January 22
________________________________________
WHY WIVES MUST SUBMIT TO THEIR HUSBANDS
22 Wives, subject yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. – Ephesians 5:22-24
________________________________________
According to a commentary on this chapter, the command given in Ephesians 5:22 is difficult. God knows this, so He also includes reasons for His command. He wants us to understand the principle behind the command. The first reason for a Christian wife’s submission must be obedience and respect to Jesus, instead of obedience and respect to her husband. Paul states that the second reason for a wife’s submission is because the husband is the head of the wife. In its full sense head has the idea of headship and authority. It means to have the appropriate responsibility to lead and the matching accountability. It is right and appropriate to submit to someone who is our head. Other passages in the bible that talks about headship is 1 Corinthians 11 and 1 Timothy 3, where emphasis is constantly placed on man, since he was created first and not the woman. There is a hierarchy in creation for humans. The bible says that woman was made out of the man in Genesis 2:22. Woman was taken out of the man to show a connection to him, and that she was meant to be a help for man, a helper who was fitting for him. Llyod-Jones says that man was created first and man was also made to have dominion over creation. It was to man that this authority was given over the brute animal creation; it was man who was called upon to give them names. Man was given the position of leadership, lordship, authority and power. Lloyd-Jones further comments “When a woman gets married, she gives up her name, she takes the name of her husband. That is Biblical, and also the custom of the whole world. That teaches us the relationship between the husband and the wife. It is not the husband who changes his name, but the wife.”
Paul likens the headship of the husband to his wife as Christ’s authority over his church. This is the order of God’s creation, but the world has corrupted this hierarchy by messing up roles and creating a different order. No wonder many women struggle to submit to their husbands because of the confusion that the world system has brought into our lives.
Gender roles have been messed up, therefore marriages become chaotic and confusing.
________________________________________
REFLECTION
• How different is the concept of submission to the world and to God’s truth?