Here is my commentary on Ephesians 6:15. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 6:15

“As shoes for your feet, put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.” (NRSV)

“And with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” (NIV)

“For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News, so that you will be fully prepared.” (NLT)

These three translations show that there is a wide variety of interpretations of how this seemingly simple verse should translated. Sometimes the relationship of the various words in a Greek sentence is not easily discerned.

Firstly, we need shoes to protect our feet. The soldier in hand- to- hand combat requires shoes that support his feet and help to maintain his footing on a slippery surface without sinking into soft ground and restricting his movement. A combat shoe, boot, or even a sandal, is not a fashion accessory, but a vital part of the soldier’s equipment.

What is Paul advocating should be our shoes in this metaphor that he is using? According to the New Revised Standard Version, the answer is “ whatever makes you ready.”

So, we are to take hold of whatever tools we need that will prepare us to proclaim the gospel of peace. This means that our focus has to be on our mission, that is proclaiming the gospel of peace. This is a very proactive understanding.

Firstly, we seek our mission field through prayer. “ Lord, where and how do you want me to preach the gospel of peace?” Then we look for the resources that will help us to do that — training, book, equipment, spiritual gifts, and so on.

The gospel is the gospel of peace because it expresses the end of hostility between God and people. Through the death of Jesus on the cross, the sin that separates us from God is done away with. The veil of separation is torn down, and we are reconciled to our Father.

In this understanding, then, it is the preaching of the gospel which is the focus of this part of the armour.

In the interpretation offered by the New International Version, it is “The readiness that comes from the gospel of peace” that the shoes represent.

Looking at this closely, the gospel of peace, when we receive it into our heart imparts a readiness. Soldiers should always be ready to fight, so Paul is saying that having enlisted in God’s army by receiving the gospel of peace, we should be ready to fight against “the rulers, principalities, and powers of this present darkness” (Ephesians 6:12)

Many Christians want a quiet life. They are afraid to engage in spiritual warfare whether through prayer or declaration or preaching the Good News. We must always be ready to take our stand in the war. Whether we are aware of it or not, we are in the greatest imaginable battle. We must stand and fight.

The New Living Translation tells us that the shoes are the peace that come from the gospel, and the result of putting on this peace is there that we are prepared.

When we are reconciled to God through Christ, we come to a place of peace. God’s shalom permeates our soul, so that where we once were at war with God, with ourselves, and with others, we are now at peace. This peace is a restoration of the true nature that God created us to carry.

Now, instead of being at war with the wrong enemies, we are prepared for battle with the right enemies. In this battle, the peace of God holds us upright so that all of the tactics, weapons, and attacks of satan are unable to pull us down and take us out of the battle.

These three translations provide us with three different approaches to this verse. However we understand this, let us be ready, with our boots on, for all that the enemy might throw at us, and in the last day, to remain standing firm in Christ.

Key points in this verse:

• Shoes help to support our feet s that we stand firm in the battle
• We should take hold of whatever resources God gives us in order to preach the Good News
• We must always be ready to fight the powers, principalities, and cosmic rulers of this dark age
• The gospel gives us peace with God, with ourselves, and with others, so that we can fight against the true enemy of our souls

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 6:14. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 6:14

“Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness.”

Paul now starts to describe the armour of God and its various components .

First there is the belt of truth. This belt (or girdle as it is translated in some older versions) served to hold up the flowing robes so that the soldier was able to move freely. it also provided a place to carry various weapons and other equipment, as well as holding the other pieces of armour together.

The belt was foundational to the protection of a soldier. Truth is likewise foundational to the health and well-being of the Christian.

Jesus is the truth (John 14:6) so we must make Jesus the foundation of all we do. Jesus must be in our mind, in our heart, and in our mouth at all times.

Our culture has completely destroyed the concept of truth. We live in a post- truth society. Truth has become an internal, personal quality rather than an objective quality that can be tested and either refuted or confirmed.

People can define their own truth, and it is perfectly reasonable to declare,”What is true for you is not true for me.” People are allowed to define the gender identity as if their self-centred thoughts somehow overrule biology and DNA.

Despite the wishful thinking of post-modern men and women, objective truth reigns in the created universe. Stepping over a cliff will cause you to accelerate downwards at the rate of 9.8 metres per second squared, whether or not you believe in gravity. Two vehicles colliding will obey the laws of physics, regardless of our beliefs about our freedom to choose which side of the road to drive.

The God who has revealed himself in scripture and through the testimony of the church, also stands outside of our post- truth beliefs. We might want to believe that there are many ways to God, but Jesus says,” nobody comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:7). We might want to believe that everyone goes to heaven when they die, but God says that those who resist Him will be thrown into a lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15).

Truth is more than doctrines. It is also a moral or ethical quality. To be a person of Truth means that we internalise the grace of God and our beliefs about Him. In other words, the gospel must transform our heart and our lifestyle, or else we have not received the truth. Our actions must line up with our beliefs otherwise we show that we do not really believe what we claim to believe.

The Old Testament prophets frequently express the heart of God towards his people. “These people worship me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” (Isaiah 29:13)

Righteousness is described as a breastplate. The breastplate was designed to protect the vital organs such as the heart and lungs. Paul is saying that righteousness protects our spiritual life in the same way.

Jesus is our righteousness. He not only imputed righteousness to us through His death on the cross, but He makes us righteous in fact.

God demands that his people must be holy, as He Himself is holy. To be holy, or to be righteous, means that we live a life that is free from sin.

This righteousness is about the way we live from day to day. No longer are we pulled by our sinful desires or the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). A righteous person discerns what is the right thing to do and proceeds to do it, regardless of the short-term costs .

Every part of our life must be covered by righteousness. At work, we must not act unethically, even if it costs us our job. At the shop, we must not take advantage of errors in calculating change or applying prices. At home, we must seek to treat family with the love and care that Jesus does.

Both truth and righteousness are at the heart of the Christian character. We are to be people who live in truth and injustice.

Key points in this verse:

• We must seek God’s truth and put it at the centre of our lives
• Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life
• God has revealed to us truth that is eternal and objective
• Righteousness in our dealings with other people will protect and nurture our spirit
• Jesus is our righteousness. He sets us free from fleshly desires

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 6:13. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 6:13

“Therefore, take up the whole armour of God so that you will be able to withstand in that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”

Paul again exhorts us to take up the whole armour of God. A soldier in battle with only part of his armour clearly remains vulnerable. Whenever we are engaged in spiritual warfare, that is everyday, we must be fully protected against the attacks of the foes describe in verse 12.

We must never underestimate the ferocity of the warfare in which we are involved. The enemy searches for any weakness that can be exploited, and he never gives up.

Paul talks about the “evil day.” While every day is a day of battles, some days are more ferocious than others. Our lesser battles are preparations for the greater battles or the evil day.

Our battles can be internal in terms of temptation and natural, but sinful, desires. There are days when we seem to have mastered these things. There are other days when the voices and images sown into our brains are amplified and become almost unbearably intense. How we respond to the lesser temptations will determine our response to the greater or more intense temptations.

The battle can also be external. Various pressures can come against us, such as persecution and other forms of opposition. We need to be prepared and ready to stand firm in Christ when these events come.

As we take up the whole armour of God, we will be able to withstand (more literally, “stand against”) these pressures. This suggests a positive resistance in which we not only refuse to give in, but we push back in order to stand our ground.

To stand against the enemy means that we do not just avoid giving Into temptation or persecution when they come. It means that we take the initiative, take the battle up to the enemy. For every temptation, we fight and we replace it with a positive virtue. For every opposition, we need to reach out to show love to those who persecute us.

Then, having done everything, we stand, even on the evil day.

To give up before the battle is over is to fall and be defeated. We have to do everything in our power, under the direction of God, to keep on fighting.

In the Second World War, and Australian seaman, Teddy Sheean, earned a Victoria Cross for extreme courage. As his ship was sinking after being hit by Japanese bombers, he strapped himself to an anti aircraft gun to protect his crew mates from strafing. Despite being already wounded by two bullets, he kept firing until the ship sank beneath the waves, taking down at least one enemy bomber.

This is an example of “having done everything”.

We might feel like we are being destroyed by the enemy, but we must do everything to stand against the evil one .

Finally, having done everything, we stand firm .

We stand firm in Christ, in the gospel, in the faith.

The aim of every believer, and the desire of God’s heart, is that we overcome all the opposition – external and internal – and we stand firm. No compromise. No retreat.

And if we fall, there is no condemnation from God. We stand up, fight the next battle, knowing that in God, even their our become stepping stones to greater victory.

Key points in this verse:

• We need the full armour of God
• There are greater and lesser battles, all are part of the constant spiritual warfare
• We must do all that we can to stand firm in Christ

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 6:12. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 6:12

“ for our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

A more literal translation of this verse is:

“For our struggle/ wrestling is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the authorities, against the cosmic rulers of this darkness, against the evil spirits in the heavenly realms.”

Paul changes his analogy briefly from the soldier in the army to the wrestler on the ground, to make the point that the struggle is personal, one in which every christian is engaged.

With ever-evolving military technology taking warfare from a battlefield to the safety of a computer lab, we can think of the life and death struggle of warfare as being a comfortable thing for us. No, we are wrestling an enemy, it is hand to hand, brute strength wrestling.

Our enemy in this struggle is not blood and flesh, but spiritual. When we are rejected, mocked, hated, or suffer violence for our faith in Christ, we are not to hate those who who oppose us, but love them. They are not doing it to us, but the spirits and rulers of the heavenly realms are doing it.

Paul here lists four different spiritual powers that oppose us. These are evil spirits, not human beings. They are the fallen angels who serves satan in various areas and with various levels of authority and power.

There is a definite hierarchy in the infernal kingdom, just as there is a succession of authority in God’s Kingdom. it is unwise to make too much of these various terms for spiritual rulers and powers. God has not given us a detailed description all these spirits that oppose us, except to highlight that there is a struggle, and the sacrifice of Christ on the cross of Calvary has ensured their defeat.

The rulers or principalities (in Greek “archas”) are spirits which rule over geographic areas such as cities, regions, nations, and so on. They influence culture through religious expressions, through arts, media and governmental institutions. Wherever there are people, there are principalities seeking to control them, and most importantly, resist the gospel in an area.

A biblical example of this is Daniel 10. Daniel has a vision of an angel who describes a three week struggle against the prince over the kingdom of Persia. This is a real struggle initiated by Daniel’s prayer and fasting.

The authorities are spirits which exercise governmental power to oppose christians. They persecute believers and stand in the way of the preaching of the gospel. In many countries, they may take a nationalistic cover, or a religious cover ( for example Islamic or Hindu), or a civil religion such as secularism that opposes all public expressions of belief. Extreme forms such as Nazism, communism, and fascism, result from a combination of authorities and principalities which hold people in extreme bondage, sometimes over generations.

The “cosmic powers of this darkness” are spirits which energise seemingly impersonal forces that control the lives of large swathes of humanity. These would include wars, revolutions, abortion, ritualised murder, drugs, and so on. They seem impossible to overcome because their power is not localised. As soon as one manifestation is defeated, another pops up to replace it. The ongoing strife in the Middle East and in Afghanistan are examples of this.

The “evil spirits in the heavenly realms” are the kinds of spirits which bring affliction, addiction, torment, and destruction to individual lives and family groups. These are the demons which Jesus dealt with daily.

As christians, we are involved in fighting this battle each day. The fact that the battle is fought in the heavenly realms does not make this battle less real than other struggles we might engage in.

For Western christians, there is widespread ignorance of the spiritual realm. Our modern mindset ignores anything that is non-material. When we ignore the power that satan exerts over us, we are unable to fight effectively.

The other problem is that we have failed to discern the spirits and the nature of the struggle. We end up fighting the wrong battles against flesh and blood enemies. The battle must be fought at the heavenly level not at the ground level. The enemy is not coming against us with tanks and artillery, but bombs and missiles. Our warfare must be fought in the air, not on the ground.

Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 10:4 that the weapons of our warfare and not fleshly but spiritual. In verse 13 of Ephesians 6, he describes what the weapons are which God has given us.

Key points in this verse:

• We are not struggling against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers
• This is a personal wrestle which every christian is engaged in
• The enemy has a wide variety of spirits embedded in various layers of society and culture
• We need to discern the true nature of the battle or we will be consumed by the enemy

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 6:11. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 6:11

“Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

It is easy for christians to forget that we are involved in spiritual warfare. The devil continues to war against the Lord, and the field of battle is in the hearts of human beings.

When christians join with the wider society in viewing things from a humanistic point of view, then we miss what is really happening in the spirit realm. Christianity can easily become a religion, a subculture, or a code of behaviour with no spiritual power.

When Paul tells us to be strong in the Lord (v. 10), it is not merely an encouragement to keep the faith and read our Bible. Paul’s intent is that we stay strong in the Lord in order to withstand the wiles of satan as he seeks to pull us down.

The phrase “ put on the whole armour of God” is so important that’s Paul repeats it two verses later, as he does with the word ”stand.”

There is an urgency in this and the subsequent verses.”There is a war going on,” Paul is saying. “You must ensure that you are properly equipped so that you can stand firm.”

Paul will describe shortly what the armour and also who the enemy is that we are fighting. What is important is that we recognise the reality of the existential warfare that we are engaged in. The war for the souls of men and women has been unrelenting since the time of Adam and Eve. The death and resurrection of Jesus bought the final victory over sin and death, but the fighting continues to this day.

Paul tells us to put on the whole armour of God. Our spiritual victory depends on our being protected at every point. A soldier who put on his helmet but left off his breastplate was vulnerable.

We all have points of weakness in our souls. Temptations can assail us at every turn, but some are more easily with stood than others. For one person greed is a weakness, for another it is lust, for another it may be pride. Many of us have false gods which demand to be served – family, work, sport, and so on.

These vulnerabilities are so easily turned against us, causing us to trip at vital moments. We decide to spend more time praying, and then find a barrage of almost Irresistible temptations hammers us so that we feel defeated, unworthy, or unable.

Putting on the whole armour of God means determining in our hearts that at all times, in all places, and in every situation, Christ comes first. Even in making that decision we may find a hundred temptations and distractions will come in. The one thing that Satan fears above all else is a Christian determined to put Christ first. He will rage and rail against such a person.

Paul describes Satan as having “ wiles.” The Greek word literally means cunning plans. One variation of the word suggests thorough planning.

Be under no illusions. The devil knows you better than you know yourself. Since you were born, he has been probing your soul, finding what temptations you are most taken in by. There is no potential weakness that he will fail to employ against you.

Paul says that satan dresses himself up as an angel of light to deceive the elect. (2 Corinthians 11:4).He will use seemingly good things to turn us away from God’s path. He will even use well-meaning christians to undermine our walk with the Lord.

Does this mean that we are doomed to fail? Of course not!

The key to standing firm against the wiles of the devil is to constantly keep our eyes focused on the Lord. When we look at him, and not at ourselves, or the devil, or our friends, then we can know continual victory in the Lord.

When we do fall, we confess our sins to the Lord, and He cleanses us. He picks us up, brushes the dirt off us, and equips us to continue the journey. As long as we keep on getting up and maintaining our walk with Christ, we will overcome to the end.

Key points in this verse:

• We need to see with the eyes of the spirit, and not just the eyes of the flesh
• We need to stand in the strength of the Lord in order to withstand the enemy
• We are in a war for our souls and we must continue to fight
• We need all of God’s armour to be fully protected
• The devil will use all tactics and every weakness to pull us down
• Victory comes when we refuse to let our failures hold us down

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 6:10. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 6:10

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the might of his power.”

Paul is now getting ready to conclude his letter. He has covered the topics of the glory of Christ, the cosmic importance of the church and each member of it, the implications of this for our morality and our relationships at home and at work. He now finishes it all with a remainder of the battle in which we are engaged and the source of our strength.

In this verse, Paul uses three different words for the same idea: strength, might, and power. He wants to emphasise this idea that we need strength, and that it comes from the Lord.

Nobody can live the Christian life out of their own resources. Not only is this impossible, the idea of self sufficiency apart from God is the definition of sin. We cannot live for God from this underlying position of sinful pride.

Our strength for spiritual battle does not come from ourselves. Tto think that I can take on satan, or sin, or evil, by myself is a recipe for defeat. The devil is bigger and stronger than any human being .

Our strength must come from the Lord. When Paul tells us to be strong in the Lord, he is telling us that the Lord is where we go to gain our strength.

We strengthen ourselves in the Lord when we seek to know him more. Our delight should be in God’s word, the Bible. It is in the word that we discover the nature of God, His personality, and His desires for our lives in relationship with Him.

The word by itself is not enough. We need to read scripture prayerfully, constantly asking the Holy Spirit to make the written word come alive to us. The Bible must never be read merely for information. When we read it this way, we lose the power of the word.

We become strong in the Lord as we learn to pray. Prayer is not just my words to God, but a two-way conversation. The process of listening prayer in which we both speak and listen to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit is the way to grow to maturity and strength in the Lord.

Power and strength in the Lord come as we learn to obey Him. Paul has given us instructions about how we are to live as Christians in Ephesians and in his other writings. But we must not reduce Christian living to a moral code or series of regulations

To obey the Lord also means being sensitive to the Holy Spirit in other ways. We need to grow in the gifts of the Holy Spirit described in 1 Corinthians 12, allowing the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself through us in words of knowledge, wisdom, faith, miracles, and so on.

Our relationship with the Holy Spirit will result in the grace of character in such areas as love, joy, peace, patience, and so on (Galatians 5:22-23)so that we grow to be more like Christ.

To be strong in the Lord and in the might of his power means that we pursue a relationship with God by every means possible.

Key points in this verse:

• We must become strong in the Lord’s power
• This means that we read God’s word, pray, listen, and obey
• As we seek the gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit, we will grow in maturity and strength

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 6:9. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 6:9

“And masters do the same to them. Stop threatening them, for you know that both of you have the same Master in heaven, and with him there is no partiality.”

Paul now turns his attention to slave owners. In all of these admonitions, he always balances out his demands so that both parties are clear of the Lord’s expectations of them. His instructions to slave owners are perhaps the most radical of all.

He has just told slaves that they are to obey their masters with fear and trembling, and to serve enthusiastically as to the Lord.

He now tells masters that the same also applies to them. Masters are to direct their slaves as though they are doing it for the Lord.

Slavery was a fact of life in the ancient world. Rather than demanding that masters free their slaves, which might condemn some of them to poverty and even re-enslavement, Paul tells the owners to treat their slaves well. They are to represent Christ in their relationship with their slaves.

He specifically tells them to stop threatening their slaves. This is not the way of Christ. Jesus laid down his life without resisting his captors in anyway. Masters must lay down their rights to make threats of death or violence against their slaves. They must, in fact, become like servants in their attitudes.

Both slaves and masters have the same Master in heaven. The word for master is kurios, the same word as Lord. So Paul says,” Lords you also have the same Lord in heaven.” The one who is lord in his own household is subject to the Lord in heaven, as are his slaves.

This reasoning is very similar to the centurion who tells Jesus, “I am a man under authority. I say to this one go and he goes.” ( Matthew 8:9) All authority comes from our relationship to the ultimate authority of God in heaven.

Because christian masters are subject to the lordship of Christ, they must love their neighbours, even their slaves, as they love themselves.

With God there is no partiality. The word used here means a “respecter of persons.” Paul is saying that the Lord does not distinguish between slave and master; both are held to the same requirements, even though their social standing is different, and one certainly wields more power than the other.

Masters are subject to the same judgement by God as their slaves are. Social position will not determine the outcome, but faithfulness to Christ will .

In our economy, where we no longer have slaves, this suggests that directors and managers should show the same deference to their workers that they expect to receive. Impersonal emails and texts delivered from “on high” may get the job done. Concern and compassion for those doing the work “at the coal face” are more important from God’s perspective.

Key points in this verse:

• Paul presents an radical redefinition of the relationship between slaves and their masters
• Slave owners are to treat their slaves as people for whom Christ died
• Masters must always remember that they also are accountable to the Lord
• Employers and managers have a responsibility before God to care for their workers beyond the requirement of the law.

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 6:7-8. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 6:7-8

“Render service with enthusiasm, as to the Lord, and not to men and women, knowing that whatever good we do, we will receive the same again from the Lord, whether we are slaves or free.”

Paul now repeats his admonition that slaves are to work as if they are working for the Lord, not just men and women. We are all servants, even slaves, of the Lord, and we must see our daily work as being an act of service to him.

It is not easy to do this. We can so easily see things just from a human perspective. The whole of Ephesians is an encouragement to see the bigger picture, and to believe that God is building us into His church. This applies to the lowliest servant as much as it does to the rulers and business people whom the world lauds as leaders and history makers.

Paul tells slaves that they must serve with enthusiasm. Because they are serving the Lord, Christian slaves are to do so with heartiness.

Many people believe that life is basically meaningless, and that people have to find their own meaning. Paul is here saying that this is not true. Our meaning for work and service is found in focusing our hearts on Christ, and therefore working with enthusiasm.

The recent Covid pandemic has reminded us of our fundamental dependence on people who might have gone unnoticed in more normal times. People such as nurses, cleaners, truck drivers, retail workers, and so on, who are not normally considered as elite professionals are suddenly seen to be vital.

So slaves are to see themselves as important in God’s Kingdom because they are serving Him, and are to do so with enthusiasm for that reason.

There is a reward in all of this. Even if we cannot approach our work with enthusiasm in its own right, we have a future hope. Every good deed will be rewarded in eternity.

Even in the most humble of work places – and there is nothing lower in any society than a slave – there are opportunities to show forth the love and kindness of Jesus Christ. In our work, we interact with customers, fellow-workers, supervisors, and so on. How we choose to relate to these people reflects on our relationship with the Lord. A factory, school, office, call centre, can be a mission field in which we decide to act with kindness and generosity knowing that there is a reward for us on the day of judgement.

In Matthew 25: 31-46, Jesus warns us that the compassion that we show to “ the least ones of my brothers and sisters” is service given to Him. This is as true in our place of work as it is anywhere.

This promise applies to slaves in particular, but also to those who are free. In other words, Christ will reward everyone regardless of the earthly status. The promise is given to the slaves and to the overseers, to the employee and to the boss, to the self employed and to the corporate CEO. The Lord is watching our work life for attitudes and actions motivated by the Holy Spirit.

This is not salvation by good works. Paul is writing to Christians here, reminding them that there are rewards in eternity for those who faithfully serve the Lord, to the best of their opportunities, in this life.

Key points in this verse:

• Slaves are to serve their masters with enthusiasm, a positive attitude, because they are serving Jesus .
• Our meaning comes from our relationship with God
• Every work environment provides opportunities to show God’s love and kindness
• There are rewards in heaven for those believers who serve the Lord in their work place, regardless of their status on Earth

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 6:6. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 6:6

“…not only while being watched, and in order to please them, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.“

The words used by Paul here are interesting. The more literal translation is “ not as in the way of eye- service as man- pleasers.” Some commentators suggest this word eye- service was made up by Paul.

Slaves are instructed not to only work while they are being directly overseen, because they are not merely there to please people.

Giving eye- service suggests that our heart is not in what we are doing. Some work is like this – drudgery with no obvious results or sense of achievement at the end of the week. Some people carry no pride in their work, whether it is work they find interesting or not. They watch the clock, desperate to get out of work and get into what they want to do. For such people, diligent oversight is necessary because all they do is give eye- service.

Paul tells those who are slaves that this is not how it is to be for them. As Christians, they are to work for the Lord, not for their earthly master, and put in their full effort. There should be no discernible change of pace when they are being watched and when they are not being watched.

To be a people pleaser is a terrible trap. It may seem congenial to keep the people around us happy, particularly those who wield some form of power over us. To do this consistently requires compromise and deception .

We might be popular because we can always do what people expect of us or because we voice the right opinions. It is impossible to keep that up if people around us have opposing views, or if the demands of one person compete with the demands of another.

To be a people pleaser means that we must sacrifice our integrity and our sense of what we should be doing with our time and money.

Paul entreats slaves not just to please the person that is over them. They must rather seek to please the Lord. Because the Lord is always with them, they are always under supervision and always accountable.

Every follower of the Lord, regardless of their status in life, is a slave of Christ. Whether you are a CEO of a top corporation or the cleaner, to follow Christ means that you are His slave. Our life is no longer in our own hands but in His.

Paul says elsewhere, “You are not your own for you were bought at a price.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Therefore, whoever we are as followers of Christ, we are slaves of Christ. Our whole life must be dedicated to serving Him.

This must have been a revolutionary idea for people who were actual slaves. They were unwilling slaves, forced to work for another and without any alternative life opportunities. Paul is saying that they did not work for their earthly master, but for Christ. They might not understand, but their position in life was the will of God, and they were to serve their master as their service to the Lord.

Key points in this verse:

• All of us are to serve from the heart and not give mere eye- service
• Being a people pleaser is a trap which may force us to give up our integrity
• All followers of Jesus are slaves of Christ
• We should see our work as service to the Lord

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 6:5. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 6:5

“Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart as you obey Christ” ( literally, “as to Christ”).

For those of us who have only lived in an individualistic, free economy, it is hard to put ourselves into the way thinking of a slave society.

Slaves were seen as part of the household, so the instructions in this section about domestic relationships is entirely appropriate.

Slaves were property, and therefore had no legal rights. They could be subject to corporal punishment, tortured, cooled, used sexually, all at the whim of their owner.

Slavery was a big contributor to the prosperity of the Roman Empire. Ephesus was the location of the biggest slave market outside Rome, and so it was quite possible that many of the members of the church there were, in fact, slaves.

Paul and the other apostles did not see themselves as political revolutionaries. They were more interested in the spiritual liberation of all people through the gospel of Jesus Christ than in the overthrow of the system of slavery.

So, rather than demanding that masters free their slaves, or that slaves run away from their masters, Paul applies gospel principles to their current situation.

His first instruction is that slaves should obey their earthly masters. Literally, the phrase is “ Masters according to the flesh.” Although they are slaves according to the flesh, they are also free people according to the spirit. They are in a relationship to their master determined by the ways of the world even though Christ has set them free.

Christian slaves have no choice other than to obey their earthly master. They also have a Master who is higher. Obeying Him will mean submitting to an earthly master .

They are to obey in fear and trembling. The word fear does not necessarily mean terror, but rather the kind of respect that we should have for people of position or rank. Slaves are to respect or honour their master .

The word “ trembling” does suggest fear as we normally think of that word. Slaves must always recognise that their masters have the power of life and death over them.

Christian slaves, therefore, are to obey their masters with both respect and fear, nursing their authority and also their power over them.

Slaves are to have “ singleness of heart” In obeying their masters. They were to be the best slaves that they could be, doing everything with purpose and enthusiasm.

The reason for this singleness of heart was that they were not serving the master according to the flesh, but serving Christ. They were to see their work as being for Christ as much as it was for their owner.

In our society, slavery is mostly eliminated, although there are traces of it everywhere through people smugglers and the sex industry. This tverse, then, does not apply to us directly. But we can make applications in the area of employees working for a wage.

The Christian is not to see their employer as a class enemy or a part of an oppressive system, but as a brother in Christ or a seeker in need of Christ.

Christians do not have a ministry life that is separate from their work- life. There is no sacred versus secular divide. Our work is our ministry.

Therefore, we are to honour and obey our employers unless to do so would be to disobey Christ. We are to work with singleness of heart doing the best that we can to serve our employer.

This is the so-called Protestant work ethic in which people give their best possible service because their work is their vocation, a service to the King.

Key points in this verse:

• In the ancient world, slavery was a big part of the economy
• We are to have singleness of heart in our work
• We are to respect our employers, seeing them as people for him Christ gave His life
• We should give our best possible effort to our employer