Answer
Submission is a yielding to the will or authority of another. To submit is to surrender to the choice or control of someone else. The Bible reveals God’s will as to whom, when, and why we are to submit.
The New Testament word translated “submit” is from the Greek word hupotassó—hupo (“under”) and tasso (“to arrange”). It was often used in military contexts, denoting how troops were arranged under a leader, an essential condition for military victory. More broadly, submission is discussed whenever participants are organized into a hierarchy to serve a purpose, attain a goal, or fulfill a vision. The implication is that success cannot be achieved without such an arrangement. Submission, then, increases efficiency and power through cooperation—it produces a whole greater than the sum of its parts. But, as with all things, a submissive attitude is subject to abuse—and the results have included such human ills as slavery, corrupt governments, abusive husbands, etc.
The key to understanding biblical submission is two other words: authority and role. For Christians, biblical submission starts with arranging one’s life under the will and direction of God. We surrender to God’s choices and defer to His will. Submission to God is a just, rational response when we recognize, in humble gratitude, His supreme authority (Hebrews 6:13), goodness (Matthew 19:17), and love (1 John 3:1). God created us in His image (Genesis 1:26–27), and that alone establishes His authority over us. We submit to God willingly, in faith that He knows what’s best for us (Isaiah 48:17). We submit in gratitude, knowing He has rescued us from hell and forgiven our sin (John 3:16–17; Romans 6:23). We submit in confidence, knowing He has planned a unique mission for each of us before time began (Psalm 139:16; Ephesians 1:4; 2 Timothy 1:9).
It may be helpful to think of biblical submission in terms of a four-level division. Starting from the lowest level and moving to the highest, the type of submission goes from temporary and earthly to more eternal and heavenly.
Level One. The lowest, most earthly level of submission is involuntary. The forced submission of slaves to masters, oppressed people to tyrants, and defeated nations to conquerors are examples of involuntary submission.
Level Two. This type of submission covers those roles that are temporary and voluntary. Given time, the roles will change. Children submit to their parents’ authority—but a child will grow up to be an independent adult. Pupils submit to teachers, athletes to coaches, soldiers to commanding officers, and employees to bosses. Down the road, however, a pupil may become a teacher, an employee may become a boss, etc.
Level Three. This type of submission is more specifically biblical. It is voluntary and potentially lifelong, but not eternal. This includes ministers working within a church hierarchy, believers with the spiritual gifts of serving or helps (Romans 12:6–8; 1 Corinthians 12), and citizens under a government (Romans 13:1). This level also includes the marriage dynamic, as wives voluntarily submit to the God-ordained authority of their husbands to honor and glorify God (Ephesians 5:22–24; Colossians 3:18) or to win over unbelieving husbands (1 Peter 3:1).
Level Four. The highest level of submission is both voluntary and eternal—submission to God. It is found in the psalmist’s cry, “I delight to do your will, O my God” (Psalm 40:8a, ESV). The most glorious height a Christian can reach in this life is to live out his or her submission to God by serving other people in love, doing “nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility [valuing] others above yourselves” (Philippians 2:3). This type of submission affects all other relationships, as we are “working for the Lord rather than for people” (Colossians 3:23, NLT).
Jesus displayed all four levels of submission in His own life. He was God in the flesh, the Almighty Creator of the universe (John 1:1–2). Yet He lived at the lowest level of submission under the authority of the Roman oppressors (Mark 12:17). He was obedient to His earthly parents (Luke 2:51). He acknowledged the authority of John the Baptist to baptize Him in order to “fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). He humbled Himself in washing His disciples’ feet (John 13:15–16). And at the highest level of submission, Jesus showed His commitment “do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34; cf. Luke 22:42 and John 17:4).
We are all called to some type of submission. We are told to “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
something to be grasped,
but emptied Himself,
taking the form of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5–8, BSB).
Biblical submission is about humbly, gratefully fulfilling our God-ordained roles within a hierarchy of authority as part of the awesome privilege of glorifying God in the world.did not consider equality with God
something to be grasped,
but emptied Himself,
taking the form of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5–8, BSB).
