Children and Parents
1 Children, obey x your parents in the Lord, because this is right. 2 Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, 3 so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land. ,,y 4 Fathers, don’t stir up anger z in your children, but bring them up in the training a and instruction of the Lord.
Slaves and Masters
5 Slaves, obey your human masters b with fear and trembling, c in the sincerity d of your heart, as you would Christ. 6 Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will e from your heart. 7 Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to people, f 8 knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord. 9 And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening g them, because you know that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism h with him. i
Christian Warfare
10 Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. j 11 Put on k the full armor l of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh m and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, n against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, o spiritual forces in the heavens. p 13 For this reason take up the full armor q of God, so that you may be able to resist r in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. 14 Stand, s therefore, with truth t like a belt around your waist, righteousness u like armor on your chest, v 15 and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. 16 In every situation take up the shield w of faith x with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. y 17 Take the helmet z of salvation and the sword a of the Spirit b—which is the word of God. 18 Pray c at all times in the Spirit d with every prayer and request, and stay alert e with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness f the mystery of the gospel. 20 For this I am an ambassador g in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.
Paul’s Farewell
21 Tychicus, h our dearly loved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me so that you may be informed. 22 I am sending him to you for this very reason, to let you know how we are and to encourage i your hearts. j
23 Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith, from God the Father k and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who have undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ. ,
6:1–4. The same call to mutual submission applies to the relationship between children and their parents. Once more, Paul speaks first to the dependent party in the matched pair: children are to obey their parents as their role in the call to mutual submission (6:1). And once more, this comes as no surprise; Paul’s appeal to Ex 20:12 affirms the ancient expectation (6:2–3).
6:5–9. Finally, Paul calls for mutual submission between slaves and masters. The dependent party is again addressed first, as is the pattern. Slaves submit to their masters by rendering sincere, honest work, without pretense and with all goodwill (6:5–7). Where this might seem unreasonable because of the abusive character of some masters, Paul recommends a kind of theological fiction. In three different ways (6:5, 6, 7), he recommends slaves regard their masters (or mistresses) as if each were actually Christ. It is the Lord ultimately who rewards good and faithful service (6:8).
6:10–13. Paul begins by urging the readers to “be strengthened by the Lord,” not in any other person or power (6:10). The text then falls into two main sections, one devoted to the armor that believers have for making a firm stand (6:11–17) and the other explaining what they should do in their new armor (6:18–20) in order to be strong in the Lord.
6:14–17. Paul’s description of God’s armor is full of irony. The metaphor of military armor clashes with the qualities represented by the metaphor (the images come mostly from Is 11; 52; 59). The equipment for struggling against the devil, his schemes, and his pawns reflects the very nature of God and his redeemed people: truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and the Spirit’s word. These are the unweapons with which believers stand firm. They amount to the new person Paul urges the readers to “put on” (4:24); only now he speaks of it as “putting on” the full armor of God (6:11). The same verb appears in both cases. Jesus waged this same war against evil. It led him to crucifixion, and before he died he prayed that the Father would forgive his persecutors, for they were mere pawns (Lk 23:34). His struggle was not against other human beings.
6:18–20. Prayer constitutes the rule of engagement for this war, one lone tactic. What Paul evidently has in mind is diligent, persistent prayer for perseverance (6:18). He asks believers to pray this way not just for themselves but also for all the saints, including Paul (6:19). Paul refers to himself as “an ambassador in chains” (6:20a), probably for effect. As an ambassador for the gospel, he proclaims the good news that Jesus the Jewish Messiah has now been made King of the entire world (Rm 1:2–6). And this is why Paul asks for prayers on his own behalf, that he might speak boldly as an ambassador with a message from the King (6:20b).