The following is the second post in a series of eight posts exploring the beauty of gender from a biblical perspective. Read the first post, "The Beautiful Difference." Read the second post, "The Body of Gender." Read the third post, "The Great Invitation." Read the fourth post, "Authority that Submits."

Submission and power in the same person? Inconceivable! Where do we see such a combination in our world? But such is not impossible in God's world. As we will see in this post, submission and power work together in the story of Eve in her calling as Adam鈥檚 鈥榚锄别谤, his necessary, powerful ally (Gen. 2:18). And even though he wears power and submission differently in his calling, it is also the story of Adam as we saw in Part 4. In both Eve and Adam, it鈥檚 the story of God鈥檚 Beautiful Difference within his Beautiful Equality for us about gender. It鈥檚 also the context for a very important matter he wants us all to learn about in this world 鈥� the word we all bristle at, submission.

Submission a response, not a role

As we saw with the authority/responsibility of the man toward the woman, the wider biblical vantage point is also critical to rightly locate submission in the gender conversation. The relationship of man and woman that gender circumscribes is horribly truncated by just saying everything is about authority for the man and submission for the woman. It is true that the woman鈥檚 position in their mutual submission (Eph. 5:21) is asymmetrical to the man鈥檚, for she alone has the call 鈥渢o submit鈥� in a way differently than he does. Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to reduce her identity to 鈥渢he submitter鈥� and his to 鈥渢he leader/head.鈥� For one thing, as Sharon James and others have observed, 鈥渢o order oneself under鈥� (the meaning of the Greek word to submit, 丑测辫辞迟补蝉蝉艒), is an imperative given to her, it is not the 鈥渋ndicative鈥� of her identity [1]. Along with Eve鈥檚 identity as the man鈥檚 鈥榚锄别谤, Scripture says she is the man鈥檚 鈥済lory,鈥� the one 鈥渕ade for him鈥� (1 Cor. 11:7, 9) and the 鈥渨eaker vessel鈥� (1 Pet. 3:7) [2]. All will point to the larger contribution in the woman鈥檚 Beautiful Difference of her 鈥渇or-ness鈥� toward him of which submission is but one subtext [3]. Namely, her gender uniqueness is behavior that aims at his shalom, rest and promotion to build him up in his identity for their prosecution together of the mission of filling and subduing the earth [4]. It means much more than just being his ally in bearing and raising children [5]. It鈥檚 the call for use of a genius power toward the husband that Scripture says issues from gentleness, faith, yielding, vulnerability and patience.

Submission a Christian virtue, not a feminine one.

How does all of this work with biblical submission? As we saw before with authority, submission starts and ends with God Himself. Not only does God model it for us in the person of our Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 11:3, God [the Father] is the head of Christ [6]), but he created humanity to live 鈥渙rdered鈥� lives in submission within the institutions he has ordained [7]. Indeed, it鈥檚 a little sobering to consider, but not submitting is a mark of the flesh in Scripture (Rom. 8:7). It goes with all of the other unsavory things said about its sister, rebellion [8]. So, beginning with ordering ourselves under God (James 4:7) and Christ (Ps. 110:1) as the premiere of all our submissions, Scripture calls also for our submission to 鈥渆very ordinance of man鈥� (1 Pet. 2:13) in terms of governing authorities (Rom. 13:1鈥�7) [9], submission to leaders of our churches (Heb. 13:17) [10], and submission to brothers and sisters in our churches (Eph. 5:22) [11].

It is within this larger submission-vocation for everyone that wives also hear a special call to submission within marriage. They hear it the same way their husbands hear the call to sacrificial initiative-taking, responsibility-bearing and representation that we saw in the last post. And while it might be thought of as a call to a greater vulnerability intrinsic to 鈥渙rders鈥� everywhere [12], within the mutuality of marriage it is still filtered through her identity as the 鈥渘ecessary, powerful ally.鈥� It is not, as Sharon James remarks, a response that is degraded, brain dead or mindless, or that never challenges. It is a response that says 鈥測es鈥� to the husband鈥檚 God-given responsibility [13].

Submission an offering from power, not weakness

But we know well the pain of sin in the orders, too, especially of men acting selfishly toward women. The Bible knows of this, too, but its answer is not to put away the orders and level everything in sameness or anarchy [14]. Rather, as Peter tells us, Jesus is the way out (1 Pet. 2:21鈥�24). Tried, sentenced, and even executed by illicit and unjust authorities, Jesus offers submission because of the strength he knows from his prior submission to his Father (鈥淗e entrusted himself to God, who judges justly,鈥� 1 Pet. 2:23). The same pattern applies directly to the order of marriage for a woman with a man who is 鈥渄isobedient to the word鈥� (1 Pet. 3:1) to show that her position is not victimhood, submitting from a position of weakness and vulnerability. No, it鈥檚 quite the opposite 鈥� holy women have always managed the marriage order from the position of power they have from 鈥渉oping in God鈥� (3:5). Secure in God鈥檚 providential and sufficient care 鈥� even to secure it through a disobedient husband 鈥� she can offer submission.

And that鈥檚 the key, she offers it. Submission is not coerced or pried from anyone in this scenario. It comes as a gift from the one with the greater power from the Greatest Authority to the one with less of it. For the disobedient have only the power of earth and flesh where those secure in God have the power of heaven and Spirit. This is the strong fortress supporting the submission that wives wield. It is the power of faith 鈥� and that is always a good thing in God鈥檚 economy (see Heb. 11:6).

With these last two posts, the contours of the Beautiful Difference of our genders is just sketched out. The picture emerging is one where difference grounds the unique ways the man and the woman serve and build up one another in the Lord. From here we look at what these behaviors look like in the community of redeemed men and women together in Christ鈥檚 body, the church.

Part six of the series will be posted next week.

Notes

[1] James (God鈥檚 Design for Women [Durham, UK: EP Books, 2019], 133鈥�134) and Joe Rigney, (). Peter T. O鈥橞rien notes that 鈥渋n the forty or so New Testament occurrences the verb [丑测辫辞迟补蝉蝉艒] carries an overtone of authority and subjection or submission to it鈥� (The Letter to the Ephesians [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999], 399).

[2] Note that we are talking only about her identity in relation to the man. Before God, the woman stands in the Beautiful Equality with the man as 鈥渇ellow heirs of the grace of life鈥� (1 Pet 3:7).

[3] Eve鈥檚 鈥渇or-ness鈥� to Adam is described by John Coe, 鈥淏eing Faithful to Christ in One鈥檚 Gender,鈥� in Women and Men in Ministry (Moody, 2001), 85鈥�228. It reflects her identity as the ally suitable (鈥榚锄别谤 kenegd艒) for him in Gen 2:18, and Paul鈥檚 statement that the woman was created 鈥渇or the sake of the man鈥� in 1 Cor 11:9.

[4] More on her part in this dynamic coming in part 7, but for now, see Eric L. Johnson (鈥淭he Dance of Gender in Covenant Marriage,鈥� in Marriage: Its Foundation, Theology, and Mission in a Changing World, eds. Curt Hamner et al. [Chicago, IL: Moody, 2018], 167鈥�168) and Sam A. Andreades, EnGendered: God鈥檚 Gift of Gender Difference in Relationship [Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2015], 81鈥�93, 111鈥�131).

[5] Eve鈥檚 name (Heb, 鈥渓iving one鈥� or 鈥渓ife giver鈥�) and her identity as 鈥渕other of all the living鈥� (Gen 3:20) notes her unique attributes in the conceiving and nurturing of life that Paul leverages to argue man and woman鈥檚 mutual dependence (1 Cor 11:12). Eve鈥檚 appearance in the narrative following the stipulations of the Garden鈥檚 moral order (Gen 2:17鈥�18) shows the holistic nature of the partnership. Eve is Adam鈥檚 ally in the commission toward the creation and the relationship he will represent them in before God (Gen 1:28). Without her, neither happen.

[6] The extent to which the eternal divine relations of the Trinity are reflected in the 鈥渙rder鈥� of their work is at the heart of the interpretation of this verse. For a serious proposal for divine equivalence that does not collapse or minimize the unique work of each, see J. Scott Horrell, 鈥淐omplementarian Trinitarianism: Divine Revelation is Finally True to the Eternal Personal Relations鈥� in New Evangelical Subordinationism? Perspectives on the Equality of God the Father and God the Son. eds. Dennis W. Jowers and H. Wayne House (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2012), 339鈥�374.

[7] Robert Yarborough puts it this way: 鈥溾€漇ubmit鈥� translates a word that envisions a particular order or setting and calls for a person to fit into rather than obstruct or seek to opt out of that ongoing order鈥� (The Letters to Timothy and Titus [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2018], 517).

[8] Like 1 Sam 15:23!

[9] In particular, Jesus鈥� words in Mk 12:17 and pars.: Give to Caesar what is Caesar鈥檚 and God what is God鈥檚.

[10] Not hypotassomai here, but 丑测辫别颈办艒 (= to yield, give way, submit [BDAG]). It is listed in the same semantic domain as hypotassomai in Louw & Nida鈥檚 Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based Upon Semantic Domains (New York, NY: UBS, 1988).

[11] Eph 5:21, where mutual submission as a mark of the church鈥檚 Spirit-filled life; 1 Cor 14:32, use of spiritual gifts [spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets]; 1 Cor 14:34, let women be in submission [according to the issue in the context]; 1 Cor 16:16, submission to those who minister well.

[12] Many take Peter鈥檚 鈥渨eaker vessel鈥� (1 Pet 3:7) this way. See Peter H. Davids, The First Epistle of Peter (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1990), 123, cited by Craig Blomberg, 鈥淭he Choice and High Calling of Marriage and Singleness,鈥� in Marriage, 105.

[13] James, God鈥檚 Design, 132.

[14] This is not to imply that we do not seek justice, never say No, don鈥檛 work for proper functioning of the orders, or that we submit to physical abuse.