So far we've seen how salvation ought to impact our homes, our marriages, and our children. And in today's passage, we see Paul focusing on the effects that the changed life has (or ought to have) on our relationships within the workplace. This is where there is maximum potential for showing the world (outside the home) the transformation that has taken place within us.

It is in the setting of the business of our daily lives at home that God uses as yet another arena for our sanctification. After all, it is here that our sinful imperfections are magnified. And if these imperfections aren't dealt with first in our homes then we will forever be ineffective in living for Christ. It is in the home where we learn submission and mercy and love and joy. And it is this that characterises the difference between a household that is saved and a household that isn't. After all, if children don't learn to obey their parents whom they can see, how can they ever hope to obey god whom they cannot see. 

Headship of the husband within Christian marriages is one of the most controversial topics in contemporary western culture. However, at the very outset, we need to understand that this has nothing to do with equality or intelligence or worth. Because we see the same submission within the Godhead without affecting equality or dignity or worth of the members of the Trinity. Each one of them is equal in all respects, yet we see them submitting to each other and this relationship of mutual submission is what Christian marriages ought to reflect.

As God’s born again children, we need to not only destroy the habits of the old self but also develop habits that are in synch with our new hearts. Paul exhorts us to put on our new person so that we might put Christ on display in our lives. The word picture is of putting on a new set of clothes from our spiritual wardrobe whilst discarding the rags of sin we once clothed ourselves in.

Regardless of whether it’s spiritual or physical, the key to any fitness is always the same – Eliminate the negatives, develop the positives. This isn’t a recipe of works for salvation. Rather, it’s a recipe for living the transformed life, having already been saved by grace through faith.

CH Spurgeon sums it up well —“Whatever a man depends upon, whatever rules his mind, whatever governs his affections, whatever is the chief object of his delight, is his god.”

As Christians, we observe that with passing of time, the things that once enthralled us no longer hold us captive. The past becomes dim, even though our memories of it can be fond and intensely positive. Like a photo album that reminds us of the past, enabling us to relive the joy and excitement of days gone by, so the verses in today’s passage remind us of the details of our salvation. And what we see isn't pretty, which explains why so many are reluctant to preach it. But it is God’s truth and we mustn't gloss over it if we are to really appreciate our salvation.