Submission Teaches Us Obedience to God

The man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.

–1 Corinthians 11:3

God has arranged our society in such a way that we all have to submit to human authority. Employees are under the authority of their employers (Colossians 3:22). Citizens are under the authority of the government (Romans 13:1). Church members are under the authority of their spiritual leaders (Hebrews 13:17). Children are under the authority of their parents (Ephesians 6:1). And in the same way, wives are under the authority of their husbands (Colossians 3:18).

But if we’re all equal before God, why has God ordained that we are to submit to authorities? For the remainder of this week, we’re going to look at three benefits of submitting to our God-ordained authorities.

First of all, submitting to authority teaches us obedience to God. The bottom-line issue in the Christian life is obedience to God. In 1 John 5:3, the apostle wrote, “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” Saying yes to God does not come naturally to us, especially when He asks us to do something difficult or something we don’t understand. So the way we learn to obey God is by obeying the visible authorities He has placed over us. If you can’t obey your employer, submit to your husband, or follow the direction of your church leaders, you’ll find it difficult to obey God.

Did you know even Jesus had to learn how to obey God? In one of the most perplexing verses in the New Testament, the writer of Hebrews said, “Although [Jesus] was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered” (5:8). Jesus had to learn how to obey God, even though He was the perfect Son of God. Does that mean Jesus is inferior to God? Not at all–that would be heresy. But Philippians 2:8 says the Son willingly placed Himself under the Father’s authority and obeyed His command to go to the cross.

In 1 Corinthians 11:3, Paul made a parallel between Jesus’s submission to God and a wife’s submission to her husband: “The man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.” Is God the Father superior to Jesus the Son? No. Yet the Son voluntarily placed Himself under the Father’s authority. In the same way, when a woman chooses to get married, she voluntarily places herself under the leadership of her husband. When we learn to submit to our God-ordained authorities, we also are learning obedience to God.

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Today’s devotion is adapted from “Does Your Home Work?” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2012.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.