First Peter Three Verses Three-Six
Words Of Truth

Words Of Truth


"That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth..." (Proverbs 22:21).

First Peter 3:3-6
Focus On The Inward And Being In Subjection

I. Introduction: Remember, we are talking in this context about a Christian woman that is married to a non-Christian man (I Peter 3:1-2).

A. Dressing up something/someone to look good doesn’t change what that person or thing really is internally (Matthew 23:27-28).

  1. We should be concerned about what the Lord sees (I Samuel 16:7).
  2. Not about what the world says looks good (Luke 16:15 and Romans 12:1-2).
B. Think about outward beauty being vain in contrast to a woman that fears the Lord (Proverbs 31:30).

  1. What good is it to ornament a pig (Proverbs 11:22)?
  2. The evil woman might look good. She might use that beauty to her carnal advantage (Proverbs 6:23-26).
  3. What makes any person, male or female, “good” is God’s view of that person (Deuteronomy 6:18; cf. III John 1:11).

II. Body: I Peter 3:3-6

A. Whose adorning is not outward “window dressing” (I Timothy 2:8-15).

  1. The word translated “adorning” [κόσμος]: “Orderly arrangement, that is, decoration; by implication the world (in a wide or narrow sense, including its inhabitants, literally or figuratively [morally]): - adorning, world” (Strong’s # 2889).
  1. Mostly translated “world” (@ 186 times), i.e. Matthew 4:8, Matthew 5:14, Matthew 13:35, Mark 16:15, etc.
  2. Interestingly, notice the word “world” and the context in I John 2:15-17 (each time you see the word “world”, it is the same Greek word).
  1. The women of Judah were outwardly beautiful, but were really filthy (Isaiah 3:16-24 and Isaiah 4:4).
  2. Men would do well to look for a woman who does not use her outward appearance to get what she wants. An evil woman can use her looks to manipulate men (Proverbs 2:16-19, Proverbs 7:10-27, and Ecclesiastes 7:26).
B. Let it be the hidden man [human being; inwardly - Romans 2:29] of the heart (I Timothy 1:5).

  1. Starting within (Matthew 23:26 and Ephesians 4:22-24).
  2. Not corruptible, meaning the immortal [cf. I Timothy 1:17]. Thus, showing the godly woman’s focus is on the spiritual rather than on the carnal (Romans 8:5-8).
  1. The outward is perishing (II Corinthians 4:16).
  2. There has to be some balance here. The godly wife does care, to a degree (I Corinthians 7:31), about some carnality to please her husband (I Corinthians 7:34).
  1. Meek [mild; humble] (Matthew 5:5).
  2. Quiet [peaceable; cf. I Timothy 2:2] (Romans 14:19; cf. Proverbs 12:4, Proverbs 19:13, Proverbs 21:9, and Proverbs 25:24).
  3. This woman, in the sight of God, is very precious (Proverbs 31:10).
C. Holy women of the past, who trusted in God (I Timothy 5:5), adorned [cf. Luke 21:5 and Revelation 21:2] themselves with the aforementioned conduct and were in subjection to their own husbands like Sara.

  1. We’ve talked about subjection in this context (I Peter 3:1).
  2. Sara referred to Abraham as Lord (Genesis 18:12).
  3. Consider how Sara followed Abraham and the pattern of faith that establishes (Hebrews 11:8-15).
  4. Being the daughters of Sara in the like figure of what all saints are in Christ to Abraham (Galatians 3:26-29).

III. Conclusion: Our Next Study; I Peter 3:7