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Guest (Female): This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us today. Here at Connect with Skip, we're passionate about helping you understand God's word and apply it to your everyday life through clear, practical Bible teaching. That's why we invite you to sign up for Pastor Skip's free weekly devotional. You'll receive biblical encouragement, ministry updates, and exclusive ministry content, all delivered right to your inbox. Signing up is quick, easy, and completely free. Visit connectwithskip.com today. That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.

Skip Heitzig: Paul said, "I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God." I've wanted to model that. I don't feel that I could ever tell a church that I've given you the whole counsel of God unless I've taught through the entire Bible. We have done that a few times. We are currently going back and forth from the Old to the New Testament and, God willing, we're going to finish the book of Colossians.

Chapter four is a short chapter. I'm going to dip back into chapter three because I was gone for a week and I want to get a little bit of context, plus we sort of left off at verse 17 of chapter three. But to remind you, the grand theme of this book is the preeminence of Jesus Christ, or to put it another way, that He is superior to everything and everyone else.

Paul was writing against a group of people that had made their way into the church at Colossae telling them Jesus is a good start but only a step on the way to knowing the true God and "we're going to help you make more steps." So Paul prays for this church that they would understand that Jesus Christ is supreme over all creation, the firstborn of creation. That just means place of supremacy. That He is supreme over the church, that He is of all the people that have been resurrected, the most important one who has been raised from the dead. Therefore, He deserves that place of preeminence.

But on a practical note, all that theology as a base is important. But all of that aside, how does that theology make its way into my practical life? What does it mean on a practical level? How does the Christian demonstrate that this is the superior way to live with Jesus at the center? We are complete in Him, as Paul said in this book.

What evidence does our life really show? Paul would say, by the changes in your life, by the fact that you live a transformed life. So if you go down to verse 12 of chapter three, just as a reminder: "Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering."

This language that he uses in this chapter, put off, put on. Put off the old man, put on the new man and, in particular, put on these graces, these characteristics of a redeemed nature. He's basically saying this: You are chosen by God, you are picked by God. Act like you are picked by God. If you've been blessed, then get dressed with these graces, with these characteristics that he lists here. These are the evidences of the superiority of just having Jesus as enough at the center of one's life.

If you go down to verse 17, he says, "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus." The idea of a person's name back then was his reputation, his character. All that he is is embodied by his name. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name, or according to the nature, or according to the character of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Now, Paul in the following verses, verse 18 to the end of the chapter, gives the shortest marriage seminar in history. He just cuts to the chase and gives almost like a one-word summation or a one-sentence summation of the roles of wife and husband, parent, child in the home. Now he will elaborate on this in the book of Ephesians. He did elaborate on that. He wrote more details about that. Here he sums it up.

Toward the end of the book, I'm going to show you why these two are probably related: Ephesians and Colossians. Two separate letters, but why are they related? And perhaps why Paul here just writes in summary form. Of course, I love that about scripture and about truth. It's not complicated. Do you remember in school KISS? What does that mean? Keep it simple, stupid.

Paul is saying KISS: Keep it simple, saints. The saints of God, the church of God, should be able to reduce things to their irreducible minimum so that it's understandable. So we launch into the shortest marriage seminar and here it is: Verse 18. "Wives, submit to your own husbands as is fitting in the Lord."

I know them's fighting words in some circles, but not in Christian circles. Because in Christian circles, we understand this has nothing to do with superiority. This has everything to do with functionality. For a wife to submit to her husband doesn't mean that the husband is intellectually superior or emotionally superior or whatever. It's purely functionality.

Somebody needs to call the shots in the home. There needs to be an order for things to flow smoothly and there's a lot of reasons for that. We have detailed those reasons in other places, but let me tell you why it's functionality over superiority. In First Corinthians chapter 11, Paul said, "I want you to know, brethren, that the head of every man is Christ. The head of woman is man and the head of Christ is God, God the Father."

Now does that imply that God the Father is superior to God the Son? No. That would be heresy to say yes. Jesus is divine, He is God. He is the second person of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is not inferior to the Father, but functionally He submitted Himself. He poured Himself out. That's what we discovered in the book of Philippians. He emptied Himself of not deity but of the prerogatives of deity. So He surrendered, He submitted to the will of the Father as is fitting.

So "wives, submit to your own husbands as is fitting in the Lord." Of course, if your husband is telling you to do things that are unbiblical, that are immoral—"Honey, I don't want you to read your Bible. Sweetheart, you cannot go to church. And I'd like you to get drunk with my friends on the weekends"—you say no. I am not going to submit to that. Why? Because that's not fitting in the Lord and that's the qualification.

Wives, submit to your own husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives. The word agape, agapao. It's the selfless, self-sacrificial love, the divine highest kind of love. "Love your wives and do not be bitter toward them" or harsh toward them. Now the word husband is a great word. It comes from an ancient word that means a tiller of the ground, a cultivator.

If you know the King James Version of the Bible, in John chapter 15, Jesus said—and this is how it's translated in the King James—"I am the true vine, you are the branches. My Father is the husbandman" or the cultivator, the farmer, the tiller of the ground, the vinedresser as the New King James says. So the idea of a husband in a marriage is one who cultivates the relationship, is the tiller of the ground.

Somebody once said a happy man marries the girl he loves. A happier man loves the girl he marries. That's a cultivator. That's one who continually gives and tills that ground. So wives submit functionality, husbands love unconditionally, sacrificially, as Christ loved the church. Paul will illustrate that in Ephesians.

Now for children. "Children," and the word here is techna. Techna was a term that referred to children, typically young children. Children who lived at home still with their parents. Of course, these days that might be up to 30 years of age. But back then, it was the younger children who are submitting in the home.

He says, "Children, techna, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord." I do believe that even when a child leaves home, there may not be the same kind of obedience in all things, but there still must be an honor. You honor your father and your mother and that never ends. Even Jesus illustrated that. He was hanging on a cross in what would normally be a very self-absorbed act of dying, crucifixion, excruciating pain. But He took time to make sure that His mother was taken care of. "Mother, behold your son. Son, John the Apostle, behold your mother. Take care of my mom, make her as your mother." He was honoring his father and mother, showing love.

Guest (Female): You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Every day friends like you help connect people around the world to the life-changing truth of God's word through clear, verse-by-verse Bible teaching. Our world constantly tells us we need something more. But the book of Colossians reminds us that everything we truly need is found in Jesus Christ. That's the heart of Pastor Skip's resource, Expound Colossians. As he walks verse-by-verse through this powerful New Testament book, you'll discover why Christ is supreme over all things, how to recognize truth in a world full of competing voices, and what it means to live each day firmly rooted in Him. We'll send Expound Colossians as our thanks when you give $50 or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com/offer. Now, let's return to today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.

Skip Heitzig: The word obey is a very interesting word here: hupakouo. Hupakouo is a word that means children, listen under your parents. Listen under your parents. My dad would always make sure I was listening. "Skip, did you hear what I just said? What did I just say?" He wanted to make sure that I was listening under him. And that's why to this day, I was listening, because I can repeat to this day verbatim many of the lessons he taught me because he would say them over and over and over again.

I wasn't always good at obeying in all things. Now if you're a child and you are at an age where maybe you think the advice or the counsel, the commandments of your parents aren't as wise as you are, and you are saying, "Why should I obey my parents in all things?" First, let me give you three reasons. Number one, you are expensive. That's why. Your parents sacrifice an enormous amount of their money just to have you in this world, on this earth, feeding you, sending you to school, making sure you're involved in sports, activities, et cetera, getting you married. You cost a boatload of money.

But there's a better reason. Number two, it is well-pleasing to the Lord. That's what it says here. When you obey, you are listening under, you are functionally surrendering to your parents according to the order of God. This is well-pleasing to the Lord.

And let me give you a third reason. It's foundational. It's foundational. A parent and a child relationship in a home is a foundational relationship. If the child does not listen or obey parents at home, they're going to have a very difficult time obeying employers at work or obeying policemen in their city and law enforcement. It is foundational for the rest of one's life. We learn surrender and submission within the home.

So wives submit, children obey. He continues, "Fathers, do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged." Don't provoke, hassle, endanger the future of your children lest they become discouraged. How could a father provoke his child so that they get discouraged? A few ways: Hypocrisy, saying one thing, living another way. You know, we listen to our parents but we also watch them to see if they live up to what they say.

A second way would be inconsistency among siblings. "Boy, you treat me this way but you don't treat my older brother this way or my younger sister that way." So inconsistency. Being overly critical. I often felt that my father was overcritical with his kids and that was discouraging at times. I wanted to make sure that I would learn from that in raising my son. Favoritism of one child over another one kind of fits in with inconsistency.

All that could discourage a child. So "fathers, do not provoke your children." Now why is he writing to fathers and not mothers? Not because mothers don't have authority, they're the ones that typically raise the children, even in this ancient culture. But again, this is speaking of functionality in the home. The buck stops with him.

And from my experience, my father was much sterner than my mother. If I wanted a sympathetic ear, I didn't go to my father. I did go to my mother. And also, a male voice when they are angry, though my mother could get angry and she would show it, but boy, that booming voice of my father was enough to shake and discourage one.

He continues, verse 22: "Bondservants," or slaves, "obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice as men-pleasers but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality."

There was slavery in the Roman Empire. And some people in reading the New Testament have wondered and faulted Paul or the other apostles for not standing out against it. Why didn't they seek to abolish slavery? Why didn't they organize petitions to sign against the Roman government or tell slaves to rebel and revolt like our modern civil rights movement? And there is never in the New Testament a time where Paul says that they should do that. In fact, I'm going to show you a case, hopefully we're going to finish the chapter tonight, and I'll show you a case where that is so.

But they didn't seek to abolish it. Why? Let me give you a few quick reasons. Number one, it was part of the social fabric of the Roman Empire that predated Christianity by a long shot. It was such a part of the fabric of the Roman Empire that it is estimated one out of every three people in the Roman Empire were slaves. And in some estimates, as many as 40 percent of the entire population of the Roman Empire were slaves.

Reason number two, the early church had no political power whatsoever. They were a minority. They had no power. You couldn't vote one Caesar out and another Caesar in. For them to push the slaves to rebel and form an insurrection would have reduced Christianity to a mere social gospel and would have robbed it of the impact it had in changing people's lives. And by the way, it did change people's lives. Some masters, some people who owned slaves themselves came to Christ. One of them is mentioned in the Bible, a man by the name of Philemon. And his slave Onesimus who is going to be mentioned in this chapter.

There's a third reason why Paul doesn't tell them to rebel, nor does he seek to abolish slavery. Because I think Paul knew that the problem is never with the system, it's always with the people. Yes, people make up the system, but the problem is not with the system, it's with the hearts of the people. So you can have the right system in place but the wrong people running that system, even in a democracy or a constitutional republic like ours. You can also have a wrong system but you can have the right people. Makes all the difference.

So the problem is never with the system, it's always with the people themselves. So he tells the slaves, basically, the bondservants, be the best servant you possibly can in the name of Christ, as if you are serving Christ. Because after all, we are all slaves of Christ, Romans chapter six. Whatever you do, verse 23, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of inheritance. Slaves never got an inheritance, but they would get an eternal inheritance. For you serve the Lord Christ. But if you do wrong, you'll be repaid for what you have done and there is no partiality.

Now, you are not slaves. If you have employment, you work for an employer. So let's take the principle and apply it in that regard. Obey your employers. Work hard at your job. The best witness as a worker is to be the best worker in the company.

I remember when I went to apply for a job and this verse was in my mind. I was a Christian, a young Christian. I was getting a job at a radiology department in Westminster, California. I was hoping to. I applied for the job, I had an interview, gave them my resume. And I could tell that I was going to be passed over because the one who interviewed me said, smile very politely, "Thank you very much. We'll let you know."

And I was about to walk out and I turned around and I said, "Last word. If you hire me, I'll be the best worker in this entire department." You know, I thought it's worth a shot. And I was thinking of this verse. And he looked at me and he said, "You got the job." Then I walked away going, oh man. Now I have to perform, right? I have to indeed be the best worker they have in this department. I gotta show up on time, I can't leave early, I have to be very responsible, go out of the way to show that I'm worthy of that.

But I've discovered that when you have a job, whatever job, whatever employment you have, that can become your pulpit. You can reach people in such a way that the unbelieving world thinks there's something to the Christian faith because of this worker that I've hired or because of the way he or she interacts with the public.

Now he continues in verse one of chapter four. And by the way, chapter three should have ended with verse one of chapter four. This is one of those mistakes. Now you're saying, "Are you saying the Bible is not inerrant?" No. The Bible never had chapters and verses until the mid-1200s, when the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton, decided let's give it chapters and verses so people can find their way around the books. And so that was put in. And this, with all due respect to the Archbishop of Canterbury, this was a mistake. Chapter three should have ended with verse one of chapter four: "Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven."

Guest (Female): Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Now, here's how to pre-order an exciting resource from Pastor Skip that's coming next month. Have you ever wanted to understand the Bible better but felt overwhelmed by where to begin? In Soaring Above It All, Pastor Skip Heitzig guides you through the big picture of scripture in short daily devotionals designed to help you better understand God's word. Pre-order your copy of Soaring Above It All today wherever books are sold.

Before we go, remember, your generosity helps share God's word with people around the world through clear, verse-by-verse Bible teaching. And this month when you give $50 or more, we'll send you Expound Colossians as our thanks. In this five-message study, Pastor Skip explores one of the Bible's clearest pictures of the supremacy of Jesus Christ and shows how being rooted in Him changes the way you live every day. Give today at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzig.