The Other Six Days

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Ephesians 5:22–6:9

In David deSilva’s Honor, Patronage, Kinship & Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture, he says about Ephesians 5-6 (along with Colossians 3-4): “These are among the less popular passages in the New Testament epistles, mainly on account of the facility with which they are employed to affirm patterns of interfamilial relationship that degrade the female partner in favor of the male or children in favor the parent. … The authoritarian aspect of these texts can be very appealing for males. … Abuses of this kind have, however, no place in the Christian home, since these passages are but a small part of the larger enterprise of the great household code being formed throughout the New Testament teaching ‘how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God’ (1 Tim. 3:15). … Mutual love, unity, cooperation for one another’s good, putting the interests of the other ahead of one’s own – all these forms the relational context in which these household codes are to be enacted and the interpretive lens through which they are to be understood and applied.” (Quote comes from Highlands Teacher’s Notes).

    • In many ways, the American church does not resemble a household. Family is structured differently. Especially with so many homes not defined by two parents at home, much less grandparents.
    • Keep verse 32 in mind. The profound mystery is that households are just illustrations about Christ and the church. How is the church like a household? How has that been true for you?

By Submitting to One Another (5:21).

    • Since there is no verb (in Greek) in verse 22, the verb is inferred from this final challenge to submit to one another. Likely the entire “household code” (5:22 – 6:9) flows out of that. These relationships are part of a much larger call to discipleship, mutuality, service, and submission.
    • And Paul uses the concrete situations of marriage, parenting, and vocation to challenge all of us to imitate God in all our relationships, living the life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
    • Part of what separates Paul’s “code” from other “household codes” from the Greco-Roman world was the way he leaned into the mutuality. Those who had the power in that culture (husbands, fathers/parents, and masters) were all instructed to live out the gospel.
    • Choose any example from your everyday life: going fishing, teacher/parent conference, sell property, child’s birthday party, supper club, neighborhood parade/picnic, etc.
    • How will we love, forgive, encourage, benefit those who listen, … finding out what pleases the Lord and making the most of your opportunities to express your God likeness in the way you walk with people?

In Review of whole section of exhortations in Ephesians 4:1–6:9

As Paul develops the kind of life the gospel produces (in chapters 4-6), he keeps pointing to love, mutuality, and submission. “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (4:2). If you see 4:2 and 5:21 as bookends (an inclusio) on God imitating virtues, then the whole section exhorting one another relations is characterized by humility and submission. The theme is woven throughout, for example “… for we are all members of one body” (4:25); “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (4:32); “Walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (5:2).

Questions:

    • In what way does this life “fit” the story of Jesus? Who is an example of someone you know whose life fits this virtuous way of being?
    • Since Paul says (4:20f) that we have “learned the Messiah,” how does that help us flesh out kingdom living? Take note that by using “one another” three times in Eph. 4, Paul sets up the themes of mutuality and submission.
    • How do we cultivate these communal virtues? For example:
      • Spiritual Conversation (5:19a).
      • Spiritual Songs (5:19b).
      • Continual Thanksgiving (5:20).
      • Submitting to One Another (5:21).