On Wednesday Night, Jan 24^th , we will continue our Winter Bible Study – “First Peter: Living as Strangers in a Secular World.”  In our first study, we learned to cope with those who resist our faith by realizing that we are SECURE in Christ. Regardless of what may happen to us on earth – we have an inheritance in heaven that is “incorruptible, undefiled, and will not fade away.”

In the second study, we learned that we are to be SERIOUS about Christian Growth. Peter tells us to grow in the Word, in our Relationship with Christ, and in sharing our faith with others.

In this third Study, the Apostle Peter tells us to SUBMIT ourselves to the Will of God. He tells us to show our Obedience to God and His Word in our relationships with Leaders in Government, our Boss at Work, our Spouse at Home, and the Leaders in the Church.

In 1Peter 2:13 we see the word “Submit”. In one of the Biblical word studies about submission, it says “this word was a Greek military term meaning to arrange troop divisions in a military fashion under the command of a leader. In non-military use, it was a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden.”

Submission is a hard lesson for Americans to understand. The United States of America began in a Revolution where we declared our independence from Great Britain to pursue our own definitions of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” We have a Constitution which allows us to change our leaders every 2, 4, or 6 years if we don’t like what they tell us to do. In the Civil War, the South tried to declare it’s independence from the United States and suffered in a brutal war. In the 1960s, there was the youth rebellion against the government who was ordering young men to fight in Vietnam. In the 1970s, we had the Women’s Liberation movement because many women nolonger felt the need to submit to men. Everyday in the news, it seems that somebody is filing a lawsuit against somebody in authority because they do not want to be submissive and obey some law about something. Now our nation is embroiled in an immigration debate where people feel they have the right to travel and live wherever they want regardless of whether their actions are legal or not. While we may or may not have been involved in any of those social movements, it is the culture that we live in. We are taught in various ways from our childhood to be assertive, aggressive, to advocate for our rights and never take “no” for an answer.

With that background, it seems difficult for American Christians to understand the teaching of Peter who tells us (about a dozen times in 1^st Peter) that we must be humble and submit to the authorities in our life in order to survive and thrive as “strangers in a secular world.” What do you think?  What is your attitude toward submission?

 Loading ...