EPHESIANS: ETERNALLY ENCLOSED IN GOD’S PLAN

Part XVIII: The Filling Of The Spirit And Family Relationships

(Ephesians 5:18-21; 6:1-4)

I. Introduction

A. Paul wrote Ephesians to encourage believers of God’s work to edify the Church regardless what happened to him in his imprisonment (Ryrie St. Bible, KJV, 1978, p. 1672: “Intro. to the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians”).

B. Ephesians 5:18-21 with 6:1-4 teaches the practice of believers’ being filled with the Holy Spirit for blessing in one’s family relationships, and we view the passage for our insight, application and edification (as follows):

II. The Filling Of The Spirit And Family Relationships, Ephesians 5:18-21; 6:1-4.

A. When Paul wrote about the “filling” or the control of the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 5:18-21, he applied that truth first to marital relationships in Ephesians 5:22-33 and second to family relationships in Ephesians 6:1-4.

B. Accordingly, the “filling” or the control of the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 5:18-21 is applied to the relationship of children and parents in the family household in Ephesians 6:1-4 (as follows):

1. Thus, as wives under the control of the Holy Spirit are to submit to their husbands in Ephesians 5:22-24, so children under the control of the Holy Spirit are to submit to their parents by obeying them, Eph. 6:1-3:

a. Children under the Holy Spirit’s control are to obey their parents in the Lord, for this is right, Eph. 6:1.

b. Paul in Ephesians 6:2 KJV then cited the fifth commandment of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:12 from the Septuagint that children were to honor their father and mother (U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 677-678), adding that it was the “first” commandment with a promise, Ephesians 6:2. Actually, it is the second commandment with a promise in the sequence of the Ten Commandments, the first being God’s order not to make and worship idols (Exodus 20:4-6; Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 641). However, the Greek word translated “first” is protos, what can not only refer to sequence, but to the “most important” (U. B. S. Grk. N. T., op. cit., p. 678; Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 732-734) issue, which meaning best fits this context where Paul taught children God’s highest calling for them as being that they honor and obey their parents, Ephesians 6:3 (Bible Know. Com., N. T, loc. cit.).

2. Similarly, parents are to be controlled by the Holy Spirit to relate to their children in God’s will, Eph. 6:4:

a. The Greek word pateres in Ephesians 6:4a refers to “fathers” since they were the governmental head of the family (U. B. S. Grk. N. T., Ibid.; B. K. C., N. T., loc. cit.). However, since the child is to submit and to obey his mother as well as his father according to Ephesians 6:1, the Ephesians 6:4 instruction to fathers also applies to mothers due to their oversight of their children that is shared with their husbands.

b. Thus, fathers and mothers in a family household must “stop provoking to anger” (me parorgizete, present imperative with the me negative adverb of parorgizo, “make angry,” Arndt & Gingrich, op. cit., p. 635; The Analyt. Grk. Lex., 1972, p. 310) their children. The present imperative with the me negative adverb calls for the cessation of an activity in progress (Dana & Mantey, A Man. Gram. of the Grk. N. T., 1957, p. 301-302), so a number of Christian parents in Paul’s day were already provoking their children to anger! Children are provoked to anger when they are disciplined or taught in a way that they believe is wrong, or if the parent is unfair or inconsistent in his parental actions. Thus, it is essential that parents know what is truly right and wrong and show fair, consistent oversight in functioning in oversight of their children.

c. Accordingly, in not provoking their children to anger, parents are to rear them in the paideia, the “‘child discipline,’ including directing and correcting . . . and instruction (nouthesia . . . ) of the Lord,” B. K. C., N. T., op. cit., p. 642. The sure way to avoid provoking a child to anger is for a parent by the Holy Spirit’s power to align with God’s views of issues of life as taught in Scripture instead of a parent’s authoring his own ideas or the ideas of others that can be errant and frustrate the child! A great way to do this is to have regular, daily family devotions where parents read and explain Scripture that teaches God’s views so that parents and children both learn God’s views on life’s issues as a part of family life.

Lesson: (1) As for children in a family household, by relying on the Holy Spirit for control, they must submit to their parents, obeying them in the Lord. This is the main duty of children with God’s promise of a long life. (2) As for the parents in a family household, by relying on the Holy Spirit, parents must avoid provoking their children to anger by functioning separate from Scriptural guidelines as to what is right and wrong but consistently stick to applying Scriptural truths in the discipline and instruction of the child to rear their children in the Lord.

Application: May children and parents alike rely on the Holy Spirit and heed Scripture to relate well to each other.