Ephesians 5:20

Giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and to God, even the Father; subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.

Giving thanks always for all things ... This cannot mean that a Christian should give thanks because illness, suffering, loss and adversity of many kinds may have fallen upon him, but that he should give thanks for "all things" in every situation that may afford a proper ground of gratitude to God. Thus: When one is young, let him thank God for youth; when he is old, let him thank God that he has been permitted so long to live; in health, for strength and joy; in sickness, for the ministry of physician, nurse, loved ones and friends; in poverty, for the privilege of living "like Jesus"; in wealth, for God's endowments; in death itself, for the hope of eternal life, etc., etc.

Such an admonition as this might seem impossible of obeying, "did we not know full well that Paul had learned to do this, even in the most unpropitious circumstances."[21]

Subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ ... "Paul ceaselessly preached `submission,' or `subjection,' to Roman authority (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Corinthians 14:32-34; 16:16; Titus 3:1).[22] This clause is the topical heading for the next three paragraphs of the epistle, as pointed out in the chapter introduction. The first of the three reciprocal relationships discussed is that of husbands and wives, beginning in the next verse.

[21] Ibid., p. 112.

[22] J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 964.