Called to Bless, That You Might Inherit a Blessing

In one paragraph

This message came from a chronological walk through the New Testament that has been going on for some time at First Baptist Jackson. Pastor covered 1 Peter 2:13 through 3:12, reading the passage as a bracketed unit and working through what it asks of believers in their homes and in the world. The throughline was that God's people are called to bless rather than return evil, and that the way they...

Read together

1. 1 Peter 2:13-25 opening bracket of the household code passage, preached the previous week
2. 1 Peter 3:1-12 the full passage bracketed and preached this week
3. 1 Peter 3:1 wives being submissive to unbelieving husbands so they may be won over
4. 1 Peter 3:3-4 adornment should be the hidden person of the heart with a gentle and quiet spirit, not merely external
5. 1 Peter 3:12 closing bracket: eyes of the Lord toward the righteous, his face against evildoers
6. Exodus 3:7 God saw the affliction of his people in Egypt and heard their cry
7. Galatians 3:28 no slave nor Jew nor Greek, male or female, cited to show Christianity was setting people free

Talk about it

1. Peter writes that we are called to bless others rather than return evil for evil. What does that kind of blessing actually look like in your day-to-day relationships, and what makes it hard to do?
2. The preacher said that the condition of an unbelieving spouse's heart can bear on how a believing spouse lives their life. How do you respond to that idea, and what does it look like in practice to keep entrusting yourself to God rather than to the other person?
3. Peter describes the 'hidden person of the heart' with a gentle and quiet spirit as something imperishable. Why do you think he contrasts that with outward adornment, and what do you think he is actually getting at?
4. Pastor drew a parallel between persevering under suffering with an unbeliever and the way Christ kept entrusting himself to God even when people mocked and rejected him. Does that comparison change the way you think about your own difficult relationships? How?
5. Peter tells husbands that how they treat their wives affects their relationship with God and whether their prayers are hindered. What does it mean to honor a spouse as a fellow heir of the grace of life, and what does that challenge in the way we typically think about marriage roles?