A Look At Submission And Divine Command Ethics

Two concepts are on my mind this morning.

'Divine Command Ethics' - God tells us to do this and not to do that as individuals like He instructed Israel as a nation.

and

What some groups refer to as ESS (The Eternal Subordination of the Son) which paints the Son as eternally submitting to the Father instead of just taking on the role of a servant for a time in the incarnation, then being exalted by the Father and returning to a co-equal role and sitting on the throne with Him.

I see great linkages between these two concepts. Are we submitting for a time so that redemption can happen in time and space or are we submitted forever?

Do we force submission on others?

What kind of submission is expected in marriage and family? How is our Church leadership structured? If you are a man how do you see and treat women?

Big questions aren't they?

Evolution or natural selection says the fittest will survive. The weak will eventually bow down to the strong. Religion forces submission by divine decree but what is spiritual?

"You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you." - Galatians 5:4-8 ESV

"And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, 'If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.' " - Mark 9:35 ESV

Freedom is an interesting thing. The Israelites faced a crisis when they left Eygpt. It was a freedom crisis. They didn't have anyone to tell them what to do anymore. They asked for rules and God gave them rules because they had no capacity to look at Him and be led in freedom. That generation died in the wilderness.

"When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished,' and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." - John 19:30 ESV

Jesus obeyed the rules for us. He won our salvation and as a last act of submission, He fell backwards into the arms of God trusting that His Father would raise Him up again. Now He sits at the right hand of God and all those who believe sit there also because they are hidden in His victory forever.

"And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." - 1 Peter 5:4-7 ESV

We now have a capacity to willing humble ourselves also and not lose our dignity doing it. There is a crown waiting for all those who fall backwards into the arms of God in circumstances because Christ has finished the work of mandatory spiritual submission.

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Seniority And Service

"Now I urge you, brothers - you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints - be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer." - 1 Corinthians 16:15-16 ESV

Seniority and service. Two things that matter.

I really value the people in my life that have believed and have done it for longer than I have. I study a lot and the danger of that is that a person can begin to think they are an expert but before will always be before. A person that still serves... no is addicted to service... because they believe has something.

I'm not talking about old legalists. No. Paul knew 'the household of Stephanas' and he pointed to them. The grace preacher endorsed them as people to look at and be 'subject to' likely because those folks had humility and would never demand the submission of anyone.

When a culture begins to break down one of the first things that goes is a reverence for the elderly.

I want to value my 'fellow workers' who rest in grace and the finished work. They would never demand it but the one who have been around the block a few times and are still at it have secrets that need to be gleaned if any of us are to also have longevity.

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Thieves and Robbers

Jesus had a code of divine honor. His mind is the mind of the servant leader. It is not something that can be adopted by just anyone. Christ's mind uniquely belongs to Him.

" 'Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.' " John 10:1-5 ESV

"This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them." John 10:6 ESV

This whole concept was so foreign that Jesus needed to reiterate it again.

"So Jesus again said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture." John 10:7-9

Jesus isn't just talking about the leadership of the day... He is talking about all the leadership in Israel throughout it's history. Anyone who had ever done well had pointed to the door and no one had done it perfectly.

Spirit must communicate with spirit.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.' " John 10:10-18 ESV

This power structure relies on this honor code and vice versa.

"There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, 'He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?' Others said, 'These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?' " John 10:19-21 ESV

What made them angry? I think it is the same thing that makes us angry when people won't do what we want. We can want a power structure that promotes control and if we function that way we are thieves and robbers.

The anger that rises up in us when a car is blocking the road and making us late for our appointment is the same anger these people felt. The anger that would steal the will of another. Naturally we might be very willing to steal the will of our spouse, our children, our employer or even people in our Church. These are just little th thefts after all. Our motivation might even be moral. Our soul cleaves to the dust and reverts back to this method without the buoyancy of the Spirit.

Jesus exercised His will and never took that right from anyone else.

The power of the Shepherd is the power of a laid down life.  There is no substitute for grace. This power structure opens eyes. It can not be duplicated. People can try... and they do try. There are plenty of books on servant-leadership. There is only one Christ. There is only one door. There is only one way.

"The mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles (nations) are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Colossians 1:26-27 ESV

Fancy Footwork

Jesus, the Living Word, took a towel and a basin and washed the feet of every disciple at the last supper. The King of glory dunking a cloth in water and squeezing the water out of it so it ran down and rinsed off the feet of common people like you and I. Taking care with each person. What a picture.

The Word became a servant but remained a judge.

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." John 1:14

"Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." John 15:3

"But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men" Phil 2:7

"And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." John 12:47-48

Yet, this same one who is pictured as a servant now sits on a throne at the right hand of the Father. But look how He side stepped in John 12 "...I came not to judge the world... But..."

It says this about us in the epistles...

"Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?" 1 Cor 6:2-3

The word for judge here is the same word used in John 12. It is 'Krino' (Strong's G2919) and it is a broad meaning. It refers to an ability and authority to separate... like going through fruit at the market a choosing the right produce to discard and what to buy. It also means that judicial decisions are made and forensic analysis as well.

Is the servant part linked to the judgment role? I'd say it is. That is very practical for us to know. It applies to us. A term has been coined 'Servant Leader' but who can span that great chasm of the High, Holy and Heavenly and the lowly, humble and many times grimy... only Christ can... only the Word can... the Word washes... the Word judges.

That graceful little sidestep is so important, "...I came not to judge you... But, there are some Words you need to hear... It is your decision but these words will last forever..." it is like the graceful execution of a turn in a ballroom dance.

The servant who discerns has the foot work of a boxer in warfare if that service is really Christ's life being lived out. The written Word mixed with faith and centered in and through Christ Himself comes alive in a believer and Jesus' divine mind and nature are imparted by that communion.

We can dunk the cloth and rinse the feet and it won't 'bring us down'. Christ spans the gulf of the Earthy and the Heavenly. Christ trains us to reign while we serve.