Wenstrom Bible Ministries Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom Sunday November 6, 2016 www.wenstrom.org Colossians: Colossians 3:18-The Colossian Wives Must Continue to Voluntarily Subject Themselves to Their Husband s Authority According to the Divine Order Lesson # 93 Colossians 3:18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. (NASB95) Be subject to is the verb hupotassomai (ὑποτάσσομαι), which is in the middle voice and means to voluntarily submit oneself, to voluntarily subject oneself to the legitimate authority of another since the word pertains to voluntarily submitting to the order or directives of some legitimate authority. Here it is used with regards to the relationship of the wives in the Christian community and their husbands and denotes that these Christian wives were to voluntarily submit themselves to the authority of their husbands as is fitting in the Lord. The present imperative form of the verb hupotasso is a customary present imperative which has the idea that the wives in the Christian community in Colossae must continue to make it their habit of submitting themselves to the authority of their husbands as is fitting in the Lord. This interpretation of the present imperative is supported by Paul s teaching in Colossians 1:3-5 and 2:5 which affirm the Colossians were already obeying the commands in this epistle. The middle voice is a direct middle which is emphasizing the function of the volition of these women and thus, denotes the idea of voluntary submission to a legitimate authority. As is fitting in the Lord is composed of the following: (1) particle hōs (ὡς), as (2) verb anēkei (ἀνήκει), is fitting (3) preposition en (ἐν), in (4) noun kurios (κύριος), the Lord. 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 1
The particle hōs means because since it is functioning as a marker of cause which means that the word is introducing an assertion which presents the reason for the preceding command. The verb anēkei means to do what is appropriate and obligatory since the word pertains to the act of performing an appropriate obligation and expresses the idea that this act of voluntarily submitting themselves to their husband s delegated authority is an appropriate obligation for these Christian wives to perform. The imperfect tense of this verb is a customary imperfect which is expressing the idea that wives voluntarily submitting themselves to the authority delegated to their husbands continually has always existed in the state of being an appropriate obligation. The noun kurios is the object of the preposition en which is functioning as a marker of a particular standard or rule specifying the rule or code of conduct a person follows or the standard of conduct to which he or she conforms. Therefore, this indicates that the wives in the Christian community voluntarily submitting themselves to the authority delegated to their husbands by the Lord has always been an appropriate obligation in conformity with or consistent with or in agreement with the created order as recorded in Genesis 2:7 and 2:18-25. Colossians 3:18 Wives, each of you must continue to make it your habit of voluntarily submitting yourselves to your husbands because it has always been an appropriate obligation in agreement with the will of the Lord. (My translation) The command the apostle Paul issues the wives in the Colossian Christian community in Colossians 3:18 marks a transition from his teaching in Colossians 3:1-17. This new section beginning in verse 18 ends in Colossians 4:1. Colossians 3:18-4:1 groups six classes of people in three pairs and in each pair, Paul addresses first the subordinate member of the relationship and then the one in authority. 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 2
In Colossians 3:18-4:1, the apostle reminds them of the practical implications in their homes which is the direct result of this identification with Christ. In other words, he reminds them of the responsibilities of the individual members of their Christian households which is the direct result of their identification with Christ in His death and resurrection and being under His Lordship. He brings out the implications of this union and identification for Christian parents (verse 21), husbands (verse 19), wives (verse 18), children (verse 20), slaves (verses 22-25) and slave masters (4:1), thus, he addresses the responsibilities of each as a result of being under Christ s Lordship. Therefore, in Colossians 3:18-4:1, the apostle Paul addresses the conduct of the wives, husbands and their children as well as the conduct of slaves and slave masters in the Colossian Christian community. He does this in other places in his writings (1 Corinthians 7:20-24; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 5:22-6:9; 1 Timothy 2:8-15, 6:1-2; Titus 2:1-10) and Peter employs these household codes as well in his writings (1 Peter. 2:18-3:7). So in Colossians 3:18, the apostle Paul is addressing the conduct of the wives in the Colossian Christian community Christian by commanding them to continue to make it their habit of voluntarily submitting themselves to the authority of their husbands which was delegated to their husbands by the Lord Himself. He asserts that this is consistent with or in agreement with the will of the Lord which is that He created Adam first and then Eve and she was to be his helpmate. Genesis 2:7 and 18-25 makes clear Eve was created to be a subordinate to Adam by being his helper in life. In 1 Corinthians 11:2-12, Paul interprets Genesis 2 for the Corinthian church and speaks at greater length with regards to the created order and that the woman is created subordinate to the man in marriage. This submission to the husband s authority does not imply or suggest that the woman is inferior to her husband just as the Son of God s submission to His heavenly Father does not suggest or imply that the Son is inferior to the Father since both Adam and Eve were created in the image of God (cf. Gen. 1:26-27). 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 3
Also, Paul teaches in Galatians 3:26-28 that Christian woman are equal to Christian men in the sense that they have equal privilege and equal opportunity to serve and glorify God. Furthermore, Peter teaches in 1 Peter 3:7 that the Christian wife is a fellow heir with her Christian husband of the grace of life. Paul does not want a Christian woman to blindly obey their husband. They are not to obey their husbands when they entice or order them to sin against God. Just as the Christian is justified in disobeying the government when it orders them to commit murder (such as the Hebrew midwives in Exodus 1 disobeying Pharaoh s order to kill the infant Jewish boys) or idolatry (such as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel 3 disobeying Nebuchadnezzar s order to worship the statue of himself) or stop proclaiming the gospel (such as Peter and the apostles in Acts 5 refusing to obey the Sanhedrin s order to stop proclaiming the gospel), so the Christian wife is justified biblically speaking in disobeying her husband when he orders her to commit sin or not proclaim the gospel or even orders her to stop going to church to worship Jesus Christ. During the church age, women in the Christian community through the baptism of the Spirit have equal privilege and equal opportunity to execute the plan of God which is indicated by Paul s teaching in Galatians 3:26-28. This passage teaches that there was no social, racial or gender distinctions in the body of Christ during the church age and all are equal members of the body of Christ (Rm. 12:4-5; 1 Co. 12). Yet a woman is prohibited from exercising authority over men in the church by teaching men in a public assembly of the church because of the angels. They are prohibited from exercising authority over men in the church by teaching men in a public assembly of the church because it does not reflect the divine order and because Eve was deceived and not Adam (1 Tim. 2:11-15; 1 Co. 11:3-16; 14:34-35). So Christian women are commanded to be submissive to their husbands and thus follow the example of Sarah (1 Pet. 3:1-6; Eph. 5:22-24; Col. 3:18). 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 4
Therefore, Paul s command in Colossians 3:18 is consistent with or in agreement with the will of the Lord which is revealed in Genesis chapter 2 that Adam was created first and then Eve and she was designed to be his helpmate or in other words, it is in agreement with the created order. Thus, Paul s command to the wives in the Colossian Christian community in Colossians 3:18 is consistent with this created order. Therefore, Paul is instructing the wives in the Colossian Christian community that by voluntarily submitting themselves to the delegated authority of their husbands is consistent with this created order. The headship of Adam was manifested by the fact that immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, the Lord interrogated Adam first and then Eve even though the latter sinned first. This indicates Adam held primary accountability. This headship was also manifested by the fact that Adam named the woman just like he did the other living creatures the Lord created. This naming of his wife and the other living creatures implies his leadership or authority. Lastly, the headship of Adam was manifested by the fact that the Lord created Eve for the purpose of her being a helpmate for Adam. We must also remember what Paul taught in Ephesians 5:31-32 that from the beginning of creation, marriage was to be a picture of the relationship between Christ and the church. 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 5