Does Peter Want Me to Stop Talking?

A quiet and gentle spirit, which in God's sight is very precious...

The words enter into my mind once again.

It's interesting how my thoughts on what the focus of this section of Scripture has shifted over time.

I used to look at this verse and be overcome with the question of whether or not physical beauty was something that a biblical woman should seek. Yet there is far more treasure to be found here. This verse speaks of something more comforting than any conclusion on physical beauty. Something that by the grace of God has been developing in my heart, and that absolutely needs to be developed further. And in the process, I remember that my God is sovereign, and that he uses all things to form me more into the image of his Son.

"Do not let your adorning be external-- the braiding of hair, the wearing of gold, or the putting on of clothing-- but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. 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." 1 Peter 3:3-6

Oh, how I fall short. How I fail to trust him- to rest in trusting him. And how I fail to rejoice in the fact that I can rest in trusting him. Thank God, my Father, that he has given his only Son to pay for my sin of distrust of the only trustworthy One.

This passage used to confuse me to no end. Quiet and gentle... what on earth does that mean? Does that mean I'm soft spoken and say very little? If so, I (and a lot of women I know) have fallen quite short of that. Does this mean that I need to change that about myself. If that's what this verse said, then I would submit to that, because it's the Word of God. However, I felt the need to understand at greater depth what this verse meant before I changed the way I interact with most people.

Gentle: "Meekness [or gentleness] towards God is that disposition of the spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting."

Quiet: "'tranquility arising from within,' causing no disturbance to others"

Thank you Vines and BlueLetterBible... you are much appreciated. (blueletterbible.org)

It goes so much deeper than I would have ever guessed. It comes down to trusting, to resting, in the sovereignty and the goodness of our Father.

"He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" Romans 8: 32

This is our basis for trusting our Father. This is his goodness. His entire being is for our good... his entire being! He didn't even spare his own Son! How could we not trust his goodness.

But what about his sovereignty?

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed into the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." Romans 8:28-30

God's sovereignty- all things, he uses, for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. He foreknew us, he predestined us.

We see God's goodness overlapping here. All things work together for our good. Even the bad things, even the really bad things, even the horrible things, even the really, really, really horrible things, will be used for our good, to make us look more like the Son. No one else gets to say that; only the adopted children of God get to say, and are able to rest in the truth, that even the really really awful things will make us look more like the Son. And, people, (and by people, I mean- hey Taylor- listen up!) that is our goal!

Thus, he's given us all things needed to have a quiet and gentle spirit, that is, a spirit who is at rest with whatever he's given to us; a spirit that trusts that he is both sovereign and good in all his dealings with his children. This begins inside of you, in your spirit, but it overflows and shows itself as a woman at peace. And as a friend stated to me, woman are known as natural worriers. So isn't it lovely that God treasures a woman who isn't a worrier, and has given us a way to not be that woman. For what is the core of worrying, if not that we think someone or something is in control who is against us? That is not what the gospel says! God is so for his children that he gave his only Son. He is for those who are in Christ, he is trustworthy.

And to top it all of, this is a spirit that is very precious in the sight of God. He loves when woman have the spirit about them of deep trust in who he is, that is, sovereign and good. And we are to have this trust in all situations. For me, that means having this spirit about me as I wait for my husband and my children. For other woman, it means having this spirit as they wait for their husband to become a Christian (as this passage addresses), or their children to follow Jesus. It may mean having this spirit as a woman experiences a miscarriage (I can't even imagine). Or having this spirit as a young lady waits to hear if she's made it into her first choice of college. It looks like many different things for many different women. But the core of it is our sovereign Father, who did not even spare his own Son.

The gospel that wounds

"Avoid a sugared gospel as you would shun sugar of lead. Seek the gospel which rips up and tears and cuts and wounds and even kills, for that is the gospel that makes alive again. And when you have found it, give good heed to it. Let it enter into your inmost being as the rain soaks into the ground, so pray the Lord to let his gospel soak into your soul." C.H. Spurgeon

Spurgeon implies that there is the one true gospel and that are false gospels taught by false teachers. The false teachers speak of a sugared gospel- its the gospel Paul warned about in Galatians that seeks to work its way to right standing with God through circumcision or the law, or the gospel that Paul warned Timothy against, where false teachers tell their hearers what their itching ears want to hear. This is not the true gospel. The true gospel says that I cannot work my way to right standing with God. It is not what our ears want to hear.

We do not want to be told that our sinfulness is so boundless, so far-reaching, so rampant... that our hearts are so wicked, that we cannot make ourselves even the least bit right with God. We want to believe that we're good. The gospel tells us otherwise. And even those who have accepted the truth of the gospel as their joy must still be told that they cannot make themselves right with God. We want to believe that we can do good, and thus make the Father love us more, accept us more. We even go so far as to believe that if we sin, the Father is angry with us. Yet Jesus has drank the full wrath of the Father for us! The gospel tells us we can only rely upon what Jesus did.

The gospel tells us that we are so wicked that not only can we not make ourselves right with God, but that Jesus, the only obedient one, had to die in order to fix what we have done. The Father's wrath was rightfully upon us (and is still upon those who haven't trusted Jesus), but Jesus drank the full cup of the Father's wrath on behalf of humanity. This is yet another blow to our prideful egos.

Thus, the question of how the gospel tears us apart is easily understood in the context of Scripture. It shows us the depths of our sins. Something we never wanted to admit or even know about ourselves. It takes away all of our self-dependence and places everything in Jesus Christ, the lamb who was slain.

Yet the gospel repairs. It brings us to the lowest point we can come to, to a state of absolute hopelessness. And that's where the Father could have justly left us. Yet he didn't. The gospel then brings us to the light and the hope and the joy of Jesus Christ. We are shown that his life was lived in perfect obedience, fulfilling every bit of the law that we could not. He earned perfect obedience for us in his life. He died our death, drinking the full wrath of the Father. Thus, for those who are in Christ Jesus, there is no longer any wrath to drink. Not a drop. Jesus drank all of it. He was buried, and rose three days later. He ascended to the right hand of the Father where he is interceding for us.

The gospel shows us the depth of our sin, the sheer wickedness of our heart. The gospel brings us hope in Jesus, and Jesus only. And it does this not only for the person who just accepted Jesus but for every believer, the youngest and the oldest, for it is our very foundation. As of late, I have been praying that I realize the wickedness of my heart and the fullness of Jesus' salvation for me, for I know that I do not begin to understand it as I should. Like Spurgeon suggests, I'm asking the Lord that this gospel would soak deep into my soul as the rain does the ground.

No matter how many times I watch this, it still blows me away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igCj3jsbcqs

Hesitant to share the only thing that matters... my justification remains

I want to be a person who is always on the lookout for opportunities to share the gospel. My life is worth nothing if it is not used to share the gospel. My justification is not changed. Not even for a split second, and God will receive glory from me regardless. Nonetheless, I am called to always have the gospel on my lips and speak it at all times. I had the opportunity today to share it with a stranger, yet I didn't. I don't want that to happen ever again. Never, ever again. God has those who belong to him. And my duty is to preach the gospel. He will use my stumbling words and nervous tone to draw to himself those who have belonged to him since the foundation of the world. Thus I must speak it.

Yet, in this I rest. That I have failed yet again. That I was disobedient, and once again showed that I am deserving of hell. Yet Jesus has paid for everything. There is no more wrath for me to drink. I get to drink the cup of God's salvation because Jesus drank the cup of wrath and earned for me the cup of salvation. My relationship with the Father is not hindered. And out of love, I am free to obey him.

I am frustrated with myself. But that produces growth. I have to remind myself of the truth of my justification. I can't allow my emotions to control how I view the truth. God says I am justified- I am justified no matter how I feel. I have to ask my Father to give me boldness to share the gospel. Paul in one of his letters asked the church to pray that he would have boldness as he ought to to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is a prayer request of mine, also.