Colossians 4
Notes
Transcript
Christian Practice
Christian Practice
18 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.
20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.
21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
22 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.
23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,
24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.
1 Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
HERE, the ethical part of the letter becomes more and more practical. Paul turns to the working out of Christianity in the everyday relationships of life and living. There are two general principles which lie behind Christianity and determine all its demands.
(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.
2) 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. In any home, the tone of personal relationships must be dictated by the awareness that Jesus Christ is an unseen but ever-present guest.
The Center of each relationship is Christ
Husband - wife…the center is Christ
Parents - children…the center is Christ
Master - servant…the center is Christ - today this would be; Boss - employee
If each is doing their part in Christ then there is harmony. If one or both are not then discord.
Paul is making the case and bringing it close to home. Here is what I said and here is what it looks like in practice.
Having the correct theology in our head but not practice is the same as having no theology at all.
So Paul gives us the theology and the practice to ensure there is no misunderstandings. You wont be able to stand before the judge of eternity and say I didn't realize that is what he meant.
It is one thing to do know the right thing and other to do the right thing.
One might say but pertaining to my boss he is not a Christian so how can this work one sided…well lets look to the word.
23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,
14 Do all things without complaining and disputing,
I was wondering why there is more expounding on the servant/master relationship. Each of the other relationships have one sentence but servant/master has 4 sentences.
This servant/master or boss/employee can be the most tricky as the relationship is not family. Notice there is more direction given to the servant/employee than everyone else. Let’s talk about this relationship for a minute.
22 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.
23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,
24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.
There is a metering going on: submit/love, obey/dont provoke, obey/give
The takeaway here is there is imperative verbs or commands to each entity and when each does as commanded by God then all is well. When one or both don’t then it becomes trouble.
Another thing to think about is in this society women, children and slaves were basically property, but in the church all this changed and Paul is in these verses that not only in the church but back at home and in the workplace the same relationships should be had as in the church. Just because we have different roles doesn't mean we can have the same relationship.
Paul is expecting the living out of our faith to be the same at church as it is in the home, workplace or society. Paul dispelled the Sunday christian practice which was apparently alive and well in the first century.
Moving on to the next section...
Christian Graces
Christian Graces
2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;
3 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains,
4 that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
We cant forget that Paul is fighting against false teaching and false practice so once again Paul is very detailed in his directions. Here is what I said, here is what it means, and here is what it looks like in practice.
Paul is very good at getting to where the “rubber meats the road”