Instructions to Wives

A Foundational Issue

Egalitarianism - the doctrine that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities. - Oxford Dictionary

Egalitarianism sees no distinction between genders and believe all roles of gender are interchangeable.

Complementarianism - is the theological view that although men and women are created equal in their being and personhood, they are created to complement each other via different roles and responsibilities as manifested in marriage, family life, religious leadership, and elsewhere. - Theopedia

Problems with Egalitarianism

Denies the uniqueness of each gender and what the different giftedness of each gender contributes.

Is rooted in value being directly tied to role or position.

Is often associated with “equal outcome” ideology that is totally unbiblical.

Is a result of the curse as stated in Genesis 3:16 “To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.””

Unpacking Submission

Submission does not mean:

Women have less value than men.

Women have less dignity than men.

Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood Key Issue #1: Men and Women Are Equal in Value and Dignity

The Bible thus almost immediately corrects the errors of male dominance and male superiority that have come as the result of sin and that have been seen in nearly all cultures in the history of the world. Wherever men are thought to be better than women, wherever husbands act as selfish dictators, wherever wives are forbidden to have their own jobs outside the home or to vote or to own property or to be educated, wherever women are treated as inferior, wherever there is abuse or violence against women or rape or female infanticide or polygamy or harems, the biblical truth of equality in the image of God is being denied. To all societies and cultures where these things occur, we must proclaim that the very beginning of God’s Word bears a fundamental and irrefutable witness against these evils.

Women are intellectually inferior to men.

Women are less gifted than men.

Wives should not be a vital part of decision making for the family.

Wives should try to influence their husbands.

Wives have to agree with everything.

Wives have to put the will of their husbands above the will of Christ.

What Submission Means:

Submission is the defined calling of a wife to honor and affirm her husband’s leadership, and so help to carry it through according to her gifts. - John Piper

Why Submit?

You do not submit because of your husband’s credentials as a leader.

You submit because of your love and obedience to Jesus.

Examples to follow:

Christ and the church

The Trinity

Philippians 2:5-8 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Practical Implications:

Recognize that God has gifted you and your spouse differently. You have different strengths and weaknesses. You should work as a team to have a strong, healthy, happy family.

The inner attitude of the heart is more important than the outward details of running a household.