You may be familiar with the record of a tiny shepherd boy named David defeating an enormous and fearsome giant named Goliath. As we read in 1 Samuel 17, David did not come to the fight in his own strength. He carried no usual weapons of war. Instead, he had the weapon of a boy. Just a slingshot against an enemy so great that the entire Hebrew army was afraid to fight him.

Now we come to the last segment of the letter. Here we are told how to stand in all this truth. How to hold this godly existence and conduct in a world that opposes all that is good and righteous.

Sit, Walk, Stand. Let’s learn what it is to stand.

I always knew I needed to treat my dad with respect. He was powerful and I was but a boy. I had a healthy respect for my dad. I wasn’t afraid of him, but I knew that he had power over me, so I willingly subjected myself to him. I tried to do things as he expected.

Central to these verses is the idea of mutual respect and proper use of positional roles. Children should respect their parents, but parents should not abuse the power they have. Instead, they are to help children grow in the Lord, just as the Spirit of our heavenly Father does for us.

Now our passage brings our focus back to the way this all plays out in our walk, our manner of living. It simply directs husbands to love their wives and wives to respect their husbands.

Many have pointed out the difference in the directive to husbands (to Love) and the directive to wives (to respect) saying that women respond to, or need, Love and men respond to, or need, respect. I can sure affirm that respect is a primary way in which I perceive Love.

Jesus is the representative man. Just as Adam represented all people when he chose to sin against God, so in Christ we are re-created, reborn, and made righteous when we choose to believe Him for it.

When Jesus was crucified, we were crucified with Him.When Jesus was raised, we who have agreed to be reconciled to God by Him were raised as well.

Christ, we are told, gave Himself up so that His bride would be set apart, made perfectly clean (as 1 John 1:9 puts it, cleansed from all unrighteousness, which leaves her righteous), glorious, spotless, youthfully beautiful, pure, and perfect.

He did it all for His bride. He did it for her benefit so that she would be all that she was designed by God to be.

I bet there isn’t a husband here who doesn’t want that for his wife. I bet there isn’t a wife here who doesn’t want that for her husband. And that is the point of submission.

Some of us have heard the comment, meant to be humorous, “I told her I loved her when we got married. If anything changes, I’ll let her know.” Many of us who share the typical male proclivities may almost naturally think that if we provide for our wives and protect them, we are demonstrating love. But there is a far greater depth of meaning here.

There’s this one word that causes great discomfort to many. It’s the word “head.” To ears sensitized to any hint of subservience and always on the lookout for signs of possible abuse, the idea that one member of the marital union is called “the head” to which the other is to subject themself can seem off-putting, even offensive. It can feel risky in the extreme.

As we examine these sometimes-volatile verses it is crucial that we keep our perspective. The focus of our study is now upon verses that well exemplify the reason that context must never be ignored when interpreting and applying Scripture. Doctrine built on passages severed from their context leads to a great deal of pain and division. Such teaching gives the world fuel with which to malign the word of God and the cause of Christ.

Consequently, we are well advised to ask ourselves “what is the context from which we are to approach our understanding of these verses?”

Love is not focused on self. Love is focused on others. There is no love without there being an object of that Love. Someone to whom Love is directed. Another someone, the best interests of whom are the desire of our own heart.

In these few sentences, the Holy Spirit reminds us of who we are in Christ. Through Paul, He sets before us Life and death and encourages us to choose Life, just as He did through Moses in Deuteronomy 30:19

As the children of Light, the royal priesthood of God, we are not to join in with the unfruitful, dark, and wicked manner of living exemplified by those in the world. Before we are tempted to get carried away with this and make up a new law about disassociating ourselves from the world completely—as some have done—let’s pause to remember what the Scriptures have to say on this matter.

The point I’m making is that even a little light dispels darkness. We have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light. In Colossians 1:13 we read that He has “delivered us from the power (or domain) of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” (KJV 1900) So, we are being exhorted to live accordingly. The reason we are given is that “the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.”

As the holy children of God, let’s avoid these because as the text says, they are “not convenient.” What that interesting piece of Elizabethan English means is that they do not fit. They are not proper or appropriate. They do not relate to us.

This is poignant for me because of late I have been helping someone navigate situations in which they are being very poorly treated by someone they love. There is great relational risk. When things are this hard, it can be more than challenging to respond in Love. It can seem that Loving sacrificially is simply too dangerous. It can seem that if one were to give oneself to another, even one greatly loved, the result might be complete loss of oneself.

We would be remiss if we fail to notice that it specifies that we are to follow God’s example not only as children, but as dear children. We are Loved with a self-sacrificing agape’ Love. We are dear to God. He is the perfect parent and most worthy of our imitation.

Removing the filthy rags of self-effort that we previously wore and replacing them with the gleaming white garments of righteousness changes our appearance. Far from looking like destitute and homeless vagrants, we are now clothed with bespoke, stylish, designer clothes. Our new look is described in the reminder of chapter four.

“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath” has been used as marital advice indicating that all conflict should be resolved before retiring for the evening. Such teaching may be rejected without concern. Marriage is not in view here at all. Looking at verse 25 we see “We are members one of another.” Clearly it is believers in the Church who are Paul’s audience.

We can learn something when we take note of the name chosen in reference to the Lord Jesus. He can be referred to in a number of ways because He is the son of man, a human man who walked the earth. He is the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed One, the Savior of the world. He is also Lord; indeed, He is King of kings and Lord of Lords. He is the Lamb of God. He is the Son of God. He is God.