Wayne Dehony tells the following true story. Ivan the Great was the tsar of all of Russia during the Fifteenth Century. He brought together the warring tribes into one vast empire. He drove out the Tartars and established peace across the nation.

However, Ivan was so busy waging his campaigns that he did not have a family and to die without an heir would be to leave the empire in chaos. The busy soldier statesman did not have the time to search for a bride, but if a suitable one was found, he would marry her. One was found, the beautiful dark-eyed daughter of the King of Greece. She was young, brilliant, and charming. He agreed to marry her sight unseen.

The King of Greece was delighted. It would align Greece in a favorable way with the emerging giant of the north. But there had to be one condition, "He cannot marry my daughter unless he becomes a member of the Greek Orthodox Church." A priest was dispatched to Moscow to instruct Ivan in Orthodox doctrine. Ivan quickly completed the necessary education. Arrangements were concluded, and the tsar made his way to Athens accompanied by 500 of his crack troops__his personal palace guard.

He was to be baptized into the Orthodox church by immersion, as was the custom of the Eastern Church. His soldiers, ever loyal, asked to be baptized also. The Patriarch of the Church assigned 500 priests to give the soldiers a one_on_one catechism crash course. The soldiers, all 500 of them, were to be immersed in one mass baptism. Crowds gathered from all over Greece.

However, another problem was realized. The Church prohibited professional soldiers from being members; they would have to give up their commitment to bloodshed. They could not be killers and church members too. After a hasty round of diplomacy, the problem was solved quite simply. As the words were spoken and the priests began to baptize them, each soldier reached to his side and withdrew his sword. Lifting it high overhead, every soldier was totally immersed_everything baptized except his fighting arm and sword.

When we think of the above scene, it seems almost silly – to think that God would excuse something less than total submission. Would Jesus have been sufficient as a Savior if He would have stopped short of the cross? Read the words of the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, "...in the days of His [Jesus, rlb] flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him," (Hebrews 5:7_9 NKJV). Jesus’ total submission, even unto death, was one of the characteristics which allowed Him to be the sin offering for us (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Can we truly believe that God is pleased with less than total submission to Him? How many who fill the pews in various churches have unbaptized mouths? Mouths which utter profanity, gossip, or lies. How many who fill the pews have unbaptized social activities? Engaging in that which does not glorify God – suggestive dancing or the drinking of beverage alcohol. How many who fill the pews have unbaptized minds? Minds which neither read or study God’s word nor render prayers to Him. Each of us must follow the example of Jesus and totally submit to God. The Psalmist wrote, "Thou hast commanded us thy precepts, That we should observe them diligently. Oh that my ways were established To observe thy statutes! Then shall I not be put to shame, When I have respect unto all thy commandments" (Psalms 119:4_6 ASV).