Mutual Submission? (Ephesians 5:21)

Ephesians 5:21 is sometimes used to teach mutual submission between husband and wife:

submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (ESV)

Indeed, on its own, the expression “submitting to one another” seems to indicate that all submission should be mutual, including between husband and wife. However, this is not the case.

In the very next verse, Paul specified the direction of the submission: In the case of a marriage relationship, a wife should submit to her husband (v. 22). Immediately after this, the submission of the wife to the husband is likened to how the Church submits to Christ (v. 24). This submission only goes in one direction, since the Church submits to Christ, but Christ does not submit to the Church.

Later on in the same passage, this principle of submission is applied to two other relationships: In a parent-child relationship, a child should obey his parents (6:1), and in a master-servant relationship, a servant should obey his master (6:5). These submissions only go in one direction, since parents do not submit to their children, and masters do not submit to their servants.

Therefore, in context, Ephesians 5:21 does not teach mutual submission. Rather, it teaches that Christians should give submission where submission where it is due—a wife to her husband, a child to his parents, or a servant to his master.