Submission vs. Obedience

submitted by calmbluejay from self.BiblicalSubmission

Obedience to God

We are not free to cop-out on responsibility by doing something wrong because an authority tells us to do it. All human authority is under the umbrella of God's authority, and God's authority must be obeyed first. You can't say "Well, my boss told me to lie and I have to lie because he is my boss," or, like Lana in our story, "I have to do this because my husband told me to." No, you don't have to!

If there is a conflict between God's rules and man's, the believer must choose to obey God. And bear in mind, there may be suffering involved. Of course we know, as 1 Peter 2:19 tells us, if we suffer for doing good, God is pleased with us.

Submission is not mindless, childlike obedience without responsibility for one's actions. So what is it? Whenever submission of the wife is taught in the New Testament, the headship of the husband is equally taught. It is a two-way street. Let's contemplate the husband-wife relationship, that very unique union which is so different from every other kind of authority/submission relationship.

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[–]yesofcoursenaturally 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Can you give an example of something a husband may command of his wife that his wife would rightly refuse? And I mean the most bland, most-likely-to-happen of examples rather than extremes (like 'poison our child').

I'm curious how this would manifest, since I think this is the stickier part of submission.

[–]calmbluejay[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Can you give an example of something a husband may command of his wife that his wife would rightly refuse? And I mean the most bland, most-likely-to-happen of examples rather than extremes (like 'poison our child').

The 1st example that came to my mind actually was a husband demanding his wife have an abortion. In society abortion is legal but it certainly is against God's will.

A more down to earth example is a husband expecting a wife to lie for him. My husband did a rolling stop at a stop sign and got pulled over. I was content to sit quietly and not say anything but he debated with the police officer and told him to ask me. So, I told the truth and my husband got a ticket.

"‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another" - Leviticus 19:11

[–]yesofcoursenaturally 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Alright, that makes sense.