The Way

Hebrews 9:8-10 - By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.


John 14:6 - Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Hebrews 10:1 - For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.

Application:

· Jesus is the only way to God, and He alone can provide access to God
· The very repetition of the sacrifices bore testimony that the perfect, sin-removing sacrifice had not yet been offered
· Christ introduced the new order with its new priesthood, new sanctuary and new sacrifice

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

In The Same Way

1 Peter 3:1-2 - Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

1 Peter 2:13-14,21 - Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right…To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

Conclusions:

• Wives are to be submissive in the same way as believers are to submit to government authorities, and as slaves are to submit to masters
• Be submissive calls for submission to a recognized authority
• Inferiority is not implied by 1 Peter 3:1
• The submission is one of role or function necessary for the orderly operation of the home
• The word is the gospel message
• Believing wives are not to rely on argumentation to win their unbelieving husbands, but on the quality of their lives
• Actions speak louder than words
• Authority established among men depends on God for its existence
• Indirectly, when one disobeys a human ruler he disobeys God, who ordained the system of human government
• When Peter wrote, the emperor was the godless, brutal Nero, who ruled from A.D. 54 to 68
• Of course, obedience to the emperor must never be in violation of the law of God
• The patient endurance of injustice is part of God’s plan for the Christian
• It was an important feature of the true grace of God experienced by the readers
• Christ is the supreme example of suffering evil for doing good
• His experience as the suffering Servant-Savior transforms the suffering of His followers from misery into privilege

Application:

• Do you submit to government authority?
• Do you disobey human rulers?
• Do you patiently endure injustice?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible