Ephesians 5:22-33

Order of Service

• Sunday School Lesson
• Sermon
• Closing Prayer

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Sermon Title: Submission, Headship, and the Christian Home

Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33

I. Context and Background: Submission as a Spirit-Filled Life

A. The second half of Ephesians (chapters 4–6) focuses on the unity and purity of the church; chapters 5–6 address relationships in the home B. Paul's teaching on relationships flows directly from the command to be filled with the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18

• D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: the Spirit-filled life is measured not only by private morality or spiritual experience, but by how one conducts oneself with others
• Christ's priestly prayer in John 17:18 — "As you sent me, so I send them" — calls us to pursue holiness in relationship, not in a vacuum

C. James Boice describes marriage as the first great Christian institution

• Marriage as the origin of education, health care, and government
• The assault on marriage over the past century has contributed to the decline of all these institutions

II. The Transition Verse: Mutual Submission

A. Ephesians 5:21 — "Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ" — serves as a bridge between the Spirit-filled life and the section on relationships B. The Greek participle for submission functions as an imperative here (John Stott) C. Three pairs of relationships follow, each sharing the common thread of submission:

1. Wives to husbands (Ephesians 5:22)
2. Children to parents (Ephesians 6:1)
3. Slaves to masters (Ephesians 6:5)

III. Understanding Submission and Authority Rightly

A. Submission does not imply inferiority of person, only difference of role

• Martin Luther: we must distinguish between the office and the person; God assigns different roles while all persons retain equal dignity and worth
• The oneness of all believers in Christ: Galatians 3:28 — "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus"
• See also Colossians 3:11

B. The Greek word for submit (hupotassō) contains the root tassō, meaning order — God is a God of order C. The source of authority is God; delegated authority is not unlimited and obedience is not unconditional

• Where human authority commands disobedience to God, compliance is not required
• Peter before the Sanhedrin: "We must obey God rather than men"

D. Authority must never be used selfishly but always for the benefit of those over whom it is exercised (Stott)

• Notably, Paul never uses the Greek word exousia (authority) in this section — the emphasis falls on responsibility, not power
• Husbands are to love and care for wives; parents are not to provoke children; masters are to treat servants with justice

IV. The Duty of Wives: Two Reasons for Submission

A. First reason — the headship of the husband stated as fact (Ephesians 5:22-23)

• Rooted in the creation order of Genesis 2: Eve was created after Adam, from Adam, and for Adam
• Paul expands on this in 1 Corinthians 11:3-9 — "the head of a wife is her husband"
• Christ himself affirmed the creation order in Matthew 19:4-6, citing Genesis 2:24
• This is doctrinal, not merely cultural

B. Second reason — the headship of Christ over the church as the defining model (Ephesians 5:23-24)

• "The husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior"
• Christ's headship, as described in Ephesians 4:15-16, is about care, health, and maturity — not domination
• Headship is defined as saviorhood: responsibility and sacrificial care

C. The wife's submission, modeled on the church's submission to Christ (Ephesians 5:24), is to be:

1. Voluntary and free
2. Joyful and thankful
3. A partnership — not thoughtless obedience to rule
4. Enriching to her womanhood when the husband's headship mirrors Christ's