Ephesians 5:20-33
1. The Submission of Wives (vv. 22-24)
Christ is Head of the Body
Christ is Savior of the Body
Submit to husbands as the Church submits to Christ
2. The Submission of Husbands (vv. 25-32)
Love your wives as Christ loves the Church
Christ has died for the Church
Christ now lives for the Church
Christ will cherish the Church
Love your wives as you love yourself
You are both made one flesh
You are both members of One Body
3. A Mutual Submission (v. 33)
Sacrificial love
Spiritual respect
More to Consider
Driving down a country road, I came to a very narrow bridge. In front of the bridge, a sign was posted: "YIELD." Seeing no oncoming cars, I continued across the bridge and to my destination. On my way back, I came to the same one-lane bridge, now from the other direction. To my surprise, I saw another YIELD sign posted. Curious, I thought, "I'm sure there was one posted on the other side." When I reached the other side of the bridge I looked back. Sure enough, yield signs had been placed at both ends of the bridge. Drivers from both directions were requested to give right of way. It was a reasonable and gracious way of preventing a head-on collision. When the Bible commands Christians to "be subject to one another" (Ephesians 5:21) it is simply a reasonable and gracious command to let the other have the right of way and avoid interpersonal head-on collisions. Stephen P. Beck
Paul’s command for wives to submit follows the all-encompassing command to submit “to one another in the fear of Christ” (v. 21)—the last outcome or result of the filling of the Spirit (vv. 18–21). While a submissive wife is counter-cultural today, she was not so in Paul’s time. Moreover, while a self-sacrificing and loving husband sounds quite appropriate in our culture, he was radically counter-cultural in Paul’s time. Cabal, T., Brand, C. O., Clendenen, E. R., Copan, P., Moreland, J. P., & Powell, D. (2007). The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith (p. 1769). Holman Bible Publishers.
Paul had much more to say to the Christian husbands than to the wives. He set for them a very high standard: Love your wives “even as Christ also loved the church.” Paul was lifting married love to the highest level possible, for he saw in the Christian home an illustration of the relationship between Christ and the church. Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 50). Victor Books.
