seeing your pure behavior in fear.
Should a Christian wife submit to her husband even if he directs her to sin? Some evangelicals answer yes and appeal to Ephesians 5:24 for support. [Note: E.g., Mrs. Glenn R. Siefker, "God’s Plans for Wives," Good News Broadcaster, February 1975, p. 24.] Others say no but argue that submission should extend to everything except sin. [Note: E.g., Marilyn Vaughn, "When Should a Wife Not Submit?" Moody Monthly, October 1977, p. 107; James R. Slaughter, "Submission of Wives (1 Peter 3:1a) in the Context of 1 Peter," Bibliotheca Sacra 153:609 (January-March 1996):73-74; idem, "Winning Unbelieving Husbands to Christ (1 Peter 3:1b-4)," Bibliotheca Sacra 153:610 (April-June 1996):203; Wayne Grudem, 1 Peter, p. 139; and Paul E. Steele and Charles C. Ryrie, Meant to Last, pp. 32-33.] The examples of suffering that Peter cited as good models for Christians in 1 Peter 2:13-25 did not involve sinning. He said wives should submit "in the same way" (1 Peter 3:1). Furthermore the wife’s behavior is to be "chaste" (1 Peter 3:2) or morally pure (Gr. agnos). Peter held up Sarah as an example (1 Peter 3:6) not because she submitted to Abraham by even sinning in Genesis 12, 20, but because she submitted to him. She called him her lord in Genesis 18:12. Ephesians 5:24, which calls on wives to submit to their husbands in "everything" (Gr. pas), does not mean in every thing including sin (cf. Colossians 3:25). Frequently pas does not mean every individual thing (cf. Matthew 8:33; Romans 8:32; Romans 14:2; 1 Corinthians 1:5; 1 Corinthians 3:21-22; 1 Corinthians 6:12; 1 Corinthians 9:12; 1 Corinthians 10:23; 1 Corinthians 14:40; 2 Corinthians 5:18; Philippians 4:13, et al.). Nevertheless short of sinning Peter urged Christian wives to obey their husbands. A primary responsibility of every Christian is to obey God.