Colossians 3:17-19

 

 

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Colossians 3:17 Whatever you do (2PPAS) in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks (PAPMPN)  through Him to God the Father.

Greek: kai pan o ti ean poiete (2PPAS) en logo e en ergo, panta en onomati kuriou Iesou, eucharistountes (PAPMPN) to theo patri di' autou. 
Amplified: And whatever you do [no matter what it is] in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus and in [dependence upon] His Person, giving praise to God the Father through Him. (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
KJV: And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Macent: let your discourse and your actions be all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father by him.
18 Dames, be submissive to your husbands, as becomes Christians.
19 husbands, love your wives, and do not exasperate them.
Moffatt: Indeed, whatever you say or do, let everything be done in dependence on the Lord Jesus, giving thanks in his name to God the Father.
Montgomery: And whatever you do, whether in word of in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God our Father through him. (
NJB)
NLT:  And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father. (
NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: And whatever you may have to do, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, thanking God the Father through him. (
Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: And all, whatever you do in the sphere of word or deed, do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus, constantly giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (
Erdmans
Young's Literal: and all, whatever ye may do in word or in work, do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus--giving thanks to the God and Father, through him.

References

Analytical Greek
Paul Apple
Albert Barnes
Thomas Constable
Explore Bible
Faith Bible Church
Bruce Goettsche
Bruce Goettsche
Bruce Goettsche
Dave Guzik
F B Hole
IVP Commentary
S Lewis Johnson
S Lewis Johnson
William Kelly
J B Lightfoot
John MacArthur
J Vernon McGee
Phil Newton
Phil Newton
J B Phillips
John Piper
Grant Richison
A T Robertson
C H Spurgeon
C H Spurgeon
Ray Stedman
Today in the Word
Marvin Vincent
Precept Ministries
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Colossians 3 (tenses)
Colossians Commentary - 139 page Pdf
Colossians 3
Colossians
(Pdf)
Colossians 3: Teacher Aids
Colossians 3:17 3:18-19 3:18 3:19a 3:19b
Colossians 3:16-17 Well-Balanced Christian Life

Colossians 3:18 Marriage God's Way 1

Colossians 3:18-19 Marriage God's Way 2

Colossians 3
Colossians
Colossians 3
Colossians 3:12-17 Christian in Vogue (Audio)
Colossians 3:18-4:1 New Man Old Relationship (Audio)
Colossians
Colossians Paraphrase
Colossians 3:18- 4:1 New Man Makes a New Home
Colossians 3:17-21 Mp3
Colossians 3:15-17 Sanctification: A New Rule

Colossians 3:18-19 Sanctification: A New Family, Part 1

Colossians Paraphrase
Colossians 3:12-17...Christ is All in All
Colossians 3:17 17b 18 18b 19 19b 19c

Colossians 3: Greek Word Studies
Colossians 3 Expositional Notes
Colossians 3:17 Art of Holy & Happy Living Pdf
Colossians 3:12-17: Put on the New
Colossians 3:18-21 Colossians 3:18-21

Colossians 3: Greek Word Studies
Colossians: Download Lesson 1 of 12
Colossians 3:17 3:19
Colossians 3:16-17 Drive The Pipe Deeper 3:17: Part time Christians?
Colossians 3:17:
INDNJC 3:17: Making Every Move Count

AND WHATEVER YOU DO IN WORD OR DEED (lip or life):kai pan o ti ean poiete (2PPAS) en logo e en ergo:

One notices here that DOING may be in word, as well as in deed. No secular/sacred split.

Spurgeon comments that we must...

See how our being Christians does not relax the bonds of our Christian relationship, but it calls us to the higher exercise of the responsibilities and duties connected therewith.

Do not draw any line of demarcation, and say, “So far is secular, and so far is religious.” Let your whole life be religious; and if there is anything proposed to you, in which you cannot glorify God, do not touch it,. “Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

If any of you go to the theater, can you go there in the name of the Lord Jesus? Why, you would not dare to cross the threshold with such blasphemy in your soul! And when you go to any place of doubtful amusement, can you go there giving thanks to God and the Father by Jesus Christ? Can you thank the Lord that you are permitted to go, and pray for divine blessing when you go, and when you come away? A lady once said to a Christian minister, “The pleasures of going to the play are very great; there is the pleasure of thinking of it beforehand, the enjoyment of it at the time, and then the pleasure of thinking of it afterwards.” “Yes, madam,” said the good man, “and there is one other pleasure which you seem to have forgotten, that is the pleasure of thinking of it on your dying bed; I would like you to remember that.” Let me read this verse again: “Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” If you cannot do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, do not do it at all if you are a Christian; and even if you are not a Christian, you will be accountable to God, by-and-by, for all that you do.

ALL IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS: panta en onomati kuriou Iesou:

It would be spiritually helpful, though, if we followed the example of musical genius Johann Sebastian Bach. Often at the bottom of a manuscript he would write the letters INDNJC, standing for the Latin words...

 

In Nomine Domini Nostri Jesu Christi
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

 

Our actions must that say that Jesus is and does exactly what He claims. Just a few seconds of sin can disgrace the greatest of names. The Hebrew name Judah means praise; the New Testament equivalent is Judas.

Lewis Johnson comments that

 

The expression, “in the name of the Lord Jesus,” means under the authority and approval of Him. George Goodman used to tell a story which illustrated action under the approval of the Lord Jesus. He wrote: “I remember hearing a story of a man who was walking behind a gipsy woman, and when they came to a place where the road divided, the gipsy woman threw her stick up into the air, and let it fall on the ground. Then she did it a second time; and a third time. By this time the gentleman had caught up with her, and, being curious, he enquired: ‘Why do you throw your stick up into the air like that?’ She replied: ‘That is how I determine which way to go; I go whichever way the stick points.’ ‘But you threw it up three times?’ he said, wondering why she had done so. ‘Yes, I did!’ she answered, ‘for the silly thing would point that way, and I wanted it to go this!’“ I think the lesson is obvious.  (Johnson, Lewis: Bibliotheca Sacra, Jan, 64)

GIVING THANKS THROUGH HIM TO GOD THE FATHER: eucharistountes (PAPMPN) to theo patri di autou:

Through Him - What a powerful picture this little phrase through Him conveys. It was Christ's rending of the veil that separated us from God the Father that now makes it possible for us to offer up a sacrifice of praise through Him. The writer of Hebrews explains it this way...
 

Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (See notes Hebrews 10:19; 20; 21; 22)

 

Through Him (our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ) then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing; for with such sacrifices God is pleased. (See notes Hebrews 13:15; 16)

Someone has made a statement so applicable to our need to strive to maintain a heart of gratitude (for our old flesh continually seeks draw us the opposite direction toward murmuring and complaining)...

Don't complain about thorns among the roses!
Be grateful for roses among the thorns!

S Lewis Johnson notes that...
 

We began by pointing out the need for a marriage between the believer’s position and the believer’s practice, between his creed and his conduct. In these verses the apostle has outlined the Christian apparel, and it is indeed a heavenly wardrobe. These garments are the products of the enabling power of the Spirit of God. May He motivate believers by reminding them of their cost in His blood, and may He enable believers to don them in His name and for His glory. (Ibid)

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ILLUSTRATIONS OF BIBLE TRUTH by Harry A. Ironside - COBBLING FOR THE GLORY OF GOD - "Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Col. 3:17).

When I was a boy, I felt it was both a duty and a privilege to help my widowed mother make ends meet by finding employment in vacation time, on Saturdays and other times when I did not have to be in school. For quite a while I worked for a Scottish shoemaker, or "cobbler," as he preferred to be called, an Orkney man, named Dan Mackay. He was a forthright Christian and his little shop was a real testimony for CHRIST in the neighborhood. The walls were literally covered with Bible texts and pictures, generally taken from old-fashioned Scripture Sheet Almanacs, so that look where one would, he found the Word of GOD staring him in the face. There were John 3:16 and John 5:24, Romans 10:9, and many more.

On the little counter in front of the bench on which the owner of the shop sat, was a Bible, generally open, and a pile of gospel tracts. No package went out of that shop without a printed message wrapped inside. And whenever opportunity offered, the customers were spoken to kindly and tactfully about the importance of being born again and the blessedness of knowing that the soul is saved through faith in CHRIST. Many came back to ask for more literature or to inquire more particularly as to how they might find peace with GOD, with the blessed results that men and women were saved, frequently right in the shoe-shop.

It was my chief responsibility to pound leather for shoe soles. A piece of cowhide would be cut to suit, then soaked in water. I had a flat piece of iron over my knees and, with a flat-headed hammer, I pounded these soles until they were hard and dry. It seemed an endless operation to me, and I wearied of it many times.

What made my task worse was the fact that, a block away, there was another shop that I passed going and coming to or from my home, and in it sat a jolly, godless cobber who gathered the boys of the neighborhood about him and regaled them with lewd tales that made him dreaded by respectable parents as a menace to the community. Yet, somehow, he seemed to thrive and that perhaps to a greater extent than my employer, Mackay. As I looked in his window, I often noticed that he never pounded the soles at all, but took them from the water, nailed them on, damp as they were, and with the water splashing from them as he drove each nail in.

One day I ventured inside, something I had been warned never to do. Timidly, I said, "I notice you put the soles on while still wet. Are they just as good as if they were pounded?" He gave me a wicked leer as he answered, "They come back all the quicker this way, my boy!"

Feeling I had learned something, I related the instance to my boss and suggest that I was perhaps wasting time in drying out the leather so carefully. Mr. Mackay stopped his work and opened his Bible to the passage that reads,

"Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

"Harry," he said, "I do not cobble shoes just for the four bits or six bits (50 cents or 75 cents) that I get from my customers. I am doing this for the glory of GOD. I expect to see every shoe I have ever repaired in a big pile at the judgment seat of CHRIST, and I do not want the LORD to say to me in that day, 'Dan, this was a poor job. You did not do your best here.' I want Him to be able to say, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant.'"

Then he went on to explain that just as some men are called to preach, so he was called to fix shoes, and that only as he did this well would his testimony count for GOD. It was a lesson I have never been able to forget. Often when I have been tempted to carelessness, or to slipshod effort, I have thought of dear, devoted Dan Mackay, and it has stirred me up to seek to do all as for Him who died to redeem me. (Bolding added) (
Beloved, how are you doing your work, whatever and wherever it may be? As unto the Lord and for His glory? Or just to get by? Don't waste your life for every deed done in the Spirit to glorify our Father will be repaid at the Judgment Seat of Christ!)

 

Colossians 3:18 Wives, be subject  (2PPPM) to your husbands, as is fitting (3SIAI) in the Lord.

Greek: Ai gunaikes, hupotassesthe (2PPPM) tois andrasin, os aneken (3SIAI) en kurio
Amplified: Wives, be subject to your husbands [subordinate and adapt yourselves to them], as is right and fitting and your proper duty in the Lord. (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
KJV: Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.
Macent: Dames, be submissive to your husbands, as becomes Christians.
Moffatt: Wives, be subject to your husbands; that is your proper duty in the Lord.
Montgomery: Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting for Christians. (
NJB)
NLT: You wives must submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord. (
NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: Wives, adapt yourselves to your husbands, that your marriage may be a Christian unity. (
Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: Wives, be constantly subjecting yourselves with implicit obedience to your husbands as you ought to do in the Lord.  (
Erdmans
Young's Literal: The wives! be subject to your own husbands, as is fit in the Lord;

WIVES BE SUBJECT TO YOUR HUSBANDS: Ai gunaikes hupotassesthe (2PPPM) tois andrasin:

Be subject (5293) (hupotasso) (Click for word study on hupotasso)

Literally, Women, be in subjection to the men: for the Greek language has no distinctive terms corresponding to our words wife, husband. But the reference to married persons is unmistakable.

Note it does not read

"Women be a door mat for your husbands to step on!" (Husbands take note).

Be Subject (hupotasso) strictly speaking means to line up in order under.

Hupotasso is used in (Lu 2:51) to refer to Jesus’ subjection to His parents, and in (Lu 10:17, 20) to describe demons being subject to the disciples. In (Ro 8:7), Paul employs the word to speak of being submissive to the commands of God’s law. (Ro 13:1, 5) refers to the necessary submission of every person to governing authority, which is established by God. In both (1Co 15:27, 28 Ep1:22) hupotasso points to a future glorious time when all things in the universe will be made subject to Christ and God in eternal glory.

Hupotasso was also a military term describing lining up of soldiers under the commanding officer.  The fact that one soldier is a private and another is a general does not mean that one man is necessarily better than the other. It only means that they have different ranks. And so we see that the idea is more the submission is more to the position than to the person.

Beet says hupotasso here indicates

not worse in quality but lower in position" (not inequality for women are equal to men before God), represents "the divine pattern of subordination" and "suggests arrangement and order".

One must not think of a wife's being subject as synonymous with “slavery” or “subjugation.” The wife is not to dominate or to lead, but to follow her husband's leadership as long as it does not compromise her loyalty to Christ. Her first loyalty is to the Lord Jesus and to the authority of His Word.

Remember that Paul's command is given in the context of the initial command in this chapter to
keep seeking the things above. (see note Colossians 3:1) A wise woman will therefore accept the temporary relinquishing of her ‘rights’, for the eternal reward that is to come ("the things above"). Implicit is that if she asserts independence from her husband, it will adversely affect ‘the things above’, specifically her reward for the deeds done in the body.

Hupotasso is present tense indicating this is to be a wife's lifestyle. The imperative mood is a command (keeping in mind that what God commands, He also enables or empowers). Finally it is in the passive or  middle voice depending on what linguistic source one examines. Passive indicates that action upon the subject comes from without. Middle voice on the other hand signifies that the wife initiates the act of submitting and participates in the effects or results of her submission. It conveys the idea of the wife choosing to put herself under (hupo = under) her husband, not by compulsion, but with a willing spirit. Middle voice also conveys a reflexive sense and can be translated as "subject yourselves". In any case the idea of submission of the wife is that of a voluntary attitude and action based upon one's recognition of God's ordained order and it cannot be forced upon her against her will by a demanding despot. The wife is a helpmate (a helper suitable to the husband) and not a slave to suit his every whim.

In Ephesians Paul also gives this injunction in the context of the command to be filled with the Spirit (see note Ephesians 5:18) If you are not controlled by the Spirit, just try submitting when you everything in you and every one around you (including the world, the flesh and the devil) is crying out "Don't do it!". You might ostensibly "submit" in your own strength or power but you would be the little by whose mother disciplined him by telling him to sit in the corner, but who was still "standing up" on the inside! Only the Spirit can transform our hearts and renew our minds to be subject like our Lord was subject to those earthly men who were in authority over Him! See the related topic "Walking in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16; Galatians 5:17; Galatians 5:18; Galatians 5:19; Galatians 5:20; Galatians 5:21; Galatians 5:22 Galatians 5:23; Galatians 5:24; Galatians 5:25; Galatians 5:26)

MacArthur emphasizes the importance of this section of wife's submitting to their husbands:

All the attacks on this straightforward principle for behavior deal devastating wounds to the marriage. When a woman submits to the loving leadership of her husband and follows God’s intention for her, she is fulfilled and so is the husband. Efforts to reverse or confuse the duties of wife and husband destroy the blessing each is to be to the other. (MacArthur, J. Colossians. Chicago: Moody Press or Logos)

God does  “all things...properly & in an orderly manner.” (1Cor 14:40). If He did not have a chain of command in society, instead of order we would have chaos. The fact that the woman is to submit to her husband does not suggest that the man is better than or superior to the woman. It only means that the man has the responsibility of headship and leadership in the home. According to the divine plan, the husband's role is as head of the house and the woman's role is that of submission to her husband. Note that Paul’s words give no comfort to the chauvinist, since “love” in the following verse tempers and conditions submission.

Wiersbe adds some wise caveats noting that...

Headship is not dictatorship or lordship. It is loving leadership. In fact, both the husband and the wife must be submitted to the Lord and to each other (see note Ephesians 5:21). It is a mutual respect under the lordship of Jesus Christ. True spiritual submission is the secret of growth and fulfillment. When a Christian woman is submitted to the Lord and to her own husband, she experiences a release and fulfillment that she can have in no other way. This mutual love and submission creates an atmosphere of growth in the home that enables both the husband and the wife to become all that God wants them to be. (Wiersbe, W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor or Logos)

The Greek Textus Receptus (from which KJV is translated) adds the pronoun idios (own) which is translated as your own husbands but this Greek word is not found in most Greek manuscripts so it is omitted from the majority of translations. Wives however are to submit to their own husbands with whom they have an intimate, personal, vital relationship as directed by Paul in Ephesians 5:22 (note) which reads...

Wives, be subject to your own (idios) husbands, as to the Lord.

Jewish law considered a woman a "thing" , a possession with no legal rights. The only way she could divorce her husband was if he developed leprosy, became an apostate or ravished a virgin. The "sophisticated, intellectual" Greeks were not much better for in their society a woman never appeared alone, had to be totally chaste, whereas her husband could have as many relationships as he desired.

Genuine Christianity consists of both doctrine and holy living. It is difficult to see how Christianity can have any positive effect on society if it cannot transform its own homes, and thus in America today we see an intense attack leveled at Christian homes, especially Christian marriages.

Christ coming to live within regenerated men and women brought a new meaning to authority and submission in the home for it created a new order by introducing...

A New Presence - Christ Who is our life (see note Colossians 3:4)

A New Power - The Spirit of Christ - "Be continually filled with the Spirit" (see note Ephesians 5:18)

A New Purpose - "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus" (see note Colossians 3:17)

A New pattern - Christ is the pattern or Model "Husbands, love your wives. just as Christ also loved the Church." (see note Ephesians 5:25)

When a woman submits to the loving leadership of her husband & follows God's intention for her, she is fulfilled and so is the husband. Confuse the duties or roles of either member of this union & you destroy the BLESSING that each is to be to the other.

Keep in mind 3 caveats in order to have a Biblical understanding of submission:

(1) Submission does not imply inferiority (Gal 3:28)

(2) Submission is not absolute and there may be times when a wife must refuse to submit to her husband’s desires because they violate God’s Word. Luke records an incident which illustrates this principle...

(The Jewish rulers speaking to Peter, et al) "We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us." But Peter and the apostles answered and said, "We must obey God rather than men."

(3) The husband's authority is not to be exercised in an authoritative, overbearing manner, but in the context of a loving relationship (but see 1Pet 3:1).

AS IS FITTING (becoming, proper) IN THE LORD: os aneken (3SIAI) en kurio:

Is fitting (aneko) means something is fitting or right to do and is what is proper or is one's duty. Aneko is used of actions that are due someone and Lightfoot states conveys the "ultimate meaning of moral obligation".  In (Phile1:8) the contextual use of aneko denotes not merely that which is fitting but that which is almost legally obligatory or a necessary duty.  In this use in Colossians aneko is in the imperfect tense which speaks of an action going on in past time. Lightfoot says is that the use of the (imperfect) past tense points to the fact that the wife’s submission to her husband is an obligation that is a self-evident one which is arrived at from reasoning regarding the proper relation of the wife to the husband. The Greek form in this phrase expresses an obligation, It is how He designed and commands the family to operate.

In the Lo
rd  modifies fitting and thus this obligation on the part of the wife is fitting in the Lord in the sense that she is as to her position in salvation, in Christ, and a person in such a position has the moral obligation to obey the Scriptures when they command the wife to be in subjection to her husband.

Many couples are united in wedlock in a rosy fog of optimism. Blinded to the shortcomings, each sees only the other’s good points. But as the excitement of the new marriage wears off, they drift to the opposite extreme and view these same traits as faults. Someone has called this “reverse reasoning,” giving the following examples: “She married him because he was ‘strong and masculine’; she divorced him because he was a very ‘dominating male.’ He married her because she was so ‘fragile and petite’; he divorced her because she was so ‘weak and helpless.’ She chose him because ‘he knew how to provide a good living’; she left him because ‘all he thought about was the business.’ He married her because she was ‘steady and sensible’; he divorced her because she was ‘boring and dull.’”

Note the repetition of "Lord,” in these last verses of this epistle (occurring seven times Col3:18, 20, 22, 23, 24 ; 4:1). MacDonald makes the point that "Paul repeatedly brings these matters of everyday life under the searchlight of the lordship of Christ as follows: (1) Wives—as is fitting in the Lord (v. 18). (2) Children—well-pleasing to the Lord (v. 20). (3) Servants—fearing the Lord (v. 22). (4) Servants—as to the Lord (v. 23)." (MacDonald, W. Believer's Bible Commentary Nashville: Thomas Nelson)

The home life is to be pervaded with the acknowledgement of the divine preeminence throughout. There is a placard, often found in the homes of Christians throughout the world, which reads,

“Christ is the Head of this house,
The unseen Guest at every meal,
The silent Listener to every conversation.”

Notes on "HUPOTASSO"
(from Dr. Wayne Barber Ephesians 5:22-33)

(1) First of all let’s look at the meaning of the phrase "be subject."

The word "subject" is the word hupotasso. It is more commonly understood to mean to submit. So when I use the term "submit" I am saying the same thing as "subject yourself." It  (hupotasso) comes from two Greek words, the word hupo, which means "under," and tasso, which means "to set in place." In other words, the word means to set something in place up under something else. In the context it is talking about submitting to the authority of another. So Paul is saying to the wives,

"Be willing to place yourself in a position under your husband who is the authority of your family. Be in that position of being submissive."

Now, let’s make sure we understand what it doesn’t mean. Sometimes when you look and see what it doesn’t mean, it tells you better what it does mean. For instance, it does not mean that she is commanded to obey her husband as a child would obey his parents or a slave would obey his master. A lot of men treat their wives as if they are a door mat. They walk all over them as if they have no sense, as if they have no ability, as if they are inferiors. That is not what the word means at all. As a matter of fact, there is another Greek word that is used in that kind of relationship. It is the word hupakouo. That is entirely different. Let me show you where it is used. Look in chapter 6 at verse 1: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right"

Guess what word the word "obey" is? Hupakouo. In other words, you are an inferior to a superior and God says you must obey your parents. You have no option, and it is only by God’s grace they ever give you a reason why they tell you to do what they tell you to do. That word (Hupakouo) is never used with a husband and wife. Look in Eph 6:5: "Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ;"

The word "obedient" is the same word, hupakouo. One (hupakouo) is of an inferior to a superior. The other is not that at all. Hupotasso, the word that is used for wives to husbands, is the word that talks about two people who are absolutely equal in God’s eyes, totally equal. There is not one level of inferiority of one to the other.

But the wife makes a choice to place herself as an equal underneath another equal, her husband, in order that there can be order and function in the family. The whole purpose of it is so that it meets the design that God has already ordered.

So what is the meaning of the word hupotasso? Does it mean that your wife is a slave to obey your every command? Does it mean that you treat her like a child? NO! If there is a man who thinks for one second that they have any superiority in God’s eyes over their wife, they are gravely mistaken from God’s Word. However, by His design to have a functional family, concessions have to be made. So God says, "Wives, you make it and you choose to put yourself underneath the headship of your husband" in order that the design can be what God says it ought to be. The meaning of it has nothing to do with inferior to superior. It takes nothing from the dignity of a woman for her to submit, but rather it enhances it. It takes great integrity for a person to do what God says should be done.

(2) Secondly, let’s look at the mindset of submission.

In Eph 5:22 it says,

"Wives, be submissive to your husbands."

It says nothing about their ability. There are many families in which the wife is more gifted than the man. Maybe the wife is full of personality, full of character, full of all kinds of ability. It is the exact reverse of what you think the model ought to be. God says, "Wives, I don’t care how much intelligence you have. I don’t care how many spiritual gifts you have. I don’t care how much energy you have. I don’t care how much better you look than your husband. Wives, submit to your husbands." "But God, my husband is a bully! God, you don’t want me submitting to my husband, do you?" God said, "That’s right. You submit to your husband." The mindset comes up in the verb: "be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord." The verb there is present tense and middle voice. This is not something you do one time so you can get something. Present tense means this is constant: every day be being under submission to your husband at all times. But even more than that is the middle voice. The middle voice means, you yourself make your own choice. If you want to have a properly functioning family, wives, you yourself make up your mind you are going to live in the state of submissiveness to your husband, no matter what he is like. God says, "Submit to that man in your family." The meaning is of two equals. Oh, what integrity a person who loves God has who is willing to put themselves under an equal in order that God’s order and function may take place in the family.

(3) Thirdly, there is the motivation of being submissive.

Now what in the world would make a woman who is equal, probably more gifted, probably more educated than her husband, put herself under submission to him? Well, look at the verse: "Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord." I have had people ask me, "You mean to tell me I am to treat my husband as I treat the Lord? Is that what he is saying there?" No, he is not saying that. A lot of husbands want to be treated that way, but that is not what he is saying. Paul is saying, "You do this as an act of love to the Lord."

What should motivate you to do this? The verse is saying the thing that ought to motivate you is because the Spirit of God controls your life and the Spirit of God has revealed to you what the Scriptures say. In order for the Lord to make your family a functional family, you are willing to obey what He says. It’s not because you love your husband that much, but it is because you love Jesus that much. That is the key. As I love the Lord Jesus, I am willing to do whatever it is he tells me to do. A wife’s love for Christ motivates her to obey. So, she looks in God’s Word. She is a student of Scripture. She can’t be Spirit-filled if she is not because the Scripture has to play a role in our obeying the Lord Jesus Christ. She gets into the Word. Ephesians 5:22 says, "Wives, be subject to your own husbands." Jesus said in John 14:21, "If you love Me, you will obey Me." She says, "Out of loving You, Lord, I am going to do what You have told me to do." That is the motivation of submission.

(4) Fourthly, let’s look at the model of submission.

Ladies, God has honored you because He has asked you to do what He also has done. The model, of course, is the Lord Jesus Himself. Paul says in Eph 5:23-24, "For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything." We will get into some more of th