Bits & Pieces: The Church and Marriage

"Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also love the church and gave Himself up for her," (Ephesians 5:22--25).

* Amid instructions related to authority and submission within the marriage relationship, Paul speaks of the body of Christ as the church. He makes two points: (1) as 'called-out' ones, we are to be subject to Christ; and (2) sacrificial love in marriage should stem from recognizing Jesus' sacrifice of Himself for us.

* In these familiar verses, Paul compares the relationship of Christ to the church with that of husband and wife, specificially in the areas of authority and submission. As people who have been called out from among the world to be representatives of the Savior, we are to be subject to Christ, both individually and corporately. And, when we truly submit to His sovereign lordship, our marriages will be transformed.

* Paul is teaching that Christian marriage should reflect the relationship of Christ and His church. As He sacrificed for us, so husbands should sacrifice for their wives. And wives, portraying the posture of the church, are to submit to their husbands, in the Lord.