Instructions to Children, Parents, and Workers

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

Q1-- Should children obey their parents even when they are told to do something that they know God would not approve of?

Comment on verse 1

Notice that this verse says to obey your parents "in the Lord." I believe this is referring to parenting which follows God’s principles. Obviously if a parent requires a child to do something against God, it should not be obeyed. But even if parents are unbelievers, they still may raise their children according to right principles. A non-Christian parent is not a good enough excuse to disobey. In fact, the Bible clearly teaches us that we are to honor our father and mother. Even when they are wrong, we can still honor them. It is safe to say that God wants children to obey their parents.

MacDonald comments,

"...we learn that Spirit-filled children willingly submit to the authority of their parents. The fundamental duty of all children is to obey their parents in the Lord. Whether the children are Christians or whether the parents are Christians does not make any difference. The parent-child relationship was ordained for all mankind, not just for believers."

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.

Q2--What promise is given to obedient children?

If we honor our parents, we are promised that things will go well for us and we will have a long life. Major rebellion and disobedience of godly advice will lead us into those activities which will cause us all kinds of troubles and even may shorten our life.

4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Q3--What are fathers (and mothers) not to do with their children?

Comment on verse 4

Notice this verse tells fathers to not provoke their children to wrath. Sometimes by our behavior we can be very unreasonable to our children and provoke them to anger. This does not mean that we shouldn’t discipline our children, but it does mean that we should not be so physically or emotionally abusive as to provoke them beyond what they can handle. Parental discipline must be firm, but it should always be done in love.

The Believer’s Bible Commentary points out,

"They should not provoke their children to anger with unreasonable demands, with undue harshness, with constant nagging."

Q4--What are parents instructed to do for their children in this verse?

Parents are to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. This means we are to teach our children about the caring of the Lord and also about the warnings of God. Our children need to know that God loves them, but they also need to know that God does have a standard of right and wrong.

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 eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;

Q5--What do these verses teach us about the way we should act on the job?

Comment on verses 5-6

Although many servants in Bible times were slaves, others were indentured servants, who served a master for a specified period of time to pay off a debt, learn a trade, or gain livestock or land. The indentured servant idea has evolved into the present employer-employee relationship where people now work for an hourly wage instead of services, goods, or skills. So what Paul writes concerning servants we can apply to our workplace.

Notice we are to obey our boss, we are to work in singleness of heart as if we were working for Christ. We are not to just appear to do a good job, but we must labor as an employee of Christ working from our 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.

Q6--When we work for someone, who are we really working for?

When we work on any job, we are not working for a man, a company, or a corporation -- we are working for the Lord. Whatever we do must be as unto the Lord.

MacDonald writes,

"We should always be diligent, not only when the boss is looking, but conscious that our Master is always looking. It is a natural tendency to slack off when the employer is away, but it is a form of dishonesty. The Christian’s standard of performance should not vary according to the geographical location of the foreman."

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.

Q7--What should be the attitudes of bosses to their employees?

Comment on verse 9

Now Paul addresses the bosses or the owners of the business. He says we must do as the employees do -- be honest and fair with our workers. We are not to be threatening, and we are not to show favor to some workers over others. We must treat our employees as we would want God to treat us. In this one verse is an amazing amount of good business advice for today’s managers and bosses.

Footnotes:

All scriptures from the King James Version. Questions based on both the King James Version and the New International Version



	A Study of Ephesians 6:1-9