One Household in Christ

In the first part of Ephesians 1:19, the Apostle Paul speaks of the fact that true believers are no longer “strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints.” In his wonderful way, Paul changes his metaphor in the latter part of the verse, and this one is even more significant, that they are of the household of God. There is a much greater intimacy in speaking of membership in a family than in citizenship in a nation. This in no way discounts our heavenly citizen­ship (Phil. 3:20), but even deeper and more personal is the fact that we are now in God’s family.

The depth of this is seen in the Greek for household, oikeios, which means “belonging to the house, member of the household.” The word from which it is derived, oikos (house, dwelling place), is truly ancient. It’s found as early as the Mycenaean period of Greek history (1600-1200 BC). It was also used in the metaphorical sense to denote “the family, the property, and other similar concepts connected with the house itself.”

This word is used exactly the same way in the New Testament. In the literal sense, we find it, for example, in Matthew 2:11, “And when [the wise men] were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him.” We also find it several times in the metaphorical sense, as when Jesus said, “A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house” (Matt. 13:57) and when Paul wrote that he had “baptized also the household of Stephanas” (I Cor. 1:16).

This etymology makes Paul’s point in our text marvelously clear—the Christian is a member of the household of God, His family, and enjoys the full fellowship of His house. As we saw in 2:6, we are already “[sitting] together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” This is why our Lord said to His disciples, “I go to prepare a place for you;” our place is already made and spiritually we are already there.

As Paul told the Galatian believers, “Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:6). But may we submit, there is something to be careful of here. As most Christians have heard at one time or another, “Abba” is the Aramaic word for “father,” or as commonly viewed as “Papa” or “Daddy.” There has, therefore, been the tendency to regard this word too flippantly, the result being an over familiarity with God where He in essence answers to us.

But “Abba” more precisely means, “My father,” “Father, my Father” or, “Dear Father.” The ancient Syriac Version of the New Testament (early second century) translates this term, “By which we call the Father our Father.” One writer well sums up: “At one time it was thought that since children used this term to address their fathers, the nearest equivalent would be the English term “Daddy.” More recently, however, it has been pointed out that Abba was a term not only that small children used to address their fathers; it was also a term that older children and adults used. As a result it is best to understand Abba as the equivalent of “Father” rather than “Daddy” (Robert H. Stein in Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible, p. 247).

The point then is that intimacy is clearly there, but so is respect for Who the Father is. This was, of course, the expression the Lord Jesus used as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:36), so both intimacy and respect are present. Yes, our Lord had an intimate relationship with the Father and made request of Him, but there was still respect and reverence as He came into submission to the Father’s will. This challenges us to be very careful not to barge into God’s presence demanding our desires. Some disagree with this principle and quickly quote Hebrews 4:16 (“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”), but “boldly” does not mean “presumptuously.” The literal idea of the Greek for “come boldly” (meta parresias) is “draw near with confidence [or] freedom of speech.” What does it mean to come boldly? It means to draw near with the confidence that God will listen, to come to Him and speak freely of our needs and desires, but it never means presumption or demand.