Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

The Christian Wife (Ephesians 5:21-24)

Bryan Schneider · October 15, 2020

Ephesians 5:21-24

sharonrpc.org/sermons/the-christian-wife

Summary

Christian marriage is understood within God's created order and under Christ's headship rather than by cultural preference or personal power.
Submission begins as a Christian virtue modeled by Jesus' humble obedience and service, not as proof that one person has greater worth.
Ephesians addresses wives in relation to their own husbands; it does not place every woman under the authority of every man.
A wife's submission is rendered to the Lord and is therefore bounded by God's Word: no human command can require sin.
The church's willing response to Christ provides the pattern, while Christ's sacrificial love defines how marital headship must be exercised.
Marriage glorifies God when both spouses receive their duties as service to Christ and seek the other's good.

Do I measure marital faithfulness by Scripture or by the surrounding culture's assumptions about autonomy and power?
How does Jesus' willing humility prevent submission from being treated as inferiority?
Am I confusing a wife's relationship to her own husband with a general authority of men over women?
Where does the command to obey God rather than man establish a necessary limit on human authority?
Does a husband's leadership resemble Christ's sacrificial love, or does it seek convenience, control, and self-protection?
How can each spouse perform a distinct duty while honoring the other's equal dignity as God's image-bearer?

Submission: A willing, God-directed posture of respect and ordered service that never supersedes obedience to the Lord.
Headship: The husband's covenant responsibility patterned after Christ's loving care for his church, not a license for selfish control.
Created order: The relationships and responsibilities established by God and interpreted through his revealed Word.
Lawful command: Human direction that remains within God's moral authority and does not require disobedience to him.