Ephesians 5 22 33 Wives submit yourselves unto

Ephesians 5: 22 -33 • "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 every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies.

Ephesians 5: 22 -33 • He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. " (Ephesians 5: 22 -33, KJV)

The perfect marriage Christ gives the example in His love for the Church, and only a marriage that is indwelt by the Holy One can be made perfect.

Outline • Household Codes (how families/slaves should live) • Wives & Husbands 5: 22 -33 – Wives are under the authority of their own husbands 5: 22 -24 – The church is purified by Scripture to be without spot or sin 5: 25 -27 – Man and woman in marriage are one new body so the man cares for his own body 5: 28 -32 – Marriage is maintained by husbands loving their body, that is their wife, and the wife reverences the husband 5: 33

Marriage statistics • Completedivorce. com offers a money back guarantee to get your divorce taken care for less than $250. • It is projected that 50% of marriages will end in divorce • In 1999 George Barna conducted a survey and Christians have a higher divorce rate than agnostics or atheists, this included those who said they are born again-Bible-believing-praying families • Baptists have the highest divorce rate and Catholics the least • In the heart of the Bible belt the divorce rate is the highest; the Northeast is the least because of the Catholic influence • Divorce Magazine rated Nevada as the worst then Arkansas was next, and many Southern states close behind, Texas was rated number 36. • The highest divorce rate in the world is in the United States, with Puerto Rico second, and most of the major English speaking countries following • The marriage rate is 7. 5 per 1000, the divorce rate is 3. 8 per 1000 in a year

Is that good? • Some state the reason that the divorce rate is so high among Christians is that non-believers don't bother to get married. • Others say marriage is outdated; so why do homosexuals want to be married?

The loophole • The Protestant Reformation allowed for the loophole that King Henry VIII wanted – Needing a divorce from Queen Catherine of Aragon so he could marry Anne Boleyn, King Henry broke from the Roman Catholic Church. They were wed secretly in 1533. In The Practice of Prelates (1530), Tyndale had argued that Henry could not lawfully obtain a divorce; the book angered the king. Nonetheless, through Thomas Cromwell, Henry offered Tyndale safe-conduct home to London in 1531; Tyndale declined. – Before he was executed in 1536 in front of a gathering of secular and clerical authorities, Tyndale was imprisoned for 16 months in the castle of Vilvoorde near Brussels. – Tyndale wrote a letter (from the British Library), written in his cell, in which he pleads for "winter comforts" -- a warm cap, a new coat, a lamp -- and his Hebrew Bible, grammar and dictionary.

Fear God • In an unrelated conversation, a member of this body stated that when asked why their kids are not in a public or private school, and ‘what they are afraid of’ this individual replied ‘God. ’ • Proverbs 1: 7 (NASB 95) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 8: 13 (KJV) 13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

Fear God • Proverbs 23: 17 (KJV) Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. • Ephesians 5: 21 (KJV) Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. • Ephesians 5: 33 (KJV) Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. – The word for fear (v. 21) is the same root word in the Greek as reverence (v. 33).

Household Codes • Codes of how the Church should operate, largely developed by Paul. • No Gospel record. • Ephesians 5: 22 -6: 9 • Colossians 3: 18 – 4: 1 • 1 Peter 2: 18 – 3: 7 • 1 Timothy 2: 8 – 15 • Titus 2: 1 -- 10

Household Codes • This section in Ephesians follows a typical format: • Address to the one who submits. – Imperative command – Amplification usually involving Christ – Motivation • Address to the one given authority. – Imperative command – Amplification – Motivation • This section is unique with a larger focus on the husband, or one with responsibility, as opposed to the parent-child and master-servant relationship.

Wives are under the authority of their own husbands • Ephesians 5: 22 -33 (KJV) 22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 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.

Wives • Women are to submit to their own husbands; their authority is their husbands not someone else's husband. • A comparison is made of marriage between a man and woman and to that of Christ and the church. • Christ is head of the church, and also brings salvation; even so, the man is responsible for leading the family in the way of salvation. The way of salvation is not just to be born again, it involves sanctification that is progressive evidenced by teaching, admonition and example.

Wives • This submission is voluntary, the wife – by God’s grace, will voluntary submit. In 1 Peter 3: 1 -6, the married impetuous apostle speaks how the husband is won by the wife’s submissiveness -- did he speak from experience? • The text does not state that men are to subject their wives to themselves. • The word subjection does not mean ‘source’ or ‘head, ’ but subjection to one in authority (1 Pet 2: 18 ff) • Men as children are to be subject to their parents (next weeks lesson), and ultimately to Christ, who is subject to the Father (1 Cor 11: 3).

The church is purified by Scripture to be without spot or sin • 25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Men • Men are commanded to love their wives. • Now Christ sanctifies the church and cleanses it by His Word that it might be glorified in heaven. • By way of application men are to instruct their families and wives in the Word (1 Tim 2: 11; Eph 6: 14).

Man and woman in marriage are one new body so the man cares for his own body • 28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. • 29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Mystery of Marriage • No one hates himself or harms himself, but he feeds and cares for himself, so we should care for a wife (and a family) for they are part of us. • Those who will marry need to consider the closeness of the relationship. • In God's eyes the two have become one flesh, this covenant was established in the garden, and is for all men -- even before the flood of Noah or the Law was given. • In Matthew 19: 5 Jesus appeals to this verse in Genesis 2: 24 as the reason marriage is permanent, it is not because of some misunderstanding of one verse in Deuteronomy 24: 1. • Marriage is maintained by husbands loving their body, that is their wife, and the wife reverences the husband.

More man commands • Husbands are commanded to not be angry in thought to their wives (Col 3: 19), • And “husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered. ” 1 Peter 3: 7 (NASB 95)

Motivaion • 33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Accountable • The mystery of marriage is manifest also in the relationship of Christ to the church. • Men will be held accountable, and have a greater condemnation before God for things not done that should've been done and things done that should not of been done. • In the Garden of Eden everyone knows that Eve ate the fruit first, but Paul states that it is because of the sin of Adam that the entire universe fell into perdition, not just Adam and Eve, but all of creation. – Romans 5: 12 (NASB 95) Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— – Romans 8: 20 -21 (NASB 95) For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Application • How do we beat the statistics? • Paul's conclusion is that men are to love their wives and the wives are to fear their husbands. • Perhaps better stated wives are to fear (in a true sense of the word) what their husbands might do depending on his subjection to God: – – how the family might be led in godliness or astray how the family might be sanctified in holiness or not how some of the family might even suffer eternal loss not to mention how the household would function if he was completely in charge • Therefore wives need to be a helpmate and by their spiritual charm and beauty encourage their husbands.

Application • Men and women have a vested interest in the family because it is their body. • Our local assembly or gathering of people here have a vested interest in our spiritual maturity, because it affects the body (the church). • The overriding theme of unity becomes clear, since the very essential building block of the church (the family) must be one before the body of Christ can be united in purpose

Summary • Wives are under the authority of their own _____ husbands 5: 22 -24 • The church is purified by Scripture to be without spot or sin 5: 25 -27 • Man and woman in marriage are one new body so the man cares for his own body 5: 28 -32 • Marriage is maintained by husbands loving their body, that is their wife, and the wife r____ everences the husband 5: 33

Did Anne read her new Bible? • will we make application of the Word to our life, or will we take what we want to do what we will? • "The Newe Testament, dylygently corrected and compared with the Greke by Willyan Tindale. Antwerp, 1534. " Anne Boleyn's personal copy of the English New Testament, featuring her coat of arms at the bottom. Reproduced by permission of the British Library.