Kay

Mark,
You say: “I agree submission is something we do. A wife is told to submit to her husband. She has to choose to do it, it cannot be demanded by the husband. God demands it, not the husband.”

Please read what you wrote yourself. The One with the right to demand it Is the one in authority – and in this case, as you point out yourself, that One is God. She is told by God to do it and if she disobeys, then she is clearly disobeying GOD – NOT her husband.

The husband has no inherent “authority” – God and God’s Word is the authority. It’s not husband’s personal authority obtained from God. The authority belongs to God. Paul didn’t take authority over people, but rather authority over error and false doctrine.