Bible Study Seattle

Ephesians 5:21 is a very popular marriage verse to many.
“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
Since comments about wives follow, it is assumed that this is talking about marriage. But does this make sense? The husband submits to the wife? Could we also say Christ should submit to the church? No way! If the husband submits to the wife, then he does not have to lead her. Have you ever seen a ship with two captains? It doesn’t work very well! A better rendition of Ephesians 5:21-22 is:

“[Church members] Submit to each other out of reverence for Christ, and wives [do likewise] unto your husbands as unto the Lord.”

Jesus gave the example of washing each others’ feet. I would argue that the church should serve each other when necessary; they are actually only to submit to Christ. The mutual submission fallacy is one of those teachings that our itching ears want to hear. It is an improper reading of scripture. For a more thorough discussion: http://www.wordsofhealing.org/2000/12/is_mutual_submission_biblical/