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Understanding Biblical Submission
Join us in today’s meditation on Ephesians chapter five, verse 22—a controversial ver… (visit YouTube for more)
Transcript
Today’s meditation verse is a bit of a controversial one. So let me say at the outset, this is a meditation, not an exposition, not a Bible study. We’re not doing a deep dive. We don’t have time for that. Our purpose here is to ask the Holy Spirit what he’s saying to us through this verse.
So with that in mind, let’s read Ephesians chapter five verse 22. Wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord.
You can see why I said it was controversial, can’t you? There’s beauty in the whole chapter here of Ephesians. And in this verse, wives are specifically addressed, singled out by gender to be submissive to the husbands. What might that mean for you as a wife or for me as a husband of a wife?
What I don’t think it means is that I’ve suddenly got a right to insist that my wife submits to me so that I can lord it over her. No, this command is between my wife and the Lord. This submission is as to the Lord.
I’m sure that Paul is not saying wives put yourselves unwisely in harm’s way. But in a well-functioning, godly relationship between a wife and a husband, God has created this dynamic that benefits both parties. We each have equal status before God, equal value and different roles, and it is between us and God to learn and to understand what that role might be.
And I’ll go so far as to say I think it might be different for every relationship, because every relationship is different. I wouldn’t say this is something to be prescriptive about because many have done that and great harm has come into the body of Christ.
Nevertheless, whatever your status in relation to marriage, it’s worth reflecting on this and asking the Holy Spirit, as we said right at the start, to reveal to you, what does this mean?
Lord God, thank you that you’ve given us your word for our instruction, for our training. We ask that you reveal its meaning to us so that we are best able to serve you God. Amen.
