This section has been a long time coming. Personal journeys in faith are just that, personal, with all the highs, lows, trials, and victories in-between. Sometimes we lose our way -- the way the Lord appointed -- and it takes us a while to find His path again. I am grateful for His patience.
Ephesians 6:5-9
Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.
And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him. NAS
οι δουλοι υπακουετε τοις κατα σαρκα κυριοις μετα φοβου και τρομου εν απλοτητι της καρδιας υμων ως τω χριστω μη κατ οφθαλμοδουλιαν ως ανθρωπαρεσκοι αλλ ως δουλοι χριστου ποιουντες το θελημα του θεου εκ ψυχης μετ ευνοιας δουλευοντες ως τω κυριω και ουκ ανθρωποις ειδοτες οτι εκαστος εαν τι ποιηση αγαθον τουτο κομισεται παρα κυριου ειτε δουλος ειτε ελευθερος
και οι κυριοι τα αυτα ποιειτε προς αυτους ανιεντες την απειλην ειδοτες οτι και αυτων και υμων ο κυριος εστιν εν ουρανοις και προσωπολημψια ουκ εστιν παρ αυτω WHNU
Slavery has existed throughout recorded history and it does not require much of an intellectual stretch to consider that slavery existed well before then. It has never been the "pretty" part of humanity, it has often come as the result of conquests on no matter which continent it occured, and the business of slave-trading was driven by economic need by the seller and the buyer. Race was never the root factor -- only the availability mattered. None of what I have stated justifies slavery in any way nor does it trivialize its harsh reality; I am just stating the facts of slavery in its broad historical context.
Outside of slavery, bonded relationships have also existed throughout human history. By "bonded relationships", I mean free people who have sold their labor or services to another. There was a request for such, the commitment was made with an agreement for compensation and duration, and one person worked for another bound by that agreement until one or the other ended the agreement. You want to get paid? Do the work to which we agreed. Is that slavery? No, not even close.
Slavery is being owned by another and not have any choice as to whether or not one will do the task at hand. There are no recourses for grievances other than your master. Payment for services was in the form of shelter and nourishment, for no one would pay good money for a slave only to have that slave meet their demise through neglect. Keep them healthy, keep them working, correct when necessary. If a slave had a merciful master, that slave might be rewarded for their faithfulness by being made free by their master. That freed slave might become a slave-owner themselves one day because of the economics of the day. Slaves are less expensive labor than free-men but are not "free" labor. One would hope that they would be merciful like their former master.
Verses 5-6: Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.
Glad you aren't a slave, right? God's word says that the slave must be obedient! By the way, in the Greek the ones addressed are "οι δουλοι", "the slaves", the plural of δουλος (transliterated "doulos"). Some translations try to soften the term to mean "bond-servant", but that is not accurate. Doulos, δουλος, means "slave". For greater context as to the intended audience, go back to Romans 13 and read,
"Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves." verses 1-2, NAS
What applies to the slave here, also applies to the free. Obey those who are our masters according to the flesh as a service to Christ, with a sincere heart -- not just trying to "look good" in the eyes of our masters but having hearts that are darkened toward them. In our service to any master here on earth, it is inescapable that we are also serving Christ, our eternal Master. He has placed us, and our authorities, that we might learn obedience -- to HIM.
Verses 7-8: With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.
Every act of the will of those who are in Christ, no matter what their "station" or "position" or "status", is to be an act of service to the Lord first and with a sincere heart. Every act of our will, not just what we are doing in church or part of an official ministry of the corporate church, but every act is to be done as an act of ministry to the Lord. The Lord will give back in blessings, not specific requests -- we do not barter with our Lord -- but He promises to reward our service to Him (done with a sincere heart) in the ways He knows we need.
Verse 9: And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.
Moreover, Paul moves all the way up the food chain to the earthly masters and explicitly states that everything that has been said for the Christian who is a slave applies to the Christian who is a master. The things of this earthly realm do not apply in heaven where all have the same Master. Titles and rank fall away -- they are a part of this world -- not heaven. The Greek word translated "partiality" is προσωπολημψια, which is a combination of two words meaning "face" and "receiving/accepting". Together, they mean "receive/accept by face" -- by who they appear to be. Paul writes that such partiality does not exist in our Lord. Slave or free or master -- none of that matters before the Lord, we are all equal before Him.
Whatever or whoever we are in this life is as the Lord as appointed: for us to learn about Him and learn to be obedient to Him and to glorify Him in every single thing that we do. All who are in Christ are one in Him -- that is the only status that we will enjoy for eternity.
