1Foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you not to obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly portrayed among you as crucified? 2I just want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith? 3Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now completed in the flesh? 4Did you suffer so many things in vain, if it is indeed in vain? 5He therefore who supplies the Spirit to you and does miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith? 6Even so, Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” 7Know therefore that those who are of faith are children of Abraham. 8The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Good News beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you all the nations will be blessed.” 9So then, those who are of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham.
10For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who doesn’t continue in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them.” 11Now that no man is justified by the law before God is evident, for, “The righteous will live by faith.” 12The law is not of faith, but, “The man who does them will live by them.”
13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,” 14that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
15Brothers, speaking of human terms, though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been confirmed, no one makes it void or adds to it. 16Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his offspring. He doesn’t say, “To descendants”, as of many, but as of one, “To your offspring”, which is Christ. 17Now I say this: A covenant confirmed beforehand by God in Christ, the law, which came four hundred thirty years after, does not annul, so as to make the promise of no effect. 18For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by promise.
19Then why is there the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise has been made. It was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator. 20Now a mediator is not between one, but God is one.
21Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could make alive, most certainly righteousness would have been of the law. 22But the Scripture imprisoned all things under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
23But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, confined for the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. 27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise.
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. ↩︎