SUBMISSION UNTO A HIGHER POWER
Monday – March 6, 2017
Greetings and welcome to The Three Minute Word publication created especially for today. God is so good. Now let’s delve right back into our Bible Study from Ephesians where we are currently focused on the command and idea of submission.
I have talked about submitting one to another as a matter of courtesy (politeness, consideration, civility, gallantry, and good manners), giving deference (respect, esteem, regard), honoring another person like parents, elders, those who have attained a certain stature in life or the Kingdom, and submitting to those who have legal authority in our lives. Now let’s review our text.
Ephesians 5:20-25 (KJV)
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
As we look at Ephesians 5:21 we are reminded that we all (those born from above) are saved by the same person in the same way, serve the same God, and are answerable to the same God. To be absolutely clear, that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, this is the God of eternity past that we now know as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, One God, Three Persons. Failure to submit is a breach of light, Word of God, and is sin. It is a mechanism for the devil to legally raise cane in our lives. Before I move into the verses that discuss the submission that occurs between husband and wives let’s look at a principal that cannot be overlooked or sublimated in any way. That point is that God only requires us to submit to legal higher authority.
As I have mentioned before there are three basic types of laws, Ceremonial, Moral, and Civil Law. The Ceremonial Laws of the Old Covenant are not practiced in that we do not bring a sacrifice when we sin to a priest however we do memorialize these for example the Communion Table memorializes the sacrifice particularly the last one, that of the Christ. Moral law like the taking of innocent blood stands immutable. Today a blatant example of spilling innocent blood would be abortion. Civil law evolves over time. For example there are no speed limits in the Bible, no commandment that your donkey can only go three miles an hour. So long as Civil Law does not violate the Moral Laws of God they are to be followed, like the speed limit and so on. With this backdrop now we will look at the following Scripture for more light.
Romans 13:1-2 (KJV)
1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
This Scripture is a very misused and abused passage in The Book. Romans 13:1 tells us to submit or be subject to “the higher powers”. Then it goes on to tell that there is no power but of God and all higher power is ordained of God and we are not to resist the higher power and if we do damnation awaits. Wow! Right away our minds may race to abusive husbands, wicked people in government, Satan, and so on. The proper interpretation seemed to elude me for many years until I finally asked God about it and He directed my attention to the phrase “higher power”. So, I got thinking about what would constitute a higher power or a higher authority than a righteous person. The short answer is God (all three personalities, major facets) and His Word. Remember we are talking about authority not power. Who has the authority, the legal standing, to direct or give instruction to any of us? Certainly God and His Word have that standing. Also, those who are in our lives ordained to function with authority and they align that authority with the Word of God, the will of God.
There are examples in Scripture where people exercised authority and the people of God disobeyed and that was not a problem with God. Three examples would be Daniel not bowing, the three Hebrew children not bowing, and Moses’ parents as well as the midwives of Egypt disobeying Pharaoh. In China for example the government has commanded the abortion, the destruction, of female fetuses. This violates the moral law of God and no one is required of God to follow this. In America we saw laws that demanded that persons violate their conscious, the law of God, and celebrate perverted marriage ceremonies. In the process the government sought to ruin these people’s reputations and businesses. God has and will make these people whole. So, a husband that wants a wife to get an abortion for example would be violating God’s Moral Law and the wife is under no obligation to do that since the husband is not exercising the higher power (higher than human authority) of God. So the key here is directly related to the status of the power or authority being exercised. Is the authority emanating from the Word of God or is it a wicked concoction of the devil. As we prepare for tomorrow when with some bravery I will dive into the area of husbands and wives let’s consider the structure of things in Heaven and in the earth with regard to authority, submission, function, yet equality before God and each other.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
