Sermon Notes: The Christian Household

Background: Slaves  were  viewed  as  property.  They  were  able  to  sell  themselves  into  slavery, purchase  slaves for  themselvesearn  wages,  and  buy their  way out  of  slavery.  Slaves  could  come  from  any conceivable  background.  Some  slaves  were  doctors,  philosophers,  and  government  officials. For some,  slave  life  was  voluntary.  If  a  person  wanted  Roman  citizenship,  they  could  become  a slave  to  a  Roman  and  when  manumitted  gain  Roman  citizenship.  Slavery  was  not  a  racial matter,  rather  it  was  a  means  to  get  manual  labor  done.

Colossians 3:16–4:1 parallels Ephesians 5:18–6:9, except that the emphasis here is on being filled with the Word of God.

When the Word controls your life, you will be joyful (3:16), thankful (3:17), and submissive (3:18–4:1), and these are the same characteristics of the Spirit-filled Christian as explained in Ephesians 5:18–6:9. To be filled with the Spirit of God means to be controlled by the Word of God.

The Message

Colossians 3:18‭-‬25 NIV18 Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

  • The emphasis of the whole passage is on duties, not rights. The duties are reciprocal—i.e., not all the rights are on one side and all the duties on the other.
  • Submit: Wives are instructed to let husbands “Lead” but not to “Lord” over the family
  • Love: Husbands are instructed to lay down their lives (self interest) for the sake of the family
  • Obey: Children will “Do” what they “See”, not was you “Say”
  • Genesis 2:22‭-‬23 NIV Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”

21 Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

  • Proverbs 22:6 NIV Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.

  • Colossians 3:17 NIV And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.