Scripture: Ephesians 5:15-6:9

Aim: To help the pupil understand God’s will for men, women, children, masters and servants. To follow His will results in great blessings and personal peace.

Golden Text: “Wherefore, be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in you heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:17-20).

Many persons have the wrong idea of the results of surrender to God and dedication to doing His will in their lives in this world. One incorrect idea is that “If I surrender my all to God and dedicate myself to doing His will, I will miss all the fun that is in this life.”

Another is that “If I give myself to God I will have to do lots of things that I do not want to do.”

Still another is that “If I turn away from my sinful ways to Christ, I cannot live the Christian life. I will fail.”

The results of surrender to God and dedication to doing His will, to the contrary of the things above, will result in personal peace and a satisfaction in life, along with a fulfillment of the individual as a person. Man can only be complete by doing God’s will in Jesus Christ.

I. The personal relationship with God is most important of all relationships (Ephesians 5:17-20). Look at the “Golden Text” above. We are instructed to know what the will of the Lord is. His will is revealed in the Bible.

Second, we are not to be controlled by alcohol, but by the Holy Spirit of God. He comes into the believer to live when a person receives Christ as Savior. He is also the author of the Holy Scriptures; therefore, He always leads according to the Bible, never contrary to it.

Third, we are to exercise ourselves with speaking and singing from within the heart to the glory of the Lord.

Fourth, we are to be constantly thanking God for all the things that He has richly blessed us with because of the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did for us on the cross. We each need to be properly related to God through faith in Jesus Christ. That relationship is vital.

II. There is to be a submitting of ourselves to one another in the fear of God (Ephesians 5:21). Along with being saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, we must develop a “fear” of God. This fear has three basic components. One, it is based upon knowing that God is truly God. Second, it is based upon submission to God to live according to His will. Third, determine to obey the will of God in relationships with others.

This fear has to do with “reverence”; yet, one should be afraid to disobey God.

III. Wives and husbands should submit to live in God’s will for husband and wife (Ephesians 5:21-33). Here the wife is instructed to submit herself to her husband (vs. 22) as the church is submitted to Christ as Head of the church (vs. 24). The wife is instructed to “reverence” her husband (vs. 33). In this she is to honor her husband. She is to be a faithful and good “help mate,” remembering that she and her husband are “heirs together of the grace of God.”

The husband is instructed to exercise “headship” (not lordship) for the wife. He is the leader as Christ is the leader of the church (vs. 23-24). He should lead and guide the family under his submission to God and God’s leadership of himself. He is instructed to “love” his wife as Christ loved and gave Himself for the church. The husband is to have the welfare and care of the wife and children, if there are any, as a primary concern in his life (vs. 28-31).

IV. Children should obey the parents and servants the masters as unto the Lord (6:1-9). Parents should carefully love and train the children. Masters should be kind and generous to the servants, while servants should render faithful service. These things bring God’s blessings.