Paul's Letter to the Colossians (4)

Mutual Obligation

Colossians 3:17 ESV

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

The Letters to Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians The Personal Relationships of Christians (Colossians 3:18–4:1)

The Christian ethic is an ethic of mutual obligation. It is never an ethic on which all the duties are on one side. As Paul saw it, husbands have as great an obligation as wives; parents have just as binding a duty as children; masters have their responsibilities as much as slaves.

The Letters to Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians The Personal Relationships of Christians (Colossians 3:18–4:1)

The Christian ethic is one of mutual obligation, in which the rights and the obligations rest with every individual. It is an ethic of mutual responsibility; and, therefore, it becomes an ethic where the thought of privilege and rights falls into the background and where the thought of duty and obligation takes priority.

The Letters to Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians The Personal Relationships of Christians (Colossians 3:18–4:1)

The really new thing about the Christian ethic of personal relationships is that all relationships are in the Lord. The whole of the Christian life is lived in Christ.

The Letters to Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians The Personal Relationships of Christians (Colossians 3:18–4:1)

The thing which settles any relationship is that we are all servants of the one Master, Jesus Christ. The new thing about personal relationships in Christianity is that Jesus Christ is introduced into them all.

Colossians 3:18–21 ESV

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

Ephesians 5:33 ESV

However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

eph.

col.3.18-

Colossians 3:18 ESV

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. ὑποτάσσω

Of submission involving recognition of an ordered structure, w. dat. of the entity to whom/which appropriate respect is shown

Biblical Counseling Keys on Submission B. Unbiblical Submission

• Submission is not … bowing and cowering.

• Submission is not … subservient or second class.

• Submission is not … inferior or self-effacing.

• Submission is not … degradation or humiliation.

• Submission is not … nonassertive or nonconfrontational.

• Submission is not … indecisive or indirect.

• Submission is not … flattery or manipulation.

• Submission is not … peace at any price.

Hunt, June. Biblical Counseling Keys on Submission: Yielding from a Spirit of Strength. Dallas, TX: Hope For The Heart, 2008. Used with permission

1 Corinthians 15:28 ESV

When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

Colossians 3:19 ESV

Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.

Malachi 2:13–15 ESV

And this second thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.

mal.2.13-

Colossians 3:20 ESV

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

Ephesians 6:2 ESV

“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise),

Exodus 20:12 ESV

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

ex.

Colossians 3:21 ESV

Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

Ephesians 6:4 ESV

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

The Letters to Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians The Personal Relationships of Christians ()

The really new thing about the Christian ethic of personal relationships is that all relationships are in the Lord. The whole of the Christian life is lived in Christ.

The Letters to Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians The Personal Relationships of Christians ()

The thing which settles any relationship is that we are all servants of the one Master, Jesus Christ. The new thing about personal relationships in Christianity is that Jesus Christ is introduced into them all.

Ephesians 5:33 ESV

However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.