What does the Bible mean about Wives submitting to their husbands?
She was not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be loved.”
The Bible isn’t saying that husbands have license to be domineering, abusive, controlling, tyrannical or dictatorial.
It doesn’t mean that wives shouldn’t be allowed to express themselves, think independently or cooperate in decision making that affects the couple and the family.
Ephesians 5:22–24 teaches mutual submission: husbands and wives are to live in an attitude of humility and service to one another.
And together, as well as individually, they are to be in submission to Christ.
The word submission takes on a positive meaning as we understand the loving God who becomes the source for all authority.
When a husband willingly submits to the loving authority of Jesus Christ, he treats his wife with the same sacrificial love that Christ displayed to his bride, the church.
When mutual submission is practiced, husbands and wives embody the humble servanthood that epitomized Christ’s earthly obedience, even to the point of death (Eph 5:25–33).
We see an example of submission at work in the Trinity.
Jesus the Son willingly submitted to the Father, because Jesus knew the Father loved him (Jn 15:10).
Similarly, the Holy Spirit willingly submits to Jesus and exalts Jesus in everything he does (Jn 16:13–15).
While Jesus and the Holy Spirit willingly exercise submission in their relationship with the triune God, they also act as co-equal members of the Godhead.
Their willing submission doesn’t mean one person in the relationship is less important than the other.
The same is true in a marriage relationship.
Matthew Henry wrote: “The woman was made out of Adam’s side.
She was not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be loved.”
Ephesians 5:22–24
22- Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.
23- 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.
24- Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
What does the Bible mean about wives submitting to their husbands?
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