Ephesians 6:1-4

Living Long in the Land

The apostle Paul is again addressing a specific way in which the members of Christ's body who are being filled by God's Spirit with the fullness of Christ are practically living out their union with Christ by being subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

Some have misread Paul by interpreting his words as simply taking the theocratic principle of the Fifth Commandment from the Mosaic Covenant of Works and universalizing it for all children throughout the world.  In the Old Testament Law, Moses promises the children under the Mosaic Covenant that "if" they obey their parents then they will live long in the land of promise, that is the land of Israel.  Along with this promise, the corresponding threat is also present that if they do not obey their parents then disobedient Israelite children will be put to death, as we see in Deut. 21:18-21:

“If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him, he will not even listen to them, 19 then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his home town. 20 “And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 “Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear of it and fear.

(Some in the Reformed Church, Theonomists, want to simply resurrect this practice today.) 

If Israelite children wanted to prolong their days in the Land of Promise then they would have to obey their parents to enjoy a long life in the land.  Some interpreters believe that now that the Promise Land of Israel has come to an end in Christ Paul simply takes this promise from Moses and "generalizes" or "universalizes" the promise to all obedient children.  For instance, Charles Hodge writes:

The promise itself has a theocratical form in the Old Testament; that is, it has specific reference to prosperity and length of days in the land which God had given to his people as their inheritance.  The apostle generalizes it by leaving out the concluding words, and makes it a promise not confined to one land or people, but to obedient children everywhere.  If it be asked whether obedient children are in fact thus distinguished by long life and prosperity? the answer is, that this, like all other such promises, is a revelation of a general purpose of God, and makes known what will be the usual course of his providence.  That some obedient children are unfortunate and short-lived is no more inconsistent with this promise, than that some diligent men are poor is inconsistent with the declaration, 'The hand of the diligent maketh rich.'  Diligence, as a general rule, does secure riches; and obedient children, as a general rule, are prosperous and happy.  The general promise is fulfilled to individuals, just as 'as it shall serve for God's glory and their own good" (Hodge, Commentary on Ephesians, 263-4).

Let's think about this interpretation of Paul's words for a moment.  It seems rather unlikely that all Paul is saying here is basically a general promise of common grace, almost proverb-like, that generally all children who obey their parents can expect to live a long, healthy life.  This would be similar to making a statement that someone who eats right and exercises regularly will prolong their life.  Does it really seem likely that Paul is simply stating the obvious? 

Another observation about this interpretation of Paul is that it seems to come rather close to what we might call the "Prosperity" theology of our day in which we find some preachers teaching that if you want to have a "prosperous, successful" life then you need to find the "keys" to happiness and prosperity and if you will simply obey those "keys" or "principles" and have enough "faith" then you will live a long and prosperous life.  However, if you do not apply those "principles" then you will continue to suffer in this life.  The end result of this theology would then be to look upon every child that suffers or dies at an early age with suspicion wondering if he or she or his or her parents had enough faith. 

Also, doesn't it seem unlikely that while Paul is specifically addressing the church community within the context of explaining how those who are being filled by God's Spirit with the fullness of Christ that he would now stop in midstream and quote a general proverb that all children, under common grace, who obey their parents will live a prolong life on the earth.  This would be especially unlikely due to the fact that Paul specifically gives this command along with the gospel declaration of their union with Christ:  "in the Lord."  (We'll speak more on this latter.)

A final observation of this common interpretation of Paul's words is that it does not seem to take seriously the radical transformation of the whole Mosaic Covenant that has taken place in the coming of Jesus Christ. 

For one thing, it is clear that Paul understands the Mosaic promise of the land as a type or shadow of the everlasting inheritance of the new heavens and new earth in the age to come: 

(See Lee Irons' sermon, from which I borrow the following)

Ephesians 1:3 - Paul's doxology of praise for "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" echoes the language of Gen. 12:1-3 where God first reveals the land-promise to Abraham (the verb eulogeo in the LXX seems to be echoed by Paul in his use of the noun eulogia). Paul interprets the Abrahamic blessing in terms of its antitypical reality by adding the modifying terms "spiritual" and "in the heavenly places."

Eph. 1:4-5 - Our eternal predestination in Christ before the foundation of the world "unto the adoption as sons" is an allusion to Israel's identification as God's firstborn son (Exod. 4:22-23; 13:1, 11-16; Hosea 11:1). Paul appears to be conflating the Hebraic law that the firstborn has the legal right to the father's inheritance with the Roman law concerning adoption as a testamentary procedure for bequeathing the father's patrimony to a non-biological heir.

Eph. 1:7 - As Paul continues the motif of the elect as the heirs of God, he speaks of the work of Christ as the means by which we are heirs. In Christ we have "redemption through his blood." This is an allusion to the exodus (redemption) and to the Passover (blood) as the moment when Israel was "adopted" and given the right to inherit.

Eph. 1:11, 14, 18 - The inheritance theme is now made explicit.  In Christ we have "obtained an inheritance." Indeed, we are God's inheritance ("His inheritance in the saints"), as was Israel (Psalm 33:12).

Eph. 2:1-7 - Paul now translates the same ideas into prophetic idiom. He describes our redemption in terms taken from Ezekiel's vision of the resurrection of the dry bones (Ezekiel 37). When we were dead in sin, slain by the Law and exiled from the inheritance, God made us alive by raising us up together with Christ, thus restoring us to the land.

Eph. 2:10 - Just as Ezekiel's vision of the resurrection of the dry bones is an allusion to the creation of man from the dust of the ground by means of the inbreathing of the divine Spirit (Gen. 2:7), so Paul's depiction of our co-resurrection with Christ is also spoken of as a new creation. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works."

Eph. 2:19-22 - Paul continues the Ezekiel motifs. Just as Ezekiel moves from the re-creation of an eschatological Israel to the building of an eschatological temple (Ezekiel 40-48), so Paul rounds out this chapter by identifying the church, founded on Jesus Christ, as God's spiritual temple.

Eph. 2:12, 19; 3:6 - Most Gentile God-fearers in the old covenant were "strangers and aliens," dwellers in the land, but non-inheritors. Now in Christ, we are "fellow heirs" of the promise in Christ.

Eph. 3:18 - Paul's prayer that we might know "the breadth and length and height and depth" of Christ's love echoes (even as it expands upon) the command to Abraham to "walk about the land through its length and breadth" (Gen. 13:17).

Eph. 4:30 - We have been "sealed with the Spirit for the day of redemption." Note the allusion to the Glory-cloud that was Israel's downpayment during the wilderness wandering of the inheritance to be given them in the time of Joshua.

Eph. 5:5 - Another explicit reference to the inheritance, identified in this case with having a share in "the kingdom of Christ and God."

Throughout his epistle, Paul consistently interprets the Mosaic Land of Promise as being spiritually fulfilled in terms of the believer's eternal, heavenly inheritance.  When Paul uses the term "promise" he refers to the blessings that were initially promised to Abraham which have now found their fulfillment in the coming Seed, Jesus Christ, and to those who are united to him by faith (Rom. 4:13ff; Gal. 3:16ff; Eph. 1:3; 2:12; 3:6). 

Therefore, rather than simply making a common grace, generic, proverbial promise that all obedient children will live longer and happier lives, Paul directly addresses these specific children along with the whole covenant community of the church, just as we said in the preceding section where Paul was addressing the Christian wife and husband specifically, and promises them that somehow through their humble, submission to their parents that they will enter into their eternal, heavenly inheritance in Christ. 

Notice how differently we should view our children within the New Covenant.  They are not to be looked upon as unconverted pagans who need to be evangelized to come to Christ.  Rather, the children of the covenant are addressed within the context of being filled by the Spirit with the fullness of Christ.  They are not told to simply obey, but to obey "in the Lord," which is clearly similar to the whole letter in which the commandments flow from the power of the gospel of Christ.  In other words, Paul addresses the children of the church as being united to Christ ("in the Lord") and therefore they are to obey out of the Spirit-power of their union with Christ.  Clearly, just as Paul can say to all the adults of the church, he can equally address the children that they too can confess:

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me" (Gal. 2:20).

So what then is Paul saying?  In v. 4, the Christian parent's responsibility, who are here represented by the "father," is not seen by Paul as to simply try and get their children to say some sort of "sinner's prayer."   Rather, they are given the responsibility to nurture their children's faith in Christ. 

In v. 4 Paul speaks of bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.  "To discipline" or "to nourish," which is similar to "instructing," refers to the training or shaping of someone positively, much like an athlete, who trains or disciplines his body.  Sometimes we refer to this activity as Christian "discipleship."  Literally, Paul is instructing the parents to "disciple" or "nurture" their covenant children in their faith in Christ. 

The promise then is:  as the covenant children humbly submit to their parent's loving nourishment of their faith with the gospel of Christ that they will enter into their eternal, heavenly inheritance in Christ.     

This is why parents must be careful not to invoke evil passions in their children by the severity, injustice, partiality, or unreasonable exercise or abuse of authority.  The Christian parent who is being filled by the Spirit with the fullness of Christ must also learn to be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.  He or she must learn to submit their fleshly wills in their service to their children in Christ. 

How does the Christian parent humbly serve or subject themselves to their children in the fear of Christ?

In v. 4, the phrase "of the Lord" is similar to Paul's usage in 3:19 where we noted that Paul is not speaking of "our" personal love for Christ, but to Christ's love for us.  Similarly, Paul is not simply saying that the children of the covenant are to be brought up in "our" discipleship and instruction "about" the Lord Jesus, but rather that this is "the Lord's" discipleship and instruction of our children.  In other words, Paul says that the Christian parents to whom God has given children are God's instruments, mediators if you will, through whom He Himself is discipling, nurturing the covenant children in the gospel of Christ.   

Again, remember that Paul is speaking directly to those who are being filled by God's Spirit with the fullness of Christ and who display this transforming work by being subject to one another in the fear of Christ. 

Therefore, the promise that Paul is giving to Christian parents and their covenant children is that:   (1.) as the Christian parents subject or submit themselves in loving service to their children to be used as God's instruments of nurturing or discipling their children in their faith in Christ and (2.) as Christian children lovingly submit or subject themselves to that Christian nurture by continually growing in their knowledge and faith in the gospel of Christ then (3.) it is through that gospel-centered nurturing "in the Lord" that they will enter into the eternal fulfillment of their heavenly inheritance in Christ.

Amen!

-SDG-