Ephesians 5:24

"As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands." Ephesians 5:24

How is the church subject to Christ? When I ask myself this question... it begins to get confusing, because all churches do not seem subject to Christ. But then the Holy Spirit says, "YOU are part of the Church Paul is referring to, Preston... so then, how has God asked you to be subject to Christ?". That, takes us to the whole word of God and the experience of living with the Holy Spirit. Both of these, keep us subjected to Christ. I look at verses like: "Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to Go correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillful teaching] the Word of Truth" II Timothy 2:15. It doesn’t say, “Do your best to present your spouse to God as one approved…” It says to present yourself. So, for a wife to understand how she is to be subject to her husband, she only needs to look at how she is subject to Christ. Is she in His Word... Does, her love for her husband look like His Word? I Corinthians 13:4-8 says what it should and should not be manifested as. Is she lead by the Spirit of Christ... The Holy Spirit?

When I am asked for advise about marriage problems, I sit down and draw a triangle on a sheet of paper... at the lower left-hand corner, I write the word, "You". Then, moving straight across the bottom of the triangle to the right, I write, "Spouse". Pointing to each of these two corners on the triangle, I ask my friends to look at how the distance may have grown since they first married. I ask them to consider the struggle to make the other to move closer. Then, I go to the top of the triangle and write, "Jesus". I begin to talk about how we should always look to Christ and how each one should focus on moving closer to Him. Finally, I show them how moving up both sides of the triangle closer to Christ also moves them closer to each other on the triangle. It is that way in Paul's teaching here. We want to love and be loved, yet you and I are NOT capable of producing such a thing. Love is manifested by the Holy Spirit... so again, let's look at this verse and if you are a wife and part of the church, what does it say? "As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands." Praise God.

Let's pick up with Ephesians verse 5:25 next time.

I love you.