Responsibilities of the Believer: Submit to the Proper Authority
I received a few email questions after last week’s article. In it, I talked about my college friend, Allen, who needed to gather research information for his 6-page paper and had the idea to interview the organist at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The biggest problem was that the paper was due the next morning at 8 am, but other problems included not having the phone number for the Cathedral, not knowing if the organist would be at the Cathedral & available to talk, and most importantly, not knowing how to speak French!
A few people wondered if he got it turned in on time, so let me finish the story.
After Jen and I asked questions to point out each of these issues, Allen responded with, “Awww, no. But I can…”
Apparently, later that evening, some doubt crept into Allen’s mind as to whether the interview would actually happen, much less provide the information he needed for his research paper. So, Allen called me.
When I answered the phone, he asked, “Can I do my paper on ALL the organs in ALL the cathedrals in France?” (Apparently, he had found some information he could use).
I responded by saying, “Sure, that’s fine with me. But what does your professor think?”
Allen’s response? “Awww… I don’t know. But I’m sure it will be ok.”
The correct person to ask permission from was Allen’s professor, not me! That was the proper authority to whom he should have submitted his question.
But Allen was used to turning to me as his authority. You see, I had been the RA, or Resident Assistant, for Allen’s floor the prior year in school. As an RA, I was the ‘mature’ student responsible to maintain a semblance of order on a dormitory floor where 31 guys were packed into 11 rooms and shared one bathroom.
As an incoming freshman, Allen quickly attached to me and looked to me as his authority.
But in the case of his research paper, I had no authority.
For any person who has become a believer in Jesus Christ, we now submit to a new authority.
Scripture says that for anyone who does not believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior, sin, death, and Satan are the ruling authorities in their life.
The Apostle Paul tells us that all of humanity is in the same boat: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man (Adam), and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12, ESV). He continues on to describe in the next chapter how we “were slaves of sin” (Romans 6:20) and that sin leads to death (Romans 6:23a).
But, as we know, the good news is that “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23b, ESV).
When we trust Jesus to pay our sin debt and submit our lives to Jesus Christ as our Lord, He becomes the authority to whom we submit. He is not a slave driver like sin, death, and Satan. He is a loving, “gentle and humble” Lord (see Mt. 11:29).
One of our podcast guests summed this up well when she said, “I was persuaded that authority was meant to be challenged, not cherished.” But then she witnessed an authority figure in her life use their authority in the right way. “When I saw for myself the true strength of authority… to bend their knee on my behalf… it disarms you. You can’t rebel against that.” (Mary Antony, Stories of Freedom Podcast, Episode 16). Click here to listen to the whole podcast episode.
The amazing truth of the gospel is that Jesus, the King of the universe, bent his knee on our behalf (see Philippians 2:5-11). He did not use His authority for His own advantage but used His strength for our benefit.
In submitting Himself to the suffering of the crucifixion, Jesus paid our sin penalty and broke the authority of those who held us captive. By His death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus:
“destroy(ed) the one holding the power of death – that is, the Devil – and free(d) those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-15, ESV).
“canceled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands (and) disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them” (Colossians 2:13-15, ESV)
Broke “sin’s dominion over the body… so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin” (Romans 6:6-7, ESV)
Dear Saints, sin, death and Satan no longer have power over us when we submit to Jesus, our ultimate authority, who did not use His authority to his own advantage but took on the nature of a servant by becoming obedient to death on a cross (Philippians 2:6-8). May we voluntarily bow our knees now and live in the freedom Jesus purchased for us!
P.S. And yes, Allen turned in his paper on all the organs in cathedrals throughout France.