Ephesians Devotionals
Bob Morris
Mutual Submission (Ephesians 5:21)
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Mutual Submission – the Precondition of all Christian Relationships
As we saw last week, submission to one another out of reverence for Christ is a sign of a church being filled with the Spirit. But this verse also acts as a segue to what Paul is going on to say about relationships in the body of Christ. The new humanity, God’s household, of which Paul talked in Ephesians 2:15-22, is to be characterized by new relationships within the family and at work.
“Submitting” literally means “arrange under”. More importantly, Greek has three voices or ways of describing a given action: active, middle and passive. The active voice for submitting would be “subjugate” them. In Paul’s writings, the only time the active voice is used, God alone is the “subjugator”. An example is Eph. 1:22-3 where Paul says, in effect, God subjugated all things under Christ’s feet. The passive voice of submitting would imply “let yourselves be subjugated”. In this verse and the verses that follow (right up to 6: 9) only the middle voice is used, “submit yourselves”. That means that the submission Paul urges is both voluntary and mutual
All of us are voluntarily to submit to each other. None of us is told to make someone else submit to us. That totally changes the nature of submission in the church. Other than for teaching young children to obey their parents (mentioned elsewhere in the Scriptures), there is no place for those in authority to ensure submission of others. This applies to all relationships in the body of Christ – husbands and wives, children and parents, masters and servants.
In a cross-cultural context, submitting to one another implies that expatriates will submit to national leadership, that national believers will recognize outsiders’ gifts, and that everyone will be quick to learn from the experience and expertise of others, without lording it over others. Jesus once commented to the disciples.
You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…
In the Kingdom of God, the mark of leadership is servanthood and the mark of all relationships is mutual submission.
We have great motivation: reverence for Christ. Jesus himself said his example was to serve, not to be served. If we really are followers of Jesus and love him with all our hearts, our fellowships will be marked by people happily giving in to others and seeking what is best for them.
PT Chandapilla was a fiery leader in the church in India and some years ago was a keynote speaker at Urbana. A Brahmin by birth and an eloquent preacher of Biblical truth, his most memorable trait was his own example. He once told us that only children of God can be servants without being enslaved. As head of the Union of Evangelical Students (the equivalent of Inter-Varsity in India) he welcomed student workers from outside India and was responsible for making sure their housing arrangements were prepared for their arrival. A colleague from England described coming early to his assigned apartment and finding PT down on all fours scrubbing the cement floor clean. Apart from the grace of God, that is unthinkable for a Brahmin. My British friend could not tell that story without crying.
Lord Jesus, you who emptied yourself of your glory in order to serve us, help us to submit to each other and thus hallow your name and your example.
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