The natural man, meaning a fallen, unregenerate, sinful person, is an enemy to God. The only way to remedy that situation is to yield or submit to the enticings of the Holy Spirit. Thus we overcome our fallen or sinful nature and become a new creature—and that happens only through the atonement of Christ.
Through the great and last sacrifice of the Holy One of Israel, we may become holy ones—which is the literal meaningof the word saint. As holy ones we acquire the very characteristics and attributes of the Holy One as outlined here—“child[like], submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things” the Lord desires. There is a vast difference between the natural or fallen man and the spiritual man living in a fallen world.
The idea of submission to God is contained in the title of one of the world’s major religions—Islam, which word means “submission.” A Muslim is one who submits to the will of Allah (the Arabic word meaning “God,” parallel to the Hebrew Elohim). The doctrine of submitting ourselves to God’s will and not pursuing our own will is true doctrine, as King Benjamin attests. In God’s economy, everyone must submit his or her will to the Father—everyone, even the Savior.
The critical concept of submissiveness is expressed four times in this one verse in the words “yields,” “submissive,” and “submit” (twice). It is iterated and reiterated, possibly because it is the most difficult to live. If we are submissive to whatever God sends our way, we become as a child. In fact, we are born again; we start growing again and mature in the qualities of godliness, which are also noted in the verse.
Some years ago while Brother Ogden’s children were helping at a petting farm in Mapleton, Utah, he engaged the owner in a lively conversation about the good she accomplished on her farm. She said one thing Brother Ogden will never forget. She said that if she ever had to get rid of her animals, she would still keep her horses and her sheep. Brother Ogden responded, “I can understand keeping horses, but sheep? Why would you keep an animal that seems noisy, dirty, and smelly?” The woman, who had thought a lot about the matter, replied, “Because sheep have a willingness to be dependent.
The Savior is the Good Shepherd, and we are his sheep. In this life he expects us to get rid of pride, avoid any sense of self-sufficiency based on the things of this world, and be dependent on him. He expects us to humble ourselves, call on our Father daily, and stand steadfast in his goodness, willing to be submissive and dependent—like sheep—on our surest source of help.