|
|
The Apostle Paul's Epistle
to the Ephesians |
|
Chapter
6
|
|
1Children, obey your parents in the
Lord, for this is right. 2HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the
first commandment with a promise), 3SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU,
AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.
Children need to be taught and
commanded to obey their parents because it is not something that
comes naturally. All children, in fact, are born with a sinful
nature and an inclination that will only do evil. A child does not
have to be taught how to disobey and sin. Notice how Paul said “for
this is right,” signifying that there are such things as right and
wrong. Unlike what most Christians believe about Paul, he was not
against the Torah as we he’s actually teaching the Torah precept
that children must honour their parents. While obeying God’s
commandments should be done out of reverence and love for God, this
commandment includes a specific blessing of prolonged life. In the
Torah’s context, obedience to this commandment prolongs Israel life
in the Land. Children who obey their parents will grow up to be
people who obey God, thus securing continued blessing as per the
Mosaic covenant.
4Fathers, do not provoke your children
to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the
Lord.
Parents who provoke their children to
anger are simply producing in them a distorted view of God. Since
God is likened to a Father, earthly fathers have a responsibility to
display God’s character to their children. This can be accomplished
by bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
As we’ve learned in the past, the word “torah” more accurately
refers to “teaching” or “instruction.” In essence, Paul is simply
reiterating the Shema, which states:
You shall teach them diligently to your
sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you
walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
(Deuteronomy 6:7)
The main goal in parenting is to teach
children the ways of God and to shape them to be the next generation
of God’s people. The purpose in educating children is not to ensure
a great and prosperous career but instead ensure that if God so
chooses to change the child’s heart, the child will be equipped to
live the Believing life.
5Slaves, be obedient to those who are
your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the
sincerity of your heart, as to Messiah; 6not by way of eye service,
as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Messiah, doing the will of God
from the heart. 7With good will render service, as to the Lord, and
not to men, 8knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he
will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.
When we encounter the passages in the
Bible that talk about slavery, it's too easy to think of the cruel
and evil system of slavery of early American history. While, the
slavery of the Roman world of Paul's day certainly consisted of many
instances of cruel slavery, there's no reason to automatically
assume that all cases of slavery were like this. Regardless, Paul's
instructions here are to Believing slaves and masters. Spirit-filled
slaves were to sincerely serve their masters. Too often, especially
in work situations that we're not interested in, our natural
inclination is to slack. Instead of only working when the boss is
around, we must work as if we are working for the Messiah, for in
reality, we are ultimately serving Him anyway. Work for
masters/bosses should not be done with a bad attitude but instead
with a good attitude, again, working as if the Messiah was our boss.
In all things we do, we can be assured that any good we do will be
rewarded in the World to Come. As hard as this is, the Believer who
consistently displays this type of attitude and work ethic can be
assured that they are filled with the Spirit.
9And masters, do the same things to
them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and
yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.
Finally, the master in the master/slave
relationship is to act in the same way towards their slaves. Even
though this is a master and slave situation, a believing master is
not to dominate and threaten their slaves. The master should realize
that both he and the slave have the same Master, the Master Yeshua.
From the Master Yeshua's perspective, we are all the same and even
though there are roles to be lived out in This World, we should not
take advantage of those roles.
In all of these instructions, whether
it is among the assembly, among husbands and wives, among parents
and children or among slaves and masters, each party must make it
easy on the opposing party. Wives submitting to their husbands will
make it easier for husbands to love their wives. Husbands loving
their wives will make it easier for wives to submit to their
husbands. Parents who do not provoke their children anger will make
it easier for the children to obey their parents. Children who obey
their parents will make it easier on parents to not provoke their
children to anger. Slaves who respect their masters and work as if
they were working for the Master Yeshua will make it easier on
Master’s to treat them with respect. Masters who imitate the Master
Yeshua will make it easier on slaves to work for their masters as if
they were working for the Master Yeshua. When we are all fulfilling
our roles in life, being controlled by the Spirit, we can then begin
to cultivate the peace that is essential for being an assembly
without spot or blemish.
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in
the strength of His might. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that
you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
We now move on to the final section of teaching in this epistle.
Paul exhorted the Ephesians to be strong in the Lord because, in our
own strength, we have no hope to live the holy life. By God’s
strength, however, we can do all things. When we live in Him, we are
strong because of the strength of His might. This speaks of a daily
and continual humbling of self before God; performing the
commandments knowing full well that you are doing it in the
Almighty’s strength.
Why is it that our relationships, our marriages, our families and
our communities are not what they should be? Why don’t Believers
perfectly live out the life of holiness outlined in the Bible? There
has to be a force that works against us, since it is not God that
desires us to sin. It can’t only be our sinful nature because though
we were dead in our sins, God has since brought us to life. In the
Messiah, our sinful nature has no dominion over us; so, why do we
still submit to its desires? What or who entices us to sin?
The Tanakh clearly teaches of an entity known as Satan. The word “satan”
is a Hebrew word that means “adversary.” The word “devil” originates
from the Greek word “diabolos” and means “slander.” The words
“satan” and “devil” both refer to the same being. Regardless of the
origins and purposes of Satan, the Bible clearly teaches that he and
his forces are against God’s people. It would seem that their
mission is to influence God’s people to sin and to rebel against
God. Here, in verse 11, Paul exhorted the Ephesians to put on the
full armour of God. It would seem that he’s paralleling “put on the
full armour” with what he said earlier, that we should “put on the
new self.” The result being that they would stand firm against the
schemes of the devil.
While there will always be schemes of the devil that will come
against us, God has not left us without armour to defend ourselves.
Our defence is to “stand firm,” which implies that the believing
life is not something you can do while “sitting down.” In other
words, unless one actively makes the decisions to live the holy
life, it won’t happen. There is, yet again, a paradoxical tension
here. It’s we who have to be the ones to actually stand firm but we
are doing it with God's strength. This means that the decisions we
make must be made with the right attitude, spirit and motive, being
confident that it is God that is enabling us to carry out His will.
12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against
the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly
places.
The believing life is a struggle because, while God has given us a
new heart to obey Him, our sinful nature is still present and
Satan’s forces continually endeavour to entice us to rebel against
God. If you find that you are comfortable with the sin in your life,
you should probably question whether you are actually a Believer.
Nevertheless, the struggle is not actually with other people. Our
enemies are not people but the spiritual forces working behind the
scenes. Paul described an apparent hierarchy, or at least different
categories, of the evil forces. There are rulers, powers, world
forces of this darkness and spiritual forces of wickedness in the
heavenlies. The biblical writers do not offer much explanation in
regards to the spiritual forces. The book of Daniel (specifically
chapter 10) indicates, though, that there are battles happening
between evil forces and God’s messengers, with Michael being the
eminent warrior messenger. While there is certainly an unseen
spiritual reality, it would seem that it is not for us to know the
details. We just know that we are affected by those evil spiritual
forces and we have a responsibility to stand firm in the face of
their schemes.
13Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be
able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand
firm.
Since there are such forces against us, we should take up the full
armour of God. This implies that there isn't a piece that is
necessarily more important than another. In order for us to truly
stand firm, we must put on all pieces of the armour. Though we often
succumb to schemes of Satan, we're not actually victims because it
was always within our reach to overcome temptation and to do what's
right (1 Corinthians 10:13). The main reactions we should
have to the evil spiritual forces are resistance and standing firm.
Taking up the armour of God, therefore, is the way we can accomplish
these things.
|
|
|
|
14Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and
HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,
having girded your loins with truth
The phrase "gird your loins" refers to the ancient practice of
taking any excess clothing and wrapping it around yourself, so as to
not encumber yourself. Specifically, in the context of a battle, it
was imperative that a person not have anything that an enemy could
grab onto and thus spell certain doom.
What does this have to do with our spiritual battle against evil
forces? It is our sinful nature to become apathetic, especially in
relation to the truth. Too often Believers fall into the routine of
religion and lack that enthusiasm that comes from a living
relationship with God. This is analogous to excess clothing that
could easily leave us vulnerable to attack. In this context, girding
our loins with truth refers to being eager and ready to display the
truth in all things. We aren't simply letting everything flap in the
wind, so to speak. Instead, because we are consistently submitting
to the truth, we are girded up and ready to go into battle.
Practically speaking, this can be accomplished by daily connecting
with God through prayer and study of the Word and subsequently
submitting to the truth therein.
having put on the breastplate of righteousness
In ancient times, the breastplate protected the heart and your vital
organs. In Jewish thinking, the heart is the place of thinking and
the vital organs (the stomach) is where your feelings come from. The
picture Paul is painting here is that righteousness protects your
mind and your emotions. What kind of righteousness is Paul referring
to? Do we not find our righteousness in the Messiah alone? What Paul
is referring to here is practical righteousness, that is, our daily
decision making. In the sight of God, being united with the Messiah
by faith, we are seen to be holy and blameless. In our daily lives
however, it is a struggle to maintain any sense of righteousness. As
we will see later, while our salvation is a free gift from God and
cannot be earned nor lost, salvation comes with a responsibility to
live holy and righteous lives in This World. Satan, of course, knows
this and continually targets our mind and emotions. When our daily
decision making is accordance with God's holy standard, we will be
protected from the Evil One's attacks.
15and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF
PEACE;
shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace
Shoes were incredibly important in ancient times, especially in the
context of a battle. Unprotected and injured feet meant that you
were in a considerably more precarious position than with protected
and strong feet. How does the "preparation of the gospel of peace"
protect us from the devil's schemes? Firstly, the word "preparation"
should probably be understood as "readiness." Secondly, the "gospel
of peace" is most likely not referring to proclamation of salvation
in Messiah but more specifically to the fact that in the Messiah we
are all equals. Paul had already explained earlier in the epistle
that, in the Messiah, Jews and Gentiles are equals and that we
should purse unity and peace. If we do not maintain the unity of the
Spirit through the bonds of peace then Satan has already won the
battle. The "preparation of the gospel of peace," therefore refers
to being ready to maintain unity within the Body and thus preventing
the evil forces to infiltrating us. A unified army has an immensely
better chance at winning the battle than when they are fractured.
16in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which
you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil
one.
You'll notice that the first three pieces of armour were preceded by
the word "having," referring to the fact that they are things that
must always be present. The remaining three pieces are all preceded
with the word "take," indicated that they are used for more intense
battle.
taking up the shield of faith
The Greek word behind the word "shield" is "thureos," and it
refers to an incredibly thick and long shield. This type of shield
could protect you almost entirely. It is fitting that Paul used this
in conjunction with faith. The word "faith" is used in different
ways in the Bible but here has the sense of a daily trust and
submission to the truth. This compliments that eagerness and
commitment referred to earlier (the belt of truth) because if a
person is eager to uphold the truth and activates their faith with
action, the Believer can be assured that they will be protected from
all of the enemy's flaming arrows. Satan's flaming arrows are simply
all of the various temptations that we are met with everyday.
The shield of faith is simply believing God and submitting to His
Word. All of us have our weaknesses, but if we go against our
nature's sinful desires and instead submit to God, we will be avoid
giving in to our temptations. When we don't trust God and do what He
says, we are essentially submitting to Satan instead. When we
believe God and consistently live that out with our actions, we are
standing firm against Satan's evil forces.
17And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God.
the helmet of salvation
In battle, a blow to the head usually results in being killed.
Salvation is likened unto a helmet because it protects us from being
spiritually killed. The reality is, without salvation, we're dead in
our sins. The salvation that God has given us brings life and
enables to fight the good fight. There are, perhaps, three ways we
can look at salvation. There is salvation in eternity past,
salvation in the present and salvation in eternity future. Salvation
in eternity past refers to the fact that God chose you and
predestined you to be one of His. Salvation in the present refers to
work of the Spirit in your life that causes you to become
spiritually alive and able to choose to do what's right. Salvation
in eternity future refers to the resurrection of our bodies, living
a sinless existence forever and ever. Salvation in eternity past and
eternity future are completely God's responsibility. There is,
obviously, nothing we could have done before we are born and there
is nothing we can do after we've died. Salvation in the present,
while still being a completely free gift to us from God, is our
responsibility to manifest. If we don't actually make the decisions
to obey God's commandments, we will never experience God's salvation
in this life. If salvation is like a helmet, protecting us from
fatal strikes to the head, then the hope of our salvation protects
us from the discouragement Satan brings into our lives. Our
salvation is secure because God had already determined us to be His
before we were even born. This assurance enables us to continue on
this life and submit to the Spirit as He works within us to sanctify
us. Through it all, we have the hope of our future salvation, the
salvation of our bodies. All of this combines to thwart Satan's
schemes and protects us from the discouragement and deception he
brings.
sword of the spirit
Paul helpfully gives us exactly what the phrase “sword of the
Spirit” refers to; it’s speaking of the Word of God. Of course, a
sword is not necessarily a piece of armour but is a weapon.
Therefore, not only can the sword of the Spirit protect us but it's
also something that we can actually fight back with. First of all,
the Bible is our primary method of defending ourselves against the
attack of Satan. In Matthew 4:1-10, we our Master defending Himself
against Satan’s attempts at temptation. Each instance, Yeshua was
successful in thwarting the Enemy’s attacks. The Greek word, here
translated “word” is not “logos,” which usually refers to the
Word in general but “rhema” which refers to a specific
application of the Word. In this way, we learn that the Bible’s
specific teachings can defeat Satan’s attempts at making us doubt or
disbelieve. Only when we actually study the Word of God do we have
the ability to defend ourselves and actually defeat our Enemy. This
is why Bible study should be the top priority of any Believing
fellowship.
The Messianic Jewish movement is all about restoring the fullness of
the Word of God to today’s people of God. Satan’s first lie to
humankind was placing doubt about God’s Word (Genesis 3:1).
The Serpent still tries to get people to believe this lie and,
unfortunately, is too often believed by Believers. Exhortation to
keep God’s commandments like the Sabbath, Festivals, Kosher laws and
more are usually objected to by Christians on the basis that those
things are done away with or don’t apply to us. The tragedy with
this is that it treats God’s Word as if it wasn’t authoritative. It
is no longer the sword that it is supposed to be.
18With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit,
and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and
petition for all the saints,
Paul ended the epistle with a final call to prayer. In order to
accomplish all what God intends for us and to stand firm in the face
of the Enemy’s opposition, we need to live a consistent life of
prayer. He makes a distinction between prayer and petition. Prayer
most likely refers to the set prayers of the synagogue liturgy with
petition referring to our daily needs. What does it mean to pray at
“all times?” This is perhaps a deceptive translation as it does not
refer to all day, every day. Rather it refers to set-times. This is
perhaps Paul’s clearest injunction to pray morning, afternoon and
night, which are the appointed times of prayer outlined by the
Torah.
Additionally, we are to pray “in the
Spirit,” which simply refers to praying within the will of God.
Prayer regarding things God does not approve of or praying for
things that aren’t within the scope of His will affects nothing.
Specifically, it’s God’s will that we persevere. Our prayer to God
should be that the ones God has called will stand firm and live
consistent and holy lives.
19and pray on my behalf, that
utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make
known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an
ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as
I ought to speak.
While it’s not possible to pray for Paul, we may certainly pray for
those who feel the burden to carry God’s message. The “mystery of
the Gospel,” that is, that Jews and Gentiles are unified in the
Messiah, is still a message that needs to be boldly proclaimed. May
God open the eyes and ears of those who claim to be His and may we
all endeavour to be like the Messiah.
21But that you also may know
about my circumstances, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved
brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make everything
known to you. 22I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so
that you may know about us, and that he may comfort your
hearts. 23Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God
the Father and the Master Yeshua the Messiah. 24Grace be with all
those who love our Master Yeshua the Messiah with incorruptible
love. |
|
