Submit to One Another
Mutual submission in reverence for Christ defines Christian relationships.
Paul prefaces his household instructions with 'Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.' This mutual submission transforms hierarchies into reciprocal service. Husbands love sacrificially; wives respect; children obey; parents nurture; employees work well; employers treat justly. All submit ultimately to Christ, not to human authority as ultimate. This teaching subverts domination while maintaining order. The grammar carries the point: Ephesians 5:22 has no verb of its own — “wives, to your husbands” borrows “submit” from verse 21.
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
N.T. Wright explains that Paul's household codes were radical for his time, placing limits on patriarchal power and elevating the dignity of wives, children, and slaves.
Epistle to the Ephesians
Written about in
- What Christianity says about humility
Paul puts mutual submission in front of everything he says about households. Mutual is the load-bearing word, and it turns rank into service in both directions.