Summary of Ephesians, Chapter 6

Children should obey their parents in the Lord, for this is what is right. "Honor your Father and your Mother" is the chief commandment with a promise, "so it may be well with you, and you may be long-lived on the land."

Fathers should be careful not to cause such stress to their children as to break their spirits. They should nourish them with education and with instructions in the Lord.

Slaves should obey their human masters with respect, in simplicity of heart, as obeying Christ. They should do it not only when the masters are watching, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from their heart, serving the Lord, and not men, with readiness. For they ought to know that each one, if he does anything good, will receive recompense for it from the Lord, whether he be a slave or a free man.

Masters should act similarly to the slaves, and not threaten them, knowing that the Lord of both slaves and masters is in the heavens, and there is no respect of persons with Him.

As for the rest, may they be strengthened in the Lord and in the might of His power. They should put on the full armor of God, in order to be able to stand against the machinations of the devil. For we do not wrestle just against flesh and blood opponents, but against the principalities, the powers, and the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spirits of evil in heavenly places.

So Paul urges them: take up the full armor of God, in order to be able to stand on the evil day, after accomplishing everything they should do. Let their waist be girded with truth, and let them have on the breastplate of righteousness, and having put on their feet readiness to promote the Gospel of peace. Always and in everything let them take up the long shield of faith, by means of which they can extinguish all the fiery missiles of the evil one. They should put on the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

In every prayer they should pray in the Spirit, and stay watchful, making petitions constantly for all the holy ones, and for Paul, so that an opening may be given him so he may open his mouth in fearless speech, to make known the mystery of the Gospel, for the sake of which he is a legate in chains, so that in it he may speak freely as he should.

Tychicus the beloved and faithful brother and minister in the Lord will give them a report on Paul's situation. Paul has sent Tychicus for this very reason, to tell them about him, and to encourage their hearts.

Peace to all the brothers, and love along with faith, from

God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May grace be with all those who love the Lord Jesus Christ, in unfailing love.

Comments on Chapter 6

Objective moral rightness requires that children should obey their parents, out of respect for the Lord, and with His strength. The Holiness of God wills and loves all that is morally right.

To honor father and mother does not mean only to obey, but also to provide financial support for them in their old age, if they need it. Even more, they may need psychological support. To put a parent into a nursing home and then to seldom if ever come to visit is a great violation of this commandment.

When we were little, our parents provided for all our needs, at great sacrifice, with great generosity. When they need us at the other end of life, we should say: Now it is our turn.

Paul speaks of this commandment as the first one with a promise. There is also a promise in Exodus 20:5-6 just before this commandment. To explain this -- Paul surely knew the commandments -- he might think of it as the first of the commandments that refers to neighbor, the other three refer to God. Or the word prote may be translated "chief, principal."

For comments on Paul's attitude to slavery, please see again the comments on 1 Corinthians 7:17-24.

Paul says our struggle is not just against human opponents, but against the evil spirits -- we notice here he uses some of the terms he has used before, principalities and powers, and clearly means evil spirits.

To conquer them we need the full spiritual armament of truth, righteousness, zeal for the Gospel, faith, looking ahead to the salvation promised us (for encouragement), and the word of God in Scripture.

We saw Tychicus before in Colossians 4:7. He seems to be the bearer of both Ephesians and Colossians. He is mentioned briefly in Acts 20:4 as from the Roman province of Asia.