Submitting to Authority

“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.” Hebrews 13:17

To obey means “to do as ordered (by a person, institution etc; to act according to the bidding of; to do as one is told; to be obedient, compliant to a law, restriction etc.” Some antonyms of obey are defy, rebel, resist, disobey, or violate (especially rules).

Submit also means pretty much the same thing; to yield to the authority of someone else

Why do parents tell their children not to do something? If a parent told their son or daughter to not touch a hot stove, why do they do it? Is it to be in a position of power over them, to “lord” over them, and order them around? No, of course not. It is because they love their child(ren) and they want to keep them safe.

The safety of their children should be a parents number one concern. Not only physically, but spiritually as well. A dad in a home is the authority that the rest of the family needs to obey and submit to, the wife included. The scriptures are clear on this that there is an order of authority in Christianity.

“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 

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. 

Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.” Ephesians 5:22-24

Again, “submit” means to yield to the authority of another, and obey. A wife needs to yield herself to the authority of her husband and obey him. There is not much else that needs to be said or explained. He is the head of the wife, as we read above. “Head” when used in this verse, means “director; leader; or the one in charge.”

That is the order that God has created, and needs to be followed.

Just like the military. Without looking them all up, I know that a private is a lower rank than a colonel, and a general is over a colonel. There is a “chain of command” that is followed. From the lowest rank up to the highest, each has someone who they are under and need to submit to and obey. 

Paul was like a spiritual father to the church, and they were like his children. In 1 Corinthians 4, he wrote that “I have begotten you through the gospel” and was like a spiritual father to them.

“For though ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. 

Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.” 1 Corinthians 4:15-16

In this specific passage he was writing because it appears like there were some in the church who weren’t respecting the authority that had been given to Paul, and he was warning them to correct them. Paul greatly loved the church and like a dad he warned and instructed them in the way they should live and act. If he saw something that needed to be corrected, he would do it, because he cared for their souls. While he would rather come to them in love and correct things, if need be he would be much firmer and strong if a sin issue persisted (1 Cor 4:21).

In the book of 3 John, John wrote that he was pleased to hear that the church was walking in the truth. It made him very happy that the work and time that he had spent teaching the church hadn’t been in vain. Like Paul, John was like a spiritual dad to those who he helped to grow in the faith, and he was glad that they were walking in the truth, and in love. 

So to recap: be obedient to your authority. Not only will you be pleasing them, but you will be obeying the Holy Scriptures when you do so. 

In Christ,

Andrew