Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

Working as to the Lord (Ephesians 6:5-9)

Bryan Schneider · November 7, 2020

Ephesians 6:5-9

sharonrpc.org/sermons/working-as-to-the-lord

Summary

Paul addresses the lived reality of slavery in the Roman world without presenting slavery as an ideal or justifying race-based American chattel slavery, which the sermon explicitly condemns as sin.
The commands of Ephesians 6 flow from saving grace rather than earning it: Christians work faithfully because God has loved, redeemed, and created them for good works in Christ.
Bondservants are told to obey earthly masters sincerely as service to Christ, not merely when watched or in order to win human approval.
The sermon applies this principle to ordinary vocations, affirming that honest work in the classroom, shop, field, office, or home can be offered to God's glory.
Christian masters are forbidden to threaten and are reminded that they too answer to the impartial Master in heaven, overturning assumptions that status makes one person more valuable than another.
Believers serve a loving heavenly Lord who redeemed them from slavery to sin and made them heirs, giving gospel-shaped purpose to daily labor.

How does the sermon distinguish Paul's address to Roman slavery from an endorsement of slavery?
Why does the historical reality of American chattel slavery require explicit moral condemnation rather than evasion?
How does grace provide the foundation and motive for Christian work?
What is the difference between eye-service and sincere labor offered to Christ?
How does the passage give dignity and spiritual significance to ordinary vocations?
What responsibilities does Paul place on people who possess earthly authority?
How does the heavenly Master's impartiality reshape relationships between workers and those who direct their work?
What options for faithful action does the sermon recognize when an employer is harsh?

Bondservant: The translation used in the passage for a slave, a person under another's earthly authority in the Roman social order.
As to Christ: Working with one's ultimate attention fixed on the Lord, so that sincere earthly service is rendered to him.
Eye-service: Work performed only when someone is watching or merely to gain another person's approval.
Vocation: Ordinary lawful work understood as a sphere in which a Christian may serve and glorify God.
Impartiality: God's refusal to judge by wealth, status, or earthly rank; both workers and authorities answer to him.
Redemption: God's purchasing his people out of slavery to sin through Christ and bringing them into his household.