Category: Trust

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1 Peter 3:20 (b) – 21 (a) — Baptism, Part I

Picture: Noah's ark.

…when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. 

Summary: Peter uses the analogy of Noah’s ark to describe baptism. Baptism is an appeal to God for a clear conscience. Looking deeper, we see it is also an analogy of our Christian life here on earth. 

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1 Peter 3:7 (b) — Giving to Get

Picture: A small animal holding flowers and looking up. (Composite)

…and treat them with respect …

Today’s topic is Part Two of Peter’s instruction to husbands. He started with what the NIV translates as “be considerate.” As Rich pointed out yesterday, the word “considerate” was translated from the Greek, “gnōsis.” This word is most often translated as “knowledge” or “knowing.” Peter intends that men should be mindful of how women are different.

Today we look at the second part of this passage, “… and treat them [your wives] with respect.” The first question that comes to mind is, “Why wouldn’t a husband treat his wife with respect?” Peter continues the passage referring to wives as “the weaker partner.” So let’s look at the question in the context of physical size. 

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1 Peter 3:6 (b) — Displaced Fear

Picture: Small boy playing on the edge of a mud creek.

You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

As a kid, one of my favorite things to do was to play in the dirt. If there was water nearby, that was even better. When I was about six years old, there was a small creek that ran through the woods at the end of the road by our house. As an adult, I wouldn’t look twice at this “creek.” It was just a trickle of ditch water that meandered away from the road under the trees. As a kid, though, it was a world unto itself. 

In the mind of a six-year-old boy, the woods and the creek took on mythic dimensions. Lit only by the soft green light of the sun filtering through the trees, shadows added another dimension of mystery. Sticks, rocks, and mud all transformed from the mundane into magical building materials. Within the space of an eye blink (time did not exist in this place), the trickle of water had transformed into a lake behind a large dam. There were roads, causeways, canals, and rivers. It was a peaceful and idyllic miniature world — until disaster struck!

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