James 4:11-12 (NKJV) 11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
In James 4 we learn that the Lord has given us a promise. If we resist the devil he will flee from us. We also learn that we must be in proper position if that resistance is going to be effective. That position is in submission to God. Proper submission to God leads to effective resistance of our enemy, the devil, which leads to walking in God’s possibilities.
Let us review the attitudes that we must cultivate to be in true submission to God from James 4:8-10.
1. We must draw near to God in prayer, praise and worship and the Word.
2. We must deal with the areas of known sin in our lives by repentance according to 1 John 1:8-10.
3. We must put away “double mindedness by choosing to believe and Act on the Word of God.
4. We must be serious about our relationship with God. We must elevate our relationship with God in our priority structure and take serious issues we may have in that relationship.
5. We must humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord. This is not a matter of thinking of ourselves as worthless but rather focusing on our value in God. We must elevate God and others above ourselves in our thinking and in our actions.
Today I want to look at something that I believe is also a necessary aspect of our submission to God. Look at 1 John 4.
1 John 4:20-21 (NKJV) 20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
Although this scripture is speaking of love, I believe the principle also applies to submission. We may say we love God, but what is the evidence of that love. We cannot see God. We can see one another. If we love God we will demonstrate that love by loving our brother. The same is true of submission. We may say we are submitted to God but if we cannot submit to those in authority over us, how can we say we submit to God?
Ephesians 5:21 (NKJV) 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.
We see here that Paul tells us we should submit to one another in the fear of the Lord. There are different levels of submission. In the next number of verses, he defines the order of submission in marriage. Leaders require a different type of submission than do those who are under us or who are our peers. Yet he makes it clear that there is a type of submission we give to all in the body of Christ. Let me introduce another word. That word is respect.
Submission to God flows from our respect for him. If I cannot respect, and therefor submit to my brother in an area where he is right, how can I say I will submit to God who I cannot see? That brings us to today’s scripture. I never saw this as part of cultivating our submission life to God or part of drawing near to him, but I realize now that it is integral to both.
If we want to draw near to God and grow in submission to him, we must not speak evil of one another. Just as we cannot say we love God and hate our brother, we cannot say we submit to God and speak evil of our brother. If I speak evil of him I do not respect him and I am not cultivating respect, and thereby submission, to God.
James says something interesting here. He brings in the Law. If I speak evil of my brother I speak evil of the Law. I believe James is pointing to the fulfilment of the Law in Christ. Verse 12 tells us that there is one Lawgiver who is able to either save or destroy. We know that in Christ he chose to save us. If I speak evil of the one God chose to save, I speak evil of his application of the Law. He is the one who chooses who is saved and how. Who am I to question that by speaking evil of the one God justified.
The more we criticize and undercut one another the less we cultivate respect for the body. The less we respect the body the less we truly submit to God. When we choose to love and honor our brother we choose to love and honor the God within him. Our submission to God is strengthened and made more real.
I want to quote from Ephesians 3. This a a long section of scripture but I want to tie some things together.
Ephesians 3:14-21 (NKJV) 14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height– 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
I believe that to see God’s possibilities as valid for our lives we need to touch the fullness of God. Submission to him is vital. Without submission to God we cannot resist the devil. However, Paul shows us here that the only way to see the fullness of God manifested in the church is through the interaction of “all saints together.” We need one another. We need to respect one another as well as love one another. The two go together.
The more we love and respect one another the more we love and respect God and the more our submission to him will be a natural thing. When we make these things priority in our lives we will know the manifestation of the prayer at the end of this scripture. God will do in our midst things that are exceedingly and abundantly about what we can ask or think.
As I read that phrase I see the release of God’s possibilities. I see the impossible in our lives swallowed up by the ability of All Mighty God. We cannot see that if we do not love and respect each other as we cultivate love and respect for God.
Look around you at the church in your life. Love them. See them as God sees them. Do not judge them, for God is the judge. Respect them and even submit to them as it is proper to do so. You will see that your relationship to God will be enhanced as well.
Galatians 5:14-15 (NKJV) 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
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