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| Chapter 6 |
| Bible Text | Notes and thoughts |
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1 ¶ Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) 3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. 4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; 6 Not with eye service, as men pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; 7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: 8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. 9 And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him. 10 ¶ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19 ¶ And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. 21 But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things: 22 Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts. 23 Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. (To the Ephesians written from Rome, by Tychicus.) |
v1-9 Christian family relationships. v1 "Obey" is much stronger than "submit" as given for the wife. Children are told to obey parents "in the Lord." This indicates that this obedience must not violate worship and obedience of God. "For this is right" shows it was part of God’s eternal plan. v2,3 shows that God’s Law, as given to Moses is part of this family relationship from the beginning, however, a believer should be looking for eternity with Christ, not a long life on earth. v4 conditions also given to fathers, no unreasonable demands, Col 3:20,21 but teach discipline and love of the Lord. v5-9 Servants and Masters. Paul now moves on to a third set of relationships. Slavery was part of the life during New Testament times. It was not the job of the Gospel, at the time, to remove slavery, this was to happen as a by product as the message spread. See Col 3:22 notes. Servants was usually talking about slaves but the idea’s apply to any employer and employee. v5 Obedience to be real, not pretend. "Unto Christ," 1 Peter 2:18, behave as if you are working for Jesus. Doing God’s Will with all your heart. v8 Paul reminds us that there will be a reward for all, slave or free, from the Lord in heaven, Col 3:24-25; 1 Cor 3:11-16. v9 Masters and employers, are reminded to behave in a Christ pleasing way, not threatening in any way, bearing in mind that in heaven there is no respect of position, Col 4:1; Acts 10:34. v10-24 Spiritual weapons and protection. We are up against powerful spiritual forces and we need special spiritual weapons to fight with. God has given us a spiritual armour to use. v10-12 "Be strong in the Lord." Use His power, John 15:5; Phil 4:13. When we think of our position in Christ we have access to His protection, His armour. The Holy Spirit gives power to resist Satanic attack. v13-20 Our weapons. We need this type of armour because we are not fighting people but spiritual powers. Note, we have to "take it" v13, we have some responsibility. The armour is described under the figure of a Roman soldier’s equipment. All the weapons are there for us to use but we need to take them in faith, Col 1:13; 2:15. The shield of faith, breastplate of rightness, shoes of peace through Gospel, dress of truth, helmet of salvation. The only weapon of attack is the sword, the Word of God, nothing can resist this. v18 Finally prayer, always praying, message up to God, open your heart to message down from Him. v21-24 Closing greetings. v23 God the Father gives these. v24 The grace is to all believers, "all who love the Lord." |
Easy English Translation
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