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8/12/2019 1994 Issue 4 - Godly Submission: Submitting to One Another in the Fear of Christ - Counsel of Chalcedon
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Submit Yourselves to
ne
nother in the
Fear of Christ
By
Rev. Wayne ogers
Which would you consider the most
difficult
commandment to
obey? The
fourth commandment, Remember the
Sabbadt day to heep
it
hoiy? The tenth
commandment
, "Thou shalt not covet ?
Or, what about
"The
Great
Command
ment",
"Thou
shalt love
the
Lord
thy
God
with
all
thy heal1 ?
Of allGod's commandments, the com
mand
to
submit
ro
one
another
is
perhaps
themostchallenginganddifficult. One
of
the common vows of many churches
for
membership is
"Do
you submit yourself
to
the government
and
discipline
of the
church
... )" The
commitmenttoand
prac
tice of
obeying this vow may be the
greatest evidence
of
spiritual maturity.
Nothing
cuts
across the
rultural
grain of
the
human hean more than submitting
ourselves
to
others.
It is one thing to
submit to
the Lordship
ofjesus Christ,
it
is
an
even
far
more
difficult thing to
submit
ourselves
to
others whom we
know to be imperfect and sinful them
selves.
However,
as we see,
submission is
commanded. It is one
of
the fruits
of
being filled with the
Spirit
It is
some
thing that we are
to do voluntarily, "sub
mitting yourselves."
It
is one of the few
commands which
gives as its expressed
m
otive
'
'the
fear
of
Christ."
I. YOU MUST SUBMIT
YOURSELVES
What is it t "submit"? The Greek
words "hupotage"
and
"hupotasso" mean
to s
ubject,"
subordinate,"
obedience,"
and
"submission." Originally hupotasso
was a
military
term
meaning to arrange
or rank yourself under. Although our
relationship
as
Christians is
not amilitaty
one, that
image has implicatiOns
for our
relationship as Christian brothers and
sisters.
D.
Martyn Uo
yd-Jones
wrote:
"It is
thepicture
of
soldiers in aregiment ....The
characteristic
of
a man in that position is
this, that
he
is in a sense no longer an
individual;
he
is
now
a
member
of
a
regiment ....
When a
man
joins
the army
he is as it were signing away his
right
to
determine
his own life and activity ... if he
begins
to act
on
his
own,
and indepen
dently
of
others,
he
is
guilty
of insubordi
nation." (Life in the
Spirit,
pgs. 57-58).
Here Christians
are commanded
to
vol
umarilyrankthemseIvesundereachother.
A SUBMISSION IS COMMANDED
Submission is not optional.
It
is an
attitude and
action
that
is
required
be
cause
of
the
Lordship
of
Christandfonhe
unity and growth
of
the
church. It is
directly
related to
the
unity and
peace
of
the church, Ephesians 4:1-6.
B. SUBMISSION
IS VOLUNTARY
The
Greek
word is in the passive/middle
voice which means submitting
yourselves."
I
may
be
com
manded t
submit, but
it
is I who must submit
myself.
One
definition of
this
submission
is "voluntary yielding
in
lov
e,"
(George
Knight
Ill ,
Recovering
Biblical
Manhood
and Womanhood,
Ed. by
John
Piper
and
Wayne
Grudem, pg. 168).
We
are
voluntarily to submit
ourse
lves to
one
another.
That does not mean
that
we may
not instruct
one
another or confront one
another concerning
the
command
to
submit. However, it
is a command that
we
mustvoluntarily comply with
because
it involves
an attitude
of
the hean, as well
as actions with referenc
e to
one
another.
C. SUBMISSION
IS
A VOLUNTARY
BEARING WITH ONE ANOTHER
IN LOVE
"S
ubmission
means
a
willingness
to
serve any,
to
learn
from any,
to
be
cor
rected
byany,
regardless of
age,
sex,
class,
or
division," Francis
Foulkes,
Ephesians,
Tyndale
Comm.,
pg.
154.
The intent
of this
passage is to express
that
Spirit filled
aUitude which
will
pro
mote the unity
of
the body. Fullness
of
the
Spirit leads
to mutual subordination
and unity,
not to
individual pride and
disunity d. ICor 14:26-33,Phil. 2:1-5).
This passage teaches
mutual respect and
an attitude
of
serving
one
another instead
of
an
attitude
of
lording
over
others or
serving oneself. Submission involves
"bearing
with
one
another
in
love" and
"makingeveryeffontomaintaintheunity
of the Spirit," Eph. 4:2 -3, 30.
The
call
to mutual submission de
mands
readiness
t renounce one's
own
will or
preference for
the
sake of
others
and to
give
precedence to others.
The
parallel passage in Col. 3:12f also sets
fonh what Paul intended here, clothing
yourself with compassion, kindness,
gentleness and patience, bearing with
one
another and
forgiving
whatever
griev
ances you
may ha
ve
against
one another.
Paul called for
mutual submission in
Gal.
5:13bandPhiL 2:3-4.
The idea
is that
of selflessness
and a
regard
for others that
does
not
insist on
one's
own rights. This
inPhilippians is linked to the heatt
of
the
gospel by
being grounded in the pattern
of
Christ's
life.
William
Hendriksen
defines it as be
ing willing to be the least , Mat. 18:1-4;
and to
wash
the disciples'feet,John 13:1-
17. Rom.
12:1
says
"in
honor preferring
one
another, and in Phil. 2:3,
"Doing
nothing from selfish ambition or from
empryconceit,but in humble-mindedness
each counting the other
as
better than
Continues
on
page 22
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himself. Affection for one another, hu
mility,
and a
willingness t
cooperate
with other members
of
the body are
graces
that are implied here
...
Paul
knew
from experience what would happen in a
church when this rule is
disobeyed (I Cor.
1:1I
12, 3:1-9, 11:17-22, 14:26-
33.
...Every
member should be
willing
to
recognize
the
rights,
needs,
and
wishes
of the
others.
Lloyd-Jones describes
this submis
sionnegativelyand positively.
Negatively
it
means
that we must not
be
thoughtless,
selfish,
and
self-cen
teredo
We
must not
be individualistic nor
self-assenive.
While
we may
have
opin
ions,
good opinions,
and strong opinions,
we
must not
be
opin
ionated.
Wemustnot
be dictatorial or
self
seeking. Wemustnot
resent
criticism
or be
impatient with other
points
of view.
Positively,
hesays
itmeansthatwemust
recognize the truth about
ourselves,
that
we
are
all sinners. We must remember
that
we are
members
of one
body. We
must be ready t suffer and
to
suffer
injustice
for
the sake
of
the truth and the
body. While not accommodating wrong
teaching, he realizes
that he does not
possess
a monopoly
of
all
the
truth, and
that other people
have
their opinions and
ideas
also,
and he is always
ready
to listen
and
to learn. He does
not automatically
reject things;
he is patient and under
standing. (Life in the Spirit, pgs.
55f).
II
Y U
MUST SUBMIT
YOVRSELVES TO
ONE
ANOTHER
The
word submit is
used
with
refer
ence to
many relationships in the Bible.
A SUBMISSION TO
GOD
I
Pet.
5:6,]ames
4:10.
All things
will
ultimately be submitted t God, I Cor.
15:28.
B
SUBMISSION TO JESUS
CHRIST
Rom.
10:9-10, Eph.
5:24,
1:20-22,
Acts 2:34-35. God
has
placed
all things
under
His feet,
is subduing all things unto
Him. He will
then submit
all things
t
the
Father.
C.
SUBMISSION
TO
THOSE
IN
AUTHORITY
OVER US IN THEIR
PARTICUlAR
SPHERES
Paul
instructed the Corinthians
to
be
subject
to faithful ministers,
ICor.
16:16.
Peter
and Paul both instruct
us
to be
subject
to
civil magistrates, Rom. 13
:1-7,
IPet. 2:13-15. God's people are
exhotted
to
obey their leaders, Heb.
13:17,
I Pet.
5:5. Women,children, and slaves are to
submit
to
those
over
them,
Eph. 5:22f,
I
Tim.
2:12,
IPet. 3:1,
5,
Col.
3:18. Jesus
was
subject
to his
parents
as
a
youth, Luke
2:51.
D. SUBMISSION TO ONE ANOTHER
This is the
only
occurrence of the
word with specific
reference
to mutual
relationships
among
believers.
In
other
places
submission is men
tioned with
reference to specific groups.
We are to
submit
to one
another. The
filling
of
the Spirit is not to be expressed
individualistically but in
fellowship. The
secret
of maintaining joyful
fellowship
and unity as the
body
of Christ is mutual
submission
to one
another. The will
of
22 TH COUNSEL
of
Chalcedon I May 1994
God in uniting
people together
in one
body as His church is directly related
to
submitting to one another.
He, therefore,
says to maintain the unity
of the
body,
Eph.4:1-3.
Ifwe are
all
to submit
to
one another,
how are we
to
submit to elders, wives to
husbands, children
to
parents?
Does
teaching
mutual submissionexc1ude par
ticular submission? How do
we define
or
practice mutual
submission
in distinc
tion
from specific submission? This is an
important issue
because this par
ticular
verse is of
ten used to teach
that
husbands
are
to
submit
t their
wives
as
well
as
wives
to
their hus
bands.
Does this
verse
teach that?
Paul
does
not
say that husbands
are to submit to
their wives.
Hus
bands are the
heads
of
their wives
and
families,
and
wives are to submit to and to obey their
husbandS. But
neither
does this mean
that
Christian
husbands should
not be
loving
and
unselfish
heads
of
their
wives
and fantilies in a submissive
way,
that is
putting their
interests
and
needs
above
their own. Neither should we infer that
the
normal
husbandlwife
relationship is
one
of
him giving out daily commands to
his wife. The normal relationship
of
husbandandwifeisone
of the
head to
the
body,
not
a general
to
a private. I like to
say that husband and wife
are the
Kings
and
Queens of creation. He is not the
king
and
she the slave. Even more
basic
to marriage
is
the
unity
of
the
relation
ship,
the
two shall become one, Gen.
2:24.
Marriage
is to be viewed as a
communion
oflife
between two
different
people. Different is a
key
word here, as
well
as communion. Many men think
that
women are
simply men with skins
8/12/2019 1994 Issue 4 - Godly Submission: Submitting to One Another in the Fear of Christ - Counsel of Chalcedon
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on.
They
don' recognize that
women do
have different perspectives, relationships,
emotions,
etc. These
differences are not
to frustrate the man, but to
"complete"
the
man. As someone
has
said, "Ifboth
ofyou
were just alike then one of
you
wouldn't
be ne
cessary." Therefore, rarely
in a
proper marital relationship will a
hus
band have to command obedience
in
an
absolute sense. They are companions
with
differences
for advancing the king
dom and
glory of
God,
The
Bible does
teach a mutual sub
mission
of a
ris-
tians
to
one another
without denying or
destroying specific
submission in
par
ticularrelationships,
Forexample, inlPet.
5:5, after Peter
urges
yo
ung men
to
be in
submission to older
men,
he
urges
"all
of
you
to be humble
toward one an
other." Elders are to
serve the flock with
a humble, serving,
attitude, At
the same time, the flock is to
be obedient
to
the Shepherds. Paul ex
presses this same attitude in Eph, 6:9
where he instructs
masters
to treat their
slaves in the same way that their slaves are
to treat them, with respect,
6:5.
Paul wants to remindall Christiansas
Christians, men and women,
of
their
duty
to
be submissive to one another
before
reminding wives, children, and
slaves in panicular to
do
so in their spe
cific
relationships, Mutual submission
does coexist in a hierarchy of specific
submission,.No believer shouldinsist on
getting his own
way
We
are
all,
whatever
our pOSition or
office
"in humility to
consider others better than ourselves,"
PhiL 2:3,
and "all
of
youdotheyourselves
with humility towardone another," I
Pet.
5:5, This,however, does not
negate
the
panicular
reqUirement
of
specific
sub
mission.
Paul
is
not teaching that husbands are
to submit their responsibility and author
ity to their
wives,
that pare
nts
are to
submit to their children,employers are to
submit to their employees, or kings are to
submit
to
their subjects . What Paul does
tea
ch
is
that submissive service is an
attitude that ought to be lIue of every
Christian in
all
relationships, even
of
those inpositions ofauthority. "God does
co mmand
all
Christians -leaders as
well
as followers, husbands as
well
as wives,
parents as
well
as children - to
have
this
attitude in yourselves which was also in
Christ]esus, who altho
ugh He exi5ted
in
the form of God ....emptied
Himself. ..humbled himself by becoming
obedient to the point of death, Phil. 2:5-
8
...
Submission is a general spirirualatti
rude that is to be true ofevery believer in
all relationships
....
Even the authority
subject relationships in the church and
horne are to be controlled by love and
modified by mutual submission."
Gohn
MacAnhur, Ephesians,pg, 277). But that
is
not the same as
tea
ching mutual sub
mission between husband awife where if
the
wife
does not agr
ee
\ ~ t h
her husband
she i5 free to
do
as she p
leases
.
While I do not believe in evangelical
feminism, neitherdo Ibelieve inevangeli
calor refonned chauvinism. Husbands
are to
have
a
5eIving
and
self-giving
atti
tude toward their
wives
, putting their
\ \ ~ v e s interests before their own, and
similarlyparents to children and masters
to
slaves.
John MacAnhurPUt it this
way,
"The
husband who demands
his
wife's
submissionto him but does not recognize
his own obligation to submit
to
her dis
tons God's standard for the marriage
relationship and cannot rightly function
asagodlyhusband. Parentswhodemand
obedience
from
their children but do not
recognize their own obligation to submit
in loving
sacrifice
to meet their children's
needs are themselves
di50b
edient
to
their
heavenly Father and cannot rightly func
tion
as
godly par
ents," (Op.
Cit
, pg.
278). Yes, a loving
husband and father
will
always "submit"
his personal
will
and
desires to his wife
and children, will
consider his wife
and children above
himself.
He will
be
self-saCrificing, con
sid
era
te , kind
thoughtful
and
anxious
to
see that
their desires are rec
ognized and met insofar as he can.
The husband i5 a loving head, parents
are
loving parents. This, however, does
not eliminate the specific submission in
panicular relationships in which
wives
are to submit to husbands, children to
pare
nts,
and
slaves to
masters.
In
the
horne, the husband s still the head and
the wife i5
still
to
be in submission
to
her
husband (5:24).
Children are to obey their parents,
employees are to obey their employers.
There is specificsubmission in the overall
context ofmurual concern foreachother.
m SUBMISSION IS TO TAKE PLACE
our
lNUlE
FE R
OF
CHRIST.
The
fear of
God
was
the great prin
ciple of
life enunciated in the
O.T.,
and remains a principle in the
life
of
God's people in the NT
Acts
9:31,
2 Cor. 5:11, 7:1, I Pet. 2:17. While
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perfect
love
has cast out
the fear
of con
demnation
from
the wrath of
God,
IJohn
4:18,
Rom.
8:5,
we must still fear Christ
in the sense of reverent
obedience.
A. THE
MOTIVE: You must submit
to one another out of
reverent
fear
of
Christ. Christ
loves His
church. You had
better be diligent in doing all that you
shOUld
do
to
manifest
and maintain the
spiritual
fellowship
and unityofHisbride.
Don't look
at
this other person
as
though
it is him to whom you are submitting. It
is to Christ,
the
head of
the
church, to
whomyou are submitting. Andyoumust
obey Christ
B. THE QUALIFICATION:
his
also
serves to qualify
our submission.We
are
not asked
to yield to
the wisheS
of others
no matter what they wish, but only when
what they
ask
is
in line
with
reverence
for
Christl
Paul said that he
would
not sub
mit to
false
brothers who required cir
cumCision,
Gal. 2:5. Peter said that we
must obey God rather than men, Acts
5:29.
Submission is not absolute. We must .
obey Christ, fear Christ, first and
fore
most.
Some evangelical teachers
virtually
proclaim absolute submission to
those in
authOrity
ovenhem. The answeno
every
situation is simply to submit to
those
in
authority
over you
.
Does
the
Bible
reqUire
absolute submissionin all circumstances?
May a Christian church member even
differ for
example
with an Elder
or
Ses"
sian and in Christian
liberty
and con
science not
submit?
Does aChristian
take
a vow
of
unqualified submission to
the
government and discipline ofthe church?
Jay
Adams
points out that '1nsubmit
ting to
the
care and discipline
of
the
Church he does so 1n the Lord.'" Adams
goes
on
to
say
that our
"constitution"
is
the Word
of
God, therefore, "by this
constitution they (members) may judge
theactionsandthe commands even
of the
leaders
.
Adams
continues, Everymem
ber within the
flock
must grant to the
leadership all proper
deference
and
great
respea, but
at
the same
time Christ has
made
each
member responsible to exer-
cise
individual judgmentconcerning
the
leadership he foll
o
ws
.
That means that
the leaders must
teach
each member ad
equately enough that he may judge
whether
those things that they
command
are truly in
accord
with the constitution
d.
especially
the
powerful word
of the
Apostle
Paul on
this question in Acts
17:11)."
Adamscontinuessaying"Yet, ifamem
ber disagrees with
the
decisions
of
the
leadership
and
because of conscience
before God finds that he must refuse to
submit
to the
orders that
they
give,
he
must do
even
that
submissively.
More
over
,he must
recognize the
grave
danger
in
which
he may
be
placing
himself by
such a refusal, Shepherding
the Flock,
Vol. 3,
pg
. 13, 14.
One
must
submit to those over him
in
the
fear of Christ And it is
in
that same
fear
that
no
Christian
may
ever relinquish
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ultimate responsibility and accountabil
ity
to God
by
blindly
and mindlessly
submininghimself
to
anyone in
authority
over him . (See The Westminster
Confes
sion
of
Faith
on
Christian Liberty
and
Uberty ofConscience). To
do so
would
deny the
Lordship ofJesus
Christ. Call no
man Lord
In conclUSion , "It is easier to pay lip
service
to
the
duty of
mutual submission
than to
practise
it, but when it is under
taken in aspirit
of reverence
for Christ, it
can be achieved. When Peter enjoins this
attitude, he
does
so in words which recall
Christ
's
own example
in
girding
Himself
witha towel to
perform
a lowly service for
His
disciples
: 'Yea, all
of you gird your
selves
with humilit
y, to
serve one
an
other.'" I
Pel.
5:5,John 13:4f,
(F.F
.Bruce,
The Epislle to
theEphesians , pg.
113. Q