Questions for reflection and group discussion:
Read Ephesians 5:17-6:9 (ESV):
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. 5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
- According to this passage, what are some results when a person is filled with God’s Spirit?
- Among Christ-followers, who submits to whom, and why do they submit?
- As you discuss each of the three sets of relationships below, consider: How did Paul’s understanding of submission differ from the culture of his day? How did it differ from our own culture’s understanding of submission and relationships?
Husband-wife relationships:
a. What does the head-body metaphor communicate about God’s desire for how husbands and wives relate to one another?
b. List the actions that husbands are to do, and describe what each action means and what it would look like.
Parent-child relationships:
a. What do you notice about God’s desire for parent-child relationships?
Slave-master relationships:
a. Discuss Paul’s words to slaves and masters and how this would have worked itself out in the church and in daily life.
b. What difference does it make when a person serves or works “as to the Lord and not to man” (6:7) whether in our jobs or our other daily responsibilities?
How might our own lives be made better if we live according to a “power under” approach to life rather than a “power over” approach to life?
4. Consider some areas of your life where you are in a position of power over others. How could you choose to put yourself beneath the needs of those underneath you?
5. How has our world been impacted by these ideas? What are some good things in our modern world that can be traced back to this Christian understanding of relationships and the value of people?
6. What did you sense God saying to you through this passage and this message?
