Submission is a common word in the King James Bible. The Websters 1828 dictionary defines submission as:
• The act of submitting; the act of yielding to power or authority; surrender of the person and power to the control or government of another.
• Acknowledgment of inferiority or dependence; humble or suppliant behavior.
• Obedience; compliance with the commands or laws of a superior. submission of children to their parents is an indispensable duty.
• Resignation; a yielding of one's will to the will or appointment of a superior without murmuring. Entire and cheerful submission to the will of God is a christian duty of prime excellence.
Believers are to submit themselves to God's will. They are also to submit themselves to serving one another in love and charity. Children are to submit to their parents; younger people are to submit to [respect] their elders; we are to submit ourselves to obeying the laws of our land (human government); etc.
Women are to submit to their own husbands. Let's look at some verses regarding this:
Ephesians 5:21 - Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Ephesians 5:22 - Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
Ephesians 5:24 - Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
In Ephesians 5 Paul tells us to submit to one another in the fear of God. Then, he gets more specific and tells wives to submit unto their own husbands. The reason for this is because:
Ephesians 5
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Of course husbands are then told to love their wives even as Christ loves the church.
Ephesians 5
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Really think about how much God loves us and all of the spiritual blessings God has given us and husbands are to love their wives with the same grace and unconditional love as He has given us! So, submission is not about a man abusing his wife or abusing his power over her.
But back to the wives submitting to their own husbands. This particular verse is very striking to think about:
Ephesians 5:24
Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Well, talk about convicting. I know that I have not always been that submissive unto my own husband. However, with Christ and His word living in and through us as believers, we can do this. In our own fleshly efforts we cannot do this! So, we need to continue to read and study God's word rightly divided daily and yeild ourselves to it. That is the only way we will submit to God and to our own husbands. I will talk a little more about this subject again in an upcoming study on Christian wives who have unbelieving husbands.
Also please note: a woman should never submit to anything sinful that her husband might ask her to do, nor does she have to endure abuse of any kind!
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