Marriage – Submission – July 5

Text: James 4:6-10. Submission is always your choice, because it cannot be forced on you. You choose to submit when you do not agree. The world thinks of submission in terms of bondage, but godly submission requires humility and opens the door for the person who is submitting to receive God’s grace. When we submit to God’s will, God tells us that He will lift us up. Satan did not submit to God, and he hates when we do, so he comes to steal the truth from us immediately. We are to submit to God and resist the devil. Satan wants to rob God’s grace (His power) from you by stealing your submission from you. Submission means under in rank, but not under in value. What is submission? 1) It is not agreement. 2) It is not easy. 3) It is not being forced. 4) It is not weakness. You have to be humble to submit. It is a safety net against deception. Who do we submit to? 1) To God. 2) To your own spirit. 3) Children to their parents. 4) Wives to their husbands. 5) Younger to the elder. 6) Employees to employers. 7) Citizens to civil leaders. (Pastor Syd cited Scriptures for each of these.) The time to not submit to authority is when the one over you directly goes against what the Word tells you. Philippians 2:8-15 says that Jesus humbled Himself by being obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. God exalted Jesus for His obedience and gave Him the name above all over names. When we submit to God, His grace can come to us.