There are three main sections to this part of Paul’s letter:
- Husbands and wives (5:22–33) (which we discussed last time)
- Children and parents (6:1-4)
- Slaves and masters (6:5-9)
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2 ‘Honour your father and mother’ – which is the first commandment with a promise –
3 ‘so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.’
4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.
6 Obey them not only to win their favour when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people,
8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.
9 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.
Relationships between children and parents
Instructions to children
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2 ‘Honour your father and mother’ – which is the first commandment with a promise –
3 ‘so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.’
What does Paul mean by parents in the Lord?
Cf. Colossians 3:20
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
Even a child can know what it means to love in the Lord and to obey for his sake
Children are to obey and honour their parents
The instruction to obey ends with adulthood. The instruction to honour lasts a lifetime!
Two reasons are given for this:
- It’s the right thing to do (1)
- God promises to bless you if you do (2-3)
It’s the right thing to do (1)
By OT law
By the example of Christ (Luke 2:51)
God promises to bless you if you do (2-3)
It will go well with you… you will enjoy long life
Does this really mean that all who honour their parents will enjoy long life?
Foulkes understands it to mean that Paul is underlining the fact that family life is very important and that when respect for parents fails the community becomes decadent and will not live long.
Instructions to parents
Note that in all three sections Paul’s instructions are never one-sided.
4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Cf. Colossians 3:21
Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
Discipline is essential in the home, but not unnecessary rules and regulations and endless petty correction by which children are discouraged
Parents should care more for the loyalty of their children to Christ than for anything besides, more for this than for their health, their intellectual vigour and brilliance, their material prosperity, their social position, their exemption from great sorrows and great misfortunes (RW Dale, 1883).
Relationships between slaves and masters
As we saw when we were talking about wives and husbands, Paul’s instructions must be understood within the framework of the culture prevalent at the time. Today they may be perhaps more meaningfully applied to employers and employees.
We may well ask why New Testament writers like Paul and Peter (1 Peter 2) did not denounce slavery as did William Wilberforce in the 19th century. I think the most likely answer to that question is that NT writers clearly believed that the Lord’s return was imminent (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Social reform was, therefore, not at the heart of their concern. What was more important for Paul was the fact that as believers we are in Christ and that in Christ there is neither slave nor free.
Colossians 3:11:
Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Instructions to slaves
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.
6 Obey them not only to win their favour when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people,
8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.
Slaves are told to obey their masters. Notice the word earthly.
This immediately reminds us of two things:
- Our earthly state is temporary. We are citizens of heaven, which is eternal
- For us as Christians there is only one true Master. All other masters are subject to him.
We should therefore obey those who have authority over us as we would obey the Lord.
V5 just as you would obey Christ.
V6 as slaves of Christ,
V7 as if you were serving the Lord
Why?
V8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.
Instructions to masters
9 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.
What does Paul mean by in the same way?
Like the slaves, they are to do what they do ‘as for the Lord’.
What Paul means by this is further clarified in the following passages:
Philemon 15-16
Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for ever – no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 7:17-24
Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them. Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you – although if you can gain your freedom, do so. For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings. Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.
Concluding thoughts on this section
Whatever our role in the family or in society, the important thing is that we live in right relationship with each other and God has given us guidelines to show how we can do that.
It is interesting that whatever our role may be, it may not be the same forever.
For example, a child is not always a child and a slave may not always be a slave.
Whatever our role, it is important that we view it from a heavenly perspective rather than merely an earthly one.
Whatever we do, whether it be within the family or in the workplace, we should do everything as for the Lord. This is because we are in Christ. The theme of being in Christ is something we examined as we looked at chapter 1 and something we will return to in our final two talks as we look at Paul’s wonderful teaching in the last part of Chapter 6.