ACK St Peter's Cathedral Church, Nyeri

Bible Study Report – Held on Friday, 22nd April 2022 in the Hall

Attendees

1. Martin Muthee
2. Monica Muthee
3. Victor Kariuki
4. Josephine Kariuki
5. Pius Gitonga
6. Nancy Gitonga
7. Silas Kalonzo
8. Catherine Kalonzo
9. Fred Barasa

Apologies

1. Agatha Barasa
2. Benson Chege
3. Catherine Chege
4. William Mbuthia
5. Martha Mbuthia
6. Samuel Gichuhi
7. Catherine Gichuhi
8. Nellius Kinyanjui

Biblical Passage/scripture: 

Ephesians 5:21-33

Questions

1. What service should wives render to the Lord? (5:22)

• They should submit to the Lord.
• They should submit to their husbands – in doing this they’ll be serving God.

Submission in this case means to yield to the authority of another person. 

2. What is the relationship of the husband to the wife? (5:23)

• The man is the head of the wife.

The man is, therefore, the head of the family and has more authority. However, members agreed that this authority does not make the man superior and the wife inferior, and neither does it give the man undue advantage. However, it is important for the authority to be there and to be recognized for order in the home.

3. How is Christ’s headship of the church an example to the husband? (5:23)

Christ sacrificed himself for the church. He died so that undeserved people can be saved. He did not set conditions before sacrificing himself. Therefore, husbands must also love their wives sacrificially and unconditionally. A husband should not withdraw his love even in situations where the wife is not behaving in a very motivating way – that’s how sacrificial and unconditional the love should be. Even though it is not easy, this has to be done out of reverence (fear) for Christ. Husbands must, therefore, strive to emulate Christ and be ready to go to Christ for guidance.

4. How is the relationship of the church to Christ an example to wives? (5:24)

The church fully submits to Christ. The church recognizes and yields to the authority of Christ as its head and does not do this reluctantly. Also, the church submits to Christ in everything. In the same way, wives must submit to their husbands. Wives must yield to the authority of their own husbands in everything in the fear of Christ.

Point to ponder….

Now what happens if your partner is not abiding by instructions directed their way; should you still obey the word to the latter? That is, should a husband love an unsubmissive wife? Should a wife submit to an unloving husband? To answer this question, members went back to Ephesians 5:21 and 1 Peter 3:1-7 and identified two things;

1. These instructions are meant to be followed out of reverence for Christ – in the fear of Christ (Eph 5:21). That is why they were given to people who were already believers. Therefore, we must all strive to follow them not because our partners are really behaving in a way that shows they deserve it, but because that is what Christ requires of us.
2. We should continue to play our part regardless of our partners’ behaviour, and just maybe, our partners will see Christ in that and come to faith (1 Peter 3:1-2).

This discussion will continue next time so that we can exhaustively cover scenarios where it may be unsafe for partners to be together in an ideal way.

Next meetup

Bible study in the Cathedral on Friday, 29th April 2022 from 5:30 – 7:00 pm.