 Without question, one of the more controversial and touchy passages in the Bible is Ephesians 522. Some of you all know it by heart. Some of you dread it by heart. That is, wives submit to your husbands. What does that mean? And that in lies the problem is, I think some people take it too far. Some don't quite understand what Paul is actually saying. What we need to figure out is, one, how should the wife treat her husband? How should the wife be treated by her husband? How should the husband treat his wife? How should the husband be treated by his wife? And how does that relate to the body as well as us towards Christ and Christ towards us? So let's go to that passage Ephesians 522. Wives, be submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. And that's first of all, I was understanding a couple of things. Wives, aigunakis, which is the wives, two idios, which is your own andrasin, which is your own husband or your own men. So a woman to your own husband as to the Lord. That's important. So the way that you should submit, you should submit as to your own man as your own husband as to the Lord. But I think we need to keep this in context because sometimes we forget that this passage is not just dangling out there by itself. Let's go back a little further in chapter 5 and let's start in verse 15. Therefore be careful how you walk. Not as unwise men, but as wise. And he says, making the most of your time because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dispassion, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. In other words, be led by the Spirit, yield to the Spirit, speaking to one another. Here it is, in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing, making medley with your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, even the Father, and look what he says, and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. Now the interesting thing is this word that's used here for being subject is not actually in chapter verse 22. Let's go back to it. Here's the word for being subject here. In the Greek, let's pull this up a little bit higher so you all can see. Here's the word that's used here, hypotaso. But if we drop down to verse 22, it's not there. As a matter of fact, in verse 22 it says, and wives to your husbands. That's it. And wives to your husband, as to the Lord now. Is he not saying, don't be, is he not saying be subject? Yeah, he is saying be subject or submit to your husband, but it's just drawing off of the previous verses. And the point is we are to be submitted or subject to one another. In other words, how does it work? Well, we regard each other equally in terms of what's best for that person. Obviously there's an order. That part is clear. So before I deal with that, let's go to this part speaking of the order of the household. So in 1 Corinthians 11, 11-2, now I praise you because you remember me and everything and hold firm to the traditions just as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man. The man is the head of a woman and God is the head of the church. And so this particular passage is letting us know that that is the order. Where does that come from? Well, that order comes from Genesis 3. After the fall, after man sin, after the woman sin as well, and then God is addressing the serpent, the man and the woman. What to the woman in verse 16 of chapter 3 says, the woman, I will greatly multiply your pain and childbirth. In pain you will bring forth children. We know that's still the case. Yet your desire will be for your husband. Your desire will be for your husband to him. In other words, she will have this. There's going to be something, this little struggle, this almost a strife, almost a usurping thought towards a husband, wanting what he has. And it will not change. He is going to be, according to this, he is planted as the head and she is to be in subjugation to him. Does that mean that he's her boss? That's not what that means. Does that mean that he is to tell her what to do and she has to obey? That is not what the Bible says. Because notice, it's to be as to the Lord, how the Lord wants us to be. And so going back to 522, be subject to your, I'm sorry, I shouldn't even say be subject. Let's just go ahead and say it. We should be subject to one another, wives to your husbands, even as to the Lord. Well, what does that mean? How the Lord? So in other words, a husband cannot come back and have the wife or order the wife or want the wife to do something that is one, not fitting too sinful. He is to regard her a certain way. He is, because what happens is sometimes we forget, yes, she should be submitted to him, but he should have a submissive role towards the Lord and how he deals with her. Very few women will have a problem with having a submitted role if they see the husband is also submitted to the Lord. Does that mean that the woman, because she feels like or she gets a judge, how submitted he is to determine how submitted she has to be. If he's not as submitted as she think he needs to be to the Lord, then she can decrease her level of submission. That's not how that works either because God will judge each party. But the point is though that we are to regard each other really the way that we regard ourselves and to love each other as the Lord will want us to love each other. And so what is the primary responsibility? The primary responsibility and the onus is not on the woman, the primary responsibility and the onus is on the husband. In other words, he is supposed to care for it, to love the woman, to treat her, take care of her the same way that the Lord has done us. And God will hold him accountable. And so in that regard, she would have no problem. Just like when we look at how the Lord has done us, we should have no problem submitting to him. She would have no problem submitting to her husband. That means she's supposed to submit to every man on the planet that she's supposed to be pretty and be quiet, be seen and not heard. That is not what the Bible teaches at all. As a matter of fact, you'll find a couple places where the Lord is admonishing the man to one in case of Abraham and Sarah. He tells Abraham, listen to your wife in terms of Moses, support literally saves her husband's life because he has not circumcised a child. And so it's not that there's no role for the husband, I mean for the wife in the house. It's Rebecca who is the one that's making sure that Jacob is the one who's going to get the inheritance. So is there a role for the woman? Sure it is. Is she being subjected or being subjected or submitted to the husbands that mean you have no voice? That's not what that means at all. So the most important thing to remember is that husbands, as she is doing what she's doing, make sure you're doing your job. Make sure you're fully submitted to the Lord and regarding her the same way the Lord regards you. Amen.