1 Peter

1 Peter 3: Christ suffered once for sins

Begin in prayer

Before this chapter takes you into the home and into suffering, please ask the Lord to show your family Christ, who suffered once for sins. Ask Him to make your hearts gentle and to point you to Jesus.

Sing to Yahweh, all the earth! Display his salvation from day to day.

1 Chronicles 16:23

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring His people to You. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Peter brings the life of submission into marriage, where a wife may belong to Christ while her husband disobeys the word. Her pure conduct may win him, and God prizes the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. Husbands must live with understanding and honor their wives as joint heirs of grace, so their prayers are not hindered. The whole church must answer evil with blessing and explain its hope with humility, even when good conduct brings suffering. Christ suffered once for sins to bring His people to God, and Peter recalls His preaching to spirits who disobeyed in Noah's days. Eight souls were saved through water, baptism points to Christ's resurrection, and every power is now subject to Him at God's right hand.

As you read 1 Peter 3, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

Christ suffered once for sins to bring His people to God.

Christ suffered once to bring unrighteous people to God, so life with Him now reaches their home and their response to insult. An unbelieving husband may be won through his wife's pure behavior, and a husband must honor his wife or face hindered prayer. The beauty God prizes is a gentle and quiet spirit, rooted in hope in Him. This same hope answers insults with blessing and speaks of Jesus with humility and fear. That path follows Christ, whose one suffering for sins did what our own goodness cannot do. His death brings sinners to God, and His resurrection gives baptism its saving meaning. Baptism is the believer's answer of a good conscience toward God, a sign pointing beyond bodily washing to the risen Christ. Christ now rules above every angel and power, so suffering has never placed His people beyond His authority.

How does 1 Peter 3 show us that Christ suffered once for sins to bring His people to God?

At home, God's people live with gentleness and honor.

Wives submit willingly to their own husbands, and a husband's disobedience to the word does not cancel that command. Sarah's hope in God shows why a gentle and quiet spirit is precious to Him. Husbands must honor their wives as physically weaker and joint heirs of grace, lest their prayers be hindered. The husband is head of his wife and must love her as Christ loved His church (Ephesians 5 verses 23 and 25). Both share equal worth before God, and submission never requires sin or silence about harm.

God's people bless others, even when they suffer for doing good.

The church must share compassion and seek peace, answering evil and insult with blessing. The Lord hears the righteous and sets His face against those who do evil (verse 12). Suffering for righteousness is blessed, and believers must set the Lord God apart as holy in their hearts. They should explain their hope with humility and fear, keeping a good conscience before those who slander their life in Christ.

Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous.

Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, so His sacrifice needs no repetition. He was put to death in the flesh and made alive in the spirit, to bring His people to God. Peter also says Christ preached to spirits in prison, who disobeyed while God's patience waited in Noah's days. Now Christ has gone into heaven, and angels, authorities and powers are subject to Him. His people can follow Him through suffering because the risen Savior reigns.

Baptism is a picture, and Jesus is the One who saves.

In Noah’s days, God waited patiently while the ship was built, and eight souls were saved through water (verse 20). Peter says baptism now saves, and explains that he does not mean washing dirt from the body (verse 21). He speaks of the answer of a good conscience toward God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptism pictures the salvation Jesus gives to those who believe, and the water does not save by itself.

Memorise

Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God

1 Peter 3:18

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what stands between me and God, and have I asked Jesus to bring me near?

Peter names the Savior, “the righteous for the unrighteous.” He had no sin of His own, yet He died in His people's place, standing where they should stand. He suffered for sins, and He suffered once. That is enough, and it will never be repeated.

Why did He do it? Peter says He did it to “bring you to God.” Peter wrote to those who believe, and the people He brings home are His people. Jesus was put to death in the flesh, and God raised Him, making Him alive. Now He sits at the right hand of God. No water can wash a heart. Only His suffering brings sinners to God.

So come to Him. Turn from your sin and put your trust in Jesus. Those who turn to Him find forgiveness and a good conscience toward God through His resurrection. Those who belong to Him follow Him at home and in trial, and He who suffered once will bring them all the way to God.

Parent's note

Tell your children that Christ suffered once for sins to bring His people to God. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Teach them that if someone hurts them, they may tell a safe adult and seek help.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that Christ suffered once for sins to bring His people to God, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood, out of every tribe, language, people, and nation, and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth.”

Revelation 5:9-10

Lord Jesus, thank You that You suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring Your people to God. Please help us to turn from sin and trust You. Make our homes gentle, and help us to follow You. Amen.