Introduction
Memory Text: "And Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favouritism with Him." (Ephesians 6:9, NIV).
Like the abridged Bible from the museum that contains only chapters that reveal essentials of faith while deleting any passage inciting rebellion by slaves, the essential chapter for our time is Ephesians 6:1-9 but in the context of salvation, as revealed in the entire Bible. There is a lot to learn from Paul's application of values of the gospel to the flawed social structures of his day.
What exactly is Paul's appeal to the Ephesian Children?
Paul's appeal is for children worshiping in Christian congregation to honour their parents "in the Lord," that is, in Christ (compare Eph. 5:22; Eph. 6:4, 5, 7-9). He highlights that this is the first commandment with a promise that it may be well with you and the promise of living long on earth. He also says that parents should not provoke their children to wrath.
What does it mean for Children to obey and honour parents "in the Lord" (Eph. 5:22)?
"When the commands of parents "contradict the requirements of Christ, then, painful though it may be, they [children] must obey God and trust the consequences with Him."–Ellen G. White, The Adventist Home, p. 293.
In what sense is Paul saying that parents should not provoke their children to wrath?
These children though young enough to be under parental training are old enough to be faithful disciples of Christ. When Parents are urged not to provoke their children it is Paul's appeal to parents to respect their Children as themselves being disciples of Christ and to include them as active participants in worship. This is the foundation for parenting and for ministry to children.
What does obedience to parents Foster?
'Respect for parents, imperfect though they may be, will he'll Foster health and well-being.
What is Paul's advice to Christian Fathers?
Paul's advice to Christian fathers takes a different approach to the system of Fathers having complete legal control over their children who regarded as legal property as to inflict violent punishment, even death, on their children. Paul's advice is not endorsing such power but is body clarifying and reshaping family relationships. His advice is for Fathers to rethink their use of power since children provoked to anger will not be well positioned to accept "the discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4, ESV).
What was the nature of slavery in Paul's day?
Slavery was not focused on a single ethnic group. Urban, household slaves were sometimes offered opportunities for education and could work as architects, physicians, and philosophers. Sometimes these household slaves received freedom after a limited period of service, though most slaves never gained their freedom. However, slavery at any time, does not cease to be an inexcusable evil, and God will judge, and condemn, slaveholders according to His infinite justice —and for that we can be thankful.
How does Paul address the issue of slavery in his day?
He addresses it not as a reformer but as a Pastor who advises believers how to deal with current realities and to cast a new vision centered on the transformation of the individual believer, which later could have wider implications for society at large. This social revolution was to begin with the church, in the body of Christ, in the Christian home and household.
What substitution does Paul ask Christian Slaves to make?
Christian slaves are not to place their Masters in the place of Christ offering to Him the allegiance that belongs to Christ. Rather, in the commitments and allegiance that motivate their heartfelt, excellent service, they are to substitute Christ, the Lord, for the slave Master. This encourages a Christian understanding of the master-slave relationship.
What are the several ways Paul presets this substitution upon slaves?
'Their slave masters are diminished by Paul as their "earthly Masters," pointing toward the real and heavenly Master (Eph. 6:5, ESV; emphasis added).
They are to serve "with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ" (Eph. 6:5, ESV; emphasis added).
Paul notes this substitution most clearly in arguing that Christian slaves are to offer genuine service as slaves, not of their masters, but as "slaves of Christ" (Eph. 6:6, NIV).
In performing their service, they are to do the "will of God from the heart," offering heartfelt service directed to God (Eph. 6:6, NIV).
Paul invites positively motivated service, offered "as to the Lord and not to man" (Eph. 6:7, ESV).'
What should Christian slaves expect from Christ when He returns for their heartfelt service?
Christian slaves may expect full reward from Christ when He returns for their heartfelt service.
How does Paul imagine slaves and slave masters in Ephesians 6:8?
Paul imagines slaves and slave masters as standing on an equal footing before Christ in the judgment (compare 2 Cor. 5:10; Col. 3:24, 25).
What sharp contrast does Paul give between slave masters of his day and Christ?
Paul gives a sharp contrast between "the lords", who had a habit of "threatening" their slaves, and "the Lord", Christ, with whom there is "no partiality" (ESV).
What is Paul's counsel to Slave masters who were in the habit of "threatening" their slaves?
Paul's counsel to slave masters is for them to stop threatening their slaves, and common practice of a time in which masters administered a wide variety of punishments to their slaves. For this, They will be judged—by God.
With what motivations does Paul support his commands that call slave masters to look beyond their Greco-Roman world?
- They and their presumed slaves are co-slaves of a single Master ("knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven," ESV; compare Col. 4:1); and
- the heavenly Master judges all without partiality.
Why is Paul's language especially heartening for Christian slaves?
Adoption as sons (Eph. 1:5); redemption (Eph. 1:11, 14; Eph. 3:6); being enthroned with Jesus (Eph. 2:6); becoming "fellow citizens," "members of the household of God" (Eph. 2:19, ESV; compare Eph. 3:14, 15), and integral parts of the body of Christ (see Eph. 3:6, Eph. 4:1-16). Ephesians 6:5-9 activates the teachings in the letter as operative in the relationships between slaves and slave masters, including the counsel about speech (Eph. 4:25-32) and sexual ethics (Eph. 5:1-14).
In Conclusion,
When we practice Supreme Loyalty to Christ, all of our relationships, whether master-slave relationships or father-son relationships, such relationships are greatly improved. I pray that God helps us to put Him first in all of our relationships in Jesus' name.
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