5:19,20
When men are drunk they have a habit of singing, but the songs will not be particularly edifying. When filled with the Spirit we will sing praises to God, we will declare His glory. So we are to sing "psalms, hymns and spiritual songs" to each other. We encourage one another to recognise the Lord's greatness, and we make melody to the Lord. Instead of doing or saying things that grieve the Holy Spirit, we do and say things that are pleasing to Him. And we give thanks to God. "in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ". It is only because of Him that we can do this,. It is Christ who makes us acceptable to God, it is He who has opened our eyes to the truth.
5:21
"Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ". This provides the introduction and the foundation for the next section. Above all else, we submit to Christ, and therefore to each other. The world's way is to seek to be the top dog, to get our own way. Christ's way is to seek to get God's way. Why should we do this? Out of reverence for Christ. He is our Lord, and He has shown us that it is what He wants. But making Christ Lord has an immediate effect on how we treat each other. So we submit to one another. Now submission causes us problems, because in the world if someone submits it usually means that they become less, but in the kingdom it means that we actually become more.
No comments:
Post a Comment