questions

Read 1 Peter 3:1-7.

1.   On a separate piece of paper sum up this teaching in your own words.

2.   What do you think of when you hear the word submission?

3.   According to this passage, to whom are we to be submissive?

4.   What reasons does Peter give for a wife to be submissive to her husband?

5.   What opportunity does submission give a wife whose husband is unsaved?

6.   What does the Lord promise will win a lost husband, why?

7.   In the previous verses we looked at how one could disobey a law and still be submitting to governing authorities. Can a wife disobey her husband and still be appropriately submissive? Please explain.

8. Do you believe that Peter would tell a wife today to endure physical abuse from her husband? Why or why not? What about verbal abuse?”
 

9. What do you think is an appropriate level of effort and money to spend on one’s appearance in line with Peter’s teaching?

10. What does it mean to have a gentle and quiet spirit?

11. How can you be a better spouse this week?

1 Peter 2:4-25

Why do the unrighteous prosper?

Why do the good seem to die young?

Why do some people seem to go through life unscathed while others seem to suffer hardship after hardship? 

As Americans we believe that we deserve justice. We see it as an inalienable right.

Unjust Suffering feels…..unjust.

What is our natural response to being treated unfairly?

We see this with our children. If there is conflict between 2 children they look to you to bring justice to the situation.

Have you ever been given a punishment just because you were in the group and the person couldn’t determine who was at fault?

Or you worked hard to get an assignment in and other students didn’t get their paper done and the teacher gave an extension?

Read 1 Peter 2:4-25

The central theme in this section of scripture can be summed up in one word. We are called to submit.

as a citizen,

a worker,

a marriage partner and as

a church member.

I will be teaching on submission in greater detail next time as I attempt to tackle Chapter 3: wives submitting to husbands.

But what I do need to say today is that submission doesn’t mean slavery or subjugation but it is the recognition of God’s authority in our lives.

Romans13:1-7  “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ² Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. ³ For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. ⁴ For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. ⁵ Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.

Because God has established human government and the church He has the right to tell us how those institutions should be run.

Warren Wiersbe has this to say, “God wants each of us to exercise authority, but before we can exercise authority, we must be under authority.

Peter gives us 3 motivations for our submission to authority:

1.   For the Sake of the Lost: with the hope that by our exemplary, blameless lives we can lead others to Christ.

2.   For the Lord’s Sake: So that we live beyond reproach, giving God glory along the way. As Daniel did when he respectfully refused to eat the kings rich food and drink his wine. Even though Daniel and his friends disobeyed the law, the way they did it proved they honored the king and respected the authorities.

3.   For our own Sake: so that even when we may have to endure unjust/unfair treatment. It is commendable in God’s sight when we bear unjust suffering.

This teaching is opposite of the world’s teaching. When we suffer unjustly we are to endure it patiently and quietly, because this is what we are called to do.

I need to be honest here; I find this a difficult truth to embrace. It goes against my sense of justice. It goes against my personal philosophy or right and wrong. I don’t know about you but when I am unjustly accused I want to tell the world my side of the story.

I want to get people on my side. Have them tell me how wronged I have been. And then I want the person who wronged me to recognize they were wrong, grovel and then publicly apologize and beg my forgiveness. 

After all that is what Jesus did, right? After he was taken to Herod and shared His side of the story, He received public apologies from Herod and Pilate. The soldiers who stripped off his garments, whipped him, mocked Him and spat in his face said how sorry they were. The Roman guard who nailed his hands and feet to the cross came and asked for forgiveness. And the thief on the cross that mocked Him for not saving himself was acutely put in his place. I heard that even Judas left a note to say how sorry he was for the betrayal and that he hoped that Jesus didn’t take it personally. He later recognized that it was an error in judgment.

Thank God we live in a just world!

But that isn’t what really happened is it?

Verse 22:

He committed no sin,

and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

²³ When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. ²⁴ He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. ²⁵ For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

When we are the recipients of “unjust suffering,” Peter says that we should follow the example of Jesus. When we follow “in His steps” we are always headed in the right direction.

Here are five applications taken from the example of Jesus, when He suffered unjustly.

1.   Don’t sin (1 Peter 2:22a).

When we are treated unfairly, it is natural to go through the emotions of disappointment and frustration.

Ephesians 4:26,27 “In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”

People around who know the truth are watching to see how a follower of Jesus handles unfair treatment.

Follow in the steps of Jesus.

2.   Hold your tongue (1 Peter 2:22b).

Don’t say what’s on your mind. Don’t email it. Don’t text it. Don’t Twitter it. And for goodness sakes, don’t put it on Facebook. Jesus had reason to complain and criticize yet “no deceit was found in His mouth.”

Follow in the steps of Jesus.  

Quotes on Silence:

“A good word is an easy obligation; but not to speak ill requires only our silence, which costs us nothing.” John Tillotson “A man who lives right, and is right, has more power in his silence than another has by his words.” Phillips Brooks

3.   Don’t get even (1 Peter 2:23a).

Don’t strike back. Don’t inflict pain because you have received pain.  Even when/if you have the opportunity, don’t try to get even. Show the love and grace of Jesus.

Follow in the steps of Jesus.

Quotes on getting even:

“The best way to get even is to forget”

“Most of us can forgive and forget; we just don't want the other person to forget that we forgave”

“An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

Mahatma Gandhi

“Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.”

Confucius

William Shakespeare:

 “Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself.”

Martin Luther King Jr. “A man who contemplates revenge keeps his wounds green.”

Francis Bacon: (1561-1626) British statesman and philosopher.

“Revenge converts a little right into a great wrong.”

Ultimate authority:

“Revenge is mine says the Lord.”

4.   Don’t make threats (1 Peter 2:23b).

Don’t go around telling everyone that “unless things change, I’m out of here!”  When Jesus suffered, “He made not threats.”

Follow in the steps of Jesus.

5.   Hand the situation to God (1 Peter 2:23c).

When Jesus went through the agony of the cross, “He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.”

Delegate the situation to God. Let him handle it in his way and in his time.

Follow in the steps of Jesus.

Romans 12:17-21

¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰ On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;

if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The follower of Jesus is called to be an example.

In the workplace, as a citizen, as a marriage partner in the church body; we should be the hardest worker. We should demonstrate skill and efficiency and patience. We should live life above reproach. But remember it’s about more than the job or the country or the church or the marriage. Jesus uses every aspect of our life to stretch us and grow us into the followers He desires us to be.

So, in all aspects of life, every day, even in times of “unjust suffering” follow in the steps of Jesus.