But the word came to be used for the nurture of body, mind, and soul. Bring them up: This ancient Greek word was originally used of bodily nourishment as in Ephesians 5:29. Parents are to raise their children on the Word of God.ĭ. Significantly, both training and admonition are used to describe the purpose of the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16 and 1 Corinthians 10:11). Admonition has more of the idea of teaching – both are necessary, though it may be significant that training comes first. It has the idea of training through corrective discipline. Training is the same word translated chastening in Hebrews 12:5-11. It is not a responsibility that should be left to the mother or the Sunday School. They must not neglect their responsibility to teach and be a spiritual example for their children. Encouragement and rebuke must be combined with training and teaching. Bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord: This does not mean merely scolding your children in the sense of admonition. “When you are disciplining a child, you should have first controlled yourself… What right have you to say to your child that he needs discipline when you obviously need it yourself?” (Lloyd-Jones)Ĭ. Provoke your children to wrath: This harsh kind of parenting Paul speaks against gives an unnecessary justification to a child’s natural rebellion. In a society where the father’s authority ( patria potestas) was absolute, this represented a revolutionary concept.” (Wood)ī. “The gospel introduced a fresh element into parental responsibility by insisting that the feelings of the child must be taken into consideration. But Christian parents should never be like this. Do not provoke your children to wrath: Parents certainly have the opportunity to provoke their children to wrath, through an unkind, over-critical attitude that torments the child instead of training them. (4) How parents walk in the light: not provoking their children to wrath.Īnd you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.Ī. But the Jews divided the commandments in two sets of five, seeing the law to honor your father and mother more as a duty towards God than a duty towards man. Christians have normally divided the Ten Commandments into the first four (directed towards God) and the last six (directed towards their fellow man). The first commandment with a promise: Paul reinforced this idea with a reference to Deuteronomy 5:16, where God promised to bless the obedient child. “When the bonds of family life break up, when respect for parents fails, the community becomes decadent and will not live long.” (Foulkes)Ĭ. The adult child does not owe the parent obedience, but they do owe the parent honor. What it means to honor our father and mother may change as we grow into adulthood, but the principle always endures. The second reason is because it is simply right for a child to obey their parent. This means that their obedience is part of their Christian obedience, in a similar way to the wife’s command to submit to her husband as to the Lord (Ephesians 5:22). In the Lord, for this is right: The apostle gives us two reasons for the child to obey the parent. Disobedience must be punished, so that obedience can be learned.ī. This is what all a parent’s discipline for a child must come to. It is essential that a parent teach the child obedience, so that the child will grow up knowing how to obey God even when he doesn’t understand everything or doesn’t want to. We don’t need to teach our children how to disobey because they have each inherited an inclination to sin from Adam – but obedience must be taught. This not only means that children have the responsibility to obey, but parents have the responsibility to teach their children obedience – one of the most important jobs for a parent. Children, obey your parents: The command is simple. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”Ī. (1-3) The Spirit-filled life and the parent-child relationship.Ĭhildren, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. The Spirit-filled life and two other special areas of submission.
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