Submitting to One Another in the FEAR of The LORD
Ephesians 5:21
Remember the context!: The Father’s Will is to gather an adopted Family (chap.1):out of the nations by the Blood, Righteousness, and Victory of His Incarnate Son, and that Family is to be the Dwelling Place of God in the Spirit (chap. 2) as a testimony of His Grace and Mercy to the Principalities and Powers in Heavenly Places (chap. 3). The Spirit’s Working, and our concern, is to be to “endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”.(chap. 4, esp vs 3-6) This unity, this oneness (as Christ prayed for in John 17:20-26) is be evidenced by walking in love, walking in light, and walking in wisdom, which is summed up by vs 5:21. The overriding context of everything is the phrase, “IN THE FEAR OF GOD.” Apart from the Spirit worked Fear of God in our hearts, we can never put aside self and its manifestation in the deeds of the flesh, nor can we set aside our fear of man in order to live in the Godly submission to one another as required of this “Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Paul in II Cor. 7:1 speaks plainly to this in his exhortation , “.....let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. “
Since submission is such a scarey word to flesh saturated people, Paul now describes it’s manifestation in the key “units of society”, marriage, the children of marriage, servants and masters-employees/employers, but first of all, we must have it clear in our minds that this submission is “TO ONE ANOTHER IN THE LORD.”
ONE ANOTHER MEANS EVERY MEMBER OF THE FAMILY OF THE FATHER, THE BODY OF CHRIST, NO MATTER THE GIFTED “ROLE” THEY MAY FULFILL! THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS!!!
Paul has dealt over and over again with the negatives that thwart any evidence of a submissive spirit.(2:1-3; 3:17-19; 5:1-14) But lest we seek to define “submission” out of our fleshly obsession, we have other scripture that clearly describes Biblical submission, what it is and what it looks like.
Submission Verses
Subtle “hints” in Ephesians: What a submissive family looks like.
1:22-23 “(Christ) the Head over all things to the church, which is HIS BODY, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all.” Everything in this Body originates in One Source, Christ!!!
2:14-16 “made both one”, “one new man from the two”, “reconcile them both to God IN ONE BODY through the cross”.
2:18-22 “we both have access BY ONE SPIRIT to the Father”; “fellow citizens, members of the household (family) of God.”; one building “joined together” a(one) holy temple”, “built together or a (one) dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
3:6 “that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs OF THE SAME BODY.”
3:18-19 Here is the UNIFYING COMPREHENSION!!! “May be able to comprehend WITH ALL THE SAINTS, what is the ...(dimensions of)...THE LOVE OF CHRIST WHICH SURPASSES KNOWLEDGE.”
4:1-6 Not so subtle: The worthy walk is to be “with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.” And then all the “ONES”, one Body, One Spirit, one Hope, One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism; and here is the GOAL, One God and Father of all, Who Is Above all, and Through all, and IN you all.”
4:13 The measure of the body is, “the measure of the stature of the Fullness of Christ, THE PERFECTLY SUBMISSIVE ONE TO HIS FATHER’S WILL!!! (John 6:38)
5:18-20 The melodious fruit of the filling of the Holy Spirit leads to the context of submission to one another in the Fear of God.
John 13:34; 15:12 This is our Lord’s Commandment and it is foundational to essential to any true expression of the Body of Christ, the Family of the Father. “This is my commandment, THAT YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.” I think I can Biblically draw a conclusion from our Lord’s command that any fleshly, self motivated, self pandering, self exalting form of “christianity” is against Christ, that is, it is Anti-Christ!”
Acts 2:40-47 The infant church, not a “mature one”, evidences a radical submission to one another as “fear came upon every soul”, even to selling off their goods for the sake of others.
Rom. 12:8-15:6 In the context of his “living sacrifices” exhortation, Paul “fleshes out” the living sacrifice in terms of submitting to one another. He sets the tone in 12:3 , “to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each a measure of faith.” What follows is a description of “lowly mind behavior in the body of Christ context.”
I Cor. 13 The Love Chapter goes beyond mere “right behavior”, and establishes the Love of Christ soil out of which all relational behavior in the body, including submission, must grow!
Gal. 5:13-15; 22-26, 6:1-10 Here is the Love Commandment, given in it’s OT form to those who were falling under Judaizers influence, clarifying the OT’s true teaching. The Fruit of the Spirit
verses are the very essence of “submissive behavior”. This is the “One Spirit” behavior.
Phil. 1:27; 2:1-11 Notice the “one spirit”, faith and gospel in 1:27. 2:2 “fulfill my joy by being like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” And here is where the rubber meets the road!!! Vs 3-4 “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interest of others.” And then Paul lays out the “measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” as the measure of this behavior. May the very mind of Christ, which was completely governed by the Will of His Father, be the controlling “mechanism” in our behavior.
2:19-22 And how did Paul say Timothy had proven his Godly character? By not being like other supposed disciples who sought their own interests rather that the interests which are of Christ Jesus.
Col. 3:12-4:1 This text is parallel to our Ephesians study. Notice the “clothing of the elect” in Vs 12-14, putting on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, etc.
I Thes. 4:3-12 I include this because the Thessalonian church seemed to model submissive love and unity, and yet, there is a warning in Vs 6 lest they forget endeavor to maintain good works. “ Let no one take advantage of and defraud his brother.....”
II Tim. 2:11-3:2 Here is what the Grace of God teaches us: 1. To deny ungodliness/to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present age. 2. To look for the Blessed Hope, the return of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ. 3. To be subject to rulers and authorities. 4. To speak evil of no one, to be gentle, showing humility to all men.
James 1:25-27 James’ “law of liberty” creates a submissive, “bridled tongue”, and pure and undefiled, unselfish religion.
James 3:13-18 The Wisdom that is from above behaves “submissively”. It’s heart does not contain envy and self seeking, but is “pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield (doesn’t have to have its own way), full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality (is not prejudiced) and without hypocrisy.
I Peter 3:8-12 In the context of the whole body, Peter describes submissive behavior in the assembly and speaks of its eternal reward!
I, II, III John John’s epistles are the manual for loving, submissive behavior and he stresses that this behavior is a clear evidence of true salvation.
The word submit, or submission isn’t mentioned in most of these texts, but the behavior described requires the putting off selfish, ego driven behavior and the putting on a heart that seeks to endeavor to seek the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace–and that is what submitting to one another means.
Ephesians 5:21
Remember the context!: The Father’s Will is to gather an adopted Family (chap.1):out of the nations by the Blood, Righteousness, and Victory of His Incarnate Son, and that Family is to be the Dwelling Place of God in the Spirit (chap. 2) as a testimony of His Grace and Mercy to the Principalities and Powers in Heavenly Places (chap. 3). The Spirit’s Working, and our concern, is to be to “endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”.(chap. 4, esp vs 3-6) This unity, this oneness (as Christ prayed for in John 17:20-26) is be evidenced by walking in love, walking in light, and walking in wisdom, which is summed up by vs 5:21. The overriding context of everything is the phrase, “IN THE FEAR OF GOD.” Apart from the Spirit worked Fear of God in our hearts, we can never put aside self and its manifestation in the deeds of the flesh, nor can we set aside our fear of man in order to live in the Godly submission to one another as required of this “Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Paul in II Cor. 7:1 speaks plainly to this in his exhortation , “.....let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. “
Since submission is such a scarey word to flesh saturated people, Paul now describes it’s manifestation in the key “units of society”, marriage, the children of marriage, servants and masters-employees/employers, but first of all, we must have it clear in our minds that this submission is “TO ONE ANOTHER IN THE LORD.”
ONE ANOTHER MEANS EVERY MEMBER OF THE FAMILY OF THE FATHER, THE BODY OF CHRIST, NO MATTER THE GIFTED “ROLE” THEY MAY FULFILL! THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS!!!
Paul has dealt over and over again with the negatives that thwart any evidence of a submissive spirit.(2:1-3; 3:17-19; 5:1-14) But lest we seek to define “submission” out of our fleshly obsession, we have other scripture that clearly describes Biblical submission, what it is and what it looks like.
Submission Verses
Subtle “hints” in Ephesians: What a submissive family looks like.
1:22-23 “(Christ) the Head over all things to the church, which is HIS BODY, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all.” Everything in this Body originates in One Source, Christ!!!
2:14-16 “made both one”, “one new man from the two”, “reconcile them both to God IN ONE BODY through the cross”.
2:18-22 “we both have access BY ONE SPIRIT to the Father”; “fellow citizens, members of the household (family) of God.”; one building “joined together” a(one) holy temple”, “built together or a (one) dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
3:6 “that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs OF THE SAME BODY.”
3:18-19 Here is the UNIFYING COMPREHENSION!!! “May be able to comprehend WITH ALL THE SAINTS, what is the ...(dimensions of)...THE LOVE OF CHRIST WHICH SURPASSES KNOWLEDGE.”
4:1-6 Not so subtle: The worthy walk is to be “with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.” And then all the “ONES”, one Body, One Spirit, one Hope, One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism; and here is the GOAL, One God and Father of all, Who Is Above all, and Through all, and IN you all.”
4:13 The measure of the body is, “the measure of the stature of the Fullness of Christ, THE PERFECTLY SUBMISSIVE ONE TO HIS FATHER’S WILL!!! (John 6:38)
5:18-20 The melodious fruit of the filling of the Holy Spirit leads to the context of submission to one another in the Fear of God.
John 13:34; 15:12 This is our Lord’s Commandment and it is foundational to essential to any true expression of the Body of Christ, the Family of the Father. “This is my commandment, THAT YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.” I think I can Biblically draw a conclusion from our Lord’s command that any fleshly, self motivated, self pandering, self exalting form of “christianity” is against Christ, that is, it is Anti-Christ!”
Acts 2:40-47 The infant church, not a “mature one”, evidences a radical submission to one another as “fear came upon every soul”, even to selling off their goods for the sake of others.
Rom. 12:8-15:6 In the context of his “living sacrifices” exhortation, Paul “fleshes out” the living sacrifice in terms of submitting to one another. He sets the tone in 12:3 , “to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each a measure of faith.” What follows is a description of “lowly mind behavior in the body of Christ context.”
I Cor. 13 The Love Chapter goes beyond mere “right behavior”, and establishes the Love of Christ soil out of which all relational behavior in the body, including submission, must grow!
Gal. 5:13-15; 22-26, 6:1-10 Here is the Love Commandment, given in it’s OT form to those who were falling under Judaizers influence, clarifying the OT’s true teaching. The Fruit of the Spirit
verses are the very essence of “submissive behavior”. This is the “One Spirit” behavior.
Phil. 1:27; 2:1-11 Notice the “one spirit”, faith and gospel in 1:27. 2:2 “fulfill my joy by being like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” And here is where the rubber meets the road!!! Vs 3-4 “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interest of others.” And then Paul lays out the “measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” as the measure of this behavior. May the very mind of Christ, which was completely governed by the Will of His Father, be the controlling “mechanism” in our behavior.
2:19-22 And how did Paul say Timothy had proven his Godly character? By not being like other supposed disciples who sought their own interests rather that the interests which are of Christ Jesus.
Col. 3:12-4:1 This text is parallel to our Ephesians study. Notice the “clothing of the elect” in Vs 12-14, putting on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, etc.
I Thes. 4:3-12 I include this because the Thessalonian church seemed to model submissive love and unity, and yet, there is a warning in Vs 6 lest they forget endeavor to maintain good works. “ Let no one take advantage of and defraud his brother.....”
II Tim. 2:11-3:2 Here is what the Grace of God teaches us: 1. To deny ungodliness/to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present age. 2. To look for the Blessed Hope, the return of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ. 3. To be subject to rulers and authorities. 4. To speak evil of no one, to be gentle, showing humility to all men.
James 1:25-27 James’ “law of liberty” creates a submissive, “bridled tongue”, and pure and undefiled, unselfish religion.
James 3:13-18 The Wisdom that is from above behaves “submissively”. It’s heart does not contain envy and self seeking, but is “pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield (doesn’t have to have its own way), full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality (is not prejudiced) and without hypocrisy.
I Peter 3:8-12 In the context of the whole body, Peter describes submissive behavior in the assembly and speaks of its eternal reward!
I, II, III John John’s epistles are the manual for loving, submissive behavior and he stresses that this behavior is a clear evidence of true salvation.
The word submit, or submission isn’t mentioned in most of these texts, but the behavior described requires the putting off selfish, ego driven behavior and the putting on a heart that seeks to endeavor to seek the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace–and that is what submitting to one another means.