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1 Peter 3:7
7 Likewise [homoios], ye husbands [aner], dwell with [sunoikeo] them according to [kata] knowledge [gnosis], giving [aponemo] honour [time] unto the wife [gunaikeios], as [hos] unto the weaker [asthenes] vessel [skeuos], and [kai] as [hos] being heirs together [sugkleronomos] of the grace [charis] of life [zoe]; that [eis] your [humon] prayers [proseuche] be [ekkopto] not [me] hindered [ekkopto]. KJV-Interlinear
7 You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. NASB
Throughout the ages, women have been relegated to the lower rungs of the social ladder. In every religion, except Christianity, women have been considered as unequal's, or lower than their male counterparts, and therefore inferior.
Only in Christianity, is the female guaranteed an equal status in life and in heaven.
The woman is certainly not less intelligent than men. Women are certainly not less capable than men. Women are certainly not inferior in many ways, than their male counterparts. But throughout history, women have been handed the lesser roles, the short stick as it were, the more humiliating places in life.
When war came the woman was ravaged and treated with tremendous disrespect. Even in marriage, many a woman has been taken advantage of by husbands that were less than honorable, to say the least. Getting a decent inheritance was near impossible.
But here, God places a tremendous burden of responsibility on the husband.
In Ephesians 5, the husband is commanded to love his wife, how? As Christ loved the Church. And how did Christ love the church? He loved it first before Himself, and second, He gave His life for it.
So now this places mans command authority in a different perspective.
But Peter now teaches us that we are to love our wife, ‘according to knowledge.’ And what is that? According to doctrine.
Any person placed in a position of authority, is expected to learn his responsibilities and obligations. Whether it is a general, a president, a teacher, a parent, or a husband, it makes no difference. Any person in authority is expected to learn the limits and responsibilities of his authority.
The husband may not boast of his position. The husband may not demand respect. The husband may not abuse his position, or take advantage of others.
The husband may not ignore Bible doctrine, and this is the bottom line. Without doctrine in your soul, you forfeit your rights, and God is the only one who promotes or demotes in this regard.
The woman is the weaker vessel in that she does not hold this marital position. The woman has been taken advantage of throughout the ages. She may be smarter, stronger, more able, but Peter does not refer to her soul, but to her vessel. And the vessel is the biological physical body that we have all come to recognize as the female.
And who placed her in that body? God. And why did God place her there? Because she was better able to deal with the problems that she would encounter in her life. That is true of anyone of course. We are all placed where we are, because God saw down through the tunnel of time, that we would be better off where we are, as opposed to being someone or somewhere else. What those alternatives might have been, we will not likely ever know. We are now, what we are.
Therefore, unlike all other religions, cults, philosophies, etc., Christianity elevates the woman, especially the wife, as an equal. In the spiritual life, she is entitled to the same opportunities, the same blessings, the same inheritance, the same positions, the same rights and titles, and so forth, as any man.
To consider the woman as anything else, is nothing more than a form of prejudice and stupidity. And anyone who takes advantage, or abuses his position as a man, will be dealt with by God, for this violation of Gods mandate.
