Ephesians 6:5–8 (NASB 95)
5 Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; 6 not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. 7 With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.
Examine / Explain
Bondservants are not what we know as slaves. But even if it were the same does that change the intent of this verse? Christ is above all and we are to live life with Him at the core. We serve at the pleasure of Christ and not men. And in any circumstance, we are to live as a true believer. We need to find our joy in Him and do our best to love our enemy and those who have authority over us. What is the heart of a man who is a slave or free?
What’s the application?
Christ wants a man’s heart to focus on Him at all times. We are bondservants of Christ. We are a slave to Christ and we are free in Him. So what good am I doing in life? Where is my heart? What are my motives throughout my day? I can quickly flip from serving and loving others to lifting myself above others. What do I get from this? How does this help me? Is that the way I would have done it? All the while I could still appear to be pleasing to others. I could appear that my actions are selfless but my motive is still about me. God knows my heart. Do I? I can instinctively lift myself and not have consciously done it. It’s in our human nature to put ourselves first. It’s when we lay down ourselves that we live as Christ that we lift others up. That’s when we live in the spirit and not according to the flesh. That’s why we serve those who rule over us with gladness in our hearts even when we disagree with them. How am I doing at being a bondservant? How am I obeying Christ’s commands in every aspect of my life? A bondservant chooses to stay with his master over going back to their old life. The life with the master is a “better one” than they had before. Am I living that choice daily? Do I choose my master over my flesh? How many times do I fail at it? How much do I succeed? Who’s keeping score? I don’t think God is. I think we do it to appear good enough. Good enough for who? Men? God? We can never be good enough. We can only accept His mercy, grace, and forgiveness. So my action should be out of gratitude and not trying to earn anything. Again my movements can flip in a second.
What’s my response?
Dad, keep my heart honest. Dare I say; expose and crush the parts of me that don’t align with You? Can I boldly ask you to search and know my heart? Am I willing to pay the cost of giving up fleshly desires to follow You? Isn’t that being a follower of Christ? I say yes. The issue is the tension between the sinner and the saint. We desperately try to hold on to tidbits of our old life because we love our sins. Salvation and grace are free, but discipleship and sanctification cost. We have to pay with pride, selfishness, and kingship. We are to lay on the altar everything of us that is not Christ and love others by serving them. Am I paying my dues? Am I doing it willingly? Am I sacrificing my pride with joy? Am I giving up my selfishness with gladness or is it begrudgingly? How’s my heart? What needs to change?
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