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In the situation of conflict and uncertainty that can arise from a marriage of a Christian and a non-Christian (note the mention of fear in 3:6), Christian wives must do good. That is, they are called to submit to their husbands even if husbands persist in rejecting the Gospel (3:1). It is, in fact, precisely through their submissive conduct that their husbands may be brought to faith without verbal argument or coaxing (literally, “without a word”).
Peter assumes that authentic Christian conduct (here submission) flows from God’s grace and has the power to attract and win non-Christians. He describes the wives' submissive life-style as pure and carried out in fear (3:2), recalling their purification at conversion (cf. 1:22 with 1:15-16) and the reverence that qualifies Christian life in general (1:17; 2:17). Such a lifestyle has a powerful missionary impact on non-Christians (cf. 2:12; 3:1-2). This fact provides us with the key for understanding Peter’s instructions on the wives' adornment (3:3-4). Peter is not commenting on matters of fashion, as has been often assumed in some Wesleyan circles. Rather, he urges that a Christian wife’s adornment, that upon which she depends for attracting and winning her husband to faith, should not be external but internal. The hidden person of the heart, not the fleshly outward appearance, will render the most effective witness to the Gospel.
Peter concludes by assuring these wives that in so relating to their husbands they are following the venerable example of the holy women of old who, like them, set their hope in God. In particular, the behavior outlined for Christian wives will demonstrate their kinship to Sarah and confirm their belonging to the people of God.