submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.
Truth to Learn
The Spirit-filled Christian is humble and subservient.
Behind the Words
The word translated “submitting” is translated from the Greek verb hupotassō. This word is made up of hupo, meaning “under” or “beneath” and tassō, which means “to arrange in an orderly manner.” It is a military term that means to voluntarily place oneself in a position beneath the authority of someone else, that is, “to under-rank oneself.” This is the same word we will encounter in the next verse as it is applied to the marriage relationship.
“One another” is the plural reciprocal pronoun allelōn, meaning “each other” or “one another.” It is never used as the subject of a sentence and only appears in the plural. As used in this verse, it means “for one another” or “to one another.”
Phobos is the word translated “fear.” This word is used to express many nuances of fear including: terror, general fear, reverence, respect, or honor. In the New Testament, when this word is used of God (or Christ) it nearly always refers to a reverential fear.
Some translations end this verse with, “… in the fear of God.” The word God is translated from theos. However, the better manuscripts use the word christos instead of theos. Thus, our translation is “… in the fear of Christ.”
Meaning Explained
In the previous two verses, Paul has given us two evidences of being Spirit-filled: singing God’s praises and being thankful always for everything. In today’s verse he is identifying a third evidence of being filled with the Spirit of God, that of voluntarily submitting ourselves to others within the church.
Of the three evidences of Spirit-filled living that Paul gives us, this one is by far the most difficult. Both our sin nature and the world system that surrounds us would have us exalt ourselves. Therefore, our natural inclination and our conditioning cause us to want preeminence, not subservience. Fortunately we have a perfect example of what God expects.
On the day that our Lord Jesus was betrayed, before He introduced his disciples to the memorial we call communion, his followers had an argument among themselves regarding who would be greatest in the kingdom. They were focused on preeminence and power. They were focused on themselves. In response to this argument, Jesus removed his outer garment and, kneeling down before each one of His disciples, He washed their feet. This was not a demonstration of the superiority of the master, but the submissive act of a servant. Jesus, God in the flesh, gave this example of submission to them, and to us, to show the importance of submitting to one another.
In his letter to the Christians in the church at Rome, Paul said:
Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; (Romans 12:10)
And, in his letter to the Philippians, Paul said:
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. (Philippians 2:3)
Only a short time after washing His disciples’ feet, knowing the torture that was to come, Jesus also submitted to the Father saying, “Not my will, but yours be done.”
Application
When we are filled with the Spirit of God, our actions will be controlled by Him. We will give praise and thanks to God, and we will willingly place the good of others above our own. Jesus gave us a beautiful example of submitting to one another by washing His disciples’ feet. He was willing to submit himself to ALL of his disciples. Are you willing to submit yourself to everyone in your church?
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2016 Will Krause. All rights reserved