Tag: Submission to God

  • ‭‭Romans‬ ‭12:1‬

    “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” – ‭‭Romans‬ ‭12:1‬

    Every time we receive a gift from someone we love, and we see the care and effort they put into it, our hearts are filled with joy. It is not the material thing itself that moves us, but the willingness and love behind it, the desire to bring us joy.

    As Christians, we sometimes forget that Jesus did not call us only to believe in Him. He called us to follow Him. When He said, “If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me (Matthew 16:24).” He was calling us for a life of submission to Him. Paul is making that same appeal here. He is calling us beyond belief alone into a life willingly laid down before God.

    Many of us assume that serving God is more important than fellowshipping with Him. We become eager to do things for God before we have learned to lay down our entire being before Him. Yet Scripture shows us a different order. When Jesus walked the earth, “He called unto Himself His twelve disciples.” Before He sent them out, He first called them to Himself. The Lord Jesus desired intimacy before activity. He wanted them to be with Him to learn from Him, to walk with Him, and to be formed by His presence. Only after they had remained with Him did He release them into ministry. The Word of God says that He then gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Their authority flowed out of relationship, not ambition. We know how fully these men later presented their bodies to the Lord Jesus. Every one of them laid down his life for Him. But notice the pattern before they served others, they stayed in God’s presence. Before they were sent out, they were first called in.

    This is where we often misunderstand our calling. Doing things for God is good, it is necessary but it is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that our heart has already been given to the Lord. If we do not understand this order, then we will not understand what Paul is pleading for. God is not first asking for our service; He is asking for us.

    When Paul pleads with us and says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren,” he is speaking to people who have already received Jesus into their lives. He is not addressing unbelievers, but believers those who have already heard and believed the gospel. In the previous chapters before this appeal, Paul has carefully explained the salvation of God, the unfailing love of Christ from which we cannot be separated, and the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. Then, Paul urges us to willingly place our lives before God.

    When he says, “by the mercies of God.” Every one of us who has received salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ has received mercy. We have all been redeemed by His blood. We have escaped the wrath of God not because we deserved it, but because God was merciful. If God were not merciful, He would never have come down and died in our place. But many of us are deeply interested in the blessings of God upon our lives, yet far fewer desire to lay down our lives before Him. That is why Paul must plead with us. He calls us to consider the mercy we have received, the salvation that rescued us and spared us from judgment and to respond rightly to it.

    Paul urges us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. This language reminds us of how priests presented sacrifices before the Lord. Yet sacrifice in the Old Testament was not only about the forgiveness of sins. There were burnt offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings, and first-fruit offerings. Each had a different purpose, but they all shared one common requirement: the offering had to be given willingly by the people, and the ministry of presenting it had to be done willingly by the priest. Above all, every sacrifice had to be holy in order to be acceptable to God.

    These offerings were a foreshadowing of what God now desires from all of us. Through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have been made holy. His blood has cleansed us and made us acceptable to God. As the Scripture says, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:19). Again it is written, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). Now that God has made us holy and acceptable through Jesus Christ, He invites us to respond. He calls us to willingly offer ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice, just as Jesus offered Himself. This is what Paul is pleading for. He is calling us to lay down our whole lives before God. From the very beginning, God has not been most interested in what we do for Him. His desire has always been intimate fellowship with us. He longs for us to offer our lives to Him willingly, not by force. God is sovereign not a tyrant. God desires that we love Him freely with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul, and all our strength. And when we love Him in this way, God Himself gives us the ability to do what He calls us to do.

    We cannot truly live out God’s will for our lives until we first understand what He desires, and that understanding is born out of an intimate relationship with Him. That relationship begins when we willingly lay down our lives before God  and confidently declare, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20). And from that place of submission, our lives take on a new purpose. “So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death” (Philippians 1:20). Our greatest desire was not self-preservation, but that Jesus Christ would be clearly seen and glorified through our life.

    When we truly understand this and make it our confession, we begin to see what God has called us to. Jesus said, “Whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it” (Luke 9:24). Real life begins when we willingly give our lives to God. This is where we can understand what Paul meant when he say, “which is your reasonable service.” We cannot serve God rightly unless we first lay down our lives before Him.  When our lives are first given to God, our service flows naturally from that place. Obedience then becomes an expression of love, not obligation.

    The Lord Jesus Himself set this pattern for us. He first submitted to the Father by laying down His life for us on the cross. This was the will of God for Him, that through His sacrifice we might be saved. Jesus said, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:38). The clearest evidence of Jesus’ submission to God is found in the work of the cross. As it is written, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8). His life, laid down on the cross, was a perfect, holy, and acceptable sacrifice to God. In the same way, we are called to follow His example. As it is written, “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16). This is where we see the pattern clearly: without willingly laying down our lives to God, we cannot fully walk in His will for our lives. And if we are unwilling to lay down our lives before Him, God cannot truly work in us, because we are still holding ownership of our own lives.

  • I Peter‬ ‭3:1-2

    “Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.” — I Peter‬ ‭3:1-2‬

    In this verse, the Apostle Peter is speaking specifically to married women, not to unmarried women. The word “submissive” comes from the Greek word hypotassō, which means to place under, to subject oneself, to obey, or to submit to another’s authority. The context of this submission is within marriage This instruction is directed toward wives in relation to their own husbands, not to men in general. The Bible does not call women to be subject to all men, but only to their husbands, the one they are united with in covenant before God.

    To grasp this word more deeply, we can look at how it’s used elsewhere in the Bible.

    When Jesus was a child, He was subject to His earthly parents, Mary and Joseph (Luke 2:51). Even though He was the Son of God, He chose to obey them not because they were greater, but to fulfill righteousness and demonstrate perfect obedience. Likewise, children are called to honor and obey their parents because parents carry wisdom and experience that guide their children in the right path. This obedience is for protection and growth. Yet, Scripture also commands parents not to provoke their children to anger (Ephesians 6:4). God gives authority not for abuse, but for loving guidance and care.

    Peter uses hypotassō again when instructing believers to submit to governing authorities (1 Peter 2:13–14). Why? Because government, though imperfect, is established by God to maintain order on earth (Romans 13:1–2). Even when Christians faced persecution and injustice, Peter still encouraged submission not as blind obedience, but as a testimony of faith and trust in God’s sovereignty. To resist lawful authority brings consequences, but to submit with a right heart brings peace and honor to God.

    Peter also uses the word submission when addressing servants toward their masters (1 Peter 2:18). This is one of the most sensitive passages in Scripture, but Peter was not endorsing slavery. Instead, he was teaching believers how to live righteously in a fallen system without losing faith or dignity. We see an example in Hagar, when she fled from Sarah’s harsh treatment, the angel of the Lord told her to return and submit (Genesis 16:9). God did not ignore her suffering; He promised to bless her and her descendants. This shows that submission never goes unnoticed. God sees, judges, and vindicates in His perfect time. Likewise, the Bible commands masters to treat their servants justly, knowing that they too are subject to the Lord Jesus (Ephesians 6:9).

    Now we begin to understand why subjection is so important, not only because God commands wives to be in subjection to their own husbands, but because it is a principle for everyone. As 1 Corinthians 14:33 reminds us, “God is not the author of confusion but of peace.” Wherever there is divine order, there is harmony, righteousness, and peace.

    Wives are not commanded to submit to their husbands because they are less, inferior, or weak. Women are created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27). There is no inferiority in God’s creation, after God created woman, He said that everything was very good. Yet after the fall (Genesis 3:16), the relationship between man and woman became strained. What was once harmony became a battle for control. That is why God said to Eve, “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” This was not a command for domination, but an instruction for order within marriage, so that husband and wife could live together in harmony under God’s design.

    The New Testament reveals this truth even more clearly, showing us that marriage is a reflection of Christ and His Bride, the Church. Just as the Church submits to Christ, so wives are called to submit to their husbands. And just as Christ loved the Church and gave His life for her, so husbands are called to love their wives with the same sacrificial and unconditional love. Remember, God said that man was given authority to have dominion over the earth and subdue it (Genesis 1:28). God’s intention for marriage was never for Adam or any man to dominate his wife, but to lead her, love her and protect her, just as Christ loves and protects His Church. When a wife submits to her husband, she is not merely yielding to a man, but honoring God’s design.

    Remember, when Eve stepped outside of that order and acted independently of her husband, the result was the destruction of God’s perfect design. Through her disobedience, sin entered the world. Later, Sarah’s lack of submission to God’s timing led her to give Hagar to Abraham, producing Ishmael and even today, the descendants of Ishmael and Isaac live in conflict. Rebecca took matters into her own hands by deceiving Isaac and teaching Jacob to deceive his own father  create division and strife between the brothers.

    These stories in Scripture remind us of a simple but serious truth: whenever we step outside of God’s order, chaos always follows. The command to live in submission wasn’t only given to believing husbands and wives. It applies even to those living among unbelievers. Apostle Peter continues in saying, “Even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.”

    In Peter’s time, many women had come to faith before their husbands. His instruction was meant to guide them on how to live righteously, even in a home where their spouse did not yet believe. Their godly character not their disputes was meant to draw their husbands toward believing to the LORD Jesus Christ.

    Many of us are not in submission to God anymore. We no longer prioritize reading His Word or spending time in prayer with Him. Because of our lack of knowledge of God’s Word, we end up being destroyed. How can we expect to make the right decisions in life without the guidance of God’s Word? The same applies to marriage. We are clearly instructed, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6:14). The moment we turn away from God’s Word, we open the door to disobedience and where there is disobedience, there will always be chaos, confusion, and destruction.

    Wives are commanded to be subject to their own husbands. But how can we claim that Christ has saved us if there is no transformation in our lives? You cannot win your husband to the Lord through constant conflict, disrespect, or disobedience. Those attitudes do not reflect the character of Jesus Christ. Instead, Peter teaches that a wife can win her husband “without a word” through her conduct by living with gentleness, purity, and a quiet spirit that honors God. And this kind of character isn’t just for wives, it’s for everyone who follows Christ. We are not called to be rude, wrathful, or impure, but to walk in humility, patience, and love.

    Paul echoes this same truth in 1 Corinthians 7:16, asking, “How do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband?” Yet he also makes it clear that if an unbelieving spouse chooses to leave, the believer is “not under bondage in such cases, for God has called us to peace.” And let’s be clear, submission does not mean enduring abuse or harm. God never calls anyone to stay in a place of physical or sexual abuse. That’s not peace! God is not the author of confusion. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Peace cannot coexist where sin and abuse are present. God’s commandments were given so that we could live in harmonious relationships where peace, love, and joy reign among one another. These commands were never meant to be twisted or used against their true purpose, but to protect us and to keep our relationships in His divine order. Above all, true submission begins with submission to God. When we surrender our hearts to His Word and walk daily in His Spirit, He fills us with wisdom and discernment to know what is right, what is safe, and what is pleasing to Him.

    Submission to our husbands is submission to God and His order.