Colossians 3:18
Often, we have seen the child who when told to sit down by
an authority figure, takes this attitude, I may be sitting on the outside, but
on the inside I’m standing.
The problem with that attitude is that it is prevalent in our society,
in our homes, and in our churches.
So when we come to a Scripture that teaches submission, how do you think
it will be received? What is the
act of submission; is it not a willingness to yield or surrender to
somebody?
I believe most of us submit to authority most days without
giving thought to it, we call it obedience; we keep the laws that man has
placed over us in order to live in harmony with one another. Laws that we submit to are stop at the
stop sign or light, yield to the on coming traffic, make sure your child is at
school, do not smoke in this area, do not litter, put your trash can out on
Friday, and the list goes on and on.
Yes, most of us submit to authority without giving it any thought, we
are a society of law keepers, we have learned that these laws are not to harm
us but to provide a better life for all.
The above being true, why is there so much resistance to
Colossians 3:18, “Wives, submit
to you husbands, as is fitting to the Lord.” So much has been said on this subject,
and often it has been twisted by a perverse gospel. But the gospel of Colossians 3:18 is not a perverse
gospel. Evil men or insecure men
have not looked past verse 18 to ask the Lord to teach them, how to obey and
submit to verse 19. Verse 19, “Husbands, love your wives, and do
not be harsh with them.” You
show me a man who obeys that teaching, who submits to Christ’s authority oven
him, and I will show you a wife who is not fearful of verse 18.
Yes, I understand that we live in a society or culture whose
roles are up side down, but we are not the first to do such, in 760 BC the
prophet Isaiah recorded this, “Youths oppress my
people, women rule over them. O my
people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path.”(Isaiah
3:12) And in verse 16, “The Lord says, “The women of Zion are haughty, walking
along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, …” But that
is mild compared to what God has to say through Amos at an earlier time in 787
BC. Amos is a herdsman and dresser
of sycamore-fig trees, not the man you or I might have used to speak to
nations, but then God is not like us, His ways are much higher. Before I tell you what God said out of
the mouth of Amos about the women of that time, remember that it is God who
designed the order of all things. “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount
Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to
your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!” (Amos 4:1) Role reversal does not seem to please
God, His design is perfect, and when the husband is in submission to God’s word
in verse 19, and the wife is in submission to God’s word in verse18, we see a
home that is a light to all who observe.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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