Putting the Mission into Submission

The principle of submission not only effects our relationships, but when we get Spirit-enabled submission, it affects our world.

WHAT is Paul saying?
We are to be under the Spirit's agency, submitting to another out of fear of Christ. What does it mean to submit? Only when we see Christ properly will we see others properly.

Examples
Rom 15:1-3 We put up with and please others to build them up for their own good. FOR Christ did not please Himself.
Phil 2:1-8 We must seek others' interests. FOR Christ humbled Himself as a man and to death on the cross.
John 13:1-17 Jesus washed the feet of sinners because He loved them. As He did, so should we. FOR He, our Teacher and Lord, did this as an example for us.
Mark 10:35-45 Greatness is about humbling ourselves. We must be slave of all. FOR Jesus did not come to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many.

TO WHOM do we submit?
All Christians submit to all Christians. It pleases Christ when His body lives in harmony. Though we submit to one another, there are different expressions of submission. A husband's submission is different than that of his wife's.

Two cautions
Egalitarianism: All God's role distinctions are abolished.
Dictatorship: We abuse role distinctions and forget v21.

We must maintain these role distinctions in the Spirit of Christ's humility.

WHY do we submit?
Out of fear of Christ. We must do all out of fear, reverence, and adoration for Christ. To have fear of Christ is to be overwhelmed, controlled, and filled with the wonder of who He is and what He has done (Psalm 130). It is cultivated when we look on Him and go back to the Gospel. Let us get in the Word.