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NASB | Ephesians 5:33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 5:33 However, each man among you [without exception] is to love his wife as his very own self [with behavior worthy of respect and esteem, always seeking the best for her with an attitude of lovingkindness], and the wife [must see to it] that she respects and delights in her husband [that she notices him and prefers him and treats him with loving concern, treasuring him, honoring him, and holding him dear]. [1 Pet 3:2] |
Bible Question:
Isn't it possible for someone to hold a higher rank than someone else of better character or greater maturity? It happens in the military. Can't it be that way in marriage as well? Isn't that what Eph 5:33 talks about, order or rank? It seems like the higher the rank one holds in any God-ordained system, the more one is called on to proactively pursue a lifestyle of self sacrificing love. "Whoever would be great among you must be the servant of all." Didn't Jesus say that? Anyway, it looks like in the Bible husbands are given rank in the family system and are called on to be aggressively laying down their lives, to meet needs, to follow the way of the cross, as it were. This looks like the one relationship where God grants authority first, then says, "Okay, guys, now live up to it! You wanted to be married, now learn to do marriage like Jesus does it." Isn't the whole love/submission issue of Eph. 5 and 1 Pet. 3 the kind of thing where if one spouse is looking to the other to do it right *first*, then the point is being missed? Furthermore, isn't the point of all this to have husbands and wives doing so much good to each other that God's own glory radiates through the relationship as they follow His plan for them? And don't both Paul and Peter teach us that EITHER a truly submissive, respectful wife OR a truly loving, self-sacrificing husband will have powerful influence in bringing the other into proper relationship not only in the marriage, but even to God? Am I missing something? |
Bible Answer: Scrhng: I believe that the topic of headship is very important in understanding the relationship between husband and wife. "...I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God" (1 Cor. 11:3) We know that there is absolutely no inferiority between Christ and God who have different functions in the Godhead and yet are one. Likewise, in the relationship of a husband and wife, individually they have different functions and yet they are one. The idea of headship was revealled before sin entered the world "Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (Gen 2:24) It is amazing that in this relationship we see in type the relationship between Christ and the church. "In the Lord" refers to a husband and wife who are both saved. I believe that the scriptures support that "in the Lord" we are workers together, that the husband is incomplete without the wife and the wife without the husband, they complement each other. This is found in 1 Cor. 11:11-12 "Nevertheless neither is the man without (independent) of the woman, neither the woman without (independent) the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also of the woman; but all things of God. In the Lord within an ideal relationship a husband and wife should be submissive to God and be willing to accept the unique role in life which God has given them. Just a few thoughts Robert |