1994 issue 4 - godly submission: submitting to one another in the fear of christ - counsel of...

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

May,

994

TH COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon

9


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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


3/4

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

May,

1994 t TH

COUNSEL of

Chalcedon t 23


4/4

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

24 t TH COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon t May,

994

Non-Profit Org.

U.S. Postage

PAID

ULK

RATE

Permit No. 553

Greenville, SC

29602

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

1994 issue 4 - godly submission: submitting to one another in the fear of christ - counsel of...

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