Ephesians 5:21-33: Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
The next few weeks I want to discuss the marital relationship, the parenting relationship, and the employer-employee relationship. This week I want to focus on Ephesians 5:22, Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Paul teaches that a wife should submit to her husband, a child should obey his parents, and a slave or employee should obey his master or employer. However, Paul also teaches that we should submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
I obtained much of the following information on submission, from a sermon by Bob Deffinbaugh, Th.M. His sermon is titled The Submission of the Christian Wife. In this message, he also discusses the general concept of submission.
Pastor Deffinbaugh says, "The difficulty with understanding Paul’s command to wives to 'be subject' to their own husbands is that our grasp of the meaning of the word 'submit' is too narrow. Generally speaking, we think that the word 'submit' is synonymous with the word 'obey.' We are inclined to restrict submission to refer only to our response to those who are in authority over us. Very often, this is the case—but not always. Paul’s instruction in verse 21 is directed to every believer. Christians, without exception, are to 'be subject to one another,' without any exceptions. Submission, then, must not only work “upward” (in terms of authority), but also downward. And so it is that submission is called for on the part of husbands to their wives (5:22-33), fathers to their children (6:1-4), and masters to their slaves (6:5-9)."
He says that the Greek word hupatassomai means primarily "to lose or surrender one's own rights or will." In the active voice the idea implicit is "to place under." This verb does not immediately carry the idea of obedience.
Examine the words of Paul from Philippians. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:3-8 NIV)
Notice the key points that Paul makes.
So, that is the type of attitude that believers should have toward one another, as we submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. We are not just looking out for #1, as the world teaches us to do. We are always looking out for the best interests of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
- Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
- In humility consider others better than yourself.
- Look out for the interests of others, not just your own interests.
- Have the attittude of Jesus. He had the attitude of a servant.
- Jesus did whatever it took to help us...to the point of dying on the cross for our sins.
I think it is important to note, that Paul gives this instruction about submission, immediately after teaching about the fullness of the Holy Spirit. There is no way that we can walk in this type of submissive, loving, caring attitude without the help of the Holy Spirit.
Here is one more paragraph from Pastor Deffinbaugh's sermon, that sheds more light on the the word "submit."
"I doubt that any one word can sum up the essence of what the Scriptures mean by submission. Let me suggest several words, each of which identifies a certain element of submission. The first word is 'surrender.' Submission is a voluntary act of surrendering one’s rights or will. The second word is 'sacrifice.' The third is 'service.' The service which is rendered those to whom we submit often involves a sacrifice. It costs us something to render service to the other person. A fourth term is 'authority,' while a fifth is 'obedience.' When we submit to one who has authority over us, we should evidence this submission, in part, by our obedience. Conversely, when we submit to those under our authority, we evidence this with sacrificial service. The final term is 'priority.' Those to whom we submit have, in some manner, priority over us, our rights, our pleasure, or our will."
In short, to submit to one another in reverence of Christ, means to walk in love toward one another. It means to love people with God's perfect love, which never fails. (See I Corinthians 13)
Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35 NIV)
To submit out of reverence for Christ, is to love as Jesus loves.
Next week we will examine the submission that God requires of a wife to her husband. Then, the following week, we will examine Paul's command to husbands to love their wives even as Christ loved the church.
Wayne L. Williams
wayne@fotwm.org
Wisdom From the Word
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