Ephesians 6:1 - Meaning and Application

Paul now gives further directions about duties within the home, and he is very specific. He starts with the duty of children to their parents. In effect, he says, “Come, children, listen to me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord.”

The main duty of children is to obey their parents (Ephesians 6:1). Parents are the means God used to give them life, and God and nature have given parents real authority to command, as long as that authority stays under God’s rule. If children obey godly parents, they are in a good place to become godly themselves. The obedience God asks from children includes inward respect, not just outward actions.

“Obey in the Lord” can be taken in two ways. Some understand it as a limit, meaning children should obey only as far as that fits with their duty to God. We must never disobey our heavenly Father in order to please earthly parents, because our duty to God comes first and is greater than every other duty. I think it is better to take it as a reason, meaning, “Children, obey your parents, because the Lord has commanded it. Obey them for the Lord’s sake, and with an eye on him.” It may also mean that children should obey especially in the things that concern the Lord. Parents may teach good manners and care for their health, and children should obey there too. But the chief matters are those that concern God. Godly parents charge their children to keep the Lord’s ways (Genesis 18:19), to stay on the path of duty toward God, and to avoid the sins most common to their age.

Paul adds a general reason: “for this is right.” There is a natural fairness in it, God has commanded it, and it fits Christians well. It is the order of nature for parents to command and children to obey. Though that may sound hard, it is still duty, and those who want to please God must do it. To prove this, Paul quotes the fifth commandment, which Christ did not mean to cancel. Instead, he confirmed it, as seen when he defended it (Matthew 15:4). “Honor your father and mother” (Ephesians 6:2) means reverence, obedience, and also help and support if they need it.

Paul adds that this is “the first commandment with promise.” Some have tried to use this to argue that we are not bound by the second commandment, especially in defense of images, but that argument has no force. The second commandment does not have a special promise attached to it, only a general declaration about God’s mercy to thousands. And Paul does not mean the first commandment in the Ten Commandments that has a promise, because then it would not properly be called “the first,” since no later commandment has one. He means this is a leading commandment in the second table, and it has a promise.

The promise is that it may go well with you, and that you may live long on the earth (Ephesians 6:3). The promise in the commandment refers to the land of Canaan, but Paul shows that such promises from the Old Testament should be understood more broadly. He does not want anyone to think the fifth commandment bound only the Jews, because they were the ones given Canaan. He gives it a wider meaning: that things may go well with you. Outward prosperity and long life are blessings often promised to those who keep this commandment. This is the usual path to a blessed life, and obedient children are often rewarded in this world. It is not always so, since some obedient children suffer greatly in this life, but usually obedience is rewarded that way, and when it is not, God makes it up with something better.

From this we learn three things. First, the gospel has promises for this life as well as for spiritual life. Second, God’s authority is enough to bind us to our duty, yet we are allowed to think about the reward he promises. Third, even temporal good can serve as a motive and encouragement to obey.

Paul then turns to the duty of parents, especially fathers, though the word can include parents more broadly (Ephesians 6:4). He tells them not to provoke their children to anger. God has given parents authority, but they must not abuse it. Children are, in a special way, part of their parents, so they should be ruled with great tenderness and love. Parents should not be quick-tempered, harsh, or unreasonable. They should not lay down rigid rules without wisdom. When they warn, guide, or correct their children, they should do it in a way that does not stir up needless anger. In all these things, they should act carefully and wisely, trying to persuade the child’s mind and appeal to reason.

He also says to bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. This means discipline, proper correction, and compassionate guidance, along with teaching them the duties God requires and the truth that helps them know him better. Parents must give their children a good education. It is a great duty for parents to care about their children’s upbringing. They should not merely provide for them, as animals do, but raise them with training and instruction suited to human beings. More than that, they should raise them as Christians, in the Lord’s instruction. They should teach them to fear sin, and they should explain and encourage all the duties they owe to God.

Paul then speaks of the duty of servants, which he sums up in one word, obedience. He says the most about this duty, because it was especially needed. These servants were usually slaves. Civil slavery does not conflict with Christian freedom. A person may belong to the Lord and still be a slave to men. Their masters are called “masters according to the flesh” (Ephesians 6:5), meaning they have authority over the body and outward service, but not over the soul or conscience. God alone rules those.

Servants should obey with fear and trembling. They should respect those over them, afraid to displease them and afraid to bring on deserved anger. Their obedience should also be sincere, given with a single heart. They must not pretend to obey while planning to resist. They should serve faithfully. Above all, they should keep Christ in view in all they do for their masters (Ephesians 6:5-7), doing service as to the Lord and not to men, meaning not to men only or mainly. When servants carry out their duties with Christ in view, their obedience is honored, and it becomes pleasing to God.

Service done to earthly masters, when it is done with an eye to Christ, becomes service to Christ also. To keep Christ in view means remembering that he sees them, is always present with them, and that his authority binds them to do their work faithfully and carefully.

They must not serve with eye-service, meaning only when their master is watching (Ephesians 6:6). They should be just as careful when no one is looking, because their Master in heaven sees them then. So they must not act as people-pleasers, as if they care nothing about pleasing God, so long as they can fool their earthly masters. A steady focus on the Lord Jesus Christ will make people faithful and sincere in every place of life.

What they do, they must do willingly. They should do the will of God from the heart, serving their masters as God wants them to, not grudgingly or under pressure, but out of love for them and for their work. This is serving with good will (Ephesians 6:7). That kind of service is easier for them, pleasing to their masters, and acceptable to the Lord Christ. They should have good will toward their masters, good will toward the families they serve, and especially a readiness to do their duty to God. Service done with a clear conscience and a regard for God, even if it is done for unfair masters, is counted by Christ as service done to him.

Faithful servants should trust God for their pay while they do their duty in his fear. They should know that whatever good thing they do, however small or plain it may seem, they will receive the same from the Lord (Ephesians 6:8). That means they will receive its reward. Even if an earthly master ignores them or mistreats them instead of rewarding them, the Lord Christ will surely reward them, whether they are slaves or free people, whether they are lowly servants or masters themselves. Christ does not now treat people according to these outward differences, and he will not do so at the final judgment. A person may think, "A prince, a magistrate, or a minister can hope for reward in heaven, but what kind of standing do I have, as a poor servant, to win God's favor?" Yet God will reward even the smallest task done from a sense of duty and with an eye to him. What better way could there be to move and encourage servants to do what is right?

Paul then turns to the duty of masters: "And you masters, do the same things to them" (Ephesians 6:9). That is, act in the same spirit. Be just to them, as you expect them to be just to you. Show the same good will and concern for them, and be careful to approve yourselves to God in this. Masters are under as strict an obligation to do their duty to their servants as servants are to obey their masters.

They must stop threatening, or at least use threats sparingly and with restraint. They should remember that their servants are made of the same human stock as they are, so they must not be harsh and overbearing. They should also remember that their Master is in heaven. Some copies read, both your Master and theirs. They themselves have a Master to obey, and he makes this their duty. In relation to Christ, masters and servants are fellow servants. They will be just as answerable to him for neglecting duty, or for acting against it, as anyone else of lower rank in the world. So they should show mercy to others, as they hope to find mercy from him. They will never be able to match him in power, even if they can overpower their servants.

God shows no favoritism. A rich, important, and honored master gains nothing with God if he is unjust, harsh, and abusive. God will call both masters and servants to give an honest account of how they treated one another. He will not excuse the one because he stands higher, and he will not deal more harshly with the one because he is lower and less honored in the world. If both masters and servants would think about their duty to God, and the account they must soon give to him, they would be more careful to do right by one another. This is how the apostle ends his teaching on duties within different relationships.