Ephesians 6:1-9 -- The Spirit of Obedience

Verse by Verse Commentary of the Letter to the Ephesians

The practical meaning of living together as a body, family, and temple is amplified in Chapters 4 & 5. Living in the body means each person ministers to other members, using the spiritual gifts supplied by God and developed by gifted leaders. Living as members of the family means coming to know and care for one another deeply, expressing that care in openness, compassion, forgiveness, and a deep involvement in each others’ lives. Living together as a holy temple means rejecting dark things and building our commitment to goodness, righteousness, and truth. All of these are learned within the context of the new community, created and led by Christ.

(from Bob Damon’s Ephesians Commentary, pg 29).

Honoring Parents 

Ephesians 6

¹Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 

²“Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: 

³“that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” 

⁴And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

• This is related closely to the fifth Commandment, 
• Deuteronomy 5:16 Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.

• Dishonor and disrespect by children to all adults is a sign of deterioration in society; an abdication of the authority by parents to their children is not a moral choice parents can make. As this is directed at both mother and father, it is an indication of God’s Will for the ordering of family and society – that parents raise their children in discipline, love, and spiritual training.
• Here are the results of a permissive society, where parents have abdicated their responsibility to government schools and Hollywood. Josh McDowell's book, "Right From Wrong", pgs 6, 8, 9, 14 notes that every day in America....

• 1,000 teenage girls become unwed mothers
• 1,106 teenage girls have abortions
• 4,200 teenagers contract of sexually transmitted disease for life
• 500 kids start using drugs
• 1,000 teenagers start drinking alcohol
• 135,000 teenagers bring weapons to school
• 3,600 teenagers are physically assaulted
• 80 teenage girls are raped
• 2,200 teenagers drop out of school
• 6 teenagers commit suicide

• Oh, but wait, our children are raised “in the church”…. In 1994, Barna Research Group conducted a poll of 3,700 "church-going" teenagers. In their own words, they admitted that:
  • 66% have lied to a parent, teacher or other adult
  • 59% have lied to their friends
  • 36% have cheated on an exam
  • 23% have smoked cigarettes
  • 20% had physically assaulted someone else that year
  • 12% had gotten drunk that year
  • 8% had used illegal drugs
  • 50% have had sex
  • 55% say they are confused about value messages coming from their parents/adults
  • 70% do not believe that absolute truth can be defined or grasped by mankind.
  • 57% do not believe an objective standard of truth even exists.

• Even Christian parents let Hollywood establish the values of our children – the main products of which are the glorification of adultery, gay lifestyles, and violence. How many of us allow our children free access to the internet, CD’s and violent video games that contradict Biblical values?
• Raising a child without discipline is like tending a garden without weeding it, raising a child without love is like tending a garden without watering it. – too often when it’s too late, discipline is meted out by society instead, like spraying a garden for bugs after they have eaten all the plants.
• No where in the Bible is training of children assigned to agencies outside the home. It takes parents to raise a child, not a village. Broken homes are a major cause of children looking elsewhere for their values. It is parents, together in a loving relationship, consistent in their behaviors and following Christ faithfully that give a child the best chance for a future.

Being Good Citizens

What both Paul and Peter do in their letters is to help us realize that our place in society is irrelevant to the oneness that is to exist in the church. For the Christian, who lives to serve others, the role in which that service is offered is unimportant. Slave and master are one in Christ, lifted up and seated with Him. How foolish then to define a brother first as a “master”, and feel the alienation that authority often creates. How foolish to think of ourselves as unimportant our role is that of “slave”. How freeing it is to realize that my worth and value as a person rests on who I am in Christ, and that my position in the world simply defines my opportunities to serve….

(from Bob Damon’s Ephesians Commentary, pg 34).

⁵Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; 

⁶not with eye service, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 

⁷with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men,

• 1 Corinthians 7:21-24  Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it.  For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave.  You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.  Brethren, let each one remain with God in that state in which he was called.

• We must be careful not to confuse our kingdoms. We are ALL slaves to sin without the power of God, and as such are owned by Him who redeemed us.
• Even if we think we “aren’t” slaves, we are all accountable to each other in the body and to good doctrine and teaching of church leaders.
• Sharecroppers, serfs and feudal peasants all paid a portion of their crops to the land owners – typically from 20-25% (a royal “fifth” was common). Yet in America, we are taxed over 40% of our earnings…..are we really free?

⁸knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

⁹And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.

• Keep in mind that power corrupts, and the enticements of this world seek to cloud our vision of heaven. Paul warns rulers that it is difficult to be a servant in God’s kingdom and be a ruler in the world’s kingdom
• 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.  But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.

• God also demands that we respect the sanctity of a commitment. In society today, we see that lacking, contracts have no faith attached to them, and the key is to find loopholes in the “fine print”.
• Our wages are only temporal, but we work for a master whose reward is in heaven. A Christian can perform any work as a service to the Lord. In doing so, we can be a witness to the world – salt and light.

Application Questions

• Why is a child’s obedience to his parents pleasing to the Lord (v1)? What does “honoring” your parents actually mean? 
• What is promised to those who honor their father and mother?
• As Christians, what responsibilities to servants have to their masters? 
• How can a servant serve the Lord through their service to a master? 
• How does God view rank, social order, or position in society as opposed to the Church?
• When should Christians fight for social justice? 
• Should Christians take up social causes outside the specific function of the church?
• Should Christians strive for rank or position within society? 
• Should Christians pursue positions of leadership in the church?
  
  

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Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.