Applying the Principle of Respecting Authorial Intent in Relationships
Scripture consistently frames human relationships within the structure of divine design, where respecting God's intent for each role and person becomes the foundation for love and honor. The principle of authorial intent—understanding what God intended when He created relational structures—shapes how believers interact with spouses, fellow Christians, and all people.
Biblical Foundation for Honoring God's Design
Peter instructs believers to "treat everyone with high regard" while specifically commanding them to "love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king" [2]. This differentiation reveals that respect operates on multiple levels, each calibrated to God's intended order. The command to honor everyone establishes a baseline of human dignity, while specific relationships receive intensified obligations. Similarly, Proverbs teaches that "discretion shall keep you, understanding shall watch over you" [1]—suggesting that wisdom in relationships requires discernment about what each relationship is meant to be.
Love Within God's Intended Structure
The apostolic tradition emphasizes that love itself is not new but rooted in God's original design: "I request thee, lady, not as writing, a new commandment, unto thee, but one which we were holding from the beginning—That we should be loving one another" [3]. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown notes this love "rested on the new principle of filial imitation of God who first loved us," yet remained "old in that Christians heard it from the first" [6]. This dual nature—ancient command, renewed understanding—means respecting authorial intent involves both recovering original design and applying it through the lens of Christ's self-giving love.
Chrysostom urges believers to "be friends, and warm ones too. Do not wait to be loved by another, but leap at it thyself, and be the first to begin it" [4]. This active pursuit of relational health operates within boundaries: wives are instructed to "accept the authority" of husbands, acknowledging "God has appointed the husband as head of the relationship" [8], while older women teach younger women "to love their husbands; to help and assist them all they can; to seek their honour and interest" [5]. These specific instructions reflect God's design for marriage, not arbitrary cultural preferences.
The principle extends to church leadership, where Calvin notes that honor belongs to "those that labor" and "govern properly and faithfully," not to "those that are idle and wicked" [7]. Respecting authorial intent means honoring the function God designed, not the person who fails to fulfill it.
Sources
- Proverbs “Proverbs 2:11 (LITV) — discretion shall keep you, understanding shall watch over you;”
- I Peter “I Peter 2:17 (BSB) — Treat everyone with high regard: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.”
- II John “II John 1:5 (Rotherham) — And, now, I request thee, lady, not as writing, a new commandment, unto thee, but one which we were holding from the beginning—That we should be loving one another.”
- CCEL/NPNF (Eastern Orthodox) “John Chrysostom, Homilies on Acts & Romans: towards another, that is, be friends, and warm ones too. Do not wait to be loved by another, but leap at it thyself, and be the first to begin it. For so wilt thou reap the wages of his love also. Having mentioned the reason then why we ought to love one another, he tells us also the way in which the affection may grow unchangeable. Whence he proceeds, “In honor preferring one another.” For this is the way that affection is produced, and also when produced abideth. And there is nothing which makes friends so much, as the earnest endeavor to overcome ”
- Titus (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Titus 2:3: That they may teach the young women to be sober,.... Or to be chaste, modest, and temperate; or to be wise and prudent in their conduct to their husbands, and in the management of family affairs, who have had a large experience of these things before them. To love their husbands; to help and assist them all they can; to seek their honour and interest; to endeavour to please them in all things; to secure peace, harmony, and union; to carry it affectionately to them, and sympathize with them in all afflictions and distresses; for this is not so much said in opposition t”
- 2 John (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 2 John 1:5: I beseech--rather (compare Note, see on Jo1 5:16), "I request thee," implying some degree of authority. not . . . new commandment--It was old in that Christians heard it from the first in the Gospel preaching; new, in that the Gospel rested love on the new principle of filial imitation of God who first loved us, and gave Jesus to die for us; and also, in that love is now set forth with greater clearness than in the Old Testament dispensation. Love performs both tables of the law, and is the end of the law and the Gospel alike (compare Notes, see on Jo”
- CCEL (Reformed) “Calvin, Commentary on Philippians, Colossians, 1-2 Thessalonians, section 66.3: that they should be taken notice of by believers. And while he commands that honor be given to those that labor , and to those that by teaching 604 604 “ Et admonestant ;” — “And admonishing.” govern properly and faithfully, he assuredly does not bestow any honor upon those that are idle and wicked, nor does he mark them out as deserving of it. Preside in the Lord. This seems to be added to denote spiritual government. For although kings and magistrates also preside by the appointment of God, yet as the Lord would ”
- 1 Peter (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 Peter 3:1: 3:1-7 The last of Peter’s three exhortations about accepting authority (2:13–3:7) concerns wives and husbands (cp. Eph 5:21-33; Col 3:18-19). 3:1 accept the authority of (literally submit to): Wives are instructed to acknowledge that God has appointed the husband as head of the relationship (see 2:13; Eph 5:22-25). Submission in the ancient world took the form of obedience (see 1 Pet 3:6). God also intends the husband to be a loving and respectful head (3:7; see Eph 5:25-30). However, Peter focuses especially on wives with pagan husbands who would potentially be h”