6:9
Masters are told to “treat your slaves in the same way”. There are two ways to change something, one is to overthrow the system, the other is to change the hearts of men. The gospel did change slavery. It started by changing men’s hearts, so that they treated people differently. So most of the ill-effects of slavery would be overturned. As time went on laws were changed as well. And the focus for all this is Christ. Both slaves and masters are reminded who the real boss is, what their real position in life is. Men need to have an awareness of God as Lord, of their being an ultimate accountability beyond ourselves. When we lose that awareness and become our own masters trouble and evil quickly follow.
6:10
Paul now returns to the theme that started in chapter 1, with the spiritual battle. This involves practicalities, as the past chapter or two have clear demonstrated, but it is also a spiritual battle. We need to be fully aware of both aspects. So we are to be “strong in the Lord and in His mighty power”. We don’t pay enough attention to this command. Being an effective follower of Christ is difficult. There is much opposition some of it from within ourselves (ie from the flesh), some from the world, and some from the devil. We need to learn to live in God’s power.
No comments:
Post a Comment