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Part Four of a Four Part Series
There are a couple basic principles of submission that we need to address as part of “The Big Four.”
Because of the judgment against Eve in the Garden, the word "submit,” primarily spoke to the woman. Other books in the Bible also speak to the submission of the woman. For example, there are seven verses in the New Testament that addresses the submission of the wife to the husband; Ephesians 5:22, Colossians 3:18, and 1 Peter 2:13. There is one place that speaks to the submission of us to God [1] and three other verses that speak to the submission of man to others [2].
In any case,
There has been much misunderstanding on this point all the way around. I have found three incidences where a woman either does not, or will not submit to her own husband. Maybe you know of more. Here are my three.
* Unbalanced Marriage: If the wife is a believer and the husband is not a believer, she may feel a need not to submit to him. The Bible corrects this supposition [3]. If this is the marriage balance, then they shouldn’t be together in the first place [4]. Sorry, don’t shoot the messenger. Take it up with the Lord. If this is the case, then it is neither here nor there, because many marriages have this balance. It is preferable that they work it out in hopes of the salvation for the other mate who is not a believer [5].
* Out of God’s will: If the husband makes a decision that is contrary to the will of God, then the wife will not, nor should she, submit to the husband [6]. She should submit to the Word and will of God. If the husband has not been teaching the wife then she will probably not know if he is doing something against the will of God unless she amerces herself in God’s Word as well. Learning the Scriptures is an individual thing and one should not solely rely on another for its teaching.
*Lack of submission: Many times the wife will not submit to the husband because she has never seen him submit to anything, let alone to God. Sometimes the husband does not show leadership by failing to submit to God or any other circumstance.
These three could very well be for the wife as well.
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1 James 4:7
2 1 Corinthians 16:16; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 5:5
3 1 Corinthians 7:12-16
4 2 Corinthians 6:14
5 1 Corinthians 7:16
6 Colossians 3:18
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1 comment:
Good points James. Adding the context of the ANE culture regarding the relationship between men and women would be nice. It doesn't mitigate the NT idea compared to today's culture, but it could provide some balance.
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