No woman, whatever her gifts, has a right even to contemplate marrying a given individual unless she is prepared to submit [to her husband as to the Lord]. It is a voluntary submission, it is the way in which Christ submitted and subordinated Himself. She is to behave in the same way, and unless she is prepared to do so, unless she is convinced that she can submit herself to this man, she should not marry him. If she enters into marriage with any other idea, it is against the will of God, and she is committing sin.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in the Spirit in Marriage, Home & Work: An Exposition of Ephesians 5:18-6:9, pg. 110
Likewise, a man is not to marry a woman unless he is prepared for self-sacrificial love, for life. The heavier responsibility is on the husband, to love, to lead, and not to lord it over or be a despot in the home. If he marries for any other reason, he is against the will of God, and is in sin.
ReplyDelete-Carolyn
Oh, I agree 100%. But in the passage being addressed, he's only speaking to the woman. He gets the man later.
ReplyDeleteI may be wrong, but I think it is much more difficult in today's culture for a woman to even consider submitting to her husband. That goes entirely against everything culture teaches. Yet here he says it doesn't matter what the culture says.