THE SURRENDER

DISCIPLE LIKE “THE HOLY WOMEN OF OLD”

ALL OF SCRIPTURE IS PROFITABLE FOR ALL

Did you know it is a federal crime to take someone’s mail out of their mailbox and read it? It’s called Obstruction of Correspondence. Most of us would never commit such a crime, but as disciples of Jesus, we read (hopefully) other people’s mail all the time. Reading New Testament epistles is literally reading someone else’s mail. Don’t worry; God intends for us to read all Scriptures, including those written to specific recipients. God calls all Scripture profitable for us, so thankfully, we get to look into the challenges, circumstances, encouragements, and, even, rebukes of others for our spiritual benefit as disciples of Jesus Christ. Though most of us understand this, there are times when some of us assume parts of Scripture have no particular benefit for us.

For me, one example of this is found in the Apostle Peter’s admonition to wives in 1 Peter 3. As a young male disciple, I felt groomed to think there really was no personal benefit for me from this passage. I saw ministers and husbands use the passage to “help” their wives, sisters, and daughters be better spouses for men. However, over time I saw beyond the narrow application of this passage and began to see it as one offering sound biblical principles for all disciple makers in a world of unbelief. Peter’s strong reflection on the testimony of the “holy women of old” has a word for us today—stop trying to influence from power and instead submit to the one who has all power! As aliens and foreigners in this world (1 Peter 2:11), be settled in heart with the rule, authority, influence, holiness, and love of Christ, like the “women of old,” so we can be used to disciple the elect of God!

OUR UNGODLY WORLD NEEDS AN OTHERWORLDLY WITNESS

The circumstances addressed in 1 Peter 3 seem very similar to the spiritual condition of today’s society.

“Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, 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. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.”
1 Pet.3:1-6

Some, perhaps many, of the wives Peter addresses, came to faith while their husbands rejected the Word of God. They were living in close relationship with unbelievers. This is definitely something modern disciples (male and female) are living with in our homes, jobs, and communities. We find ourselves in an era marked by pervasive unbelief—a generation that sneers, mocks, and lacks confidence in the Scriptures as God’s holy Word and Christ as God’s only means of salvation.

Notice the Apostle’s reference to the power of “pure and reverent lives” (1Pet.3:2). The culture of that day was marked by impurity and irreverence no doubt. Peter argued that wives discipled by the gospel would present a stark contrast, an otherworldly message that there is another way to live (holy). Similarly, we too are navigating an age of both irreverence and indecency. Virtually every seat of authority, be it teachers, police officers, parents, courtrooms, or pulpits, is suffering from a lack of public confidence and respect. As for indecency, let’s just say if something is crass, unclothed, vulgar, or illicit, then most likely it is celebrated and defended. For the gospel to penetrate the hearts of the unbelieving of our day and reach lives mired in indecency, we require a unique messenger to share the Word of God with this far-gone world. The needed messenger is not the quintessential orator, the elite expositor, nor the well-known religious celebrity. Instead, we need disciples akin to the “women of old” (1 Peter 3:5). We need a holy generation of disciples defined by genuine submission to the Lord.

THOSE WHO SUBMIT TO GOD SEE HIM IN HIS GLORIOUS POWER

When the Apostle Peter reflected on some of the most effective witnesses of the gospel, he pointed to evangelists not known for their giftings or positions, but rather for the object of their hope, God alone. These holy women of old “hoped in God.” They recognized that the circumstances that must change were not dependent upon them, nor bound to those who had earthly authority, but to God. Listen to the prayer of Hannah, one of the holy women of old:

“The Lord brings death and makes alive;
he brings down to the grave and raises up.

The Lord sends poverty and wealth;
he humbles and he exalts.

He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes
and has them inherit a throne of honor.

For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s;
on them he has set the world.

He will guard the feet of his faithful servants,
but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.”
1 Samuel 2:6-9

Like Hannah, these were women who submitted to the Lord and, therefore, trusted in his power. They hoped in him because they understood the seemingly impenetrable hearts of their husbands would be moved by the Lord who humbles and exalts! This holy faith in the holy God was evident in the way they submitted in their marriages, even to spiritually immature and, at times, unbelieving men. Peter emphasizes that the lifestyle of these women impacted the hearts of their godless husbands, demonstrating a submission to Christ in the heart. They weren’t striving to win arguments, as they had already been won over by the glorious Lord. Nor were they trying to manipulate or seduce others through sensuality or physical allure. Instead, these women were adorned with holiness, a result of entrusting their lives, futures, and needs to the all-powerful God in whom they hoped. Today, if we submit first to the God who has all power, we too won’t be moved by the impenetrable hearts of the unbelieving. We, like the women of old must hope in God. When you and I have supervisors that are arrogant, deviant, and irreverent we can’t just stay in our lane and do our jobs. No, we must submit to God, entrust them to the Lord who changes hearts, and submit to their leadership knowing God is at work. Thank God for the testimony of the women of old!

There is profound insight learned from biblical submission. When Peter calls wives to submit to their husbands, it is in anticipation of their husband’s revelation of Christ. The wives see the Lord and it encourages, strengthens, and inspires them to live in submitted relationships (difficult and easy). Submitted disciples are the most effective witnesses because they aren’t trying to convince as much as they are seeking to honor and exalt their Lord that he might be revealed. Peter notes that the holy women of the past weren’t “intimidated” by power or threats (1 Peter 3:6); rather, they were fueled by lives in awe of God, living and speaking with reverence for men who didn’t even deserve respect. This world desperately needs submitted followers of Jesus—followers not attempting to build a brand, climb a social ladder, or be on a stage, but simply desiring to know, love, and obey Jesus.

DISCIPLES WHO SUBMIT MOVE THEIR WORLD TOWARD GOD

In my early days of faith, figures like Peter, Paul, Daniel, David, and Joseph were presented as biblical examples to aspire towards. However, the more I seek to make disciples and lead people to the gospel of Jesus, the more I yearn to be submitted to God like the women of old. Women don’t need to be like men, and men don’t need to be like women, but we all need the spirit, joy, faith, and heart of the women of old. That heart begins with a submissive life in awe of a wonderful Lord and Savior! Women like Sarah who respected her husband while seeing his flaws. Women like Esther who understood the limitations of their status, yet by faith conveyed their burden for deliverance. Women like Abigail married to a fool, yet able to counsel a king. How could these women influence, challenge, and call others to faith? They themselves submitted their lives to the Lord and by God’s sovereign will helped move others towards God’s will. Go back to the Scriptures and hear in their words reverence, faith, godliness, and hope. These faith traits spring from surrendered hearts. They are the fruit that grows in the ground of submission.

Do you want to win your boss to Christ? See and hear Christ before you see and hear your boss. Do you want to know how to deal with difficult people? Look to the Lord who dealt with you in your rebellion. Do you want your neighbor to come to a small group, then join in fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Submission to the Word and will of Christ changes our character and our behavior and impacts our witness! Friends, the gospel of the kingdom is tailor-made for all times, and we can learn this from the holy women of old who lived in godly submission!

This post originally appeared at: The Surrender — The Bonhoeffer Project

1 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE document, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2022-title18/pdf/USCODE-2022-title18-partI-chap83-sec1701.pdf