Submitting to, As Opposed to Acceptance of, God

[newton3003]

The Bible tells us to love God with all out heart, soul, might and mind. Does this include acceptance of Him, submission to Him, or a little of both?

The Pentateuch implies that in our love of Him we accept Him. Dictionary.com defines acceptance as “1. the act of taking or receiving something OFFERED.” In the Pentateuch, God has made an offering of a Covenant with us. Leviticus 26: 3…9 says, “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them…I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my Covenant with you.” So by complying with His conditions, we have accepted Him.

The New Testament leans toward our being submissive to God, and in the name of God and Jesus. The passages in the Bible are endless. Some of them are as follows:

1 Peter 5:6- Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you…

James 4:7- Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Titus 2:9- Servants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative…

1 Peter 2:18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the [harsh].

Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

Colossians 3:22 Servants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.

Ephesians 5:21 tells us to submit to one another out of reverence for Jesus.

According to Dictionary.com, to be submissive is
“1, inclined or ready to submit or yield to the authority of another; unresistingly or humbly obedient…”

There are no conditions in connection with being submissive. There is no ‘If you will do this, I will do that.’

Perhaps the inference in the New Testament is that those who strive for righteousness know what they must do and they have accepted what they must do, in a demonstration of submissiveness to God. This is a matter not just of works, but also of faith in the Almighty that He will honor His Covenant with those who accept it, and also of faith that there is a House of God that we can spend eternity in, a wondrous House.

 

[ForestGreenCook]

The Bible tells us to love God with all out heart, soul, might and mind. Does this include acceptance of Him, submission to Him, or a little of both?

The Pentateuch implies that in our love of Him we accept Him. Dictionary.com defines acceptance as “1. the act of taking or receiving something OFFERED.” In the Pentateuch, God has made an offering of a Covenant with us. Leviticus 26: 3…9 says, “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them…I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my Covenant with you.” So by complying with His conditions, we have accepted Him.

The New Testament leans toward our being submissive to God, and in the name of God and Jesus. The passages in the Bible are endless. Some of them are as follows:

1 Peter 5:6- Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you…

James 4:7- Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Titus 2:9- Servants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative…

1 Peter 2:18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the [harsh].

Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

Colossians 3:22 Servants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.

Ephesians 5:21 tells us to submit to one another out of reverence for Jesus.

According to Dictionary.com, to be submissive is
“1, inclined or ready to submit or yield to the authority of another; unresistingly or humbly obedient…”

There are no conditions in connection with being submissive. There is no ‘If you will do this, I will do that.’

Perhaps the inference in the New Testament is that those who strive for righteousness know what they must do and they have accepted what they must do, in a demonstration of submissiveness to God. This is a matter not just of works, but also of faith in the Almighty that He will honor His Covenant with those who accept it, and also of faith that there is a House of God that we can spend eternity in, a wondrous House.

In light of 1 Cor 2:14 all the scriptures that you have quoted are pertaining to the people who have already been born again of the Spirit. The natural man does not have the ability to understand anything about God's spiritual laws, and therefore will not respond to them by such as, obey, subject to,submissive, submit, humble, complying, accepting, and many others, repent, confess believe in God, hear the gospel. All these terms apply to God's children and not to the natural man, void of the Spirit. Leviticus was written by Moses to Israel, God's people. Actually, the inspired scriptures are instructions for God's people on how to live their lives as they live here on earth and are not written to the unsaved. Man is eternally saved by God's sovereign grace and not by man's works, such as responding by means of the words mentioned of accept etc.

 

[MattforJesus]

Many people believe in God, and accept Him as real, even people that do not accept Christ, but we have to submit to God's will to be right with Him.

Tit 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

Mat 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

 

[eternally-gratefull]

as a non believer, dead to God person, you can not submit to him, Love him, or even obey him in any area not the gospel. About all you can do is accept him as savior through repentance and humility.

 

[ForestGreenCook]

Many people believe in God, and accept Him as real, even people that do not accept Christ, but we have to submit to God's will to be right with Him.

Tit 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

Mat 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

Even though we are born of the Spirit, we do still carry the baggage of our fleshly nature and are disobedient such as those in these two scriptures which are children of God.

 

[beta]

I believe that 'submission and/or 'acceptance are two different 'stages we go through.
I think that can be seen from Lk 6v46
'And why call ye me Lord, Lord'.....obviously meaning people who have accepted Him as their LORD.....
'and do not the things which I say'....meaning they are disobedient still, are not submitting.

It would seem there are MANY in the first stage of Acceptance (Mat ch 7 and others) and through false teaching have not been able to move on to the next stage of OBEDience which leads to salvation Heb 5v8,9.

 

[beta]

Even though we are born of the Spirit, we do still carry the baggage of our fleshly nature and are disobedient such as those in these two scriptures which are children of God.

I do not see how the DISobedient are already children of God....they are in a process of 'conversion IF they continue IN THE WORD....THEN they will be born of the Spirit.
Far too many christians think they are 'born again' when actually they are only 'begotten'. They are not being taught that these are also 2 separate stages (just as they are in our human life).

 

[ForestGreenCook]

I do not see how the DISobedient are already children of God....they are in a process of 'conversion IF they continue IN THE WORD....THEN they will be born of the Spirit.
Far too many christians think they are 'born again' when actually they are only 'begotten'. They are not being taught that these are also 2 separate stages (just as they are in our human life).

We are the adopted children of God, Paul tells us of his experience as a child of God. Romans 7:18-23, For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing; for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would not, that I do, Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it , but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law after the inward man; But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Just for an example; Roger, on this forum, thinks that I am lost and going to hell, unless I follow his instructions that will save me, He fails to understand that if I was not already born of the Spirit, I could not follow his spiritual instructions, because I could not understand them and they would be foolishness to me. You can find that description of the natural man, void of the Spirit, in 1 Cor 2:14. In the adoption process we are begotten ( chosen ) by God, before the foundation of the world, Eph 1. The second step of adoption is when the legal fees are paid and Jesus did that on the cross. The third, and final, step will be when Jesus comes to take us home. We are all born, by natural birth, into this world in a state of sin, after the sin of Adam. We are considered, by the scriptures, as being dead in sin. Sometime between our natural birth and our natural death, while we are still dead (spiritually) God, by his grace, will ( Eph 2:5 ) Even when we are dead in sins, hath he quickened ( made spiritually alive ) us together with Christ, ( by grace ye are saved ). The natural man, void of the Spirit can not respond to God's spiritual laws by repenting, because he does not understand spiritual laws, they are foolishness to him, neither can he accept, believe, confess, neither can he be convicted of his sins because he dose not know that a spiritual law, that he cannot understand, tells him he is a sinner. Sorry I rambled on, and I hope this can help you to understand, instead of confusing you.

 

[ForestGreenCook]

I believe that 'submission and/or 'acceptance are two different 'stages we go through.
I think that can be seen from Lk 6v46
'And why call ye me Lord, Lord'.....obviously meaning people who have accepted Him as their LORD.....
'and do not the things which I say'....meaning they are disobedient still, are not submitting.

It would seem there are MANY in the first stage of Acceptance (Mat ch 7 and others) and through false teaching have not been able to move on to the next stage of OBEDience which leads to salvation Heb 5v8,9.

All of the inspired scriptures are written as instructions, as to how , those that God has regenerated ( given spiritual life to ), should live their lives here on earth. When we, as children of God disobeys those instructions, he tells us to repent, he also tells us to confess, believe accept. When we are disobedient he chastens us. All these things have reference to the child of God, not to the natural man.

 

[beta]

We are the adopted children of God, Paul tells us of his experience as a child of God. Romans 7:18-23, For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing; for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would not, that I do, Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it , but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law after the inward man; But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Just for an example; Roger, on this forum, thinks that I am lost and going to hell, unless I follow his instructions that will save me, He fails to understand that if I was not already born of the Spirit, I could not follow his spiritual instructions, because I could not understand them and they would be foolishness to me. You can find that description of the natural man, void of the Spirit, in 1 Cor 2:14. In the adoption process we are begotten ( chosen ) by God, before the foundation of the world, Eph 1. The second step of adoption is when the legal fees are paid and Jesus did that on the cross. The third, and final, step will be when Jesus comes to take us home. We are all born, by natural birth, into this world in a state of sin, after the sin of Adam. We are considered, by the scriptures, as being dead in sin. Sometime between our natural birth and our natural death, while we are still dead (spiritually) God, by his grace, will ( Eph 2:5 ) Even when we are dead in sins, hath he quickened ( made spiritually alive ) us together with Christ, ( by grace ye are saved ). The natural man, void of the Spirit can not respond to God's spiritual laws by repenting, because he does not understand spiritual laws, they are foolishness to him, neither can he accept, believe, confess, neither can he be convicted of his sins because he dose not know that a spiritual law, that he cannot understand, tells him he is a sinner. Sorry I rambled on, and I hope this can help you to understand, instead of confusing you.

Yes, as can be seen it is all a slow process of learning - beginning with our Belief in the Lord and 'downpayment of His Spirit.....which has to be nurtured in/by/through His Word to Grow in grace and knowledge. All a very slow progress as we absorb and apply to our daily life. The full measure of His Spirit is only attained when we are perfected and 'actually born into God's Kingdom' Rom 1v4. Phil 3v21.'

(please do us a favour and split your posts into sections/paragraphs. So hard to read 'en bloc for those with poor vision, thank you)