Thursday – July 21, 2016
As each of us open this teaching let us prepare our hearts to receive, prove, and make this Word our own. Make it a part of our thoughts, our words, and our ways. The last few weeks the Lord has had me to speak briefly on the topics of faith, hope, and charity (love) and that continues today.
1 Corinthians 13:13 (KJV)
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
These three are tied together in all things. Even when charity, an old English word for love, is not mentioned it is the unseen force of faith. Remember love is obedience to the Word of God.
Galatians 5:6 (KJV)
6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
Love (charity) is a selfless attitude (way of life), it is honoring and adherence to the Blood Covenant, and it is obedience to the Word of God. If these are not our main motivations our faith will not work and our hope will not become a reality in our lives. Remember we cast our needs onto Jesus as we focus on Kingdom of God needs and He takes care of our physical needs in the earth. That is not to say that we will not be participating in the production of those things but they are not our focus. Back to Colossians.
Colossians 3:18-19 (KJV)
18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
If the husband is asking for things that violate God’s laws the wife is under no obligation to submit herself to those things. Let’s say the husband wants the wife to get an abortion. What is the wife’s Godly response? NO and NO! Even in things that are Godly like the sexual relationship between the husband and the wife, both need to be sensitive to the timing and situation. Neither the husband nor the wife are to be like a bull in a china closet (forgive the pun) with one another. This has to do with honoring and respecting the other person which is intimately tied up with submission. A bitter or sharp attitude on the part of the husband (or the wife) takes a right situation, a situation in which the wife should submit and turns it on its head from righteousness to wickedness. When was the last time God made any of us do anything? Short answer, never. He asked and we choose.
Notice in verse nineteen there is an admonition to the husbands. That admonition is for the husbands to love their wives. Take a look at the following passage from the Book of Ephesians, especially verse twenty-five.
Ephesians 5:21-25 (KJV)
21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
And let us take a look at what the Apostle Paul had to say when he wrote to Titus.
Titus 2:4-5 (KJV)
4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
The word ‘obedient’ in verse five is the same as submit and be subject to in the other verses we have and are discussing. He is talking about good behavior and being one with the husband just as the Godhead is One. The word love here is Bible love, agapeo, meaning to be selfless (husbands are to be selfless toward the wife as Christ toward the Church), cognizant of Blood Covenant, and obedient to the Word. If it is not consistent with the Word of God we aren’t doing it. I will pick up with this teaching tomorrow and we will look at God’s original intent again with regard to men and women and how what Paul repeatedly writes in the New Testament cannot violate that intent, which is the will of God.
By Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
