As to the Lord Part 3: The Submission of Children to Parents and Parents to God (Ephesians 6:1-4)

Act of Worship

Finally, in this section of text dealing with the family, the Apostle Paul gives instructions to children. Nonetheless, he does not negate the responsibility of parents in his instructions, for parents hold great responsibility in the development (especially the spiritual development) of children. A godly picture of the family includes all parties in the unit, which surely comprises children. While various ideas exist concerning the age Paul had in mind here, suffice it to say that a child may be considered one for whom a parent is responsible morally, ethically, and legally. Could that appear differently between cultures, societies, and contexts? Yes. Thus, each parent must determine those for whom they are responsible in such a manner and apply this text to those people.

Paul’s words in Ephesians 6:1-4 are positioned around obedience and honor with an overarching theme of doing what is right. The rightness of such attitudes is what constitutes behavior (i.e. Christians obey and honor God because it is right irrespective of personal feelings or sentiments). Furthermore, the God-ordained family structure is dependent on parents and children doing what is right in a broad sense: namely submitting to God by submitting to one another. A key difference in parental submission and the submission of children, however, is that the role of a child includes obedience to his or her parents. Adults do not necessarily have such a charge in every context.[1] From the text, three truths may be gleaned concerning children.

1. The motivation for obedience is the fact that it is right;

2. honor is a primary commandment concerning children toward their parents; and

3. authority brings up, not down.

These factors should offer a supreme example to families as to how children and parents should interact with one another in a godly manner.

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[1] This statement is meant to imply that obedience is not sometimes necessary for adults (e.g. adults should obey their employers and legal authorities).