James 4:7
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).
As we have studied previously, submission is topic that is primarily associated with a woman's role in the context of Biblical marriage. In many ways, submission has rose to the surface of western civilization as one of the most controversial and debatable topics within the church and surrounding culture. It has gasoline-like properties, that if ignited, immediately inflame discussions and engulf any chance of understanding as it pertains to Scripture between those of differing opinions.
Submission is polarizing because society is infatuated with driving an "oppression against women" agenda, but society also fails to acknowledge that submission is a universal application for women AND men. Yes, Scripture calls for wives to submit to the authority of their husbands, but it also affirms that husbands submit unto Christ and the authority of His Word; just as children are to obey and submit to the authority of their parents.
God has established hierarchy and family order for a reason, regardless of whether or not our flesh agrees with that decision. Jesus demonstrated submission by obeying the authority of His Father in heaven by accepting His ordained mission to suffer and die on the cross of Calvary for the forgiveness of sin. When He submitted, He relinquished power and control by obeying His Father's authority despite the fact that He was equal with God the Father in status as part of the Holy Trinity (Philippians 2:5-8).
Likewise, husbands and wives are equal heirs in their oneness when they commit to a marital covenant. Husbands are not regarded as holier than their wives because of authority, but there is a hierarchy in place to maintain order within the family unit. Decisions have to be made at times, leadership must be exuded, and God has ordained husbands to fulfill that role.
Granted, with that role comes the responsibility of judgment and accountability unto God which wives are exempt of because of their submission to the husband's authority. Wives will still be required to give an account on judgment day, but by submitting unto God through the husband's headship role, the wife is yielding to the husband's authority and allowing him to be held accountable by God for the ultimate decision made.
In light of James 4:7, we must recognize that Satan desires nothing more than chaos, disruption and destruction of the Biblical family unit. Therefore, he employs a myriad of tactics to drive wedges between husbands and wives, parents and children, and society in general. One of his most successful strategies is marital role-confusion and submission plays a critical role in that process.
He has also swayed our culture into adopting a spirit of independence and selfish desire for power and control, promoting women to bristle at the thought of submitting to male authority in heterosexual marriage. Freedom of speech and the right to have one's voice heard is the marketing ploy, but it is twisted in assuming that those rights are somehow revoked in Biblical marriage.
On the contrary, a healthy Biblical marriage absolutely encourages and exhorts transparent dialogue and difference of opinion to ensure all opinions and insights are expressed in order to make the wisest decision possible (1 Peter 3:7). The husband is simply responsible for speaking the final decision on behalf of the family unit or breaking a deadlock when he and his wife are in disagreement and a decision must be made, thus declaring himself as accountable for the final decision in either case.
The challenge with submission is when a husband presents himself as lazy, hypocritical or blatantly sinful and perverse with little to no integrity or character. In those cases, it is imperative to clarify that submission for any wife is made unto Christ, NOT the husband. She submits through the husband's authority unto Christ. This is critical to understand because it alleviates any temptation to elevate the husband higher than God.
Universally, all men are sinful and make unwise/sinful decisions at one point or another. So when a husband is not aligned with God's will as declared in His Word, a wife is still encouraged to submit so long as she is not forced to sin in the process.
A wife should never be led (for example) to defile the marriage bed or participate in any illegal acts whatsoever simply because her husband insists she must. She is held accountable by the Word as well and must answer according to it, but her marital role of submission is mandated by God to maintain peace and order in the home.
It takes incredible meekness to fulfill a role of submission, and we as husbands can learn a great deal from our wives by how they respect our headship role so much as to submit under our consistently, imperfect authority. For we as men are called to demonstrate submission in our lives 24/7/365 by how we position ourselves under the authority of Scripture and apply in obedience its teachings. We set the tone for our families.
But make no mistake, our culture is infatuated with destroying Biblical doctrine and submission is a platform Satan uses to drive division and animosity both in our interaction with non-believers, within the church body, and in our homes. Therefore, it is imperative we take heed James' exhortation to resist the devil just as Jesus exemplified in His forty days in the wilderness when He was tempted to abandon God's will for selfish ambition.
The Word is our only offensive weapon at our disposal as the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17), and it will demand that Satan abandon his fruitless attempts at destroying our fellowship with God and one another if we use it accordingly. But we must be in communion and synchronicity with the will of the Father, and that only comes when we commit our lives and submit our selfish will for His will, to the glory of His name.
