SCRIPTURE
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
OBSERVATION
A reliable indicator of a person being saved is not a past experience of receiving Christ but a present life that reflects Christ. “The one who says, I have come to know Him’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4). New creatures act like new creatures.
UNDERSTANDING
Chapters 1-3 Paul tells us who we are in Christ and how we got there. Having explained our position in Christ he now reminds us that there is a practice that comes with it. In chapter 4 he tells us that we are to no longer live the old way but we are to live in a manner befitting our new position. We are not robots who just react to divine impulses, for although God has made us new we are to bring our old nature under submission in the strength of the Spirit. Chapters 4-6 are Paul instructions in what our conduct should look like in this new life.
The family unit is one of those places where the redeemed life should show up. If we live according to the new nature then our families become a microcosm of God's love and grace. How wives and husbands get along. How parents and children relate with one another. Even how we respond to the servants or hired help is important. God's redeeming grace should be evident in all of those relationships.
It seems sad to me that as Christians our relationships with one another are so filled with the old life rather than the new. We walk around with bitterness and unforgiveness, anger, envy and backbiting. Are our family relationships (biological and spiritual) reflecting our new life and position in Christ?
LIFE APPLICATION
Lord I choose to bring my will under your authority. I want you to truly be the Lord of my life. Let my relationships with others reflect that I am under your rule and living like a child of Christ.