Colossians 3:18

Paul did not say all women should be subject to all men, only that wives should be to their own husbands.

"The exhortation should not be weakened in translation in deference to modern sensibilities (cf. again 1 Corinthians 14:34 . . .). But neither should its significance be exaggerated; ’subjection’ means ’subordination,’ not ’subjugation’ . . ." [Note: Ibid., p. 247. Cf. Ralph P. Martin, Colossians and Philemon, p. 119; and W. Schrage, The Ethics of the New Testament, p. 253.]

This subjection rests on divinely prescribed authority, not on any inherent inferiority in spirituality, intelligence, worth, or anything else. This is "fitting" in that it is consistent with what God ordained at the creation of the human race (Genesis 2:18; cf. 1 Timothy 2:13).

"The thought of this passage moves in the realm of respect for another’s position and place, not in the realm of inferiority." [Note: Johnson, 482:109. See Anthonie von den Doel, "Submission in the New Testament," Brethren Life and Thought 31:2 (Spring 1986):121-25; and Paul S. Fiddes, "’Woman’s Head is Man’ A Doctrinal Reflection upon a Pauline Text," Baptist Quarterly 31:8 (October 1986):370-83.]

Submission is "an attitude that recognizes the rights of authority. His [Paul’s] main thought is that the wife is to defer to, that is, be willing to take second place to, her husband." [Note: Vaughan, p. 218.]

I do not think that God intends for a wife to yield to a husband who abuses her or orders her to do things contrary to God’s will. She should maintain a submissive attitude toward him and defer to him, but she need not subject herself or her children to danger. Paul’s point was that a wife should always relate to her husband as God’s appointed leader. I take Paul’s phrase "in everything" in Ephesians 5:24 to mean "in every sphere of life" (i.e., in domestic life, in church life, and in civil life).