A believing wife should remain submitted to her own husband as unto the Lord, because God has placed the husband as head of the home.
Les Feldick teaches that the husband is the head of the wife and that the wife responds to her husband's love, even as the church responds to Christ. Les also emphasizes that a believer cannot save their spouse, so the wife's role is faithful submission and godly life, not attempting to convert her husband herself.
1 Corinthians 7:16 — This verse directly asks a believing wife whether she shall save her husband, framing the heart of the instruction for a marriage to an unbeliever.
In Ephesians 5, Scripture sets the order for marriage: "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." It explains, "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body." The same passage commands husbands, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." The wife's submission is not an isolating command but is patterned after the church's subjection to Christ. When a marriage involves an unbeliever, 1 Corinthians 7 addresses the situation directly: "But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace. For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?" The text does not instruct the wife to pressure, preach, or manipulate her husband; it asks her whether she knows she will save him.
Les Feldick teaches that God has mandated the husband-wife relationship so that the husband is the head of the wife. However, he is clear that this does not make the wife a gopher or slave girl, nor the husband a taskmaster. Instead, the relationship is to be modeled on Christ and the church: wives submit as the church is subject to Christ, and husbands love as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her. This biblical order, Les explains, leaves no room for abuse of authority or of submission. Les also highlights a striking pattern: Scripture never commands the wife to love her husband—not even in Ephesians 5. He traces this back to creation, where God created Eve with the ability to respond to love. Just as God expects love returned when He extends His love, a husband who truly loves his wife scripturally will receive the wife's natural, willing response. Turning to 1 Corinthians 7, Les points to Paul's question to a believing wife—"what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband?"—and immediately reminds his readers that we cannot save our spouse. He then directs attention back to Peter's epistle for the practical instruction on how a believing wife is to live with an unbelieving husband.
Les Feldick teaches that God has still mandated the husband-wife relationship so that the husband is head of the wife. He is clear, however, that this does not make her his gopher or slave girl, and he is not to be a taskmaster who lords over her. Rather, the husband is to treat his wife as Christ treats the church—with total love, even to the point of death. The wife is to submit to her own husband as unto the Lord.
In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul asks the believing wife, "what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband?" Les Feldick comments that, of course, we cannot save our spouse, and our spouse cannot save us. He then brings the reader back to Peter's epistle to see the practical spirit of the instruction.
Les Feldick repeatedly points out that Scripture never commands the wife to love the husband—not even in Ephesians 5. The reason, he explains, goes back to creation: God created Eve with an ability to respond to love, just as God created Adam with the ability to love his helpmate. Consequently, when a husband lovingly treats his wife as Christ loves the church, her response naturally follows.
1 Corinthians 7:16 and the Unbelieving Spouse
Les reads Paul's question to a believing wife about whether she will save her husband and immediately clarifies that believers cannot save their spouses; he points back to Peter's epistle for the needed instruction.
Christ–Church Model for Marriage
Les applies the church's subjection to Christ to wives in Ephesians 5, and reminds husbands to love as Christ loved the church—a love so total it died for her.
Husband as Head, Not Taskmaster
Les says God still mandates the husband as head of the wife, but the Lord-to-church example prevents him from being a slave master and prevents her from being his gopher.
No Command for the Wife to Love
Les observes that Scripture never commands wives to love their husbands; God created Eve to respond, just as redeemed people respond to God's love.
Wives Submit as unto the Lord
Les explains that submission means recognizing God's ordained place of authority for the man, not slavery, with Ephesians 5:22-23 as the governing example.
Godly Response, Not Commanded Love
Les again stresses that husbands are commanded to love, while wives are made to respond to that love—a response built into creation.
Husband's Command to Love
Les calls Ephesians 5:25 a commandment for husbands and reiterates that Scripture never tells a wife to love her husband.
Creation's Answer to Spousal Love
Les ties the marriage relationship to Genesis 1: God expects love returned when He extends love; likewise a scripturally loving husband will receive the wife's natural response.
Ephesians 5:22: Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
Direct instruction to wives in the marriage relationship.
Ephesians 5:23: For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Establishes husband's headship in the same pattern as Christ's headship over the church.
Ephesians 5:24: Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Shows the wife's submission is patterned after the church's subjection to Christ.
Ephesians 5:25: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Gives the husband the measuring line for his love toward his wife.
1 Corinthians 7:15: But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.
Addresses the situation of a believing spouse when the unbelieving partner departs.
1 Corinthians 7:16: For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?
The Bible's direct question to a wife married to an unbelieving husband.
Les Feldick teaches that God has still mandated the husband as head of the wife, yet his authority is not that of a slave master. The wife is to submit to her own husband as unto the Lord, and the husband is to love her as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:22-25).
Les says no—believers cannot save their spouse, and the spouse cannot save the believer. Paul asks the believing wife whether she will save her husband (1 Corinthians 7:16), but that is a question, not a promise that she has that power.
Les repeatedly notes that Scripture never commands the wife to love her husband, not even in Ephesians 5. God created Eve with the ability to respond to love, so a wife's love for her husband is framed as a response to scriptural love.
Watch the Teaching: What the Bible Really Says About Marriage — 1 Corinthians 7 Explained