SUBMISSION

Ephesians 5:21-6:9 concludes Paul's teaching on what the Spirit-Filled life looks like

The Spirit filled life isn’t measured by personal spiritual experience. Your attitudes and actions toward other people is the real indicator of being Spirit-filled.

• Wives and Husbands

In our culture, the roles of men and women are on a constant state of flux, but God’s design has not changed and will not change.

God’s will for your family is simple:

• wives submit to your husbands

• husbands love your wives sacrificially

as you both look to Christ for the example

• Children

Children - these instructions are mandatory

Parents - you need to teach this to your children

Obedience is about actions

Honor is about attitude

In the Lord - when you honor and obey your parents, you are honoring and obeying the Lord.

Disobeying your parents is disobeying God

Outside of your parents commanding you to sin - to disobey God (not going to happen here), you simply must obey them. 

Parents are responsible for three things: 

1. Don’t Provoke

Provoke - a repeated, ongoing pattern that causes anger and resentment to build up.

How you provoke your children:

1. Be overbearing

2. Show Favoritism

prefer one child over another

Compare them - why can’t you be more like your sister!

3. Have Unreasonable Expectations

It’s never good enough

4. DIScourage - never encourage

only point out what they do wrong

5. Don’t Sacrifice for them

Do the bare minimum: food/clothing/shelter

6. Don’t let them grow at a normal pace

Don’t allow them to be their age. 

7. Use your Love/Affection as a tool

Reward good punish bad with your love, time, etc. 

8. Abuse

whether physical, verbal, emotional, etc. sbuse is never 

acceptable

Do Four things:

A Harvard study points out that when families do four things, there’s a 90% chance that the children will not grow up to be delinquent. Obviously this isn’t a guarantee, but it’s reflective of biblical principles:

• Dad: firm, fair, consistent discipline

• Mom: supervise and be their companion

• Mom & Dad: Love one another - affectionate

• Spend time together as a family

2. Discipline

Training in the rules of life, how to behave in all situations, education, correction/punishment Proverbs is full of instruction on Training

3. Instruction

To insert into the mind. Starting with information and pointing toward right attitudes and behaviors.

The key is of the Lord

According to Scripture

Through the Spirit

In the name of Jesus

To the glory of Jesus

• Employees/Bosses

In every aspect of our lives, God ordains authority - and requires submission

HOME - WORK - CHURCH - SOCIAL - ETC.

Do your job well - to the best of your ability

Don’t brag

Don’t complain

Don’t criticize

Be the best employee you can be. 

1 Peter 2:18-20 – [Slaves], be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. ¹⁹ For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. ²⁰ For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

• The Motive: Christ

Out of love for Christ (He commands, you obey)

Bby the power of Christ (He enables you)

To the glory of Christ (this adorns the gospel)

Bosses - you’re called on to express the same kind of humility and love toward those who work for you as they do to you. 

The bottom line about submission:

Submission points inward not outward. 

Submission is willing and gladly giving up your rights to another’s authority.

If your submission is begrudging,

It’s not submission - It’s pride

EVERYONE has SOMEONE they are to submit to. 

(probably more than one)

Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of humility

He Is God, And He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a [slave], being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2)

Jesus modeled this in His incarnation, life, and ministry. The cross was the culmination. 

The resurrection brought the ability to submit.

In Christ - we CAN joyfully submit!

WE can because He did

Submission is one of the primary ways you demonstrate the change that has happened in you because of the gospel.

Submission and humility go hand in hand and are one of the primary evidences of the change that the gospel brings in your life