SLASB Ephesians Sampler - Flipbook - Page 13
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Ephesians 6
wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be
filled with the Holy Spirit, 19singing psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves,
and making music to the Lord in your hearts.
20And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
the two are united into one.”* 32This is a great
mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ
and the church are one. 33So again I say, each
man must love his wife as he loves himself, and
the wife must respect her husband.
Spirit-Guided Relationships: Wives and Husbands
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And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For a husband is the head
of his wife as Christ is the head of the church.
He is the Savior of his body, the church. 24As the
church submits to Christ, so you wives should
submit to your husbands in everything.
25For husbands, this means love your wives,
just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his
life for her 26to make her holy and clean, washed
by the cleansing of God’s word.* 27He did this
to present her to himself as a glorious church
without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.
28In the same way, husbands ought to love their
wives as they love their own bodies. For a man
who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. 29No one hates his own body but feeds and
cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church.
30And we are members of his body.
31As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and
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Children and Parents
Children, obey your parents because you
belong to the Lord,* for this is the right thing
to do. 2“Honor your father and mother.” This is
the first commandment with a promise: 3If you
honor your father and mother, “things will go
well for you, and you will have a long life on the
earth.”*
4 Fathers,* do not provoke your children to
anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring
them up with the discipline and instruction that
comes from the Lord.
Slaves and Masters
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep
respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you
would serve Christ. 6Try to please them all the
time, not just when they are watching you.
As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all
your heart. 7Work with enthusiasm, as though
you were working for the Lord rather than for
people. 8Remember that the Lord will reward
each one of us for the good we do, whether we
are slaves or free.
9Masters, treat your slaves in the same way.
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5:26 Greek washed by water with the word. 5:31 Gen 2:24. 6:1 Or Children, obey your parents who belong to the Lord; some manuscripts read
simply Children, obey your parents. 6:2-3 Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16. 6:4 Or Parents.
5:18‑21 Under the Influence The effects of being under
the influence of alcohol are obvious. But what happens when
we’re under the influence of the Holy Spirit? Paul lists four
byproducts of the Spirit’s influence: singing, making music,
giving thanks, and submitting to one another. Paul describes
being filled with the Holy Spirit as a choice, not a complex process. Being filled with the Holy Spirit means submitting to his
authority, welcoming his guidance, accepting his correction,
living under his restraint, relying on his power, and allowing
him to unify us with other believers. When he is living within
us, we will be filled with his cleansing and invigorating love
and power.
5:21‑22 What Is Submission? Submitting to another
person is an often-misunderstood concept. Christ—who
has authority over all the earth—submitted his will to the
Father, and we honor him by following his example (Philippians 2:5‑11). Submission doesn’t mean silencing our needs
and opinions to do whatever someone else says. Rather, it is
choosing to surrender our claims to what is rightfully ours for
the good of someone else. Submission to others often flows
from submission to God because it requires us to trust that
God is taking care of us.
5:22–6:9 Everyone Called to Submit In Paul’s day, Roman
letters of advice frequently reminded wives, children, and
slaves to submit to the heads of their families, so Paul’s readers would have expected his instructions to these groups of
people. But his words to husbands, parents, and masters here
would have been surprising: He says that they also have to
submit and can’t simply do whatever they want with those
who depend on them. Probably because of the surprising nature of these instructions, Paul spends twice as many words
telling husbands to love their wives as he does telling wives to
submit to their husbands. He also acknowledges the dignity
of children and slaves by speaking to them directly (recognizing them as part of the church gathering) and offering them
encouragement rather than only commands. Elsewhere Paul
emphasizes the equality of all believers in Christ (Galatians
3:28), and he underscores it here by challenging all believers
to submit to one another.
6:1‑3 Obeying and Honoring There is a difference between obeying and honoring. To obey means to do as we’re
told; to honor means to respect and love. We should obey and
honor our parents while under their care, respecting their role
as guides in our lives. Then we should continue to honor our
parents for life, even when we are responsible for our own
decisions.
6:5‑9 Revolutionary Instructions When Paul wrote this
letter, the Roman Empire had several million slaves, and both
slaves and slave owners had become Christians. Paul’s statement doesn’t condemn slavery o utright—that’s not the question he’s addressing here—but his instructions were meant
to revolutionize how masters and slaves treated each other.
In Paul’s day, women, children, and slaves had few rights, but
in the church they were supposed to be treated as equal to
everyone else under Christ. Later generations of Christians
took these principles and applied them in their work to abolish slavery. (For more on slavery in the Bible, see the book of
Philemon.)
