Submission: Peter brings up marriage as the third area of submission in this letter.[1] Wives are to submit to their own husbands. As with the slave section (2:18), Peter highlights the difficult situation of submitting to an ungodly authority figure.[2] Yet his instruction, as before, remains unchanged: women are to submit to their husbands even if they are married to an unbeliever who disobeys the Word of God. God’s will is firm in this regard, but this command is given with a glimmer of hope: a pure conduct that fears the Lord[3] is the testimony God uses to win sinners to Christ. Peter explains that this is true Christian adornment, one that isn’t merely external (Prov. 11:22), but an inner beauty marked by a spirit of submissiveness. Only God can change the sinner (1:3). Strive to be the tool of His choice, a woman of “a gentle and quiet spirit.”
Example: This is how women set apart from this world (“holy”) adorned themselves. They hoped in God and manifested their trust in Him through their submission to their husbands. Consider Sarah who respected Abraham and called him “my lord” (Gen. 18:12), even as she candidly pointed out his agedness. She respected him; she even obeyed him.[4] Yes, obedience is a part of marital submission. Biblical submission includes both respect and obedience. Believing women submit in these ways because of their fear of the Lord.[5]
[1] The first two areas were government (2:13-17) and slavery (2:18-25). The repetition of the same verb for “submit (hu-po-tas-sō [ὑποτάσσω])” throughout these sections indicates a continued thread.
[2] Slaves are to submit even to unreasonable masters (2:18), women to unbelieving husbands. “Disobedient to the word” is an epithet for unbelievers (1:22; 2:8; 4:17). Cf. also John 3:36; Eph. 5:6; Col. 3:6; Heb. 4:6.
[3] “Chaste and respectful behavior” is literally “your in-fear pure behavior.” LSB: “your pure conduct with fear.” Fear of God is a running thread in 1 Peter (1:17; 2:17) and “in fear” is much like “with all fear” (2:18) in Greek.
[4] The wife obeys her husband as an adult. This is clearly distinct from the obedience of children to parents. Mutuality marks a Christian marriage (1 Cor. 7:3-5). The husband is to show her honor as a fellow heir (3:7).
[5] Women of God obey God as their supreme commitment of faith (Acts 5:29).