Some Points on Submission in Ephesians

1. The entire context of chapter 5 explains what God calls us to do as believers in Christ: imitate God. How? Walk in love (5:1-2)

The main verb in the context of Ephesians 5:18-21 is the imperative “be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). The word submit is used a few times but is not a verb. It is used to describe the main verb - be filled.

2. In the Koine Greek, the language of the New Testament, submission was understood in the following ways:

a. to arrange under, to subordinate, to subject, put in subjection, to subject one's self.

b. There were two ways to submit:

(1) to yield to one’s admonition or advice.

(2) to subject oneself to another person’s control (used in military contexts or as a description of those who lord it over others).

The context tells us which definition of “submit” is meant. The context in Ephesians 5 for a wife submitting is the same as submitting to one another in Christ (5:21). That is, we submit to one another by yielding to each other’s admonition or advice, assuming such is from Christ’s Word and in the Spirit.

The verb, “be subject,” is carried over from verse 21. What Paul asks of all Christians he now asks exclusively of wives. Like verse 21, verse 22 is an exhortation. Paul exhorts Christian wives, set free by the Spirit, to voluntarily subordinate themselves to their husbands (cf. Col 3:18; Titus 2:5; 1 Pet 3:1). He does not say, “You are a subordinate person,” or, “God has assigned to you for all time a subordinate role.” – Kevin Giles in What the Bible Says About Women.

3. Paul then shows us what being filled with the Spirit looks like:

a. 5:19 – speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…

b. 5:20 – giving thanks

c. 5:21 – subjecting yourself to one another/submit to one another. This includes all believers.

(1) 5:22 – Literally, “the wives the husbands as to the Lord”

(2) 5:24 – Like the church is subject to Christ, so (literally) “the wives, the husbands”

d. 5:25 – husbands love your wives like Christ loves the church

e. 5:28 – husbands love your wives as their own bodies

f. 5:33 – each (husband) is to love his wife as he loves himself

4. So, the description of submitting to one another as a manifestation of being filled by the Spirit is reflected in the wife’s submission relationship to her husband and the husband’s love relationship to his wife.

5. Contrary to popular understanding, the emphasis and focus are NOT on the wife submitting to her husband. The wife’s submission shows us what it means to submit to one another, which is a result of being filled with the Holy Spirit. At the same time and equal to the wife submitting to her husband, the husband has a call to love his own wife like Christ loves the Church and like a husband loves his own self. In fact, there is much more about the husband loving his wife like Jesus loves the church than there is about the wife submitting to the husband.