This Momentary Marriage by John Piper

Author:John Piper
Language: es
Format: mobi, azw3, epub
Tags: Spirituality, Non-Fiction, Religion
ISBN: 9781414333922
Publisher: Crossway Books
Published: 2009-06-19T00:00:00+00:00

The Beautiful Faith of Fearless Submission 101

where she called Abraham lord incidental y. It was a mere aside. It was

not intended for Abraham to hear; she was talking to herself. It gives a

simple glimpse into her heart. She honors him when no one is listening.

The word is like “sir” or “m’lord.” And the obedience she rendered is

qualified obedience because her supreme allegiance is to the Lord with

a capital L.

5. Submission does not mean that a wife gets her personal, spiri-

tual strength primarily through her husband. A good husband should

indeed strengthen and build up and sustain his wife. He should be a

source of strength. But what this text shows is that when a husband’s

spiritual leadership is lacking, a Christian wife is not bereft of strength.

Submission does not mean she is dependent on him to supply her

strength of faith and virtue and character. The text, in fact, assumes

just the opposite. She is summoned to develop depth and strength and

character not from her husband but for her husband. Verse 5 says that

her hope is in God and in the power of God that one day her husband

will join her in the faith.

6. Finally, submission does not mean that a wife is to act out of fear.

Verse 6 says, “You are her [Sarah’s] children, if you do good and do not

fear anything that is frightening.” In other words, submission is free,

not coerced. The Christian woman is a free woman. When she submits

to her husband—whether he is a believer or unbeliever—she does it in

freedom, not out of fear.

What Submission Is

If that’s what submission is not, then what is it? At the end of Chapter

6, based on Ephesians 5, I suggested that submission is the divine call-

ing of a wife to honor and affirm her husband’s leadership and help carry

it through according to her gifts. That’s what we see here as wel . It’s the

disposition to follow a husband’s authority, and an inclination to yield

to his leadership. It is an attitude that says, “I delight for you to take

the initiative in our family. I am glad when you take responsibility for

things and lead with love. I don’t flourish in the relationship when you

are passive and I have to make sure the family works.”

But submission does not follow a husband into sin. What then

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