Biblical, balanced teaching on submission

The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace contains a lot of teaching about biblical submission. I have been completing the study guide, which is a great way to think more about the teachings in the book.

Here are five ways a submissive wife honours God’s word . . .

1. Obeying God is more important to her than having her own way
2. She reverently fears the Lord
3. She lets God’s word direct her life
4. Her life shows an example of the church’s submission to Christ
5. She is submissive whether she feels like it or not.

The Excellent Wife is extraordinarily complete and balanced in its treatment of submission. As well as emphasising the importance of submission, it also addresses difficult cases. In cases where a husband is sinning against his wife, the wife is not to simply “put up with it” in the name of submission. Rather, she is to make use of the protections God offers her. These include giving a biblical reproof, asking the church for assistance, and contacting the police.

“Letting her husband bear the consequences of his sinful behaviour at the hand of either church or governmental authorities is an act of loving obedience to God since God himself has appointed these authorities for her protection”.

Martha Peace, page 173