The True Master

Just as it doesn’t condemn slavery, it doesn’t endorse it either. To do so would be outside of the scope of this letter, which Paul was addressing people in their real life relationships.

Slaves were very common at this time, and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.

It was simply a fact of life, and Paul wanted to encourage these enslaved Christians to live a God-honoring life, regardless of the injustices they were enduring.

Certainly he could have told them how bad slavery is, how they deserve better. He could talk about the importance of freedom and equality, but would that have helped them at all?

It was not Paul’s modus operandi to try to subvert corrupt governments or institutions; rather, he sought to equip the people of God to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord within such realities.1

1 Merkle, B. L. (2018). Ephesians. In I. M. Duguid, J. M. Hamilton Jr., & J. Sklar (Eds.), Ephesians–Philemon: Vol. XI (p. 109). Crossway.

First and foremost, a person must learn to live a God-honoring life within their current situation, no matter how terrible it is, because there is no guarantee that your current situation is going to change anytime soon.

So this passage is best realized as instruction to behave in a Godly manner, no matter what situation we find ourselves in. No matter what hardships or injustices we must endure, a Christian should always reflect a Christ-like attitude.

They were told to obey with fear and trembling. They were to take their position very seriously, even though they may not like the life they’d been given.

God always has a bigger picture in mind, one that goes far beyond what we can see. Such was the case here.

Paul is using the master slave relationship to illustrate something far bigger, as we will soon see. Let’s look at the rest of this verse.

A slave’s service is to be “in sincerity of heart, as to Christ”.

You see, they were to submit to their earthly master, just as they would submit to Christ.

Now, an earthly master certainly is not Christ, so why would they deserve the same type of submission? As I said, Paul is illustrating something bigger, he is painting a picture. He’s not done yet, but soon it will be complete and clearly seen.

VV.6-7:

The Purpose:

The purpose of a slaves submission was not simply to look good and make points with his master. It is to sincerely do the will of God.

Colossians 3:22

Colossians 3:22 NKJV

Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.

They weren’t to simply do work only when the master was around, or do things solely to ingratiate themselves to the master. They were to do their duties and act correctly whether or not their earthly master was watching.

This is a good lesson for us, as well.

At this point, submitting as a slave might still seem counter to God’s will. Why would he want anyone to be enslaved?

Don’t worry, Paul is still filling in the details of the picture. Notice that he said “as bondservants of Christ”.

A Christian is a slave of Christ. That, of course, makes Christ the master. God uses our life circumstances to teach us about Himself, to grow our faith, prepare us for an eternity with Him.

In this case, these Christian slaves were learning about this unique master-slave aspect of the relationship that a Christian has with Christ.

Christ is our true master and Lord, and we need to learn to relate to Him as such, not simply as a “friend” or a Genie in a bottle.

Christ is not here to grant our wishes! on the contrary, we are here to to His will. It’s not about us, it’s all about Him.

Christ isn’t our best bud that we just hang out with. While Christ calls His followers friends (John 15:15 “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” )

He never denies that He is still the master. As such, He still needs to be treated with the proper reverence.

One way to do that is to serve others on this earth, as if we are serving Christ Himself.

V.8:

There is an old adage, “you reap what you sow”. That is exactly what this verse is telling us. In fact, the saying originated in scripture.

You reap what you sow:

Galatians 6:7

Galatians 6:7 NKJV

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

The Bible actually says a lot about this.

Romans 2:5-6

Romans 2:5–6 NKJV

But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who “will render to each one according to his deeds”:

2 Corinthians 5:10

2 Corinthians 5:10 NKJV

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Colossians 3:25

Colossians 3:25 NKJV

But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.

What we are seeing here is a positive motivation for Christians to serve others as they would serve Christ, knowing that they will be repaid in kind, by Christ.

V.9:

The master’s obligation:

As we move into the closing part of this exhortation, we see that these commands do not apply just to the slaves, but to the masters as well.

In typical Pauline and Biblical fashion, we suddenly see that there are no favorites with God. Everyone is placed on the same level, even slaves and masters.

While slaves are expected to diligently and sincerely obey, Masters are to treat them well.

The master’s master:

You see, all Christians serve a master, and that master is our Lord, Jesus Christ. He is a good Master, and provides the example for how we are to treat others.

In both our service and our leadership, we are to imitate Christ:

A wife submits to her own husband “as unto the Lord” (Eph. 5:22)

A husband loves the wife “as Christ also loved the church” (Eph. 5:25).

Children obey their parents “in the Lord” (Eph. 6:1),

Parents raise their children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). Servants are obedient “as unto Christ” (Eph. 6:5)

Finally, masters treat their servants the same as their “Master in heaven” does.

A person who is submitted to the Lord will have no problem submitting to those who are over them.

A person who will not submit to authority has no right to exercise authority over others.

To be a leader, one must first be a servant

Matthew 20:16

Matthew 20:16 NKJV

So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”

Matthew 20:25-27

Matthew 20:25–27 NKJV

But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—

To be a servant is to bear the heart of our true Master, Jesus Christ.

That is our goal, that is our purpose, to serve Him, and do His will.

I don’t know about you, but when I stand before Him, I want to hear “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

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