The concept of submission in the Bible is to place oneself under the authority and will of God. It is tantamount to a truly humble, contrite and submissive surrender to God. To submit to God is to align ourselves under His authority. By nature, we are rebellious and oppose authority. But obedience to God is the touchstone of acceptability and ought never to be done grudgingly. When we submit to God, we give our lives to His authority and control.
This is an established principle that God has ordained. It refers to both the government and its leaders, in whatever capacity, as well as to spiritual governance. We are taught about this in Romans 13:1-7; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 2:13-14; and Titus 3:1. The principle is that being in obedience to the authority over us, whatever that authority is, will bring a temporal blessing. The highest authority is God, and He delegates authority to others; so, by submitting to the delegated authority, we submit to God, who has placed this authority over us. The converse is equally true: submission to an authority not placed by God is not submission to the Creator. We are also told to submit ourselves to God. James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The theme here is one of humility. One cannot submit to God without humility. Obedience requires us to humble ourselves and surrender to the authorities. God resists pride, which is the very antithesis of humility and the arrogance that fosters pride.
One way to submit to God is through obedience. The first step of obedience is to the teachings of Jesus and to follow in His footsteps. Just as a child seeks to obey his or her parent to show love and respect, we are likewise called to submit to God through loving obedience to His commands. Another way to submit to God is through the belief in the salvation offered by God. We begin submission to God by believing in Jesus as God's Son who rose from the dead to give us eternal life. Romans 10:9 states, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
A third way to submit to God is to learn more about Him and be dedicated to Him completely. Psalm 1:1-2 offers the example of a godly person whose life is submitted to God: "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law, he meditates day and night”. Those who love God submit to Him through a life of perfect obedience. Our goal is to show and reflect Christ's love. In Matthew 25:40, Jesus even taught that how we treat the least of these is how we treat Him: "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."
God demands complete surrender along with sharing. For example, when Jesus changed the Samaritan woman at the well, she immediately left her water jar, ran to the village, and told others, "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" (John 4:29). Her submission to Jesus included sharing Him with others.
When we come to Jesus for salvation, obey Him, learn about Him, treat others with love, surrender ourselves to Him, and share Christ with others, we are showing our submission to the Lord through our actions in ways that honour God and change the lives of others. We are to live a living sacrifice to our Lord.
Dr Ashwin Drummond
laddertoheaven.co.in