14
(c)
Walk circumspectly (15,16).
These fifteen verses are replete with instruction for the present day. They are neglected to the shipwreck of faith.
They are written that we who have doctrinally been awakened from the dead may do so practically, and they say to
us:
`Awake, thou that sleepest, and ARISE FROM THE DEAD, and Christ shall give thee light'.
The walk socially
(3)
SOCIALLY.- Human society is three-fold, and every member of the One Body will fill one or more of these
relationships in life:
(a)
Wives and Husbands.
(b)
Children and Parents.
(c)
Servants and Masters.
The Church of the One Body in its different aspects is in view, particularly in the relations between husband and
wife. Wives submit, because the Church is subject unto Christ. Husbands love, because Christ loved the Church,
even to the extreme of giving Himself up for it.
Children cannot be regulated by that which would constrain adults. Children are not told to obey their parents
because of grace, or because of the truth of the One Body, but because it is right! and for their guidance the Law is
quoted. What a deal of anxiety and mismanagement would have been avoided had these simple words been taken as
a guide.
Fathers are warned not to provoke their children to wrath, but to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of
the Lord. Slaves even may bring the high doctrine of Ephesians 1 to 3 into their fettered service, and feel the chains
grow easier as they render their obedience `as unto Christ'. Masters also would temper the treatment of their slaves,
remembering that they also had a Master in heaven.
What a home that must be where the pattern is Christ and His Church! What feelings of amity and goodwill
would exist between employer and employed if only this truth were applied! Of course we do not dream for a
moment of applying these things to the godless world; such rules are only possible to those who have received the
calling.
Finally the fight
(4)
MARTIALLY.- `Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might' (Eph. 6:10). The
words are repeated from 1:19, `and what is the exceeding greatness of His power which He wrought in Christ'.
Nothing short of the power of His resurrection can avail in the conflict with the principalities and powers, the
spiritual wickednesses in the super-heavenlies.
This final section introduces the question of overcoming. It is the parallel with the faithful following of Caleb
and Joshua, who went up into the land where their blessings were, and overcame the wickednesses that clung to their
forfeited inheritance. We touch here, lightly, upon the great theme of Philippians, which will be separately dealt
with should occasion demand it. The link may be observed in 6:13, the words `having done all' being the same as
that rendered `work out' in Philippians 2:12.
CHAPTER 6
THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS
The two witnesses.
God has seen fit to confirm the testimony to the One Body under a double witness. The Epistle to the Ephesians
was written by `Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God', but Colossians was written by `Paul, an apostle