Ephesians Gender Debate

Introduction

Ephesians 5:21-33 addresses the roles of the husband and the wife in light of the position each holds as a result of being in Christ. The passage is located in the latter half of the book of Ephesians, which is developed primarily around the “walk” passages. Chapter 4-6 are the direct application of chapters 1-3. The commands to husbands and wives are found in the last exhortation to walk carefully. The focus of the exhortation to “walk carefully” is a variety of relationships: husband/wife, children/parents, with a focus on fathers, and slaves/masters. This passage teaches how redemption and the sanctification process is to affect these relationships, including the marriage relationship between a man a woman. In other words, as the transforming process of sanctification “pushes back” the effects of the fall in the life of a man or a woman in the context of marriage, it will look different for each gender because the effects of the fall have been distinct for each gender. There is a clear distinction in the commands given to the man and the woman concerning the transformed life in the context of marriage because of these distinctions in gender. In examining Ephesians 5:20-33, this paper seeks to present how the complementarian side of the gender debate provides the best interpretation for gender roles.

1 Prescription for mutual submission as it relates to a wife’s submission (5:21-22, 24, 33) http://cbmw.org/book-reviews/biblical-interpretation/fifty-crucial-questions-mutual-submission/

Ephesians 5:21 says, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” In the admonition “submit to one another” the verb hupotasso has as its basic meaning “to order oneself under another, to yield, to consider the other above on...

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...der? The phrase “one another” is often understood to evoke a sense of reciprocation. However, the word translated “one another” in Greek is the term allÄ“lois and its use in the New Testament often has nothing to do with reiprcol action. The cmman to submit, while understand as a general command for all Christians, is not specifically given directed to husbands. Only the wives receive such instruction. Since Paul says the marriage relationship is patterned after hrist relationship to his church it is impotant to see that there is not eciprocal submission between Christ and his brind; neither is there tobe such between husbands and wives. As a result, while there are mutual obligations for husbands and wives, there is not mutual submission in the recipricol sence. http://www.dennyburk.com/mutual-submission-in-ephesians-521/ 5. Paul’s larger “in Christ” theology