Marriage Made in Heaven
[1]Marriage Made in Heaven
Duties and Responsibilities
1 Peter 3:1&7
I. Mutual responsibilities apply to both spouses in marriage. (1 Peter 3:1-7; Ephesians 5:22; Colossians 3:18)
A. Wives are to be submissive while husbands are to intelligently love.
*In non-military use, it was “a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden”. [2]
Examples: (Genesis 16:9; 1 Corinthians 16:16; Ephesians.5:21; 1 Peter 5:5)
1. The purpose and blessing of submission. (1 Peter 3:1; Eph. 5:22; Col. 3:18)
a. To bring glory to God.
b. To instill peace and harmony within the relationship.
c. Inner conflict eradicated.
d. Desire of the husband directed to the wife.
2. Purposeful, intelligent love. (1 Peter 3:7)
Dwell according to knowledge, giving honor unto your wife... the weaker vessel.”
Both husband and wife are vessels in God’s hand, and of God’s making, to fulfill His gracious purposes. Both weak, the woman the weaker. The sense of his own weakness, and that she, like himself, is God’s vessel and fabric, ought to lead him to act with tender and wise consideration towards her who is the weaker fabric), giving (literally, ‘assigning,’ ‘apportioning’) honor as being also (besides being man and wife) heirs together,”[3]
a. Coexisting in the marriage relationship demands that the husband utilize intelligence.
b. The primary duty of the husband is to give honor to his wife.
c. As the weaker vessel she is to be protected
B. Both are to give of themselves without expectation of reciprocation.
1. Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church. Ephesians 5:25
2. Husbands love your wives and be not bitter against them. Colossians 3:19
3. Husbands purposely make time for and think about her. Proverbs 5:19
4. Wives are to give of themselves from the heart and not in appearance. 1 Peter 3:1-6
II. To Couples. (1 Corinthians 7:1-9)
"Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment. For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn." (1 Corinthians 7:1-9, KJV)
A. Men and Women have natural tendencies and needs which marriage fulfills.
1. Both have physical needs and desires. Vs.2
2. Each fulfills the other. Vs.3
3. Neither has power of his own body, but the spouse has control of the valve. Vs.4
B. Because husbands and wives are no longer two people but one in marriage, God has given them guidelines to follow (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5; Mark 10:8; Ephesians 5:31).
1. The husband is the head of the wife. Ephesians 5:23
2. The wife is the completer of the husband.
3. Obedience to their roles are directly blessed by God through answered prayer.
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[2]James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Text of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurrence of Each Word in Regular Order., electronic ed. (Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996). G5293.
[3]Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, A. R. Fausset, David Brown and David Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997). 1 Pe 3:7.