If you have been around any Christian literalist church or group, you have no doubt heard that a wife should submit to her husband. Some groups or churches incorrectly infer this submission is a value system, and some groups or churches completely ignore submission and incorrectly go so far as to allow women to preach in their congregations. So where is the line? How far should we go with this and does submission apply to the modern world wife.

Submission, a New Testament Doctrine?

• Ephesians 5:22-24 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 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. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

When was Submission first mentioned in the word of God? If you believe it is in the New Testament you would be correct. When does God tell us a woman shall submit to her husband? Well that happened looooooong beforehand.

Its Sin Related

It is important for us to understand that both men and women have been dealt a rough deal, however a deserving rough deal. Prior to the fall there was no mention of Eve having to submit to Adam. Yes, there were still roles for the man and woman. Adam was given instructions to keep the garden prior to Eve being created.

• Genesis 2:15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

We find no specific role given to Eve other than to be Adams help meet. Sin however would quickly change this. It is important to recognize that Adam ruling over Eve was a consequence of Sin, not an initial created condition.

• Genesis 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee

Why the Desire

If you read carefully, you will see that not only does Adam now rule over Eve, but Eve also now desires Adams rule. This desire is an especially important component of human’s existence on earth, right from the moment the initial sin occurred, up until Christs second return. Humans now know evil, and with lots of time on their hands God has introduced a counter measure to keep us living a Godly life.

Unfortunately for man, he now must work, hard! God’s command is for him to eat from the sweat of his brow. Woman has a different curse; she now must live under the instruction and control of her husband. He will guide her and limit her ability to act in this new knowledge of evil. But why does she need this control or guidance?

• 1 Peter 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

The woman was created a weaker vessel compared to the man. This word weak in the Greek “G772” or ἀσθενής means the following,

1. weak
2. infirm
3. feeble

In context, The woman is not as physically, or emotionally as strong as the man. We do not need to look hard to identify this characteristic amongst almost all humans on earth. In fact this is the very trait that feminists attempt to counter by introducing laws to build an “equal” society. If we need anything further to identify this comparative weakness, we just need to look at the fall,

• Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
• Genesis 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
• Genesis 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
• Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
• Genesis 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
• Genesis 3;6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Satan attacked Eve, not because he chooses the first human he ran into, no this was a calculated attack! He could not deceive Adam, so he attacked the weaker vessel. Further, this was an emotional attack, in verse 6 we see Eve being deceiving by the fruit being pleasant to her eye, being a weaker vessel is not just physical!

So, God created this desire in women for their husband’s rule, so that they would choose to remain under the cover of the strong leader in marriage, less prone to deceit and attack from the enemy.

Just whilst we are on topic and before we move on, one must ask the question, where was Adam whilst his wife was being deceived? He was commanded to keep the garden, clearly, he didn’t do his job!

New Testament Submission

Now we have the basis for submission and why it exists, we move to how to apply it to the modern day. It would be safe to say that there is more evil in the world today than compared with when it was just Adam and Eve. Indeed, the task imposed upon man to guide his wife and keep her from evil is immeasurable, and that assumes he is up to the order and is leading a Godly life himself!

So where are the boundaries when it comes to a wife submitting to her husband? How much submission is enough in Gods eyes to keep the woman from being deceived?

• Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
• 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.
• Ephesians 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

Wife’s, you are called to submit to your husband as you do to the Lord, my only caution here is, please choose carefully! God values the husbands lead so significantly, and shows us that sin is so destructive, that he calls you to submit to your husband directly, in EVERYTHING, then calls your husband to submit to Christ.

Does that mean you need to submit to a husband operating ungodly? Yes, no, well kind of, and actually depends on the topic. Does this mean the husband has the easy job? Emphatically no, the husband does not get loosed from the chain! He is subject to the same consequences of sin that the wife is, and in fact his call to order in the marriage so high it is unachievable.

Empowered Submission

Wife, do you create invoices and trade with companies? Do you trade in property under your name? Do you do business deals and hold and create money? If the answer isn’t yes to any of these your husband is probably doing it wrong! Being submissive does not mean being inferior or unequal. The word of God is full of powerful tasks that you as a Godly wife should partake in under the guidance of your Godly husband. For more information on this go to the Wife page of our website.

Conclusion

God directed the wife to submit to her husband immediately after the fall. It was not a component of initial creation and is a direct consequence of sin. If a woman searches her feelings, she will confirm that she does indeed have a deep inbuilt desire for her husband to rule over her, confirming Gods actions in Genesis. Peter led by the spirit of God, gave us God’s perfect picture of New Testament marriage and how it is to function in an evil world. Christ centered, Husband as the head, and the wife and the Helper and rock to the family unit. The husband loving the wife as Christ loved the church fulfills his part of marriage, and the wife submitting to the husband as to the lord fulfills hers.