1 Peter: God’s Pilgrim People in a Hostile World – How to Live with an Unbeliever

Peter Barnes | 1 Peter 3:1-6

SERMON  NOTES
HOW TO LIVE WITH AN UNBELIEVER
1 Peter 3:1-6

– 2:11-12. Believers not to marry unbelievers (Deut.7:1-4; 1 Cor.7:39).

Plutarch: ‘it is becoming for a wife to worship and to know only the gods that her husband believes in’.

1. Be faithful in God-given roles so far as that is possible.

– 3:1; 1 Cor.7:12-13. See Ephesians 5:22-24.

2. Evangelise more through deed than word.

– 3:1; ‘Do not nag.’ John MacArthur: ‘Don’t paint “repent” on the bottom of his beer mug.’

– 1 Cor.7:14, 16; yes to Romans 10:17, 14 but see Eccles.3:1.

3. Be gentle in your behaviour.

– 3:1-2, 4, 5-6

Peter urges ‘a gentle and quiet spirit’ in verse 4, not a pushy, assertive, affirmative action kind of spirit. Peter goes back to the Old Testament for examples, and especially points to Sarah, Abraham’s wife – read 3:5-6.

4. Be truly beautiful.

– 3:3-4; Prov.31:30; 1 Tim.2:9; Isa.3:16-25. Who is the role model – Amy Carmichael or Mariah Carey? Kenneth Wuest: ‘One can dress up a fence post.’

– covenant status demands a certain lifestyle.