Romans 13:1 (NIV) 1Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
I Peter 2:13-14 (NIV) 13Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 14or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.
Peter reminds the church of its responsibility to the state. Submission to authority is an anathema in today’s world, and certainly there is a need to resist unjust authority, but submission was no more desirable for the early Christians than it is for us today. We prefer love to submission, because we know submission means saying no to our own self-will and saying yes to the will of others. Submission is a willingness to try solutions that others have offered. Submission accepts authority and assumes that those in authority have made good decisions. It is a willingness to test out those decisions in daily life. Submission places our will under the will of others. It listens to what others say and accepts their thoughts and judgment as being right and good.
Submission can become conformity, behavior based on fear and force. Submission, on the other hand, is chosen. Conformity makes us a slave to the demands of others. Submission enables us to freely serve. Our submission to human authority is supported by and limited by our trust in the sovereign power of God. Our bottom line faith is that God is sovereign over our country and over all nations. With confidence in that sovereignty we submit to human institutions. With hope in that sovereignty, we obey. And sometimes in obedience to that sovereignty we resist and rebel against human authority.
Submission is the risk Jesus took when He came into our world. We like to say that love is the cardinal command for Christians, and so it is. And at the heart of the command to love is Jesus Christ laying down His life for us. Jesus defined love as submission, and because Jesus submitted Himself to us, submission became a litmus test for love.
Submission is risky. I know of nothing that can remove the risk of abuse brought on by submission, but there is something that reduces the risk. There is in submission an element of truth that gives us power and protection from abuse. The sovereignty of God is our protection. God’s sovereignty is available to those who submit to others out of their trust in God. Submission is ultimately and finally and thoroughly an act of confidence in the power and might of God.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope July 5, 1992
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell
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