John Calvin Commentary Ephesians 5:21

"subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ." — Ephesians 5:21 (ASV)

Submit yourselves. God has bound us so strongly to each other that no one should seek to avoid subjection; and where love reigns, mutual services will be performed. I do not exclude even kings and governors, whose very authority is held for the service of the community. It is very fitting that all should be urged to be subject to each other in turn.

But since nothing is more troublesome to the human mind than this mutual subjection, He directs us to the fear of Christ, who alone can subdue our defiance, so that we do not refuse the yoke, and can humble our pride, so that we are not ashamed of serving our neighbors. It does not significantly affect the meaning whether we interpret the fear of Christ, passively, thus: let us submit to our neighbors because we fear Christ; or actively: let us submit to them because the minds of all godly people should be influenced by such fear under the reign of Christ. Some Greek manuscripts read, “the fear of God.” The change may have been introduced by someone who thought that the other phrase, the fear of Christ, though by far the most appropriate, sounded a little harsh.