When human beings attempt to imitate God, we get Thor, Superman, and Paul Atreides. In our minds, imitating God means harnessing His unlimited power into our limited bodies. But when Christians began to worship a God who was humiliated on a cross, they forced a new paradigm into culture.
Christians called other Christians to embody the subversive virtue of submission in order to imitate God. This is the heart of Ephesians 5:22-6:9 – and it is of the utmost importance. Still, to fully understand the significance of the virtue of submission, it would be illuminating to briefly examine the first-century cultural context surrounding the text and analyze the text itself. By doing so, we can gain a deeper appreciation for the importance of submission in the Christian faith.
While I understand that this article will not be for everyone, I trust it will be for the few. This whole thesis will be operative in an upcoming video on Ephesians. Therefore, I think it is crucial to talk about somewhere!
Before we undertake this claim, we need to take a riveting diversion to define the term virtue. Though the word itself is foreign to the New Testament, “that occurs only five times in the RSV: twice as a translation of Gk. aretḗ” (Donaldson). The concept nonetheless was co-opted from Greek philosophy and stands to have profound meaning. “In Greek thought, the notion of virtue was tied to the pursuit of excellence in all things, becoming an effective member of society” (Witthoff). In the same way, Paul is exhorting his Greco-Roman hearers toward the pursuit of virtue, or moral excellence as a reflection of the Christian ideal, Christ Himself. This is what Ephesians 5:1, the context of our passage is calling out for. As an added layer of meaning, we may also say the pursuit of moral excellence, becoming an effective member of God’s Kingdom.
Secondly, we need to add an exciting digression on the theme of submission in the New Testament. I will limit my analysis to Philippians 2:5-7. Assuming Paul wrote Philippians, he likely taught this same concept to other churches he planted or helped plant. He writes,
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” (Phil. 2:5-7, NIV).
Here, the Son submits to the will of the Father. In so doing, Christ calls Christians both to submission and servitude as a reflection of His own character (cf., John 13:14). While this theme may not be explicitly present in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, it certainly works in the background through his repetition of “In Christ”.
The phrase through Ephesians, in Christ is variously understood. However, John Stott aptly notes that, “To be “in Christ” does not mean to be inside Christ, as tools are in a box or our clothes in a closet, but to be organically united to Christ, as a limb is in the body or a branch is in the tree.” In other words, the phrase is the organic union Christians share with Christ who, “is the source of their life and it shows in everything they do.” (Stott). In the same way that this phrase is not explicit in Philippians, it nonetheless stands to reason that this union is operative in both letters. As Ralph L. Martin notes in his commentary on Philippians, “the community created by the incarnate and enthroned Lord must share his spirit, and be controlled by the pattern of self-effacement and humility which his incarnation and cross supremely display” (Martian, emphasis mine). Therefore, what we see is that submission is a virtue derived from the person and work of Christ, and is on par with other apostolic virtues such as love, generosity, and forgiveness.
Perhaps most explicitly, Paul implies submission through humility in Ephesians 4:9-10. Paul writes, “(Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?” (Eph. 4:9, NASB). The Reformation Study Bible highlights the point clearly in their note on Ephesians 4:9, “Christ came to the exalted position He now enjoys through humiliation…this pattern of service is to be imitated by believers.” (1782). Thus, submission is displayed as a Christian virtue in light of Christ’s submission and humiliation in Ephesians.
It is crucial to note that in both cases, submission necessitates humility. As Scott Gleaves in the Lexham Bible Dictionary points out, “Jesus demonstrates his humility by submitting to the Father’s will…his humility serves as an example for every Christian to emulate (Phil 2:1–5).” Therefore, humility manifests as submission in the life of the Christian.
To the Greco-Roman culture of Ephesus, this was anathema. Dr. John Dickson relays this using a quote in an article for Public Christianity, “‘Humility in Greek and Roman ethics would be a degrading thing…There was no virtue in it at all.’” Further, in Aristotle’s Politics – which Paul may be dialoguing with – Aristotle begins by saying, “that some should rule and others be ruled is a thing not only necessary, but expedient; from the hour of their birth, some are marked out for subjection, others for rule.” Therefore, Aristotle proves that a worldview built on submission and humility would subvert the Greco-Roman world of power and subjugation.
One final note on the audience’s paradigm regards the reorientation of religion to family through Christ. Note how, in the ancient world, religion was primarily oriented toward the polis – or state institution. To be an Ephesian was to worship Artemis. Presumably, the whole of the Roman Empire depended upon this orientation. However, Christianity introduces Fatherhood and Sonship as central to deity. Jesus dignifies those who follow Him as brothers and sisters even beyond biological family (Matt. 12:49). Christians thus met in households as a theological assertion about the nature of their familial religion. This is the argument that Nijay Gupta makes in his book Strange Religion: How the First Christians Were Weird, Dangerous, and Compelling. Christianity is a reorientation toward community and family. Therefore, family necessitates the equal dignity of men and women (as brothers and sisters) (Gal. 3:28) but also elevates the dignity of familial relations. If this is true, one would expect that Paul intends submission as a path to communal unity, elevating the dignity of the family.
With this in mind, we can now adequately examine the passage. Paul has already framed Ephesians 5:22 onward by saying he is providing a way to imitate God (Eph. 5:1). Imitating God, too, is already connected back to the virtue of humility through the believer’s unity with Christ and each other (cf., Eph. 4:19-20). Therefore, Paul says, “[submit] to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph. 5:21). This makes the case that submission (as a virtue) has an object: Christ and the reverence of His communal body.
From there, Paul begins to list several ethics of the household, each involving submission. He says, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.” (Eph. 5:22, ESV). As Francis Foulkes notes in the Tyndale New Testament Commentary, “There is no verb in the Greek original here, but the whole structure of the verse depends on the participle in verse 21,” further signifying submission as a virtue rooted in (reverence to) Christ.
Paul is saying something that would have been profoundly theological and culturally-subversive. On the one hand, Aristotle’s household codes would not dare give wives so much agency and dignity. In his discourse on Politics, Aristotle concludes,
“For the slave has no deliberative faculty at all; the woman has, but it is without authority, and the child has, but it is immature. So it must necessarily be supposed to be with the moral virtues also; all should partake of them, but only in such manner and degree as is required by each for the fulfillment of his duty.” (20)
Whereas Aristotle exclusively addresses free men, Paul begins by addressing the wives of the Christian family. Further, Paul gives them agency and responsibility with the primary Christian virtues of humility and submission. Dr. Preston Sprinkle relays this poignant truth in a recent article, pointing to virtue,
“Whatever Paul is conveying when he calls on wives to submit, we must resist reading secular notions—ancient or modern—into the term ...The call to submit is a call [to] embody the peculiar power of King Jesus.”
On the other hand, Aristotle’s primary concern is the master-slave relationship. He is attempting to make a case for why some ought to be ruled and others rulers. Therefore, only so many parallels are appropriate between the two pieces of literature.
By contrast, Paul has begun his dialogue about the household with the mutual love shared between a husband and a wife. Paul sees such an apt metaphor between husband-wife and Christ-Church that his dialogue about the relationship rests on this comparison (5:23-33).
Therefore, Paul says husbands are to love their wives (5:25). The word love used is a strong one. The word is ἀγαπάω (agapaō), which, as the Dictionary of Biblical Languages puts it, is “love based on its regarded value” (Swanson). This value, of course, is as the body of Christ (5:23). Francis Foulkes, again, helpfully clarifies that this is a love that represents “a continual readiness to subordinate one’s own pleasure and advantage for the benefit of the other. It implies patience and kindliness, humility and courtesy, trust and support.” The object of such high virtue is rooted in Ephesians 5:21.
While an entire book could be written on this passage alone, suffice it to say that Paul exhorts both husbands and wives to virtue. The virtue he focuses on is submission from humility. With that, Paul moves on to the other two common categories within household codes.
Again, subverting Aristotle, Paul addresses children. He gives them full agency and responsibility to submit to their parents. While the goal may be biologically-oriented household stability (Bock), Paul seems to have the whole Christian family in mind by quoting from Exodus. The original quote reads, “so that you may live long in the land” (Ex. 20:12), whereas Paul changes this to “live long on the Earth.” Bock in the Tyndale New Testament Commentary on Ephesians finds theological significance in this change. He posits that it indicates how Paul sees children as responsible for the flourishing of the Christian church beyond the age of the apostles. Of course, it depends on their counter-cultural reflection of Christ and His submission.
Whereas the bulk of the dialogue is taken up with Paul addressing children, he does add that fathers also have a responsibility. He writes, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Eph. 6:4). Should the message of Ephesians 1-5 be internalized, this should come as no surprise. The focus is on the magnanimous exchange between parent and child while simultaneously encouraging the children toward the same submission to Christ.
Paul concludes his household codes by addressing bondservants and masters. The proverbial width of the river may be widest here as we attempt to relocate Paul’s message to 21st-century America. Nonetheless, virtue as the path to communal stability is central – particularly as it reflects reverence and submission to Christ (cf., 5:21 and 6:5).
Moreover, if submission is the central virtue Paul uses to structure this passage, then no Christian escapes submitting. Therefore, the most crucial verse in this section would be verse 7. Paul says, “rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man” (Eph. 6:7, ESV). Foulkes writes that this transforms “the Christian’s entire standards of work and service into something totally different from the standards of the world. Work and service are to be rendered to an earthly master as if they were being offered to the heavenly Lord himself.” To be clear, this is a re-articulation of the thesis and the text. The counter-cultural virtue of submission through humility is done entirely with Christ as its object. But it is seldom easy, and Paul knows this.
The difficulty of this virtue forms the foundation of Paul’s crescendo in chapter 6 verse 10 to the end. We often isolate this section about the armor of God. But in reality, it is Paul showcasing that virtue is difficult, and to prepare for those difficulties, it is best to strengthen ourselves where we can, and allow God to do the rest.
Paul’s manifesto, his letter to the Ephesians, can be studied for a lifetime. Yet, of the virtues he highlights throughout his letter, submission should not be overlooked. Paul indicates that submission is the organizing virtue of Ephesians 5:22-6:9. This is not divorced from his earlier dialectic on communal unity and the gospel. Instead, it flows from those realities – subverting cultural expectations. That is why, in light of a believer’s unification with Christ, they ought to seek to image Him and submit to one another out of reverence for Him.
Bibliography
Aristotle. Politics. Translated by Benjamin Jowett, Batoche Books, 1999.
Bock, Darrell L. Ephesians: An Introduction and Commentary. InterVarsity Press, 2019.
Dickson, John. “‘Even Death on a Cross’: How Christian Humility Upended the World.” Centre for Public Christianity, 12 Oct. 2018, www.publicchristianity.org/how-christian-humility-upended-the-world/#:~:text=It%20is%20well%20known%20that,associated%20with%20failure%20and%20shame.
Duvall, J. Scott, and J. Daniel Hays. Grasping God’s Word: A Hands-on Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible. Zondervan Academic, 2020.
Foulkes, Francis. The Pastoral Ephesians: An Introduction and Commentary. InterVarsity Press, 2007.
Gupta, Nijay K. Strange Religion: How the First Christians Were Weird, Dangerous, and Compelling. Brazos Press, a Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2024.
Martin, Ralph L. Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary. Inter-Varsity Press, 2008.
New American Standard Bible. Foundation Press, 1973.
Sprinkle, Preston. “What Does ‘Head’ (Kephalē) Mean in Paul’s Letters? Part 1: Introduction.” Theology in the Raw, 2 Apr. 2024, theologyintheraw.com/what-does-head-kephale-mean-in-pauls-letters-part-1-introduction/.
Swanson, James A. “A Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (NT).” Logos Bible Software, 1 Jan. 1997, www.logos.com/product/693/a-dictionary-of-biblical-languages-with-semantic-domains-greek?ssi=0.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary. J. D. Barry and L. Wentz, editors. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012. As found in the Logos Bible study software program.
The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version. Condensed Edition ed., Ligonier Ministries, 2017.
“Book of Ephesians Summary: A Complete Animated Overview.” YouTube, 10 Nov. 2016, youtu.be/Y71r-T98E2Q?feature=shared.