Ephesians 6 (New International Version)

Ephesians 6

Children and Parents

1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2"Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."[a] 4Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Slaves and Masters

5Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
9And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

The Armor of God

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Final Greetings

21Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. 22I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.
23Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

Ephesians 5 first gives some life instructions to all believers and then gives some more specific life instructions for wives and husbands. First, Paul says we all should live godly lives of thanksgiving, sacrifice, and love, doing whatever we can to please the Lord. We need to be careful how we live , always acting wisely and seeking to live in accordance with the Lord's will, being filled with the Spirit, continually encouraging and submitting to one another, and giving thanks to God for everything. Next, Paul specifically addresses wives and husbands. Wives are instructed to reverence their husband, be in subjection to him, respecting the husband's headship position over the wife. "Wives should submit to their husbands in everything". Paul then instructs husbands to be united with their wives, considering them with tremendous care and love, like as their own bodies, feeding , caring, washing them through the word to encourage them towards holiness, presenting them blameless before the Lord. Husbands are to love their wives sacrificially, "just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her".

Ephesians 4 is a call to live the life God has prepared for us --- that is to live a life "worthy of the calling" we have received. In this way, the body of Christ will be built up in unity of faith and mature in the knowledge of God and "attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ". As each part does its work, the whole body grows and builds up in love "into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ". We have been made new in the attitude of our minds and put on our new self, speaking the truth to our neighbors as members of one body. Paul says God gave a variety of gifts to us, some as teachers, some as evangelists, etc. to prepare us for works of service. Paul concludes by encouraging us to be kind and compassionate to one another, speaking only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs.

In Ephesians 3, Paul explains God's "secret plan", which was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. The revealed mystery was that "the Gentiles would have an equal share with the Jews in all the riches inherited by God's children". Paul says this was His plan from all eternity, to show his wisdom in joining together the nations together in His church. All who have faith in Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, can now come boldly before God, assured of His welcome. "By His mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope."

Ephesians 2 explains more about how we got to be where we are in Christ. Paul says that we all were living full of sin under Satan’s leadership, refusing to obey God and following only the passions and desires of our own evil selfish hearts. He describes our wretched condition as “dead”, since our many sins had destined us for a state of eternal doom. BUT because of His amazing love for us, our richly merciful God gave us the gift of eternal life with Him when he raised us up with Christ Jesus. God chose us for salvation not because of any thought, intention, or action of ourselves, but only by His mercy and grace. Paul says God saved us when we believed, but we can’t take credit for that either because even our faith is a gift from God. Paul says that God did all this for us “so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago”. Because of the blood of Christ, Jews and Gentiles alike are united in the body of Christ, the church. Paul says, “Now all of us may come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us”.

Ephesians 1 explains who we are as believers and how did we get where we are now. Like Paul's apostleship, we who are faithful in Christ are so "by the will of God". We were chosen by Him according to the kind intentions of His will, predestined to be His sons, redeemed by grace through Christ's blood, and "blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ". This position that we are now in has been "sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise", by the surpassing greatness of His power. I pray , with Paul, that the eyes of our hearts might be enlightened, so that we would know what is the hope of His calling, and understand the riches of the glory of His inheritance for us. We need to both 1) understand the position God had put us in and all that is ours in Christ, and also 2) be aware of our need for all that He has given us in Christ.

In Gal 6, Paul teaches us to examine your own work and test your own actions. Keeping in mind that we will reap what we sow, we should always sow unto the Spirit. We should always do good to all people, in a spirit of gentleness, bearing one another's burdens, and helping to restore those caught in any trespass. As Paul says, though, "may it never be that (we) would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ". Because of the cross, our interest in the ways of this world has been crucified. We have been transformed into a new creation with a new nature, by God's mercy and grace.