The Power of Submission
1 Peter 2:13-25
Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors,… [1 Peter 2:13-14]
Over the next two weeks we are going to cover the topic of submission. Now I know that most of us don’t like to submit. Why? Because it’s easier to want our way. It comes natural. Submitting infers yielding [not getting our way] and our natural man just hates that. Apart from the Spirit’s work in our lives we naturally want the right of way.
But there is a spiritual power in submission and that is what we are going to see in our passage this morning. Today we will look at submitting to the government and to those in public authority [i.e., public officials, bosses, employers. etc.]. Next week we will learn about submission in the home [i.e., “wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands,…” 2 Pet 3:1]. That is a hot topic we will tackle next week.
An important point to note on submission is it is a result of knowing [experientially] God’s grace. “O taste and see that the Lord is good.” [Ps 34:8] “…if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” [1 Pet 2:3] One must experience [taste] grace, not only define it. And it is only by experiencing grace that we can truly submit to another deep down in our hearts. It is when we taste God’s grace, and then submit to Him, that we are enabled by the Spirit to submit to others. It really is a spiritual work. “Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit says the Lord Almighty.”
The greatest example of this is our Lord Jesus when He went to the Cross. The Bible declares Jesus “yielded His Spirit” at the Cross. No one took Jesus’ life. Jesus gave up His life on His own accord. He submitted Himself to death, even death on a Cross. But in doing so He drew all men to Himself. “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” [Jn 12:32] Do you see the powerful work in that great submission!
Submission [yielding] is not weakness. To the contrary it takes a person of extreme strength and security to yield. That’s why Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” [Matt 5:5] It is the meek who yield. But remember this, meekness is not weakness; it is power under control!
Notice, too, that in yielding to the Cross, Jesus drew all men to Himself. That is a great example of the power of submission. It is also a power that we can experience today as we taste God’s grace.
