A Spirit-Filled Wife

Ephesians 5:22-24

There are other passages that describe the roles, responsibilities and attitudes of a wife.  This is a part of the practical section of Ephesians. All that we are to do as believers is connected to the Gospel.  It's the fuel, the motivation, the power by which we can live out through Christ. The Gospel affects the believer and every role the believer has in the home and life.

Marriage is meant to be a picture of life in Christ. In Christ our hearts and relationships are transformed and we all stand in grace.  The Gospel affects the believer and every role the believer has in the home and life.  Paul exhorts us to be filled -- to be controlled by the Spirit.  Every believer. 

The question is, are you allowing the Spirit to have His way in your life? To manifest His fruit in you?

The best kind of husband and wife are spirit-filled believers.  It's radically better than anything else, to be a fruit-bearing Christian. 

In verse 21 Paul reminds all believers to be "submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ." So he carries this idea into this verse about wives.  To be displaying a humble, others-oriented submission to others.  To put each other first in a loving, sacrificial way.  We are going to see, too, that husbands will be exhorted to live in a sacrificial way to his wife.

What Submission DOES NOT mean.

1. Submission does not mean that only women submit. Any one in church, even the elders, should realize what it means to submit to another. The wife is not alone in submitting to a level of authority.  All people have to submit some authority in their lives. Workplace authorities, parents as we grow up, governing authorities and others we face through life.
2. Submission of a wife, does not mean she has to submit to all men in her life.  Rather it is a special relationship between husband and wife.
3. Submission does NOT mean inequality. Both are saved by God's grace; both are children of God.  It takes an amazing, strength to submit to someone who is not perfect. Wives greatly depend on the Spirit to submit to their wives.
4. Submission does NOT mean the infallibility of the husband.  
5. To disagree with your husband or challenge him is not a lack of submission.  Later verse 33 will say to do so in a respectful way. Men need honest, loving help to challenge and sanctify themself.

What Submission DOES mean?

1. You place yourself under his authority. It's the idea of military rank.
2. It means you submit AS to the LORD.  She is ultimately submitting to Christ when she submits to her husband.  Neither does it mean the submission is equal - they are two different authorities. Her submission is to honor Christ which can be the greatest motivation she can have in her marriage. Her attitude reveals her devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. You submit at all times. Verse 24 - "in everything" to their husbands. It's not dependent on his conversion or status with God.  The exception is if he asks or leads you into sin - against the revealed will of God in Scripture.  Acts 5:29 - Peter & John had to obey God, rather than men when the authorities went too far.  The husband IS NOT the ultimate authority in the home -- it is the Lord Jesus Christ.  It cannot be forced, it can only be done by a work of the Spirit. Husbands be sensitive to the conscious of your wife. Understand her concerns and issues with something.  
4. Submission is ultimately an attitude.  It is an expression of love.  Proverbs 31   She does it willingly.  1 Peter 3:1-6 he says the same as Paul.  Her true beauty is in her heart.  A gentle, quiet spirit which is precious in God's sight. 
5. Jesus was the perfect expression of submission.  Keep looking to Jesus for our encouragement.