I’d like to share some scripture verses that I believe have been misunderstood and misinterpreted by religion and leads many to come to the wrong conclusion about God’s sovereignty and how we are to relate to Him.
James 4:6-7 “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
1 Peter 5:6-7 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
For those that see religion and not relationship, these verses seem to justify God’s total control and an unresponsive attitude in relating to Him. But if you understand God’s heart and intent for mankind, you will see relationship, dependence and submission to His loving will. These scriptures don’t say God’s will automatically happens or that we’re to submit to it blindly.
Religion says humility is accepting the belief that God controls or allows everything regardless of what we desire; and therefore, whatever happens in our life is a result of God’s authority, power and divine purpose. However, if you look at these same scriptures through relationship, you will come to a different conclusion.
Before going on, I want to share these scriptures: Most people know John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Is eternal life, living forever? Living in Heaven? The Bible is a commentary on itself. Jesus tells us exactly what eternal life is. It is RELATIONSHIP with God!
John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
So now back to our other verses: below is a word study. I’m going to expand on these verses by the plugging in the definition for each underlined word and summarizing.
Humble: Gk 5011 tapeino’s
properly, low; (figuratively) inner lowliness describing the person who depends on the Lord rather than self. Means being God-reliant rather than self-reliant –which ironically always exalts a person
Submit: Gk 5293 hypotássō
to place or rank under, to subject, to obey; from hypó, "under" and tássō, "arrange"– properly, "under God's arrangement," i.e. submitting to the Lord (His plan).
Acknowledge: H3045 Yada
to know it is to know His ways inside and out and to recognize that He is the ultimate arbiter of our lives.
The humble are those who intentionally seek out, and purposely look to God and His ways (through the word and His spirit), in every area of their lives. Submitting to God’s will and aligning oneself with His Word (the bible); while actively resisting anything from the enemy
This is not a casual relationship based on assumptions, but having knowledge through experience. What happens or doesn’t happen in our lives depends on our knowledge of God’s will and our confidence in it.
Psalm 91:14
“Because he set his love on Me, therefore I will save him;
I will set him [securely] on high, because he knows My name [he confidently trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never abandon him, no, never].
This is NOT a nonchalant attitude or religious way of relating to God. We are through intimate relationship, to put ourselves in a position of being led by Him. Unfortunately, many will not chose to relate to God in this personal and intimate way. We wouldn’t mind it if it “just happens” the way it is supposed to. And this is where some people stop. They don’t want the responsibility for having any part to play. They don’t want to seek God. So they don’t do anything, and then put the “blame” or responsibility for the outcome on God. Assigning to God what actually comes from the devil.
All these verses refer to relationship. You must know God, His will and purpose if you are going to know what to submit to and what to resist.
Eternal life, what Jesus came to give us is about this intimate relationship with God! When we know Him, we can give up our own way of doing things, our own logic and desires and fulfill His which is always and only good.
You don’t have to know Greek or Hebrew to understand or interpret scripture. But legalism and religion often clouds the lens we read it through. Once you understand that God is all about blessing, prospering, loving and giving, through an intimate personal relationship, you will never view the bible the same way again!