"If the truth sets us free, as Jesus said it does (John 8:32), then we ought to be eager to embrace every drop of truth that we can find. Though it's scary for some people to admit, the truth is that Scripture nowhere explicitly commands the husband to be subject to his wife. It's the evangelical feminists who keep saying that husbands should submit to their wives. Evangelical feminists have little motivation to bring attention to the fact that mutual submission is not mentioned in the context of Paul's teaching on marriage found in Ephesians 5:22-33. 6 The truth of the matter is that when the passage narrows to the more specific audience of husbands and wives, Paul tells only wives to be submissive.
If we're going to be truthful, then there's something else we have to say. Nowhere in Scripture is a husband told to lead his wife. The idea is very popular, but it doesn't derive directly from God's Word. Complementarians are the ones who keep saying that husbands should lead their wives. The apostle Paul never says that once in all his letters. Jesus doesn't say it either. Neither does Peter or John. No one in the New Testament ever says it. In fact, God never says it in the Old Testament, though many people like to think that it's found somewhere in Genesis 1-3. Complementarians are not interested in publicly pointing out that the words lead , leader , servant leader and spiritual leader cannot be found in any Bible passage on marriage.
One of the main reasons I don't take sides in this debate is because Ephesians 5:22-33 says something different from what I hear either side saying. Look at the text, and then I'll show you what I mean.
Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as
Christ is also the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject
to Christ, so also the wives ought to be their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as
Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her
by the washing of water with the word, that he might present to Himself the church in all her glory,
having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and
cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. For this reason a
man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh.
This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let each
individual among you also love his own wife even as himself, and let the wife see to it that she respect
her husband.
Three couplets are present in the passage:
1. The wife is to be subject to her own husband in everything, and he is to sacrifice himself for her. The dynamic is for her to submit and him to sacrifice; thus the first couplet is submission/sacrifice.
2. The wife is the body, and the husband is the head. Together they form one flesh. The second couplet, then, is body/head.
3. The wife is commanded to respect her husband while the husband is commanded to love her. As you can see, the third couplet is respect/love...
...Just to make sure that everyone can see exactly where this comes from biblically, let's attach each observation directly with the words of the text. Regarding the first set, Ephesians 5:22 says for wives to be subject to their husbands 'in everything.' Correlatively, Ephesians 5:25 says husbands are to 'love' their wives sacrificially, just as Christ also loved the Church and 'gave Himself up for her.'
Regarding the second set, two or three verses describe the wife as the body of the husband. To begin with, Ephesians 5:23 parallels husband as the head of the wife in correlation with Christ as head of the church, he being the Savior of 'the body.' Implicitly, then, we see that the church is the body of Christ and the wife is the body of her husband. The same concept is reinforced in Ephesians 5:28, which says that husbands ought to love their wives 'as their own bodies.' He is the head of the wife, and she is as the body of her husband. This makes sense in light of Ephesians 5:31, 'The two shall become one flesh.' Head and body form one flesh. It also explains the rest of Ephesians 5:28. 'He who loves his own wife loves himself.' As it turns out, she is not just 'as' his body; she is 'himself.' Thus in Ephesians 5:33, the husband is commanded to love his own wife 'even as [the body of] himself.'
Regarding the third set, the wife is told in Ephesians 5:33 to see to it that she 'respects' her husband. The husband's instructions, however, are repeated three times. Three times the husband is instructed to 'love' his own wife (Ephesians 5:25, 28, 33)...
6 There is no 'mutual submission' between Christ and the church either. " pgs 159-162
- Sarah Sumner, P.H. D.
Sumner, Sarah. Men And Women In The Church. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2003.
No comments:
Post a Comment