Submitting to one another

…submitting to one another in the fear of God. - Ephesians 5v21


Paul is about to begin a series on the importance of submission in the body of Christ. He is dealing with specifics of submission amongst believers. Before he gets into the specifics he makes a general statement and it just kind of flows with the rest of the instructions we have been dealing with – “Submitting to one another in the fear of God.”

This concept of submission goes right along the same mindset that is being discussed. Submission to others is a true test of humility. Submission comes, when as C.S. Lewis puts it, we see humility as “self-forgetfulness.” Then we really don’t care about making ourselves look good or bad. We don’t care if we are the most visible or least. We don’t care if we drive the train or shovel the coal. Our whole goal is to just forget about ourselves. Only when we forget about us can we truly submit to each other.

If we think about us at all we will never be able to submit with the right spirit. How do we forget about us? The answer is in the verse – we submit to each other in the fear of God. When we walk in the fear of the Lord we will truly forget about us. Then we can submit to each other.

Submission follows self-forgetfulness. We can have neither until we walk in holy reverence to the Lord.