ONE | POWER (EPH. 6:1-9)

Speaker: Pastor Tristan Sherwin

'As Paul has said, to all believers, at the very top of this argument, we are to ‘Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved [us] and gave himself [for us] … ‘ (Eph. 5:1).

That’s the example.

Paul is saying that anything that doesn’t look like Jesus’ use of power is to be ruled out. You cannot appeal to your position and status in society to justify it.

Paul is nowhere in this text condoning abuse. Anyone who uses this text to demand submission over anyone is sinfully misusing these verses.

Again, Paul’s not endorsing nor prescribing society’s distribution of power. He is not assigning power and status to men. Paul is addressing those who have status in their society and challenging them on the use of that power, saying it should be operated in a Christlike way.[xv]

The Roman world understood power as the ability to exercise authority over somebody else. But Jesus does something utterly different with power. Jesus possesses all authority and yet uses it to serve.'

Tristan shares his full notes on his own blog. You can read the full message here: ONE | POWER (EPH. 6:1-9)