Rachel Workman: 5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. 6 Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. 7 Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 8 Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.
9 Masters, treat your slaves in the same
way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven,
and he has no favorites.
One of the fastest ways for a leader to divide his followers and lose their confidence is for the leader to play favorites and show partiality. We should treat everyone the same. I have no doubt God knew how hard this would be for us being human when he spoke it. The fruit of the Spirit is love. We are to love regardless.
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John Burnett: 5 Slaves, be obedient to those who are your [a]masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; 6 not [b]by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the [c]heart. 7 With good will [d]render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, All of our work should be done as we work for the LORD. This is not easy to do. 8 knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free. It is important that remember that Paul was writing to the true believers in Ephesus and thus it only applies to true born again believers today. Good deeds will condemn you if you think that they have anything to do with your salvation. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. Jesus plus a good work is not Christ alone and thus will not produce salvation.
9 And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him. In a leadership position, I work very hard to show no partiality and this verse is one of the reasons why.
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Tomorrow’s reading for Ephesians 6:10-17.
10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we[d] are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.[e] 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.[f] 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
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