11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him (Ephesians 3:8-12).131132. And He submitted Himself silently, without returning evil for evil, even though He suffered unjustly. Wives, I want you to consider a few things about what is being t… I believe that self-sacrifice is a form of submission. A careful reexamination of Paul's great passage on Marriage in Ephesians 5.21-33 is essential in order to lay the proper foundation for any modern approach to Family Life Education which is both Biblical and clear sighted. Read Ephesians 5 commentary using Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete). John Piper Oct 19, 2012 3.4K Shares God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him Learn more about Desiring God In Ephesians 5:22-33, husbands and wives are singled out and given instructions concerning certain attitudes and behaviours. But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. Ephesians 5:33. Let me attempt to illustrate what I mean in this way. Wouldn’t people find it more beneficial? Thus the worst evils would be prevented, and many painful effects would be avoided. How can this be? Or do you despise the church of God, and shame those who have nothing? And so it was that every subsequent marriage was to reflect something of the first marriage and, so to speak, the last, the marriage of Christ to His church. The Search OF the Savior: Why Jesus Came, Part 1 (Luke 19:1-10), Bible Storying Series - Teaching The Story Of God Chronologically, Ephesians: The Glory of God in the Church. To Him be the glory [preeminence, praise], forever. Immediately following Peter’s reference to our Lord’s submission, he turns to women, urging them to submit (in silence) to their husbands, linking their submission to that of Christ: “In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives” (1 Peter 3:1, emphasis mine). His love is an active love that does not suppress but serves and glorifies his beloved. Each has a symbolic role to play, and to ignore, reject, or distort their symbolic duties is a serious matter. Nevertheless — As if he said, But though there be such a mystical sense in the marriage of Adam and Eve, or in the union subsisting between a man and his wife; though it be a striking emblem of the union between Christ and his church, yet the plain, literal sense especially now concerns you. The Christian’s conversion brings about a radical transformation of our thinking and behavior, and this will not be in harmony with a sinful, fallen world. Headship has to do with origins. The Lord’s Supper is one of the two ordinances our Lord has given to His church in this age. It is not easy to think of our Lord as an example of submission. 4 Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; 5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “See,” He says, “that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain” (Hebrews 8:1-5). Love Your Wife Like Jesus Loves Her Ten Great Loves for Every Husband. This person has taken Ephesians 5:22-35 to be solely about marriage and has misunderstood Paul’s highlighted point. But our relationship to Christ is one of equality with every other believer, because we are all saved by His grace and stand justified in Him. Promiscuity and perversion are now somehow “good” because they promote peace, or at least they minimize aggressive conduct and violence. [My critique of his message is in endnote 2.] To deny our Lord’s submission to the church (as well as to the Father’s will) in order to “protect” His headship is something like denying our Lord’s suffering in order to protect His glory. 8. But let us not adopt the thinking of the world in which we live toward these matters. In each of the three pairings, the first partner is responsible to be submissive or obedient ( Ephesians 5:22; Ephesians 6:1; Ephesians 6:5). But there is one thing I will accept: we must go back to our beginnings as a basis for our behavior. This is evident in Paul’s teaching concerning the conduct of the Corinthians at the Lord’s Table. Here, he cites Genesis 2:24, and immediately informs us that this text refers to Christ and His church. Col. 1:21-22). The actor who is given the role of the villain is not any less a person in his standing because of his role than the one who plays the hero is a better person for doing so. In Paul’s words, it was a mystery. Mark the pronouns too, this will take careful attention. If you have set aside certain biblical commands, duties, and actions, with what have you replaced them? For her hair is given to her for a covering. Christ is to be the object of our worship, adoration, and praise. Go through Eph. The peaceful primates were also noted to have sex with either the male or the female of the species, without discrimination. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created by Him and for Him. 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. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fulness of the times, that is, the summing up128 of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth (Ephesians 1:8b-10, emphasis mine). Walking worthy of the calling in marriage means that wives will submit to their husbands. Jesus would come to the earth to “tabernacle” among men (John 1:14). 5:26-27; cf. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:3-8). When God created marriage, He has a specific purpose in mind. Do you think it demeaning to hold a position of service? 2:8). Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. in regard to natural marriage, [to be supplied] out of Moses; it expresses the Apodosis, viz. Filter The Archives: Our Lord has become the Head of the church by submitting Himself to the Father, to the church, and even to sinful men. The headship of our Lord is not contrary to the cross; it is the consequence of it. There is no value in seeking to demonstrate the symbolism of the gospel until you have first received of its substance—Christ Himself. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; 26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless. The roles which God has given to a Christian husband and his wife and not culturally derived, nor are they arbitrarily based. Marriage is a Picture of the church (Ephesians 5:32) Ephesians 5:32. We should also point out that the bread and the wine of communion are symbols, symbols of our Lord’s sacrificial death for sinners. This week I saw a portion of a television program having to do with a certain species of primates. (Ephesians 5 Commentary) Ray Stedman has the following thoughts on this verse in his devotional entitled The Cure For Conflict ... Paul now discusses marriage which he uses as a picture of the church, the mystery of Jews and Gentiles in one Body, the Bride of Christ. To disregard God’s instructions concerning symbolic institutions is a sin of the most serious order. God created the woman as Adam’s helpmeet, fashioning her to correspond to him in every way. 22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. As a man seeks out the woman whom he loves and woes her to himself, so Jesus Christ seeks those who will become a part of His bride, the church. Having spoken as directly and forcibly as I can concerning our duties and responsibilities to carry out our symbolic roles, let me also remind you that these roles are not a reflection on us as persons, but rather are a reflection of Christ and His church. If we understand and apply Paul’s teaching, we will discover that one’s attitudes and conduct in a Christian marriage, like every other dimension of the Christian’s life, are dramatically different from those of the world. 24 Just as the called out people submit to Christ, so also wives should fully submit to their husbands.” (Ephesians 5:22-24). The words of Adam, mentioned by the apostle, are spoken literally of marriage; but they have also a hidden sense in them, relating to the union between Christ and his church. In this sense, being one with Christ was anticipated in the Old Testament Scriptures, but not comprehended, and thus, a mystery, a great mystery. DAY 1 . If we are not convinced by Paul’s words in Philippians chapter 2, then let us consider what Peter says in 1 Peter 2 and 3. Servants are then told to submit to their masters, especially the unreasonable ones (2:18-20). Chocolate syrup might taste delicious on vanilla ice cream, but it would hardly replace the wine (or grape juice) as the symbol for Christ’s shed blood. It was a kind of type, as. Those who hold to divine creation, and to the authority of the Scriptures look to the early chapters of Genesis to understand why men behave as they do, and to understand how we should behave so as to please God. The subject of Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 5:21-33 is that of submission in the context of marriage. As a woman must accept the proposal of her husband to be, so you must accept God’s offer of salvation in the person of Jesus Christ. Stated briefly the substance dictates the symbol. 25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls (1 Peter 2:20-25). wives-pink husband or husbands - blue Christ- yellow This intimacy was even more than that of being with Him, it was that of being one with Him, of being in Christ (see Ephesians 1 and 2). Some attempt to use this text in Galatians to undermine the New Testament teaching on submission, particularly the submission of the wife to her husband. Therefore: Here, Paul concludes the thought from Ephesians 4, where he described how Christians should relate to one another. “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. The phrases in Ephesians 5 that mention “saviour”, “sanctify”, “cleansed”, and “present” refer to Jesus and not to husbands (e.g., Eph. 14 Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him, 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? And God provided her. Consider the following texts: 13 Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with head uncovered? I believe that He submits Himself to the church by seeking its blessing at His expense. Christ is then pointed out as our example, in whose steps we should follow: 20 For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? Paul’s instructions here create a head-on collision with the beliefs and practices of our culture. Close. Lewis Guest IV Apr 18, 2016 2.1K Shares Article. 133 Greeting one another with a holy kiss may be an example. Wouldn’t our unsaved friends be more likely to attend? Paul has already spoken of this mystery in chapter 2, and especially in chapter 3. The context of 1 Peter 2:13–3:7 is surely that of submission. The duties which Paul sets down are not a reflection of Paul’s narrowness and chauvinism, as some would say, but the teaching of our Lord Himself, pertaining to matters of great importance. I do not think that our conduct should be modeled after monkeys (or chimpanzees, and any other primates), and neither do I believe that sexual promiscuity is the solution for violence. In other words, the headship of Christ is evident in the salvation which He accomplished at Calvary. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:22-23, emphasis mine). 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26-28). Adam was conspicuous as the only creature without a corresponding mate. Ephesians 5 and 6 deal with relationships for life; Submission; Paul is writing about mutual submission in which we submit to one another in the fear of God. He is to be lifted up and exalted. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. It is one thing for the unbelieving world to reject Paul’s instructions; it is quite another for Christians to do so. I must ask one final question of you, my friend. Consider these texts once again, as Paul surely meant for them to lay the foundation for what he now says concerning the headship of Christ. The reason is given in the preceding verses. 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