Paul took the Household Code and stood it on its ear when he wrote his letters to the Colossians and to the Ephesians from his prison cell in Rome. Read about Household Code in After Shared Tragedy: Woman's Destiny Living Under Household Code Paul commanded MUTUAL SUBMISSION. No longer should men rule like a despot, a ruler with absolute power. No longer should a husband use power or authority in cruel, unjust, or harmful ways as was often done under the Household Code.
According to Paul, submission should be a two-way street. Paul said that God's purpose was to bring all things together in unity in Christ. He told believers, man and woman had the shared tragedy of sin, but now they are heirs together. There is equality at the foot of the Cross.
Galatians 3:27-29 (NKJV)
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Often Ephesians 5:22 is used to declare something other than equality before Christ. Like many translations, the NIV makes verse 22 a separate sentence, saying “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord." We should consider with care the precise language of Paul's intricate writing. Paul did not write in sound-bites. In fact, if we try to divide his long, complex sentences into good sound-bites, Paul's ideas can easily be distorted.
Ephesians 5:15-23 serves as an excellent example of Paul's transforming ideas. These verses form only one sentence in the Greek. However, to make it easier for modern readers, translators have made sentences and paragraphs where there are none. By doing this they have separated ideas that were meant to be fused together.
If you separate these ideas, it appears that Paul is saying something opposite to what the original Greek conveys. Verse 22 of Ephesians is not a separate sentence. It is a continuation of one very long one.
This long sentence is built around two imperative verbs (that is, two commands) and five subordinate clauses. Following is a clear translation of Paul's sentence that accurately reflects what the original Greek conveys. Using correct verb tenses:
The first command:
***Do not be filled with wine which leads to debauchery,
2nd command:
***but be filled with the Spirit,
followed by five subordinate clauses:
***speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs,
***singing and
***making music in your heart to the Lord,
***always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
***submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ, wives to your husbands as to the Lord, 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.
Paul's long sentence hinges on the command “Be filled with the Spirit.”
What is meant here by being filled with the Spirit? Are we living a life characterized by mutual submission?The Holy Spirit doesn't know any other way to live. He has lived throughout eternity in mutual submission with the Father and The Son.
If the Holy Spirit is active in our lives, we will have this same attitude. An attitude of mutual love and mutual submission.
Because of a grammatical feature called an ellipsis, the verb submit doesn't even appear in the original of verse 22. It really says, “wives to your own husband.”
Yes, wives are to submit to their husband, but in the context of the mutual submission of verse 21. Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Yes, wives are to submit to their husbands AND husbands are to submit, in love, to their wives and all are to submit to one another in the Body of Christ.
Husbands Love Your Wife
Paul was introducing to husbands a new way – a redeemed way – of relating to their wives. This way was founded on love. Instead of seeing their wives as their property, husbands were urged to see their wives as human beings, made in the image of God, created for a loving and supportive relationship with their spouses.
Marriage was to be a partnership, in Christ, ruled by mutual love and mutual submission. Issues should not be about who is in charge, but about serving one another, and seeking to find the mind of Christ together when making decisions.. Two becoming one flesh, as God had intended “in the beginning.”
Both men AND women are part of the “Bride” of Jesus Christ. I think in terms of my submission to Jesus Christ. I submit to Jesus because I love Him. I know He will and does take care of me and all my needs. I submit because of His eternal promises. He proved His love by dying for me, and has invited me to spend eternity with Him in a place so spectacular I cannot comprehend its splendor nor its riches. With my whole heart, I volunteer to submit in all ways to Jesus.
The dictionary defines "submit" as "to yield or surrender (oneself) to the will or authority of another" (American Heritage Dictionary).
Submission is voluntary. True submission is an attitude of the heart that cannot be dictated. In the marriage relationship, the submission of the wife to her husband is an attitude that the wife must voluntarily choose. Same for the husband. A husband cannot demand that his wife submit.
Notice in these verses how Paul told husbands to love their wives. A major act of submission by husbands to "love your wife" in a total patriarchy, a society ruled by men. Paul used two ideas, each of which he repeated to emphasize their importance:
Husbands were to love their wives “as Christ love the church.”
They were to love them:” as their own bodies.”
Husbands were to love their wives “as Christ does the church.”
The husband was to love his wife “as he loves himself.”
Could anything be further removed from the abusive and heavy handed practices of the ancient world. Paul infused the traditional Household Code with the transforming power of the Gospel. He filled it with the Spirit.
No comments:
Post a Comment