Friday, May 28

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. - Ephesians 5:21

The word Paul uses here for submit literally means, “arrange under”. More importantly, Greek has three voices or ways of describing a given action: active, middle and passive. The active voice for submitting would be “subjugate” them. In Paul’s writings, the only time the active voice is used, God alone is the “subjugator”. An example is Eph. 1:22 where Paul says, in effect, God subjugated all things under Christ’s feet. The passive voice of submitting would imply “let yourselves be subjugated”. In this verse and the verses that follow (right up to 6:9) only the middle voice is used, “submit yourselves”.

That means that the submission Paul urges is both voluntary and mutual.
All of us are voluntarily to submit to each other!

None of us is told to make someone else submit to us. That totally changes the nature of submission in the church. Other than for teaching young children to obey their parents (mentioned elsewhere in the Scriptures), there is no place for those in authority to ensure or force the submission of others. This applies to all relationships in the body of Christ – husbands and wives, children and parents, masters and servants.

In saying this, Paul is dealing with the basic remedy for all the conflicts in our day. Paul will apply this principle as he discusses the relationship of husbands to wives, which brings in the whole realm of marriage and divorce and the problems that arise there. Then he will take up the matter of children and parents, which we have already talked about (see previous devotions this week) Then he will take up the issue of management and labor. In each case, the remedy is always the same: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

If we have any desire at all to be part of a solution to the issues surrounding us today, we must do so out of an understanding of what God has revealed about the heart of the problem. We must go back to the cause of all human strife – selfishness. Every one of us has at some time asked the question, “How can I get the greatest satisfaction out of life?”

Sooner or later, in our attempts to get what we want out of life, we find ourselves on a collision course with someone else who is attempting the same thing. We find that our efforts to satisfy ourselves are continually sabotaged by others who are trying to achieve satisfaction in the same way. We insist on our rights, and others insist on their rights, and so we become obstacles to each other.

But Paul changes the whole pattern for us by introducing two radical factors that alter the whole situation.

First, the Christian must never forget that in every relationship of life, another person is present: It is not merely a problem of what I want versus what you want. In every relationship a third Person is present—the Lord Jesus Christ!

Second, when I am at odds with another person, to see that Christ is there too is to make me aware immediately of what He has taught me. It is only when I forget myself and devote myself to another's fulfillment that I will find my own heart running over with grace and satisfaction.

This is one of the fundamental mysteries of life, and it is confirmed to us every day. Those who try desperately to satisfy themselves are the ones who end up hollow inside. Jesus put it this way: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25).
It becomes, then, a question of priority. You cannot have your rights by insisting upon them. You can have them only when you seek to give others their rights.

Do you dare to try living this radical principle right where you live today??

Lord Jesus, You who emptied yourself of Your glory and laid down Your rights in order to serve us, help us to follow Your example and submit to each other for Your sake and for the glory of God - Amen


Jeff Frazier