Submission: Biblical Inequality?

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This is part 3 in a series on Biblical Submission. To start at the beginning, click here.

I have appreciated the interesting comments to my last post, Submission For Husbands! You’ve Got to be Kidding. Between those, and past discussions I’ve had with women on biblical submission, I’ve come to realize that part of the problem women have with submission, is because the word itself carries connotations of inequality: leadership means telling others what to do; the superior gives the orders and the subordinate obeys; giving in to someone else is as a sign of weakness.

While these are commonly accepted concepts in the modern world, they are examples of what I call “worldly” thinking rather than “Wordly thinking.”

If you’ve read through many of my posts, you have seen a pattern: the biblical definitions of many words are not the same as the worldly definitions. For examples, see the posts on love, temperance, or encouragement.

As Christians, one thing we must guard against when trying to interpret the Bible, is assuming that the world’s definitions are the only correct definitions. If we do, then we are going to reach wrong conclusions. “Submission” is a case in point. And sadly, not only do women often buy into the idea that the biblical submission means an inequality between the sexes, many Christian men do too.

We’ve already taken a look at the biblical definition of submission and seen that it does not refer to a hierarchy of importance, rather it refers to orderliness.

However, I’d also like to present you with some verses to contemplate, along with a few notes about them.

And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them. Gen. 1:27

“Man” here is Strong’s #H120, ‘adam, which refers to the species of mankind. God created human beings as male and female in His own image.

For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Gen. 2:24

“Man” here is Strong’s #H376, ysh, meaning a male person. Man as an individual, was not created complete in himself. He is incomplete without woman. Only together are they whole.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor freeman, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Gal. 3:28

This is how God sees us, not in ranks, but as one. The Bible only distinguishes between two classes of people: those who believe and accept the truth, and those who reject it.

You husbands ….. grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. 1 Peter 3:7

Husbands are warned against treating their wives as inferior. She is a fellow heir (Strong’s #G4789, sugkle ̄ronomos = joint heir, participant in common.)

The bottom line in Bible study is to let the Bible define the terms, not let the terms define the Bible. To assume that the Bible teaches that women are inferior to men is an incorrect interpretation. An incorrect interpretation does not make the Bible wrong. It only makes the interpreter wrong.

Conclusion? If God sees men and women as equal, then “submission” refers to something else. The purpose of this series of posts on submission is to discover what that something else is.

Next ……. Changing Our Husbands