3 Paula,

You said:

Peter is giving the reason for the wordless witness. Why would a saved husband need a witness at all? In other words, if we think this through, this wouldn’t make much sense:

If all Christian wives are submissive to their husbands, the lost husbands will take note and be converted.

I believe that it does make sense if we say that all Christian wives are to have an attitude of submission (just as Jesus had an attitude of submission) and if some husbands are unsaved, this attitude of their wives will cause them to take note and it may bring them to the Lord. That makes perfect sense to me.

I think it’s the combination of the “if” with “any”. Yes it could possibly mean that the unbelieving husbands will not the behavior of all believing wives, yet I don’t think Peter is addressing groups here, but only couples. The word I’m keying on for this is “own”. Peter says to Christian wives, “Be subject to your own husbands…”, which I think gives it a more restricted scope. Just my opinion.

In this verse Peter is definitely only addressing the wives and he does say “your own husbands” which makes this attitude of submission a particular attitude towards only one man, but the general message of service that is attached with the term “likewise, or in like manner”, refers to all Christians.