Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Summary: To address this topic we have decided to step back and look at the larger picture. Why does God want an obedient wife for his Son, Jesus?
There are a lot of ways to address this text, and none of them will make everyone happy. This is a challenging topic because it has to do with God’s plan for families.
Since Paul has left very little to the imagination and just blurted out what he knows, I thought it might be helpful to step back and take a look at the larger picture.
The Gospel of John includes a story about Jesus and his disciples baptizing people near where John the Baptist and his disciples also baptized people. Apparently, “everyone” preferred to get baptized by Jesus’ disciples (John 3: 26).
Distressed, they asked John the Baptist about this, and John replied this way:
“The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.” (John 3:29)
Later, in the Book of Revelation, John writes:
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”
(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) (Revelation 19:7-8)
As believers, we are not only the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27), but we are also the bride of Christ. Since we all become the wife of Christ eventually, the will of God for wives applies to all of us who believe, regardless of who we are.
What would the world look like if the bride of Christ refused to obey? What if she continually went her own way and never submitted to her husband-to-be?
Sadly, we don’t have to look too far for an answer.
Many who claim to be the bride of Christ don’t act like it. Instead of submitting to God’s will, we insist on having our own way. The result of disobedience is not a happy one.
Those who do obey find a special kind of joy in serving their Lord. This is the joy that God wants for each of us. He wants us to fulfill the role he assigned to us at birth.
Is that a radical idea?
It shouldn’t be. God knows us better than we will ever know ourselves. He ought to know what makes us happy.
Application: Obey God’s Word in everything.
Food for Thought: What does it mean to submit to our Lord Jesus?
We all need the presence of three things in our lives: faith, hope, and love. These are three things that most people look for in life, and three things that in submitting to Christ, He will give to us.
The need for love and relationships is a powerful force in our hearts. The lack of honest relationships and fulfillment of love is what causes us regret and anger. I’m of the personal opinion that it is the single greatest motivator in a person, and those that pursue wealth, fame, status, sexual immorality, political agendas, fall into depression, isolation, substance abuse, and abuse of others are attempting to fill a void of love with a counterfeit love or have determined that they are not worthy of love at all. I also believe that those who believe they must earn love, or that they are undeserving of it, are never really certain of that belief, so they continue to “test” or the boundaries to prove that feeling to themselves.
1 Corinthians 13:13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
My personal experience both in myself and what I have seen in the world is that it is our sinful natures that bring the death of relationships, and thus the absence of love. Both for ourselves and for others.
What does it mean to submit to our Lord Jesus?
Submitting to our Lord Jesus means embracing love. It starts with the love of the Father, and is fulfilled in the love of the Son. Submitting to our Lord Jesus means recognizing our sinful natures, and the need to be redeemed from it. What is greater than sin? Love.
Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
1 John 4:16 And we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love.
Christ loved us (loves us) by giving all of Himself for us (to us). He did this so we can be reconciled to God through Him. The reconciliation He offers is complete. It is not simply a ticket to Heaven, but a transformation from a sinful nature to a loving nature that emulated the very nature of God. When we submit all of ourselves, our thoughts, our desires, our pasts, our future, we are submitting to the power of love. The same power of love that He created us in.
Ephesians 5 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
When we submit to Christ, we let go of self-serving things so that we are capable of loving God and others as ourselves. The Holy Spirit gives us discernment to recognize that which is outside of love so that we may remain inside of love. It is more than obedience to His Word, it becomes the desire of our heart. We also recognize that everything we see around us will one day pass, the good and the bad, and our focus fixes on the eternal, rather than the circumstantial. Our calling is then to love others by sharing Christ with them, by His Word and so they see Him living within us, so that they may have love in the present and in eternity.
Ephesians 5:15-16 See to it that you walk circumspectly, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Thank you, Chris!
God’s love is transformative! Amen!
What does it mean to submit to Jesus as Lord?
Simply put it means to obey Him in everything.
Like 6:46: “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?“
Luke 9: 23 – 24: Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”
John 14: 23 – 24a: Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.”
One way we show our love for Jesus is by obeying His command.
1 John 5: 1 – 3: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome
Thanks, Rich!
Obedience to God is different than obedience to man. When we obey God we are doing what is best for God, ourselves, and our neighbors. It’s a win-win-win!!!