Instructions Concerning Children and Bondservants (6:1-9).
‘Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honour 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.'
Children are to obey their parents ‘in the Lord'. Obedience to parents is therefore an obligation to Christ. That is as long as they do not tell them to do something that is clearly against God's declared will. This is then enforced by reference to the ten commandments.
‘The first commandment with promise.' Honour your father and mother is the first commandment where reward is promised for obedience. The words following the second commandment are a more general statement. Note that both father and mother are given authority. The reward for this will on the whole tend to a long life. The rebellious will often find their lives cut short as a result of their behaviour. This command is more needed today than at any time in history.