1If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. 2Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. 3For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.
5Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6For these things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience. 7You also once walked in those, when you lived in them, 8but now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth. 9Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings, 10and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator, 11where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, or free person; but Christ is all, and in all.
12Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; 13bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
14Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. 15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
17Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
18Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19Husbands, love your wives, and don’t be bitter against them.
20Children, obey your parents in all things, for this pleases the Lord.
21Fathers, don’t provoke your children, so that they won’t be discouraged.
22Servants, obey in all things those who are your masters according to the flesh, not just when they are looking, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. 23And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. 25But he who does wrong will receive again for the wrong that he has done, and there is no partiality.
In Ephesians 5, the apostle Paul sets forth the need of Christians to reflect God in their lives. It is not unexpected that unbelievers, who follow the ways of a wicked world naturally, would not reflect the holiness and purity of God. For believers, who retain the heart of sin due to their relationship with the fall of Adam, they may follow these old passions and acts of the world, but God desires better for His beloved children (Eph 5:1). Rather than following selfish desires, Christians are called to act differently, so that we might have an inheritance from God (Eph 5:5). Following worldly attitudes and actions brings results that damage our testimony of Christ and harm to ourselves.
After the apostle sets forth a variety of attitudes and actions that disavow our new relationship with God (Eph 5:3-6; 18), he sets forth a general admonition to walk in light, to be wise, to give thanks and become subject to others in the fear of Christ (Eph 5:15-20).
At this point of his presentation, Paul turns to the relationship of a husband and wife in order to illustrate the manner of relationship the church is to have to Christ. The majority of the remainder of the chapter, he discusses how husbands are to love their wives (Eph 5:25-32), but before he does this he set forth the duty of the wife to be submissive to her husband, a view that is largely rejected in the current age. Nonetheless, we need to understand what God, through the apostle, considers to be the proper way that husbands and wives fulfill their obligations according to the creation of God.
The teaching of the apostle in this chapter, and elsewhere (1 Cor 11:2-10; 14:34, 35; Gal 3:28; Col 3:18, 19; 1 Tim 2:12-15),1 finds its basis in the creation account of Genesis 1-3. One finds in Genesis 1:26-28 the creation of male and female in the image of God, with the mandate of fulfilling God's purpose for their creation. The initial text discussed here is a preview of what is laid out in more detail in the second chapter of Genesis, as the focus moves from creation in general to humanity in specific.
One finds in Genesis 1:26-28 three important matters relating to the creation of humans. First is that they are created by God. Second, that humanity is created in God's image. Last of all, the text emphasizes that humanity created by God is male and female. According to Genesis 2 the woman is taken out of the male Adam as a helper, and through one, also, the world might be propagated. In this ordering of creation, Eve was to work along with her husband to fulfill the plan of God to fill and rule the world.
Paul's words to the wife are that she is to be under submission to her own husband as she is submissive to the Lord. As a helper she is to follow him, and not as someone under his feet, but alongside him. She is to submit to him as she submits to the Lord because he is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. This is hard, and often rejected, teaching to those who are not submissive to Christ, but an example to the Christian of not following the manner of the world. The creation of Adam first, and woman's creation out of Adam, serves as a model for the human race and in the church in specific, that guides Paul's teaching on the home and the church (Col 3:18-19; 1 Tim 2:12-15; 1 Cor 11:2-10; 1 Cor 14:34, 35), some by marriage (Col 3:18, 19), or family relationship (Col 3:20, 21), and others by society (Col 3:22-25). All of this is to be done in the name of Christ (Col 3:17).
H. Wayne House, The Role of Women in Ministry Today: Affirming the Biblical Position of Women in the Church. ↩︎