How to Study the Bible III - Ephesians 5:18-6:9: Literary Structure

We get to go backward before we can go forward. So there were maybe a half to a third of you in the Greek portion of the class that was in this room. And in order to cover the material today, it's important to have a little bit of a background. Plus I'd also like to give a refresher to those who were who were here Seven months ago that we were covering this and I don't know if anybody remembers but We were left with a cliffhanger somewhere along the way. So we're gonna get back to that cliffhanger and Like a good hardy boys novel. Hopefully we'll leave today with another cliffhanger. So great fun First up these things up here Two questions, one just whimsical, the other one important to what we're teaching today.

Number one, which one of all of these words doesn't belong? Adjectives. Say what? Adjectives. Kaylee says adjectives and she's spot on because adjectives is Now, everything else up there is an adjective. Okay, so that was whimsical. Less whimsical. What can we say about all of these different words?

What do they do? They describe. They give further detail and description to something. They describe nouns. Could they possibly describe verbs? Some of them may be able to describe verbs as well. But it comes down to all of them are describing something.

They're not the main element of a sentence. They provide decoration. They provide some color to the sentence. Maybe they give a little bit of context. But when we break apart a sentence, we're looking for the main meaning. And then we look at the decoration.

So all of these things are adjectives. Adjectives are used to describe other things. So let's get into this world of participles. So a participle is a fancy thing. It is a verb that also functions as an adjective. Just like an adjective, it's also used to describe things.

And so up here, you've got the person taking the cell phone saying, I'm bored. The person who's taking the selfie, she is not actively engaged in the act of bording. She's not bording. That's describing her. That's describing how she feels at that moment. So this is an example of something that has a verbal component. So to bore is the verb. But it's being used in a way that is descriptive. Does that make sense? That it's describing, not giving an action? OK. And so we make our way over to her compatriot. And maybe she doesn't quite love this whole selfie-taking thing. And her assessment of the situation is, you're boring. OK. Harsh, yes.

But the person who's taking the selfie is not In the act of boring, this is again a description. It's describing the person. It's describing that person's essence. You're bored. So participles, easiest way to think about them, they're verbal adjectives. So they've got a component that has something to do with action. But it's being used to describe something. It's not giving you the main action. There's one exception, and we'll see it in just a minute. OK.

So participle, verbal adjective. Present tense, the easiest way to come up with one is to either throw an ing at the end of a verb or to throw an ed at the end of a verb. So here's a great example from John 4. She said to him, where then do you get that living water? Living is a participle. The verb is to live. Threw an ing on the end of it, and now it's describing something. What's it describing?

Water. And the water's not busy living. It's just describing the state of the water. And so if we were looking for the main concept in this, we would focus in on, where do you get that water? And it answers a relevant question about it. What kind of water? Well, the living water.

So it can express the main action, but only if it's used with an essence verb. So an essence verb is one that describes your state of being. So is, was, became, become. These are essence verbs because they're talking about who you are individually. So, I am standing here. So, am, that's to be, that's an essence verb. You know that what comes next is going to describe me. What am I doing? Well, I'm standing, so that it's a case where it actually is the action.

But you have to have that essence verb, or else you can't do that. Otherwise, 100% of the time, Participle is an adjective. Does that make sense? It's a little esoteric, but we're going to start building on this really quickly. And so it's important that you understand this point. Ask questions if you don't. OK. So our participles are verbal adjectives. Here's an example of where it's important before we jump into our Ephesians passage. So this one is from James121.

And I've got the NASB and the King James version side by side. And they're saying different things. So it's important to be able to figure out which one of them is correct. And at the surface level, it seems like they're saying the same thing, but they're not. So James at NASB is saying, Let's start King James, actually. King James is saying, wherefore, lay apart all filthiness. So that's something that we do, right? That's an action.

Lay apart. And superfluity of naughtiness. I really would love to talk this way today. Cut out that superfluity of naughtiness. And receive with meekness the engrafted word. So there are two actions that are going on in here. Number one. There's lay apart, that sounds like something that we're doing. And then there's also receive the engrafted work. So that's the second thing. So we've got two things going on.

Do you see it? NASB, totally different. It's saying, therefore, putting aside all filthiness, so putting, that's not an action, that's a participle, that's going to describe something. And all that remains of wickedness, in humility, receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

So we have one action. We get to receive the laying apart as describing something. Let me show that to you pictorially. So this is a sentence diagram. Don't worry too much about the details. What you will see though is King James, You come to a branch, and then you get to do two different things. You get to put aside, and you get to receive. You need to do them both. In the NASB, you do one thing. You receive the word implanted.

And something that naturally flows out of that is this putting aside all the filthiness. That make sense? You see why that distinction would really matter? Like, do I need to try super, super, super hard to lay aside all this superfluity of naughtiness? So it's important to understand the language that sits behind the translation.

And so in the Greek, spoiler alert, it's a participle. There's no essence verb, so we know it's describing something. It's an adjective. So it turns out NASB got this one right, which is great. Because I don't actually know how to go about putting aside all the filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness. But God does. So it's better to have that in his hands.

Do you see why understanding a participle would be something that's kind of important? Key takeaway. Participles. unless you have an essence verb or adjectives. They describe, not main action. Now we're into the main lesson. Entitled, Who Needs Context?

Let's just go ahead and take a verse and pull it out of context because a lot of people do with this one in particular. Let's look at it a little bit and I won't get super geeky. But I think it's helpful to dive into the Greek a little bit just to be able to see a couple basic things.

The way that we're going to approach this morning is the way that I often find myself studying scripture, which is to have a starting point and then raise questions. I need to make some observations. Often, the observations that I need to make are not in this tiny little window. Well, that's OK. We can expand our window. I tend to go backwards almost more than I go forwards. So we expand our window to a point where we can make some observations. But the observations often raise more questions. And so we keep expanding our window.

So somewhere along the way, we're going to go from single verse to, OK, let's get some more context looking at the language. Hmm, is there anything we can see from the structure, the literary structure of a larger passage around this? And so, starting to pull multiple tools out of the tool bag for understanding scripture in context.

We're starting small. wives, submit to your own husbands as unto the Lord." This gets used pretty heavily, especially by guys who want their wives to be at their beck and call. Perhaps they like chocolate pie, they want a chocolate pie every night, and so probably she's got to bake them a chocolate pie every night, because it clearly says, submit yourselves to your husbands.

Without going into the particulars in the Greek language, we can actually tell by the way the language is constructed. Whether this is a should or a must, like is this something that really she should do and it kind of logically flows out or is this absolutely she's got to do this. And then we can look at it from a context of active or passive. So is this something that she should do or is it something that's somehow done to her.

So for those who vividly remember the answer from when we went through this seven months ago, please be quiet. For the rest of you, let's answer some questions. So I have questions about submit in this context. Is this a should or a must? Should she submit or is it a command? She's absolutely got to submit. What do you guys think? As it's written, it looks like a must. It's a command. It appears that way. Active or passive? So is this something that she herself does, or is it somehow done to her, this submitting? She herself does that. She herself does that. It's clear from the way this is written.

OK, so now let's make some observations. Let's test this. I told you when we look at the Greek, we can actually tell which of these cases it is. So let's go look. So we've got this observation, which is entirely disastrous, because I had to uninstall a font last night. But it should be right on your page. It should look very Greek-y there. OK, so just ignore the screen up here. But what's the thing that jumps out at you about this particular verse?

Maybe one of the people who asserted that it's a command. Submit is not in the sentence. And that's true. In the Greek, submit is not actually in that sentence. It actually says, the wives to their husbands as to the Lord. OK. So that's strange. Where did we get submit from? That's a real head scratcher. So let's play a game. What could it have been? So we're not expanding our context. We're not looking in depth anywhere. We've got this diagram, which says the wives something. We don't actually have a birth there.

To their husbands as to the Lord. What things could we throw in there that might make some semblance of sense? Respect, love. Love their husbands as the Lord. Respect your husbands. In the passage, aren't we supposed to be singing and making something?

Oh, yeah. So Crystal's actually expanded some context and is looking a few verses before. We'll get there. But it's talking about singing and making music. So perhaps singing praises to their husbands. Yes, to the Lord. That would be lovely. I'm having a down day at work. Crystal shows up, starts singing about how amazing I am. I'm like, this is a good deal.

Where did we get submit from? It's not in the verse. We could slap many things in here. Probably looking at context across scripture as a whole, we can't put bake a chocolate pie in there for X because I don't believe we've got any examples of people baking chocolate pies for the Lord. But respect, love, sing praises. Why not? Let's do it.

OK, so clearly just looking at this little sliver of scripture, we don't have enough information to figure out what in the world is being said and why it's being said. So let's expand. Let's look further back. And so what we're going to look for in this bigger passage is, where are we getting the whole concept of submission from? very last sentence, wives be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord, I like to just start reading backwards and not like actually reading backwards but skipping back a sentence, reading forward, skipping back a sentence, reading forward, see what I can find. Just looking up, roundabout line, third line from the bottom, we've got and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. So maybe that's where we're getting submit from. So if we've got to be subject to one another, and then wives to your own husbands, that kind of fits.

So maybe that's where we're drawing it. What we know is just cross out B subject, because that's not there for wives. But we've got this other B subject that's just sitting right above. So context has helped. We understand where this is. whole submission thing is coming from, it's from there.

So let's drive the car up to the top of the hill and let it go and see if it makes it down to the bottom this time. Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. Same exact question. From the Greek we can tell whether this is a should or a must. We can tell whether it's active or passive. So, be subject to one another. Is that something we should do?

Or is that command? That's a must. Command. Okay. So pretty confident in that answer. I love that. And then active or passive. Active. OK. So again, we're going to be subject to one another. That's command. There's no getting out of this. And we're just going to do it ourselves. That's something we're going to do.

So again, you'll want to look at your sheet because of my font issues. But what do you guys notice from this, from an observation? Submitting is a participle, so it's describing something because there is no essence for anywhere around that. Do you guys hear that? Okay. So what do you notice about submit or be subject in the observations here, given perhaps what we were doing a quick review on at the beginning? Submitting is a participle. And what's a participle?

It's something we're already doing. In this case, yes. Generally, it is a verbal adjective. So it's describing something. So it is not the main action. This is something that comes out of the main action. Or maybe it's something that's describing the individual who's involved in the action.

We don't know. But this is not the thing for us to do. Just like we don't have to put aside all that superfluity of naughtiness, the submitting, this is not a call to us to go out and actively start trying really, really hard to be obedient to our husbands.

Or friends. Yeah, and friends. Actually, we'll come back there for sure. All right. So what we know, and this is putting it in picture form, submitting is going to describe something, and we would put it underneath whatever that thing it's describing. We know it's not the main action, and so we're left with a question mark. Oh my goodness. Where are we going to attach submitting? What's the thing that we're actually doing? Where does it go? OK. Now we're going to play a new game. We played our what verb can we throw in there game. Now we're going to play find the action verb.

So what we know is it's not be subject for the wives. That's not even there. And we know it's not be subject to one another because that's describing something. That's not our main action. So we can just play this game of going backwards looking for action verbs. Let's play the game.

Alright, so next one up is giving thanks. What does that sound like? It's a participle. It's describing something. That ng gives it away right away. So that's not the main action. It's not that we're going to go out and give thanks, and then somehow that's going to subject us to one another. OK. Well, that's good. It means the game is over. So let's keep playing. Let's keep going backwards. Making melody. What does that sound like? Participle. Participle. So that's describing something. That's not our main action.

You see how we start in this tiny little bit? And our observations are leading us to expand more and more to get context. When we snip out just this little bit, we can come up with all sorts of absurdities. And when we start expanding more and more, we get fuller context, more understanding of what's actually going on. Our game isn't over. We have to go find another action verb. So just looking a little bit back, We've got singing. Could singing be our mate? No. Singing's not.

Participle. There's a lot of description in this. Whatever it is that we've got to do, it has a lot of really wonderful consequences, don't you think? Speaking to one another in Psalms. Speaking. Participle. That's another adjective. Wow. Be filled. Does that sound like ding, ding, ding, ding? That might actually be our action verb. So be filled with the spirit, and then all of these other things start flowing out of it. Now this is starting to make some semblance of sense. So ding, ding, ding. Be filled. That's the thing that we're looking for. So let's play the game again. Hopefully people are a little bit gun shy, but don't be. So questions about Be Filled.

Does this look like it's a should or a must? Is this a command? It looks like it's a must. It looks like it's a must. Does it look like it's something that we do or does it look like something that is done to us? Yes. It looks like it's done to us but we've got to do it.

That's weird. All right. So let's make some more observations. Let's validate that assumption, because that's weird. We have to do it. It's done to us. And so we can look this B field. The parse code that sits below that tells me that it's a verb, it's imperative, and it's present passive. So continually, we must be having this thing done to us.

Okay? That does seem a little confusing. Do you guys have your heads wrapped around that? Get out there and do this. It's completely done to you. So let me introduce you to a friend. This friend's name is the permissive passive. And this is something that comes up in scripture a fair amount. Greeks loved it. So what the permissive passive conveys is that this is something that happens to us, but we can get in the way of it. We can mess it up if we want to mess it up. We can do that.

So let's look at a totally different example. We look at the Romans 12, 2. And we get, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Guess what? Both of those, be conformed and be transformed, are permissive passives. So let's test this out and see if it sort of matches with our understanding.

Is it possible to be conformed to the world even as a believer? Yeah, we all know folks who live that way so they can permit it. For those who are being... Is it possible for people to not be conformed to this world? It turns out that it is possible to not be conformed to this world. You can get in the way of this conforming process.

Don't do this, but let's talk about the transformed by the renewal of your mind. Being transformed, is it possible for believers to be transformed? And if you have a carnal Christian, somebody who's actively being conformed to this world, are they being transformed or were they able to get in the way of that? No, they are not transformed. Yes, they did get in the way of that.

Okay. Do we know anywhere in scripture where it says we can actually get in the way of the Holy Spirit? We can... Do not quench the Spirit. Okay. 1 Thessalonians 5.19, do not quench the spirit. Why in the world would he tell us that? Because we can do it. Alright, so this notion of, let me just back up, this notion of do not get drunk, but be filled with the Spirit. Let's apply what we just learned onto this, be filled. So, be filled with the Spirit. Is that something that I can allow? Is that something I can get in the way of? So, bottom line, let's not do that. Let's not get in the way of the Spirit.

And then all of this awesome stuff happens. Pictorially, this is what it looks like. So you've got all y'all, so it's plural you, be filled with the Spirit. That's the main thing that's going on here. The rest of this whole passage is just description. Description all the way down. What does it look like to be filled with the Spirit? It looks like speaking in Psalms, singing, making melody, thanking, submitting. That's pretty cool, right? Let's not get in the way of the Holy Spirit.

So that's the moral to learn there. Then as we look at the passage as a whole, This was the cliffhanger that I stuck folks with last time. So the first word in the section is and. What does and do? It's a conjunction. It's going to connect things. What does this passage hook into?

And so then I left you all with that. Maybe you went and did that. Today we're also going to be talking about a different thing, though. So that different thing is submitting yourselves one to another. So let's ask another question about this passage. So submitting yourselves to one another, this is something that just sort of naturally flows.

So if I'm walking in the Spirit and Stan tells me, Craig, I know you've got to go to work today. I want a chocolate pie. I need you to stay home and make a chocolate pie. Efficience is pretty clear. I need to go bake Stan a chocolate pie. Is that how we should interpret that? It says submit to one another. How do you reconcile those? Why wouldn't I have to go bake him a pie?

That's where we need to expand our understanding further. Here we've got this glorious cliffhanger. At this point, we can jump out and take a look at the last page. Let me grab a copy, maybe. This week's empty. Give it just a quick moment. So we'll look at it here.

So this is where it's helpful to take a much more expanded view of scripture and break it into large sections. What are these large sections telling us about? And the thing that you might wonder is, OK, so we've been told we should be submitting to one another. That's what this looks like. What's an example of that? Wouldn't it have been nice if Paul had given us some examples of what that looks like?

Well, it turns out if we expand far enough, we find all kinds of examples, and it's completely clear what he's talking about. So submitting to one another, it's as though he thought You know, people aren't going to latch on to singing, and they aren't going to latch on to thanking.

People are going to latch on to submitting. They're going to grab a hold of this and get really excited about lots of law. So this is the one that Paul chooses to focus on. He doesn't expand on what making melody is all about. He expands on what is this submitting looking like. And he gives us a number of very clear examples.

And as a fun homework exercise for all y'all, This pattern shows up three times in the New Testament all around submitting. One is in 1 Peter 3. I would encourage you to expand that one and apply some of the lessons that we're learning today to that passage and see what it looks like. The other one is over in Colossians. I would encourage you to expand on that one and see how well it lines up to what we're learning today. Spoiler alert, it lines up pretty well. But you should go through the exercise.

So it starts with walk. And when I say it starts with a walk, I don't actually mean it starts with a walk. I just stopped expanding. Where does the walk come from? It's got to come from Ephesians 1 all the way through the end of 4 where we learn about all this wonderful position that we've got in Christ and then we find out about these teachers and evangelists that have been gifted to us for the building up of the body and now, now, once we've got all of that huge context, walk, just walk in it in a manner that's consistent. Walk isn't the starting point, that's just where I started here.

Context is good. Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.

So what does the and connect into? It connects into logistics on what that walk looks like. Okay, so now we've got that passage in a little bit more context. Okay, but how do I do this walk? Well, be filled with the Spirit. Okay, so that makes it easier. And now in the context of being filled with the Spirit, now we can start talking about what that looks like. We just saw that. It looks like speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. It looks like singing and making melody in your heart. It looks like always giving thanks. It looks like being subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

Hmm. Subject. You're right. It is. So we're not thrilled with the translation here into English. And that's why, for some of us, we've chosen to learn a little bit about the original language, just so that we can catch those sorts of subtleties. I'm sorry, catch what you said just now? The word is actually submitting.

It's not a subject. Yeah. Exactly. OK. So in the context of, Here's what the walk looks like in the context of being filled with the Spirit. Now let's look at being subject. What does that look like? And so we've got examples. That's great because we need examples. We're not super smart about this stuff.

Thank you, God, for providing examples. Wives, be subject to your own husbands. wives 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 saviour of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. OK, how gracious is this?

I need an example of what submitting looks like. OK, wives to your husbands. Good. Is this a legal thing? No. Let me put the principles around it so that you can understand why you would do this, what it looks like. It looks a lot like the relationship between Christ and the church.

And so now the husbands are reading this. And you can just see Paul thinking, guys, I know where you're going with this. So now we've got the wife. and the wife is going to be submitting to her husband, as to the Lord, husbands might be doing, yes. So, should the husbands take advantage of the situation, this is a much larger passage.

Husbands, love your wives. Already it starts out like that's not how it's going to go down. Just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her. That was actually hard. what sacrifice that was made. That's what we husbands get to do. So there's no taking advantage. There's laying of a life down. That's what that looks like. And then just a very specific set of things for the husband. What does that look like? So it's not just a big, no, just lay your life down. It's like, okay, love your wives. That's something that I need to do.

Sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of the water with the word. There's got to be teaching involved. that he might present to himself the Church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and blameless. Husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself, for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of his body.

So it starts out. Remember, we've got context. Think of this as maybe a bulleted list, and we're indenting as we go down. We started out with walk. How do we do that? Indent. be filled with the Spirit. Okay, what does that look like? In that context, indent again, it looks like these participles. Okay, well, what about that submitting one? That looks like a really legal thing.

Great, let's talk about that one. Let's indent and let's go through a few examples under that. Example number one, Wives to your husbands, graciously. Here's the context for the whole thing. Should the husbands take advantage? Yes, I get my pie. No, they get to lay their life down. Could there be another example? Yes, sir. I hate to delay what you're saying, but I'm still stuck on verse 22. Wives to your own husbands. What is he saying? Is he saying be filled? with the Spirit toward your own husbands? In the context, and we'll see it as we go through, we've got three very clear examples. All this being filled is just explained underneath verse 16. That's right.

So if you'll allow, let me pause your question for just a moment, get through this, and then circle back. If I forget to circle back, Ask it again, please. It's a good question. I think it's helpful to see the pattern and then we can come back and address it as part of the pattern. Are there other examples that tell me what this submitting might look like? Keep reading down and you get another example. In the context of being filled with the Spirit, in the context of submitting, here's an example.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. honor your father and mother so that it may be well with you and that you may live long on this earth. So another example, children, they need to obey their parents. That is a submitting relationship. And parents are thinking, yes, we now have full-time day laborers. We're not going to put them in school. I need my windows cleaned. This is a score. Paul's all over it. So should the fathers take advantage of the situation? No, they really shouldn't. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Oh, okay. Well, we've got a responsibility there too. It's not one way, it's two way. There's a submission, but there's a care that goes with it. Same thing with the husband and the wife. There's a submission and there's a care. Does that make sense, what this submitting is starting to look like? It's not One Direction. I'm leaving now. OK. Any other examples in this passage? Well, a few probably there are.

Just looking right after the parenting, Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh put here in trembling, in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ, not by way of eye-service as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will, render service as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, This he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free. Same pattern. Here's what submitting looks like. It looks like being obedient to your masters, if you're a slave. And it doesn't stop there. It's not period. Just obey your masters, period. There's context. There's this relationship that you have with the Lord. And there's a living out of that relationship. And there's a way of honoring that relationship and honoring who God is, and that looks a lot like being obedient to your masters.

Masters are thinking, yes, I'm going to stop feeding my slaves, I'm going to beat them more, and I'm going to get everything I want out of them. It turns out, no, right? There's another part of it. Should the masters take advantage of the situation? And masters, Do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with him. We're equals, and there's a care that has to go there. So we've got three very clear examples.

What is this submitting? What does it look like? Does it look like Craig doesn't go to work and he makes a pie for Stan? Nope. We've got clear relationships where the submitting makes tons of sense. So you've got wives to their husbands. There's a submission with context around it. It's gracious.

The husbands don't take advantage of the situation. The husbands have a care relationship. They lay their lives down. Moving forward. Children, obey your parents. It doesn't end with a period. There's context around it. It's a gracious thing. Should the parents then put them under their thumb? No. There's a caring. There's a desire for them to grow up. It's an instruction. It's a teaching. It's a loving. Okay, slaves, to your masters. Submit. Is that period? No. There's context. It's gracious. And the master's response to that? Yes, I'm going to... No, it's not an oppression. We're equals in the Lord. You're my brother. I'm going to treat you well. That's what that submitting looks like. So circling back to answer your question, we've got a really clear pattern here.

And the words around obey and obedient, they're there in the second two. So we can infer from that that it belongs in the first one, with wives to the husbands. We also have the context, that proximity of submitting and the very next thing being wives to your husbands. We can pair those two together as well.

And so that's how we know that that's the appropriate word in there. I think it's really a good description also of condition and position. I mean, we're living conditionally here, but we're striving positionally for this to be built. And so, it's a great pattern for how we achieve that. Well, something that is noteworthy, startlingly noteworthy, is all that is laid out here is a relationship.

There's no script or task list or law or anything that goes with this. This is purely a relationship, heart-to-heart, mind-to-mind working of the body of Christ. And I think often when these are taught, people get their to-do lists out. When there really is no to-do list in there, it's a to-be. Just to repeat that for folks in the back who may not have heard, this This isn't a to-do list, it's a to-be list.

It's describing relationship all throughout. So a lot of people, in seeing this passage, will get out there sticking out their marker and just start, okay, now I need to do this, and if I'm in this situation, I need to do that. Throughout, it's describing relationships. Relationships between believers. based on a foundation in who the Lord is. And as Byrne is teaching, it shows with clarity what a stewardship is. And that we're all responsible in some capacity for one another. and it directly relates to stewardship.

Okay, so two homework assignments for you guys. They will not be graded. I'm not giving out answers. It's a great thing to go and do, though. Go and take a look at that First Peter passage. Go and take a look at the passage over in Colossians that relates to this. See if it follows a similar pattern. And note which examples are given over there about what submitting looks like. You may find commonalities.

One other thing that I would point you guys at, maybe I can't get it there, on this WordDoc handout, what's the first word It's what, therefore? What does therefore do? It refers back to what was said before. That might be another cliffhanger. Yeah, what is that therefore attached to? So that might be for a future study as well. Any other comments, questions, before we close? So when I get out of the...

Submitting to one another in the fear of Christ, that's not just for the subjects. It's also for the leaders, because they're responsible for the care and the building up of His subjects. Which would be done in submission to the Lord? Yes. And so a good sort of rule of thumb, if somebody is pulling out their thumb, looking to put you under it, and they're trotting out a submit passage, Are they coming from a godly perspective or a worldly perspective? Worldly, always. And why it's be subject here on the husbands, what are the next words? As to the Lord. The Lord would never do that.

So if the husband is not lined up with scripture, if the husband is saying, I need you to go rob a bank, submitting looks like kicking him in the shins. How's that for a perspective? Submitting, being a helpmate, looks like helping him get back into a relationship with the Lord. on the flip side from a wifely perspective, theoretically speaking, if a husband is just completely and totally apathetic, there is a love relationship and the wife's first priority because of the love that she has in and for and because of the Lord is to ensure that her husband is spiritually focused on as Christ would have it. And that's explained in a different passage all together, but I think sometimes that's also lost, that on the flip side, maybe he's not robbing banks, maybe he just doesn't care, he still is a focal point.

Because the word of God must not be dishonored. Yeah, graciously speaking, but I love the fact that it's laid out so clearly that we've got these Relationships with one another and what submitting looks like So let's go ahead and close Father thanks for being clear. We're not smart For giving us so many examples so that we can understand what it is that you're saying I pray that all of us would remember to Be seeking what your truth is and to be pulling it out of scripture and not to be Satisfied with looking at it just in little microcosms That's in Jesus name. I pray amen