by Sam Stinson<\/p>\n
“For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening<\/em>” (I Peter 3:5-6, ESV).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Someone suggested that if those who preach the authority of Scriptures were sincere, they would teach that Christian women must call their husbands “lord” such as Sarah called Abraham. Let’s examine.<\/p>\n
In Peter’s discussion, he is instructing Christian women to “be subject” to their husbands (I Peter 3:1). He says if these husbands are not Christ’s disciples, they may be won to Christ without a word simply by the respectful and pure conduct of their wives (I Peter 3:1-2). The word for “be subject” implies putting oneself in obedience to another, to be in submission to him. Peter’s evidence of this, of Sarah’s obedience to her husband Abraham, is the fruit of her submission to him. The tree is her heart submitted to her husband, calling her husband lord is the fruit. Peter implies that you can tell Sarah was in submission to her husband by reading her words from Scripture. Which words?<\/p>\n
Recall the spot in Scripture where Sarah referred to her husband Abraham as her lord. In Genesis 18:10, Yahweh said he would return within a year and Sarah would have a child at that time. Scripture continues: “Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?<\/em>” (Genesis 18:11-12). The man Sarah calls “my lord” is indeed Abraham her husband. According to Strong, the Hebrew word Sarah uses for “lord,” is from the root meaning “to rule.” Since the word is interpreted “lord” in context, we see that Sarah was in submission to her husband by the respectful conduct of her mind. She “laughed to herself, saying” which means in her private thoughts, internal monologue, which Yahweh knew, Sarah showed respect for her husband by calling him lord.<\/p>\n
A Christian woman calling her husband lord in her mind is one fruit of her submission to him. Submission is a tree which bears much good fruit. The apostles wisely instructed Christian women to respect their husbands (Ephesians 5:33). One means of showing respect is submission in heart and works, as Paul instructs wives (Colossians 3:18; Ephesians 5:22, 24; I Corinthians 14:35). One submits not only actions but first the heart (cf. Proverbs 23:26). Yes, Christian wife, respect your husband by submitting to him. Yes, Christian wife, call your husband “lord” in your heart in your devotion to him and show this in your works. Caveat: husband, make this easier for your wife by actually being a man of respect, good heart, conduct, devoted to providing for and meeting his family’s needs through his love and works (Colossians 3:19; Ephesians 5:25, 28).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Sam Stinson “For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening” (I Peter 3:5-6, ESV). Someone suggested that if…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[64,416],"class_list":["post-27156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-marriage","tag-submission"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27154,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-sarah-did-not-verbally-call-abraham-lord-wouldnt-peters-point-be-meaningless\/","url_meta":{"origin":27156,"position":0},"title":"If Sarah did not verbally call Abraham “lord,” wouldn’t Peter’s point be meaningless?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello brethren; Upon reading your article entitled \"Should wives call their husbands \"lord?\" \", I find it quite impossible that this refers to simply an inward confession. In I Peter 3:6, the context of Sara calling Abraham \"lord\" doesn't have anything to do with the appearance of the angelic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7050,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-a-lady\/","url_meta":{"origin":27156,"position":1},"title":"What is a lady?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 12, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is a lady? Answer: In England, a lady was a woman who was married to a lord. Thus over the years, the term has become a polite way of addressing woman, such as \"The nice lady at the book store helped me find a good Bible.\" Its complement\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19054,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-talk-to-my-husband-about-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":27156,"position":2},"title":"How do I talk to my husband about God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How can I talk to my husband about God? He is a very confused soul. He doesn't believe that the Bible was written by God. He believes that it was written by men. He thinks that religion is overstated and not really worth anything. I don't really have a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17449,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-a-husbands-faith-grow-if-his-wife-does-not-submit-to-his-authority\/","url_meta":{"origin":27156,"position":3},"title":"How can a husband’s faith grow if his wife does not submit to his authority?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I want to express my appreciation for those behind this website. You are doing great work for the Lord. Now my questions: The problem of submissiveness: How can the husband grow in faith when his wife does not submit to his authority? Divorce: Does forgiveness means that we must\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2789,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-married-love-different-from-christian-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":27156,"position":4},"title":"Is married love different from Christian love?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 30, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is the love between husbands and wives any different from the love fellow Christians have for each other or for non-believers? Answer: Greek has three basic words for love, two of which are used in the Bible: Agape\u00a0is a devoted love. It gives even when it is not returned.\u00a0Agape\u00a0is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40100,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/ruling-with-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":27156,"position":5},"title":"Ruling with Love","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Irven Lee via\u00a0Truth Magazine, January 1, 1981 An elder is to be \"one that ruleth well his own family, having his children in subjection with all gravity; for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27156\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}