A lot of new Christians hear the phrase “submit to Jesus” and immediately get nervous.
Fair enough.
For some people, “submit” sounds harsh. For others, it sounds like one of those church words that comes wrapped in potluck casserole, awkward side hugs, and somebody telling you to “just pray harder” when your life is currently on fire.
But submitting to Jesus is not about becoming fake, joyless, strange, or spiritually constipated.
It is not about earning salvation.
We are saved by grace through faith, not by works, so nobody gets to strut into heaven like they brought their own ladder (Ephesians 2:8-9). But the very next verse says we are created in Christ Jesus for good works (Ephesians 2:10).
Obedience does not save us. But saved people learn to obey.
Jesus is not a life coach with sandals. He is not a dashboard saint. He is not a motivational quote with a beard.
He is Lord.
So what does it look like to submit to Him?
1. Call Him Lord and mean it
Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
That word “Lord” matters.
It means Jesus has authority.
Jesus asked in Luke 6:46, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”
That question still has a way of walking into the room and turning the lights on.
Submitting to Jesus begins when we stop treating His commands like optional software updates. We do not get to say, “Lord, I’ll follow You, but I’m keeping this bitterness, this habit, this relationship, this secret compromise, and this one little idol because it has sentimental value.”
That is not discipleship.
That is negotiation.
And Jesus does not run a flea market.
If He is Lord, He is Lord over our words, choices, money, bodies, relationships, politics, habits, schedules, tempers, screens, and secret thoughts.
Yes, even that one.
2. Receive grace before you try to perform
This may sound strange in a piece about submission, but it is essential.
You cannot submit to Jesus properly if you think He is waiting for you to impress Him.
A lot of new Christians try to live like they are auditioning for heaven. Read enough Bible. Pray long enough. Avoid enough bad words. Smile at enough people from church. Try not to lose your mind in traffic before the closing worship song has fully left your system.
But Christianity does not begin with your performance.
It begins with Christ’s finished work.
Romans 5:8 says, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Titus 3:5 says He saved us “not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy.”
Grace comes first.
Submission is not how we buy God’s love. Submission is how we respond because God has already loved us in Christ.
Pride says, “Look how well I am doing.” Despair says, “Look how badly I failed.” Grace says, “Look at Jesus.”
That is where Christian obedience starts.
Not with clenched teeth. With open hands.
3. Repent when Jesus puts His finger on sin
Repentance is not a dirty word.
It is mercy.
Jesus began His ministry by saying, “Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). First John 1:9 says if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us.
Repentance means we stop defending what Jesus died to forgive. We stop calling pride “confidence.” We stop calling gossip “concern.” We stop calling greed “being practical.” We stop calling lust “just how people are.” We stop calling bitterness “discernment.”
That last one may need to sit with us for a minute.
Submitting to Jesus means when He shows us sin, we do not hire a defense attorney. We confess it. We turn from it. We bring it into the light.
Proverbs 28:13 says whoever conceals his sin will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes it will obtain mercy.
The Christian life is not pretending you never fall. It is learning where to run when you do.
Run to Christ.
4. Obey His Word, not your mood
Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
He also said the person who hears His words and does them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock (Matthew 7:24-27).
That means obedience is not legalism. Obedience is construction. You are building your life on something. The question is whether it is rock or sand.
James 1:22 says to be doers of the word, not hearers only. Second Timothy 3:16-17 says Scripture is breathed out by God and useful for teaching, correction, rebuke, and training in righteousness.
In normal-person English: the Bible is not just there to comfort you. Sometimes it corrects you.
That is not cruelty. That is love.
A submitted Christian lets Scripture have the final word. Not feelings. Not culture. Not the algorithm. Not the friend group. Not the political tribe. Not the late-night anxiety committee that meets in your head without permission.
Psalm 119:105 says God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.
God does not give light so we can admire it.
He gives light so we can walk.
5. Follow Jesus daily, not just emotionally
Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
Daily.
Not once at camp. Not once during a powerful worship song. Not once because the preacher told a story about his grandmother and everybody got misty.
Daily.
Submitting to Jesus means self no longer gets to be king.
Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”
That means my pride does not get the steering wheel. My anger does not get to draft policy. My lust does not get a company credit card. My fear does not get to run the meeting. My self-pity does not get a throne and a microphone.
Romans 12:1 says to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. The problem with a living sacrifice is that it keeps trying to crawl off the altar.
So we come back. Again and again.
We pray. We worship. We obey. We forgive. We serve. We join God’s people. We love our neighbors. We tell the truth. We say no to sin and yes to Christ.
Not perfectly. But truly. Because Jesus did not save us so we could drift. He saved us so we could follow.
The point
Submitting to Jesus is not about becoming less human. It is about becoming truly human again. Sin promises freedom and makes us slaves. Jesus calls us servants and makes us free.
That is why His lordship is not bad news. It is the safest, sanest, strongest, freest place in the universe.
So new Christian, do not panic.
You do not have to master the Christian life by Thursday. You do not have to pretend you never struggle. You do not have to clean yourself up before coming to Christ.
Come to Christ, and He will begin the cleansing.
Call Him Lord. Receive His grace. Repent of sin. Obey His Word. Follow Him daily.
That is not religious bondage.
That is freedom.
And if that sounds too simple, good.
Jesus has always been better at saving sinners than we are at complicating it.