Romans 12:1
A Sermon on Total Submission to God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."
— Romans 12:1 (ESV)
There is a word that does not sit comfortably with most people. It is a word that cuts against everything our culture tells us to be. That word is surrender.
We live in a world that tells us to take control. To build our own brand, follow our own truth, trust our own instincts. From the time we are old enough to understand language, the message being poured into us is this: you are enough, you are in charge, you do not need anyone telling you what to do.
And then Jesus shows up and says something that turns all of that completely upside down.
He says, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23, ESV)
Deny yourself. Not improve yourself. Not believe in yourself. Deny yourself.
That is the foundation of everything I want to share with you today. Because there is a life available to every single one of us that is so much fuller, so much richer, so much more alive than what we are currently settling for — and the door to that life is not self-promotion. It is not self-reliance. It is complete, wholehearted, nothing-held-back surrender to God.
Not surrender to a religion. Not surrender to a denomination or a tradition or a set of rules someone handed you in a pamphlet. Surrender to a Person. To the living God. To Jesus Christ, who gave everything for you and is asking you to give everything back to Him.
This is what we are going to talk about today. What it actually looks like to be completely submitted — submitted to God the Father, submitted to Jesus the Son, submitted to the Holy Spirit, and submitted to the Word of God. These are not four separate things. They are four dimensions of one single life. A life that is fully surrendered.
Let's walk through this together.
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."
— Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV)
The very first thing we have to settle — and I mean settle, get it down in our bones so it does not move — is who God actually is. Because you cannot fully submit to someone you do not truly know or fully trust.
God is not a vending machine you come to when life gets hard. He is not a spiritual insurance policy you keep in your back pocket. He is the Creator of all things, the Sustainer of all things, the Beginning and the End. He existed before time, and He will exist after time has run its course. He knows everything. He sees everything. He holds everything together.
And here is what that means for you and me, practically, today: He knows better than we do. About everything.
Submitting to God the Father means releasing the steering wheel. It means saying, "God, this is Your life. I am not borrowing it. I am not managing it on Your behalf. It is Yours, and I want to live it the way You designed it to be lived."
That is terrifying to a lot of people. Because surrendering control means outcomes you did not plan for. It means paths that do not make sense to your natural mind. It means sometimes standing in front of a situation and having absolutely no idea what is happening — but trusting anyway.
That is what faith looks like in real life. It is not a feeling. It is a choice.
1. Submitting to God means submitting to His sovereignty — even when it hurts.
Job lost everything. His children, his health, his wealth — all of it gone. And yet in the middle of that devastating wreckage, he said this: "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." (Job 1:21, ESV). That is not the response of someone who believes God owes them a comfortable life. That is the response of someone who has settled the question of who is in charge. Submission to God means trusting His sovereign hand even when the situation makes no sense.
2. Submitting to God means releasing your plans and embracing His.
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11, ESV). Notice — He says His plans. Not yours. Submission means you lay your blueprint down and pick up His.
3. Submitting to God means humility — choosing His way over yours.
"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you." (James 4:10, ESV). Pride is the direct opposite of submission. Pride says, "I know what's best." Humility says, "God, You know what's best." That posture changes everything.
4. Submitting to God means daily surrender, not a one-time prayer.
This is not something you do once at an altar and never revisit. Jesus said to take up your cross daily (Luke 9:23). Every morning you wake up, the question is fresh: Lord, is this Your day or mine? Surrender is a lifestyle, not an event.
5. Submitting to God means finding rest in His authority.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28, ESV). The weight you are carrying right now — the anxiety, the striving, the constant managing of outcomes — that is not what God designed you to carry. When you submit to His Lordship, you are not losing freedom. You are finding the rest your soul has been longing for.
"And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent."
— Colossians 1:17-18 (ESV)
A lot of people have accepted Jesus as Savior. Fewer people have truly made Him Lord.
There is a difference, and it is important.
Accepting Jesus as Savior means you believe He died for your sins and that you are forgiven. That is real, that is powerful, and that is the beginning of everything. But making Jesus Lord means something more. It means He gets a say in your decisions. It means He is not just the One who saved you from hell — He is the One you actually follow. The One you actually listen to. The One whose voice shapes how you spend your money, how you treat people, what you pursue, what you walk away from.
Paul writes in Philippians 2:9-11, "Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow... and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." (ESV)
Every knee will bow. That is going to happen. The only question is whether it happens now, voluntarily, out of love and trust — or whether it happens later, by default.
Submission to Jesus means making it voluntary. Now. Today. While there is still a life to be lived in the fullness of who He is.
1. Submission to Jesus means following His example, not just His name.
"Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked." (1 John 2:6, ESV). It is not enough to carry His name. We are called to carry His character. His humility, His compassion, His obedience to the Father — these are not optional upgrades to the Christian life. They are what following Him actually looks like.
2. Submission to Jesus means obeying His commands because you love Him.
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments." (John 14:15, ESV). Jesus did not say obedience earns love — He said love produces obedience. When you are genuinely submitted to Jesus, you do not obey out of fear or duty. You obey because you love Him and you trust that He is always right.
3. Submission to Jesus means dying to self so He can live through you.
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." (Galatians 2:20, ESV). This is the deepest truth of the Christian life. The old you — the self-centered, self-serving, self-protective you — has to die. Not be improved. Not be managed. Die. So that something brand new can live in its place.
4. Submission to Jesus means trusting His process even when it is painful.
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28, ESV). Sometimes following Jesus leads you through hard things. Rejection. Loss. Seasons of waiting. Submission means trusting that He is working in every single one of those moments, even when you cannot see it.
5. Submission to Jesus means He gets the final word in every decision.
Before you make a major decision — who you marry, where you work, how you spend your time and resources — the question is not "what do I want?" The question is "what does Jesus want?" Submitting to His Lordship means bringing every door to Him before you walk through it.
"And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit."
— Ephesians 5:18 (ESV)
The Holy Spirit is not a concept. He is not a feeling you chase at a worship concert. He is a Person — the third Person of the Trinity — and He is living inside every single believer. He is not an occasional visitor. He is a permanent resident.
And He came for a reason. Jesus said it plainly in John 16:13: "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come." (ESV)
He guides. He speaks. He declares.
But here is the problem so many of us have: we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, and we are not listening. We are too busy, too distracted, too full of our own noise to hear what He is saying. We are walking through life with the greatest Counselor, the greatest Guide, the greatest Comforter in the universe living inside us — and we make decisions without consulting Him. We live whole weeks without tuning into what He is trying to say.
Submission to the Holy Spirit means slowing down enough to listen. It means learning to recognize His voice. It means when He nudges you to reach out to someone, you do it. When He cautions you about a direction, you pause. When He brings peace, you move. When He brings unease, you stop.
1. Submission to the Holy Spirit means being led by Him, not your emotions.
"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." (Romans 8:14, ESV). Your emotions are real, but they are not always right. Fear, ambition, hurt, pride — these things will lead you in circles. The Spirit leads you in truth. Learning to distinguish between your feelings and His leading is one of the most important things you will ever do.
2. Submission to the Holy Spirit means not grieving or quenching Him.
"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God." (Ephesians 4:30, ESV). "Do not quench the Spirit." (1 Thessalonians 5:19, ESV). You can suppress what the Spirit is doing in your life through habitual sin, through unbelief, through a hardened heart. Submission means staying soft. Staying repentant. Staying open.
3. Submission to the Holy Spirit means producing His fruit, not manufacturing your own goodness.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23, ESV). You cannot produce these things by trying harder. Patience is not something you grind out on your own. Peace is not something you manufacture through positive thinking. These are the natural result of a life that is submitted to and led by the Spirit.
4. Submission to the Holy Spirit means praying in dependence on Him.
"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us." (Romans 8:26, ESV). Even your prayer life is not supposed to be something you carry alone. He is in it with you. Lean on Him.
5. Submission to the Holy Spirit means walking in step with Him daily.
"If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit." (Galatians 5:25, ESV). Keeping in step means staying close. It means checking in moment by moment. It means your day is not just a to-do list — it is a conversation with the God who lives inside you.
"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."
— 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)
We live in a generation that has access to more Scripture than any generation in history. Most of us carry the entire Bible in our pocket. And yet, Biblically speaking, we are starving.
We have replaced depth with exposure. We scroll past a verse on social media and call it devotion. We hear a podcast clip and call it Bible study. And the result is a generation of Christians who are emotionally moved by Scripture but not actually shaped by it.
Submission to the Word of God is not about reading it more. It is about letting it have authority over you.
There is a difference between reading the Bible and submitting to it. When you read it, you observe what it says. When you submit to it, you let it change what you do. You let it confront your opinions. You let it correct your behavior. You let it reshape your entire understanding of yourself and the world.
The Psalmist wrote, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." (Psalm 119:105, ESV). A lamp does not just show you what is around you. It shows you where to step. That is what the Word does when you are genuinely submitted to it — it shows you exactly where to put your foot next.
1. Submission to the Word means letting it be the final authority — above your feelings, culture, and opinion.
"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." (Matthew 24:35, ESV). Culture shifts. Feelings change. Popular opinion moves like a tide. But the Word of God stands forever. When the Word says something that conflicts with your feelings or what culture is telling you — the Word wins. That is what submission looks like.
2. Submission to the Word means hiding it in your heart, not just your hand.
"I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." (Psalm 119:11, ESV). Carrying a Bible is not the same as carrying the Word in your heart. Submission to Scripture means you memorize it, meditate on it, and let it go deep enough that it becomes part of how you think.
3. Submission to the Word means being a doer, not just a hearer.
"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." (James 1:22, ESV). This is one of the most straightforward and most disobeyed verses in the New Testament. Hearing the Word without doing it is self-deception. You think you are growing because you heard something good — but nothing has changed in how you live. Real submission to the Word changes behavior.
4. Submission to the Word means allowing it to renew how you think.
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind." (Romans 12:2, ESV). Your mind was formed by years of culture, media, hurt, and worldly thinking. The Word of God is what re-wires it. Consistent, deep engagement with Scripture literally changes the way you see everything — yourself, other people, your problems, your purpose.
5. Submission to the Word means trusting its promises even when you cannot see them yet.
"So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11, ESV). When God makes a promise in Scripture, it is not a wish or a possibility. It is a certainty. Submission to the Word means standing on those promises when everything around you says otherwise — and waiting with expectancy for God to be exactly who He said He is.
"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me."
— John 15:4 (ESV)
I want to talk to you about what happens on the other side of surrender. Because some people hear "submission" and "surrender" and think it sounds like becoming a passive doormat. Like giving up on life. Like losing yourself.
That could not be further from the truth.
Jesus said in John 10:10, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (ESV). That word abundantly — it means overflowing, excessive, beyond what you asked for. That is the life available to the person who is fully submitted to God. Not a smaller life. Not a restricted life. A life so full it runs over.
The fully surrendered life is not the end of personality. It is the beginning of your true personality — the one God designed when He formed you. It is not the end of dreams. It is the death of small dreams and the birth of God-sized ones. It is not the end of freedom. It is the first moment you have ever been truly free — free from the exhausting work of being your own god.
1. The surrendered life bears fruit that lasts.
"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide." (John 15:16, ESV). When you are submitted to God, what you produce is not temporary. It is not based on your talent or your timing. It is rooted in Him — which means it lasts. The work you do from a surrendered posture outlives you.
2. The surrendered life walks in genuine peace.
"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:7, ESV). I want you to notice something — this peace surpasses understanding. It does not make sense. You can be in the middle of a genuinely hard season and have a peace that logic cannot explain. That is the peace available to the person who has truly surrendered control to God.
3. The surrendered life is protected.
"No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed." (Isaiah 54:17, ESV). When you are walking submitted to God — when you are under His authority — you are under His protection. That does not mean hardship will never come. It means nothing that comes against you has the final word. He does.
4. The surrendered life is increasingly conformed to the image of Jesus.
"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another." (2 Corinthians 3:18, ESV). Submission is not a destination — it is a direction. As you continue to surrender more and more to God, you become more and more like Jesus. The goal is not perfection in a moment. The goal is consistent, growing transformation over a lifetime.
5. The surrendered life ends in glory.
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." (Romans 8:18, ESV). Whatever you lay down in surrender to God — whatever it costs you to follow Him fully — it is nothing compared to what is coming. The surrendered life does not end in loss. It ends in glory. Every sacrifice made for Him will feel, in the light of eternity, like it was not even a sacrifice at all.
I want to bring this home to something simple and personal.
The question on the table today is not theological. It is not about how much you know. It is a question of the heart.
How much of your life is still in your own hands?
Because here is what I have come to understand: God does not want a portion of you. He does not want the Sunday version of you, or the prayer-time version of you, or the version of you that shows up when things get bad and you need help. He wants all of you. Every corner. Every ambition. Every fear. Every plan. Every relationship. Every dollar. Every dream.
And the moment you give Him all of it — the moment you stop holding back that last piece of yourself that you have been gripping with white knuckles — is the moment your life actually begins.
Paul put it plainly: "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20, ESV)
He loved you and gave himself for you. He did not hold back. He gave everything.
The only reasonable response to a love like that is to give everything back.
So today, I want to ask you to do something that might be the most courageous thing you have ever done. I want to ask you to let go. Let go of your plans. Let go of your rights. Let go of your self-sufficiency. Let go of the version of your life you have been building without Him.
And give it to God. All of it. For real this time.
Submit to the Father who holds all things. Submit to the Son who gave all things. Submit to the Spirit who leads you into all things. Submit to the Word that anchors all things.
That is not the end of your story. That is where your real story begins.
"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."
— Ephesians 3:20-21 (ESV)
Amen.