Colossians 3:18–4:1

This is another section of Colossians. It deals with particular relationships that connect not with the new creation, but with the first creation. All believers have a vital part in the new creation. But that does not free them from the responsibilities of earthly relationships, no matter how much we enjoy the new creation. In fact, such enjoyment should make us all the more diligent and faithful in these temporary relationships.

God's arrangements are never lop-sided. If there is a word of instruction and guidance for those who have the subject place, there is equally a word for those who take the lead. In each case the Spirit of God puts His finger on the weak spot. The husband is urged to love. Mere natural love can easily turn to bitterness, but this can never happen when his love is a reflection of the divine. If the husband is marked by love the wife has no difficulty in being subject.

They are to love their wives. Let them make no excuse for not doing so! They are not told to enforce their wives' submission, but real love for the wife would encourage her submission... His bitterness will certainly not encourage either her love or her submission to him.

The wife needs no urging to love her husband. It is assumed that her affections are all right there. But a husband might well let anxiety and the outward pressure of life so occupy him that he takes too little care of his wife, or too little interest in her worries... The wife necessarily depends on her husband. She leaves father, mother and all, and leans on him in a special way. If he is not watchful, he may fail in thoughtful love and in the attention of every day. He may not guard his temper enough, which seems to be what is meant by being "bitter."

You might think that if the love were secured, there would be no room left for the bitterness. But is it so in the actual experience of life? Many a husband truly loves his wife, and still drops hasty words in moments when he is off guard, out of the presence of God. Such words are as bitter as gall to a tender heart. The aim of the warning seems to be constant self-judgment, so that the husband may avoid anything that might fret or irritate the spirit of his wife.

The husband comes home after a day of contact with this evil world. Others may have handled him roughly, or disappointed him, or deceived him. He arrives with a ruffled and soured temper (if he has not kept his Christian balance through grace), and he is prone to forget the divine instruction... The Spirit of God does not tell him, "You ought to love your wife, and if you don't, you are the most inconsistent Christian." Instead, He puts Christ and His love before the husband as the motive power: "as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her."

Husbands are told to love their wives, and not to be bitter against them. This last point stands in contrast to Adam. Love would shelter a wife and take the blame for her, rather than let a bitter spirit lay the blame on her. "She gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate," said Adam. This is the deed of the old man. The new man is renewed after the image of Christ, and He loved the church and gave Himself for it.

We come to these special instructions for the family circle through the instructions addressed to the Christian circle. Are we right in the Christian circle? Are we seeking the things above? Are we putting to death the members of the flesh? Have we in practice put off the old man and put on the new, so that the grace, love, and peace of Christ mark us? Then we shall be ready to carry out the family relationships rightly.

The same thing may be done either for self or for Christ. You may, for example, obey your parents to please yourself, or to please Christ. The second is showing godliness at home. The spirit of Christ then shows in all your relationships as a son or daughter, and the whole household can see it.

Here too it is stated in absolute terms. We know that elsewhere there are landmarks to guard us. Clearly neither a father nor a husband has any right to insist on what is contrary to the Lord. But here the apostle assumes agreement. What the Apostle urges is that the children should obey their parents in all things. And how good is obedience!

Only let your obedience be in the Lord, that is, not against His own Word. The obligations connected with our heavenly relationship must always be paramount. So the "in all things" of Colossians is completed in Ephesians by the words "in the Lord." Otherwise the subtle flesh and self-will in the child might use the duty of obedience in its earthly relationship to cover up disobedience to another divine command. And for the same reason, the "in the Lord" of Ephesians has its necessary completing addition in Colossians. Otherwise a child might appeal to its heavenly relationship (under the plea of "conscience," that is, without the Word) to cover disobedience in the earthly one.

Children must be very careful not to plead this exception in doubtful cases. They should be very sure that the parent's command really does oppose the Lord's claims before they dare to refuse obedience... So parents are absolute in their own circle — the circle God has described. But that circle sits inside a larger one, where the Lord Himself is supreme.

Here the principle is unhesitating submission to the authority of parents. That authority is of God, and such obedience is to be recognised as well pleasing in the Lord. Ephesians brings forward the righteousness of the obedience; here it is its moral beauty and good pleasure.

"Well pleasing to the Lord" would point us simply to the Lord as the One who accepts this obedience. "Well pleasing in the Lord" goes a great deal farther. The Christian is conscious of the Lord's love now, and of His interest in all his ways and trials day by day.

Walking in obedience, children would show something of the beautiful character of Christ. In the days of His flesh He was "subject" to His parents (Luke 2:51).

Postponed obedience is often disobedience in one of its worst forms, and it shows both insubjection and self-will. As soon as the command is given, the obligation is binding. Every moment of delay (unless the parent allows it) asserts and prolongs opposition to his authority.

The apostle also brands disobedience to parents as one of the characteristic signs of the perilous times of the last days (2 Tim. 3:1-2), and of great moral corruption (Rom. 1:30). Even a slight acquaintance with life shows this plainly: the first step in a downward career has often begun with disobedience to parents.

Verses 18 to 21 give practical instructions about the natural relationships God has set up: wives, husbands, children, and fathers. Christianity brings us into relationships higher than the relationships of earth. But it does not set aside the natural relationships while we are still in the body. God set them up, the Lord approved them, and the Christian is to respect them.

This is only one line in my Greek Testament, but how much that one line holds! "Fathers, do not stir up your children, so that they may not be disheartened." The word for stir up (or provoke) also appears in 2 Cor. 9:2, and nowhere else in the New Testament. God our Father is the God of all Encouragement, and we are not to do anything that will dishearten, or discourage, our children. Our character towards them is to be the same as our Father's character towards us: Encouragement.

What a word for the "Fathers" this is! How many sides of the child's character it touches! There is the danger of his losing heart. There is losing courage too. And there is the stirring up of the child's temper, and of that will of his that is so hard to control.

This is an important instruction to fathers. We can provoke our children by sinful behaviour, when we want to show that we are the master of the house. We can provoke them by demanding far too much of them. And we can provoke them if we do not give them more freedom when they grow up and need to live a life of their own.

So with the fathers, they are not to provoke or vex their children. Discipline is necessary and good. But if love does not control it, discipline can go too far and become irritating, and leave the child completely discouraged.

Fathers must be careful not to use their authority just as they please. Unjust punishment drives away the child's love. Needless fault-finding disheartens the child. Fathers are to show that perfect wisdom of Christ, who knew how to correct His disciples and keep their love (Luke 22:24-30).

Children's eyes see fast, and their young hearts feel deeply. Even while being corrected, they sense whether love, or anger and temper in the parent, is applying the rod. In the second case, the corrective instrument will do anything but correct. Wrath provokes wrath. Then every stroke of the rod will drive the precious child further and further away. It will turn his poor heart away from the parent, instead of drawing him nearer to you.

"Lest they should be discouraged." How easy it is to discourage children, and especially to discourage them from the right ways of the Lord. They have keen and tender feelings. They observe fast and spot inconsistency at once. So harsh government can very soon undo years of patient teaching, and spoil the most careful efforts to bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

It is written, "Children, obey your parents in everything." And with beautiful balancing power it is also written, "Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged." … In short, the child must be taught to obey. But the obedient child must be allowed to breathe an atmosphere of tenderness, and to walk up and down in the sunshine of parental affection. This is the spirit of Christian education.

It seems that masters and slaves were no part of the creation order. So you might expect Christianity to ignore such arrangements, or even to ban them. It does neither. Christianity does not approve slavery and does not condemn it, because the work of grace is not to "set itself to change the state of the world, and of society". Its great purpose is to call a people out of the world to Christ, and to bring them into new and heavenly relationships.

The command is absolute in every one of these cases in Colossians. It is not so in Ephesians, which brings in more of a guard. I think this is because the Ephesians were in a happier and better state. They needed the limits of the duty rather than the pressure of it. The Colossians needed to be urged to obey… Strange to say, you will always find self-will keeping company with a spirit of rule-keeping. There is never true obedience without the power of grace.

A slave suddenly found himself a brother to his master. If he did not watch himself, he would soon start to judge his master, weighing whether he ought to say this or do that. If his master blamed him for anything, he might think his master had acted in a hard, unspiritual way… Yet a man ought to do everything better after he knows Christ than before. The idea that a Christian master should put up with badly done work, just because he is a Christian, is all selfishness.

As the very name suggests, the servant's first duty is obedience… and, as with children, the obedience called for is almost unlimited. The one limit lies in what they owe the Lord above all. Scripture does not state this outright, but it clearly implies it when it says they serve the Lord Christ. (Col. 3:24.)

Verse 22 speaks to slaves, yet the principle applies also to employees and students at school. If even slaves are to obey, then those who are well paid have far more reason to obey… Their obedience is not to be "eye service" — work done only while the master is watching. They are to work as people who are always under the eye of God, in sincerity of heart, which is the opposite of a double life, and moved by the true fear of God.

They are not to plan and plot to cast off their chains and assert their rights. They are not to give way to sour, sullen and revengeful feelings. Instead they are to become models of faithful, hard-working service… Even in the extreme case of slavery, unrighteousness in the master would not excuse unrighteousness in the servant.

The noun "singleness" (or "simplicity") appears more often. Ephesians 6:5 and Colossians 3:22 speak of singleness of heart, and 2 Corinthians 1:12 and 11:3 of simplicity before God and before Christ. It is a heart marked by love and trust, simple and undivided. It will not let any sin spoil our relationship with our Lord and our God and Father — not doubt, and not wrong hidden motives.

The words "with fear and trembling" do not in the least imply any slavish fear of men. Such service could not be done "in singleness of heart," nor "unto Christ"… There are two motives for service given here. The first is the purest and the highest: the fear of the Lord and affection for His blessed Person, who as a servant has set us such an example in everything that is good and for the glory of God.

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men" (Col. 3:23). Paul wrote these words to people who were slaves. A slave's life could be hard, depending on what the master was like. Either way, Paul urged them to work heartily. They had an earthly master, but they were to look up to their Master in heaven. They were to please Him. Paul puts a remarkable dignity on these slaves when he writes, "you are serving the Lord Christ." Slavery as Paul knew it may no longer exist. But the Christian employee still owes the same hearty service, as to the Lord.

But do not be so taken up with serving an earthly master. Remember, "you are serving the Lord Christ." This will make you all the more willing to obey your earthly master. You will do whatever you do heartily — not just because it is right, but with your heart in it.

Verse 23, though addressed especially to slaves, may be taken to heart by every believer. What a difference it makes to our whole life if we do everything heartily to the Lord, and not grudgingly or unwillingly!

"Not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers." The eye is not to be on the face of the master. If it is, the temptation will be to please him, and so to become a man-pleaser. The smallest duty loses its value before God if we do it for men instead of for Him.

What then is given as a safeguard against this people-pleasing eye-service? The uplifting thought that we serve the Lord Christ. Our work is for the eye of the Lord in heaven, not only for the eye of the master on earth. Even the dull, hard work of the lowest slave should still be done for the Lord of all.

What a happy thing it is to know that our God stoops to link His name and His glory with the humblest duties of ordinary daily life! This gives dignity, interest and freshness to every little act, from morning till night. "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men." Here lies the precious secret of the whole matter. It is not working for wages, but serving the Lord Christ, and looking to Him to receive the reward of the inheritance.

How it brightens and beautifies the daily round of duty to be looking for the approval of Christ! Think what a difference it makes to writing up a ledger, planing a stubborn plank, or learning a hard verb. Our loving, patient Lord stands at our elbow to notice our efforts and reward our hard work.

So the Lord puts servants in His own presence. They are the servants of Christ. They are to do the will of God from the heart, and to fix their eye on the Lord alone. Remembering this is the secret of all happy, cheerful service and of all true obedience. It also sets them free from what their masters are like.

Service of any kind is only done as it deserves to be done for the Lord when the eye looks on to the end of the path. The Lord Christ pays good wages. He even pays a bonus at the end of the path of service — the reward of the inheritance.

The word for "reward" here is not the ordinary one so translated. It occurs only here in the New Testament, though often in the Greek translation of the Old. It means recompense, with the underlying thought of compensation. You can feel how well it fits: grace would light up the otherwise hard condition of the Christian slave, from verse 22 onwards.

Do not be so taken up with serving an earthly master. Remember, "you serve the Lord Christ." Then you will be all the more subject to your earthly master. You will do whatever you do heartily — not just because it is right, but with heart.

There is no disgrace in being a slave of Jesus Christ. His service is so dignified that the lowliest task becomes an honoured privilege to those who know that they "serve the Lord Christ."

What encouragement for a poor slave, if trampled on here and denied his rights as a man, to know that God looked on him and thought of him! And in the day of Christ's glory God would give him openly his position and his inheritance, owning him as one of His sons. In many a difficulty and trial it would help him to remember this: in serving his earthly master well, he was serving the Lord Christ.

True service of any kind is only done as it deserves to be done for the Lord when the eye looks to the end of the path of service. The Lord Christ pays good wages. He even pays a bonus at the end of the path of service — the recompense of the inheritance. Just think of it. He is destined to take up that glorious inheritance in the day of His coming glory, and we are going to share it with Him.

There are two motives for service given here. The first is the chief one, because it is the purest motive. It is the fear of the Lord and affection for His blessed Person. As a servant He has set us such an example in everything that is good and for the glory of God. This is what comes first: doing service heartily, as to the Lord, "fearing the Lord" (the correct reading in Colossians 3:22), and serving the Lord. The second motive for service is a "reward," which, in our character as "servants" of Christ, is quite a proper motive.

All service, whatever its character, is done in responsibility to the Lord; and here lies the encouragement. His eye is on the faithful servant. He marks all his discouragements, trials and sorrows. He sustains him by His present approval, and by the prospect of "the reward of the inheritance" which he will receive at last from the hands of his Lord. For the time is not far off when He will settle accounts with all His servants.

In that coming day when accounts are settled, if not already now, the Lord will make it clear that He shows no partiality. Whoever does wrong, master or slave, will receive back the wrong he has done. So masters are to treat their slaves in the fear of the Lord, knowing that they themselves have a Master in heaven.

What encouragement for a poor slave who is trampled on here and denied his rights as a man! God looked on him and thought of him. In the day of Christ's glory God would give him his place and his inheritance in full view of all, owning him as one of His sons. ... Was he treated unjustly, when he had no protector on earth? The apostle reminds him that the wrongdoer would certainly reap the reward of his deeds.

Verse 25 warns that doing wrong would mean the servant reaping what he sowed — whether or not he felt his master's treatment justified it. No doubt the same would be true for the master, but that is no real comfort to the servant. God shows no partiality. No matter how great the wrong someone suffers, it never justifies doing wrong in return.

The apostle adds a remarkable word here: "the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality." I take this as covering both the present and the future, since it is a general principle.

"Whatever one sows, that will he also reap." But this is not grace; it is government. Still it is true of a saint as well as of a sinner. God deals with His people in both ways now: in grace, and in righteous government. I will never reap the reward of my sins in eternal blessedness, for that is infinite grace. But under His righteous government I will reap the reward of my wrongdoing here on earth.

The grace that has delivered us from judgment should shape our ways more powerfully than the fear of that judgment. And more than that, we must remember this: as sinners we are delivered from judgment and wrath, yet as servants we must give account of ourselves and our ways. The question is not whether men, angels, or devils see us here or there. No — "we must give account to God."

Even a Christian master might forget that social distinctions, though recognised and approved on earth, have no existence in Christ's judgment. Master and servant will all answer to Him. ... The law might give the injured servant no remedy. Yet the master is reminded of another court, where he must stand and where his treatment of his servant will be judged. It will be judged not by human laws, but by the standard of Him who is holy, Him who is true.

There is no reason for a chapter division here. The responsibility of masters is tied closely to that of servants, which we have seen would include employers and employees, or teachers and students. A believing master must be completely impartial in caring for the needs of his servants, giving them what is just and fair (v.1). What is just is what is right as before God. What is fair is what does not favor one above another.

The word "just" shows a sense of what is right. Grace would not have fitted here, because it would have left the door open more or less. Justice holds obligations in place. … Masters are told to be just and equal, and this recognises real responsibilities they had toward their slaves. Masters, do not imagine that all the duty is on one side; you have yours toward your slaves. This is often forgotten, and it seems implied in the word "just." And "equal" forbids favouritism.

A Christian master and mistress will act as far as they grasp two things: in their consciences, the authority of their Master in heaven, and in their hearts, His goodness and kindness. Then they will "do the same things" to their servants that they wish their servants would do to them. They will give their servants "that which is just," as a matter of conscience towards Christ. And not only what is just, but also what is "equal" (or "fair"), as a matter of the heart in kindness.

Servants have a claim upon their masters for this. What is just and equal will cover both treatment and wages. They are shut in to their masters and especially dependent on them, with no appeal against their treatment… Their very position gives them a claim upon their masters for what is just and equal. So they can leave themselves in their masters' hands with confidence, fully sure that their interests will be considered and guarded.

In the third case, that of the masters, the leading thought is not love but righteousness. Every Christian master should keep asking himself about his servants, "What is just? What is fair?" And he is to remember that he himself is a servant, with his Master in the heavens — a Master who has laid it down that "with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

It seems the existence of masters and slaves was never part of the creation order. So you might expect Christianity to ignore such arrangements among men, or even to ban them. But it does not. Christianity neither approves nor condemns slavery, because it is not the work of grace to "set itself to change the state of the world, and of society". Its great purpose is to call a people out of the world to Christ, bringing them into new and heavenly relationships.

You can never demand or claim grace. In writing the letter to Philemon, the Apostle brings motives of grace to bear on the case. He does not dictate what Philemon was to do. He reminds him of his heavenly relationship and leaves it to Philemon's grace. The runaway slave could rightly have been put to death… yet the Apostle would have Philemon receive him back, no longer as a slave, but as a brother.