Are we fathering from a place of inadequacy and fear or are we fathering from a place of confidence in the power of the gospel?
Paul’s vision for the full expression of church life, friendships, marriage, families, and employees is too often read and understood apart from everything Paul has said up to these chapters. Everything that Paul calls believers to live in Ephesians 4-6 is made possible by the manner in which believers are loved in Ephesians 1-3.
Without the foundation and paradigm of grace and love that Paul establishes in Ephesians 1-3, the latter half of his letter becomes a “to-do” list that condemns. As we believe that we are “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6), we become free at the heart level to engage in the grace of God without condemnation related to our failure or inadequacy.