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1 Peter 3:2 – Wondrous Pure Conduct

Posted on December 22, 2016 by Will

having observed your pure behavior accompanied by fear.

Truth to Learn

The pure lifestyle of a God-fearing woman is a thing of wonder to behold.

Behind the Words

The phrase, “having observed” comes from the Greek word epopteuō, which is a compound of epi, meaning “on” or “upon” and a form of optomai, which means “to gaze.” There are a number of words in the Greek that are used for different types of looking, words that mean to see, to look at, to look closely at, to stare, to be a spectator, and to spy on. These are all distinctly different than this word which means, “to gaze upon (that is, with wide open eyes, as at something remarkable).” The word is expressed here as an aorist participle, implying continuous action which occurred before the main verb of this sentence (“they … may be won” in the previous verse). So, we could translate this as, “they having observed…”

The word translated “pure” is the Greek word hagnos. This comes from the same root as hagios, a word we’ve looked at before, meaning “holy” or “pure.” The word in today’s verse means “clean, innocent, modest, chaste, or pure.”

“Behavior” is translated from anastrophē, which is made up of ana, meaning “up,” and a form of strephō, meaning “to turn.” Hence, this word literally means “to turn up,” but by application it means “to go back and forth” and has come to mean “manner of living, lifestyle, behavior, or conduct.”

Meaning Explained

When a Christian woman is totally committed to God and living a submitted life (to God and to her husband), even an unsaved husband will look at her with wonder. The thing which causes such amazement in her husband, according to Peter, is her “pure behavior.”

This pure lifestyle is the most effective witness to an unsaved husband. Unfortunately, some women married to unsaved men feel like they need to preach at their husbands or badger them into going to church on Sunday. Instead, Peter says that a woman in this situation is to live a life totally devoted to God and submitted to her husband. That doesn’t mean that the woman has to do whatever her husband wants if what he wants is contrary to the teaching of Scripture. Her top priorities have to be obedience to God and a pure lifestyle. But Peter does teach us (from the previous verse) that “they (unsaved husbands), without a word, may be won by the behaviou of their wives.” In the next couple of verses, Peter will give us more details about how this type of woman conducts herself.

Let me say that a pure lifestyle and a submissive spirit are exactly the qualities, coupled with a solid faith and reverential fear of the Lord, which caused me to first gaze at and admire the young woman who eventually became my wife more than forty years ago. Qualities that I still find remarkable even today!

Application

Ladies, do you want your husband to gaze at you in wonder, as he looks at something remarkable? That, according to Peter, comes from your clean lifestyle and submission to your husband. Not as a patsy or a door-mat, but as a life partner who has a solid, abiding faith in God.

In God's service, for His glory,

James 3:17 – Heavenly Wisdom

Posted on May 5, 2015 by Will

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and unpretentious.

Truth to Learn

Heavenly wisdom is “others” focused, not “self” focused.

Behind the Words

“First” is from the Greek word proton, meaning “first in importance, order, or time.”

The word translated “pure” is hagnos, which has the same root as hagios (holy). It means “freedom from defilements or impurities.” Therefore, it is often translated as innocent, clean, or pure.

Epeita is the word translated “then.” When combined with proton (mentioned above) it implies that everything else in this list comes after hagnos in importance, order, and time.

“Peaceable” is the Greek word, eirēnikos which means “pacific” or “relating to peace.”

The word translated “gentle” is epieikēs, which is made up of epi, meaning “over” and eikos, meaning “reasonable or fair.” Hence, this word means overly reasonable or overly fair. There really is no English word that fully expresses the meaning of this word, but the overriding idea is that of showing clemency mercy even when it is clearly undeserved.

“Compliant” is translated from eupaithēs, which is made up of eu, meaning “good” or “easy” and a form of peithō, meaning “to persuade.” So, literally this word means “easily persuaded.” Thus, it is translated “compliant.”

The word “impartial” is translated from adiakritos, which is made up of a, meaning “without” and a form of diakrinō, meaning “to distinguish or to judge.” Therefore, we see that this heavenly wisdom is not selfishly judgmental, but remains impartial.

The word “unpretentious” comes from the Greek word, anupokritos. This is made up of a or an, meaning “not or without” and hupokritos from which we get our English word “hypocrisy.” Hence this word means “without false pretense, unpretentious, or genuine.”

Meaning Explained

In contrast to the worldly wisdom that was spoken of in the previous few verses (with bitter envying and self-serving motives, causing confusion), James now describes what godly wisdom looks like. He tells us first of all, it is “first pure.” As explained above, this word means first essentially, that is, first in importance, order, and time. The other qualities of heavenly wisdom are secondary and necessarily follow from the quality of purity. Heavenly wisdom engenders peace, not strife. It is gentle and exceedingly reasonable. It is compliant, not argumentative. It is merciful, not vengeful. It produces good fruit, not rottenness. It is impartial, and it is sincere, without even a hint of pretense.

We can see from this list that heavenly wisdom is not focused on self, but on the good of others. This is essentially what Paul said in his letter to the Philippians:

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. (Philippians 2:3)

Application

Let’s remember this when we share the gospel with others. We should be sharing the Word with godly wisdom, not worldly wisdom, and godly wisdom is first pure, then peaceable, overly reasonable, and compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. In other words, it acts the same way that Jesus did.

In God's service, for His glory,

James 1:27 – Unselfish Light

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Will

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to watch over orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Truth to Learn

The true outward expression of a Christian life is to care for the needs of others and not be caught-up in the world around us.

Behind the Words

The word translated “Pure” is katharos, meaning “clean, unsoiled, or pure.” It is the word from which we get our English word catharsis, which refers to “a cleansing.”

“Undefiled” is translated from amiantos, which is made up of the privative a and a form of miainō, meaning “to stain, pollute, or defile.” So, it means something that is unpolluted or undefiled. Since purity is the opposite of polluted or defiled, James is expressing a type of religious observance which is completely without sinfulness or selfishness.

The word translated “watch over” is a form of episkeptomai, which is made up of epi, meaning “upon” or “over” and skeptomai, meaning “to look around.” Hence, this word means “to watch over” or “to look out for.” The word episkopos, meaning “elder” or “overseer” is derived from this word.

“Trouble” is translated from thlipsis, which means “to crush, compress, or squeeze.” Hence, its root meaning is “stress” or “pressure.” Figuratively, it refers to distress or afflictions.

Finally, the word “world” is translated from kosmos, which refers to “an orderly arrangement.” It is the word used throughout the New Testament to refer to the world system.

Meaning Explained

There are many people all over the world who think they are religious – and many of them are! But there’s a big difference between being religious and being a Christian. Being religious, by itself does not gain you a thing. Since James is talking to Christians in this letter, we have to assume that he means Christians who are religious.

As was mentioned in the previous verse, religion refers to the ceremonial observance of a religious system (praying, making sacrifices, giving money, taking care of others, reading scripture, fasting, partaking of communion, etc). James is not condemning any of these things. Rather, he is focusing where God focuses – on the heart; that is to say, on our motives. We can do these things for selfish reasons and they have no effect, or we can watch over those who are undergoing difficult times and take care of them, unselfishly watching out for them.

But just doing things for others is not enough. James also tells us that we are to keep ourselves from becoming spotted by the world system around us. We are to be separate from the world and not be polluted by it. We are to be a light to the world, but our light cannot shine brightly if it has to shine through a life that is stained and polluted by the things of this world.

Application

Many people just want the right formula for religion (say the right prayers, perform the right observances, give the right amount of money, etc.) but, like the Pharisees of old, they become whitewashed tombs. James says, instead of this type of religiosity, we need to be more concerned about the needs of others and we need to keep ourselves holy before a Holy God.

In God's service, for His glory,

1 Peter 3:2 – Wondrous Pure Conduct

Posted on January 6, 2009 by admin

1 Peter 3:2

when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.

Truth to Learn

The pure lifestyle of a God-fearing woman is a thing of wonder to behold.

Behind the Words

The phrase, “when they observe” comes from the Greek word epopteuō, which is a compound of epi, meaning “on” or “upon” and a form of optomai, which means “to gaze.” There are a number of words in the Greek that are used for different types of looking, words that mean to see, to look at, to look closely at, to stare, to be a spectator, and to spy on. These are all distinctly different than this word which means, according to Strong’s concordance, “to gaze upon (that is, with wide open eyes, as at something remarkable).” The word is expressed here as an aorist participle, implying continuous action which occurred before the main verb of this sentence (“they may be won” in the previous verse). So, we could translate this as, “they having observed…”

The word translated “chaste” is the Greek word hagnos. This comes from the same root as hagios, a word we’ve looked at before, meaning “holy” or “pure.” The word in today’s verse means “clean, innocent, modest, chaste, or pure.”

“Conduct” is translated from anastrophē, which is made up of ana, meaning “up,” and a form of strephō, meaning “to turn.” Hence, this word literally means “to turn up,” but by application it means “to go back and forth” and has come to mean “manner of living, lifestyle, behavior, or conduct.”

Meaning Explained

This pure lifestyle is the most effective witness to an unsaved husband. Unfortunately, some women married to unsaved men feel like they need to preach at their husbands or badger them into going to church on Sunday. Instead, Peter says that a woman in this situation is to live a life totally devoted to God and submitted to her husband. That doesn’t mean that the woman has to do whatever her husband wants if what he wants is contrary to the teaching of Scripture. Her top priorities have to be obedience to God and a pure lifestyle. But Peter does teach us (from the previous verse) that “they (unsaved husbands), without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives.” In the next couple of verses, Peter will give us more details about how this type of woman conducts herself.

Let me say that a pure lifestyle and a submissive spirit are exactly the qualities, coupled with a solid faith and reverential fear of the Lord, which caused me to first gaze at and admire the young woman who eventually became my wife more than thirty years ago. Qualities that I still find remarkable even today!

Application

In God’s service, for His glory,

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