. We need to first finish some observations on the text of Ephesians 5:22. Though wives are to submit to their husbands, it never excuses husbands acting as tyrants over their wives. In the first age, neither the art of writing, nor any permanent method of conveying instruction, being invented, it was necessary to make such striking actions and events as could not easily be forgotten emblems of the instruction meant to be perpetuated. What follows are several verses from Scripture that define what it means for Christ to be Head of the church. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 so that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her with the washing of water by the word— 27 so that he might present the church to himself in glory, without blemish or wrinkle or any other such thing, but being holy and blameless.
This is his role, his job in marriage, to give himself up to the end that his wife might be honored, not only in the family circle but outside as well. Our Lord did not give himself up for the church without certain objectives in mind, and those purposes are three-fold. It is the love of deep friendship and partnership. God has not commanded in His word that men have exclusive authority in the areas of politics, business, education, and so on. The gist of what I saw which was not the program in its entirety was that some primates, such as the chimpanzee, have a very aggressive and somewhat violent demeanor, while another species manifests a disposition which personifies dare I use this term? Little did men dream of the intimacy which God had in mind for His people. Even the large number of words with sun-prefixes meaning: with, together with is evidence of Paul's stress on unity in the epistle.
Therefore, the husband is to love his wife by helping her grow, nourishing and edifying her while giving himself up for her, loving her as his own body. To be the head of the church is to be in authority over it Ephesians 1:22; Colossians 1:16-18. If such actions do not set well with our desires the flesh , and are in conflict with the values of our culture the world , then we pronounce them to be the idiosyncrasies of Paul, or actions related only to that culture and time, or just plain foolishness. To be head as Christ is Head is a high calling. 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.
It appears, from Athenaeus, that these people were addicted to luxury, effeminacy etc. This also brings me peace because even though the decision, in my personal estimation, will result in harm. It also applies in matters of true Christian conscience. It takes great integrity for a person to do what God says should be done. A good man will be ashamed to speak of what many wicked men are not ashamed to do.
You make the most of every opportunity for Jesus Christ. This is also true of the husband toward the wife. Men ought to give their wives the love they naturally have for their own bodies. In the Christian home, husband and wife are to defer to each other in seeking to fulfill each other's preferences, desires and aspirations. The woman is made essentially to be a follower.
According to 2 Timothy 1:7, God has given us the spirit of power — but also of love. In the context of family relationships, it is notable that the wife is not called to submit not to obey see word study her husband, as children are to obey their parents and slaves their masters. It is true that the wife owes the husband a great deal of respect. Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. The Christian husband must love his wife this way because you are one with her , just as Jesus is one with the church.
Christianity radically altered the social order of the ancient world, turning it right side up! Jewett, Man as Male and Female 1975 , p. Slaves are addressed before their masters because the apostle was primarily concerned about submission. Quoted in German in Sampley p. It is an ordinance of God, and, cannot be too highly honored; endless volumes might be written on its utility to man: without marriage, by which every man is assigned his own wife, and every woman her own husband, even the multitude of spurious births which would take place would fail to keep up the population of the earth; and natural, moral, and political wretchedness would be the consequence of promiscuous, fortuitous, and transitory connections. No one would ever conceive of the idea that Jesus found it a reproach to submit to the Father. It is a love more of decision than of the spontaneous heart.
This was what she asked when she consented to become his; and a husband's love is what she still asks to sustain and cheer her in the trials of life. They owe this to their husbands. This word is especially needful for husbands who see headship in submission with worldly understanding instead of godly understanding. It gives because it loves, it does not love in order to receive. How the discovery of these depths of Satan was made, and the whole proceedings in that case, may be seen in Livy, Hist.
The motive for submission is not social kindness. A variety of meanings have been postulated for the phrase hōs tō kuriō. The most important place for us to have a melody unto God is in our heart. How can a man, who has been talking foolishly or jestingly in company, go in private to magnify God for the use of his tongue which he has abused, or his rational faculties which he has degraded? Weldon, The Kephalē Concept in the Pauline Tradition with Special Emphasis on Colossians Th. See then that you walk circumspectly : Because this light was given to us, we should walk circumspectly — carefully, wisely, not as fools. That is the relationship — as Christ nourishes and cherishes the church, so the husband nourishes and cherishes the wife — and the wife should realize that that is her position in this relationship. Nor is it hers to go forward as a public leader even in enterprises of benevolence, or in associations designed to act on the public mind.
First, if we are wrong we need to admit it. And do not be drunk with wine : In contrast with the conduct of the world being drunk with wine , we are to be filled with the Spirit. B1 For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. A deep sleep fell upon the Son of God, He gave up the ghost, He expired, and there in that operation the church was taken out. Wrenching the Haustafel from the matrix in which it is given in the Scriptures cuts the exegete off from the corrective to his interpretation which is offered by the context. A deep sleep fell upon Adam.