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09A - The "S" Word - Submission
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Order & Harmony
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About 09A - The "S" Word - Submission
Most people would state that order and harmony would be good for a relationship. We believe that! Order and harmony will be part of any great relationship. But, how to help that happen becomes an issue because you will often try to make it happen using the PROBLEM. That obviously will not work. The best way to create order and harmony in a relationship is through two misunderstood and misapplied capacities - leadership and submission.
Submission is the least understood because the word is inadequately defined. The bad definition creates an improper approach and use. Additionally, submission is most often considered only for women, especially in the marriage relationship. But submission is required for everyone! It makes no sense for a man to talk about submission when he does not know what it means and, more importantly, when he is not practicing it in his life. Practiced God's way, it provides protection.
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09A - The "S" Word - Submission
Important
It seems that submission is seen as a dirty word. It is not something people want to talk about. And unfortunately, submission is primarily a topic when dealing with women in the church.
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Left to your sin nature, you will constantly want to control or be in charge. It is not about submission; it is about telling people what to do.
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Better yet, submission is actually displayed between the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. More on that soon, but first, I would love to talk about another significant component of submission – the image of God.
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After studying submission, I would have had a better attitude about submission and may have been a better employee and leader. But it goes much further than that – a better husband, a better father, a better son, a better brother, and a better member of the body of Christ.
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Submission is a component of all relationships. Of course, the easiest one to apply is marriage. Used correctly, it provides the order for the marriage and establishes harmony between the husband and wife. But mutual submission works beyond marriage. When you look at Ephesians 5:21 through 6:9, Paul covers marriage, family, and work.
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Submission goes beyond marriage. It involves the children, work, and church. Actually, it is part of every relationship! Submission in the family follows the same principles you just read about for marriage. Ephesians 6 is a crucial passage to consider.
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We do not typically think about submission in the Godhead. It’s easy for us to think about God's power. But there is a tremendous element of both components of order and harmony being demonstrated to us about submission in the Godhead.
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We covered mutual submission. Now, this part of submission is about the order. So authority in submission in marriage is about the order. We discussed the order in the Godhead, but God also wants order in the marriage.
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God deals with this whole area of authority in submission from the government's viewpoint and clearly states in Romans 13 that we are to pay attention to the powers over us. In 1 Peter 2, the same type of thing. Pay attention to your rulers. You need to follow them. You need to submit to them.
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We are talking about submission from the viewpoint of needing order. That’s the reason why God put the government in place. That’s why he asks us to pay attention to the order in the marriage. He’s also asking us to pay attention to the order in the family.
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In too many circumstances, men are off doing work and activities, and some are just irresponsible and do not see the need to use their design to benefit the body of believers. That puts pressure on the women to be leaders in the church, which does not match God's Word.
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We’ve talked about mutual submission. We’ve talked about authority in submission. But there’s one scripture I want to review with you: 1 Peter 3:1-6.
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So let’s back up to chapter 2, and you’ll see a common theme being rolled out here, the way God is giving us this vital information. So, if you go back to chapter 2 and look at verse 13, the Apostle Peter is talking about submitting to all authority.
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The conduct of their wives may win husbands without a word. That implies a no-words strategy is powerful when linked to a gentle and quiet spirit. It is a remarkable illustration of what submission looks like.
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In 1 Peter 3:1-6, we’ve talked about a gentle and quiet spirit and a no-words strategy. But how is a no-words strategy with a gentle and quiet spirit possible? God answers with the example of what happened with Sarah and Abraham.
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1 Peter 3:1-6, a husband is treating the wife unjustly. God asks her to have a gentle and quiet spirit, an inner voluntary act of the will to say, “I’m going to trust God, not this situation.” And notice verse six, where God basically says, "I’m going to remove fear if you trust Me in this situation with your husband. That’s my promise to you."
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First and foremost, actions contrary to God’s word are never correct. Never do anything opposite of God's Word. If you are in a situation where you know that it does not align with God’s word, be advised that you will suffer some consequences at some point.