The fifth commandment states: “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” The sphere of this commandment is exceeding broad (Psalm 119:96). The fifth commandment’s definition, scope, realm includes obedience and submission to all (legitimate) authority(s)/government(s). The types of authority/governments include self, home, parental, marital, employment, church, Divine.
There exists a huge misapplication of the fifth commandment among God’s people today; for example the manner in which people view “wives be submissive to their husbands” in light of the fifth commandment. There are a number of reasons for this misapplication. The main reason is because worldly submission and Godly submission of the fifth commandment are total opposites. Worldly submission is accomplished with/through force, obligation, fear, command, insincerity, deception. However, Godly submission is rendered willingly, freely, voluntarily, sincerely, joyfully, without prompting, without restraint, without urging, without reserve (Psalms 40:8).
Worldly authority, submission creates the relationship of lord to servant, master to slave, general to private. Worldly submission is an adversarial relationship where one wants to lord over, enslave another. The General gets the mansion, the filet mignon/prime rib, while the Private gets the outhouse and a can of spam/hash. While true Godly authority, submission is a mutual relationship, where there is one master Jesus and all are brethren (Matt. 23:8), where everyone that loveth Jesus that begat him, loveth him also that is begotten of him (1 John 5:1). The members have the same care one for another (1 Cor. 12:25), subject one to another (1 Peter 5:5), unto the edifying of all in love (Eph. 4:16). In Godly submission to Jesus, one is not a slave, bound in shackles. When one has totally surrendered to Jesus, when one is a true servant of Jesus, the only experience that can result from this Godly submission is true freedom and liberty. (1 Cor. 7:22; 2 Cor. 3:17) In Godly submission, both parties benefit from the relationship. The benefits each participant receives from the relationship under Godly submission are greater than the sum that would have resulted if the individuals were alone by themselves. When Godly submission is our experience, then all are able to perceive that God is love (1 John 4:8) and is also a God of order (1 Cor. 14:40, Isaiah 40:26, Psalms 89).