Submitting to One Another in the Fear of Christ

In one paragraph

This was a continuation of First B Jackson's series in Ephesians 5, preached by the preacher. He worked through the household codes in chapters 5 and 6, covering wives and husbands, children and parents, and slaves and masters, framing the whole section around the hinge verse of mutual submission in the fear of Christ. Before getting to the household codes, Pastor Van took time to re-read a...

Read together

1. Romans 5:5 opening encouragement read before worship: hope will not lead to disappointment because God has given us His Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love
2. Psalm 92 identified as the psalm being sung when the congregation sang 'it is good to praise you Lord'
3. Ephesians 4:1-3 Paul urges believers to walk worthy of their calling with humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another, keeping the unity of the spirit
4. Ephesians 4:4-6 one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all
5. Ephesians 5:1-2 be imitators of God as beloved children, walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering
6. Ephesians 5:15-16 be careful how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of your time because the days are evil
7. Ephesians 5:17 do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is
8. Ephesians 5:18-21 do not get drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit, speaking in psalms and hymns, singing, giving thanks, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ
9. Galatians 3:28 cited as the egalitarian foundational text: there is no male nor female in Christ
10. 1 Timothy 2 cited as a passage complementarians use for permanent gender distinctions in church roles
11. Ephesians 5:22 wives to your own husbands as to the Lord
12. Ephesians 5:23 the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, he being the savior of the body
13. Ephesians 5:24 as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be to their husbands in everything
14. Ephesians 5:25 husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
15. Ephesians 5:26-27 Christ sanctifies the church by washing of water with the word, to present her holy and blameless
16. Ephesians 5:28-29 husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; no one ever hated his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it as Christ does the church
17. Ephesians 5:31 for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh
18. Ephesians 5:32 Paul says this mystery is great but he is speaking with reference to Christ and the church
19. Ephesians 5:33 each husband is to love his own wife as himself and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband
20. Ephesians 6:1 children obey your parents in the Lord
21. Ephesians 6:2-3 honor your father and mother, the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you and you may live long on the earth
22. Ephesians 6:4 fathers do not provoke your children to anger but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord
23. Ephesians 6:5-6 slaves be obedient to your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling and sincerity of heart as to Christ, not just when they are watching
24. Ephesians 6:7-8 render service with goodwill as to the Lord, knowing whatever good each one does he will receive back from the Lord whether slave or free
25. Ephesians 6:9 masters do the same to them, give up threatening, knowing their master and yours is in heaven and there is no partiality with Him
26. Colossians 3 briefly noted as containing a parallel passage to Ephesians 5:18-21

Talk about it

1. Pastor Van read through a long list of what Paul says believers are in the first three chapters of Ephesians, things like 'chosen,' 'adopted,' 'redeemed,' and 'sealed with the Holy Spirit.' Which one of those descriptions is hardest for you to actually believe about yourself, and why does it matter that Paul lays all of that out before he gets to any instructions?
2. The sermon described two broad camps, complementarian and egalitarian, and said both have biblical backing. How do you personally handle passages where sincere, Bible-believing people land in different places? What does 'being diligent to keep the unity of the spirit' look like in a conversation like that?
3. The instruction to husbands is to love their wives the way Christ loved the church, giving himself up for her every single day. The sermon pointed out that at the time Paul wrote this, women were essentially property with fewer rights than men. How does that historical context change the way you hear the word 'submit' in this passage?
4. The sermon extended the slave-and-master passage to any workplace situation, saying 'if you work for somebody, treat this like it is talking to you.' What would it actually look like, in a practical Monday-morning way, to do your work as to the Lord and not just when someone is watching?
5. Alex and Emily are packing up their home and moving into a camper to help rebuild a gospel ministry in Alaska. The sermon drew a parallel to Abraham leaving for a place God would show him. Has there been a moment in your own life when you felt called to step out before you could see the whole path? What made you take the step, or what held you back?