“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 eye service, 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.”
I recently watched an episode of “Law and Order”, in which the police uncovered a very large ring of slave traders. They were smuggling very young children, kidnapped from their homes in Nigeria, into the states and selling them to wealthy people as slaves.
I don’t know if anything like that has actually happened in recent history. The show advertises that its stories are ‘ripped from the headlines’, but I don’t remember hearing about such an incident. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, or couldn’t.
Whether isolated cases such as this do occur or not though, by and large slavery has been abandoned in this country. It is illegal. I know a lot of people in the workplace who wish someone would tell their bosses about that.
Nevertheless, Ephesians 6:5-9 is not, by any stretch of the imagination, rendered meaningless for us by virtue of the abolition of slavery in the free world.
Paul has been giving instructions for the maintenance of Godly relationships; wife to husband, husband to wife, child to parent and parent to child, and now slave to master. Servant to superior. Employee to Employer. And visa versa.
But you may remember that in each case, the real picture; the real purpose; has been to typify some aspect of the relationship between Christ and the church.
Husband/wife, Christ and His bride. Child/parent, The church and God the Father, Christ and the Father. So here, we will see this relationship through yet another side of this prism.
ALL SERVICE AS TO CHRIST
Now we’re going to start at the foundation of this passage and build on it. The key phrase here, I think, is ‘as to Christ’.
We cannot just spiritualize this passage and ignore that there is sound and practical counsel here for the one in service to another; whether it be forced slavery, domestic servitude (such as a modern day live-in servant) or employees in the modern workplace.
Paul says, “be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh,” so we cannot shrug it off and move on. There are those who have a problem with this, when they just read it and go on without thinking it through.
We would all agree, I think, that it was not God’s original intent for any man to own another man, or have such power over him as to keep him in bondage and forced labor. He looked with pity on the children of Israel, in the bitterness of their bondage to Egypt, and He delivered them.
To Moses He gave laws concerning the treatment of servants, and even provided for their release after seven years of service; so that even indentured servants would not be forever under the thumb of another.
So why does Paul admonish slaves to be obedient to those who are their masters according to the flesh? Why not tell them to run away? Take the underground railroad and start a new life of freedom in a distant land?
Well, for one thing, during the time Paul was writing, if Christians had revolted in that way against slavery, which was legal and accepted by the most powerful government in the world, Rome certainly would have done its best to wipe Christianity from the face of the earth.
Sure, they did try, but there would have been a very deliberate effort to crush the new church completely and finally, and people would not have been dying for Christ, or for the gospel message, but for political rebellion.
Christians, from the very first, have never been called upon by God to change society. They have never been expected by God to reform society.
The commission of the church is not to actively rebel against the oppression of government, or march out as activists to cure society’s ills and try to mandate morality.
The mission of the church is to tell the good news of the shed blood and resurrection of Christ to the world. Social reform, moral improvement, Godly government, are ultimately the result of the furtherance of the Kingdom of God in any society.
If you re-read Matthew 28:18-20 in this light, you will notice that the only commission Jesus gives to His disciples, and therefore to us, is to make disciples of men, baptize them, and then, to teach them to observe His commandments.
If the church would be faithful only to that, and avoid involvement in social and political battles, and concentrate her resources and energies on simply doing what she is commanded, the side benefits down the road would be a renewal of Godliness in society and government.
Not completely or permanently, of course, until the Lord comes to reign; but these changes would be seen to some degree, nonetheless. But as long as the church attempts to fight the battles of the flesh, she will never do the work of the Spirit.
There is another point to make concerning why Paul would admonish to obey rather than to rebel or withdraw. It is the same reason Jesus prayed to the Father and said,
“I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth. As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” John 17:15-18
Everywhere you are, Christian, whether you are the slave or the master, whether you are in a hospital bed, or working a minimum wage job, or are a hostage in the jungle surrounded by guerrillas with AK47s, you are light. You are Jesus to the world. You are not to fight against your circumstances; but trust God in them, obey where obedience is due, submit where submission is prudent, but always, always, let the light of the gospel of Christ shine from you. It’s why you’re there.
Listen:
“For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness’, is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but not despairing, persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal bodies.”
II Corinthians 4:5-10
Paul had it figured out, didn’t he?
So let’s go back to our text. We have established, building on the key phrase, that all that we do should be done as for Christ. Forget the ill-temper of your boss, disregard the harshness of your circumstances, bear up with courage under the burden of your labors, and do all that you do, as though only for Christ.
OBEDIENCE
Paul says to be obedient. A theme running throughout the scriptures. Obedience to authority. God is very clear about how He views the need for obedience.
“Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil.” Romans 13:1-4
God has always upheld the authority of those He has placed in authority, and expressed His displeasure with those who rebelled. We see it in the case of Moses and the children of Israel in the wilderness. When they grumbled against Moses, they grumbled against God. (Exodus 16:2,8 Hebrews 3:7-11)
Obedience to authority is important, because with out it anarchy reigns. God is a God of order and peace, and the maintenance of those things requires obedience.
But as in the previous exhortations in this chapter and chapter 5 of Ephesians, so here, there is a spiritual principle to apply.
He’s writing to Christians, remember, and establishing what is proper Christian behavior. So as Christ, as a Servant, was obedient to the Father perfectly and in all things, we, as His representatives in this world, and as living types of His obedience, are to show the same kind of obedience to those in power over us.
If they are wrong, God will deal with them according to His perfect knowledge of them, and in His way and His time. They bear the greater responsibility. Our call is to obedience.
IN SINCERITY OF HEART
What kind of obedience is this to be? A grudging obedience? “Well, I’ll do it; but I don’t have to like it!”
No. That is not consistent with the Spirit you lives in you. He has brought you up out of Egypt. He has saved you from sin and its penalty. You belong to Christ now, and you are to do all things as unto Him; remember?
So if you’re obeying your earthly master, or those in power over you, as unto Christ, then it must be from sincerity of heart.
That means wanting to do the very best that you can. Obeying to the fullest, holding nothing back, and not doing it only while the boss is looking, but as though Christ is looking.
When we are doing things to please men, it will always come down to this; doing it while they’re looking, but sloughing when they are not. I know. I’ve been there. Probably most of us, at some point in our lives, have been in a situation that we didn’t necessarily like; work that we didn’t really want to do. Maybe even as a child being forced to clean our room.
Having been in the military, I know it’s practically the order of the day there. Work hard and well while the supervisor is looking, but as little as you can get away with when he’s gone.
The modern military may be changing some. They sure put on a good front for the news people; of course, the ones you see talking on the news are usually officers and not lowly grunts, where the really professional grumbling goes on.
When I was in, anyone who worked hard and consistently and obeyed all the rules was generally seen as a boot-licker. So the pressure was very strong to slack off. I’ve heard it said more than once that it’s the soldier’s duty to grumble. And many ranking officers and NCO’s seemed to think it their duty to give us something to grumble about.
Paul says it is to be that way no longer for the Christian. Because he or she is now a type of Christ. We are Christ in the world, believers. We must do all things sincerely and as for Him, because He became our Servant and did all things with sincerity of heart and obedience to the Father, for us.
RENDER SERVICE WITH GOOD WILL
It’s impossible for us to grasp, really; but He even went to the cross with this same attitude. Obedience to the Father, in sincerity of heart. More, He went there with good will. Heartily. Readily. With joy.
Here are some proof texts:
Obedience
“And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross”
Philippians 2:8
SINCERITY OF HEART
“For the Lord God helps Me, therefore, am not disgraced; therefore, I have set My face like flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed”
Isaiah 50:7
Compare that with:
“And it came about, when the days were approaching for His ascension, that He resolutely set His face to go to Jerusalem”
Luke 9:51
And…
“…He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt’.”
Matthew 26:39
WITH GOOD WILL
Clearly from a Messianic Psalm:
“Then I said, ‘Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me; I delight to do Thy will, O my God; Thy Law is within my heart.”
Psalm 40:7,8
And…
“…who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:2
Now is that to say it was a joy to be on the cross? Of course not. He endured the cross, for the joy of obedience to the Father’s will, and for the ultimate result of that obedience, which was redeeming us! His joy is expressed in His pleasure at being in our midst!
“saying, “I will proclaim Thy name to My brethren. In the midst of the congregation I will sing Thy praise.’ and again, ‘I will put My trust in Him’. And again, ‘Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me’.”
Hebrews 2:12,13
Christ did all things as a Servant, in obedience and patience, with sincerity of heart, and good will. So fellow servants of the Lord, He calls us to do the same.
A PROMISE
There is a promise in this passage that we cannot skip over. God is a good God, friends. He doesn’t spoil His children by giving with no accountability. But He never makes a demand that is not accompanied by a promise.
“…knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free” (Vs 8)
He’s writing to slaves. People in some degree of bondage to someone else. Their work is often drudgery; difficult; seemingly thankless. But they can respond favorably to his admonition to obey with sincerity and joy, and to their work as to Christ, as can we.
Because obedience to this will not be without reward. The Holy Spirit assures us here, through Paul, that God will give back in return. And He is a great and generous giver, always giving back in much larger proportion than we gave.
We find an example of that in the book of Malachi, at the end of the Old Testament.
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”
Malachi 3:10
No act of obedience to God will go unnoticed or unrewarded; as long as it is done from a sincere heart before God, and with good will from our hearts.
And our present life’s circumstances do not tip the scale one way or another.
We all know that in this life it seems a predictable standard, that the rich get richer and the powerful get more powerful.
It’s always that way where Satan rules. Everything is backwards from the way it is in God’s kingdom. In this world, the more you have, the more you get.
And the poorer you are, the more difficult it is to rise above those circumstances.
The very deprivation of your circumstances is what makes it hard and seemingly impossible, to attain. To acquire.
That’s backwards. God says that whether you are a slave in the mud with the whip on your back, or a virtual Midas with wealth oozing from everything you touch, if you obey this dictate to do all things as unto Christ, with sincerity and joy and obedience to God, He will pour back blessings equally, with no favoritism and no limited measure.
MASTERS
Now he says a final word to the masters here; the ones with the power.
It is interesting to note that he says so little to them; almost as though an after-thought. But it comes as both a warning and a promise of blessing.
In this world, and according to the spirit of this world, power corrupts. Very few people can handle power successfully, and the more powerful someone is, the more likely he will be corrupted by it.
Lord Acton, in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 1887, said ’Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men’.
So, says Paul, you masters, and rulers and employers; you who have power over the lives of people who cannot resist you ~ ‘do the same things to them’.
What? What things? Obey?
No. That’d be a convoluted situation, wouldn’t it? “Obey me, I’m your master!’ “Well you’re supposed to obey me too, ‘cause I’m your servant!”
Crazy!
No, masters, treat those under you as those who also are possessed by Christ.
Treat them with sincerity of heart and good will, as though you’re dealing with your Savior. Because in fact, you are.
“Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.”
Matthew 25:40
And he ends with the reminder of a fact that, if all the Christian world could grasp and remember would solve most of our society’s ills; that we all have one Master, and the ground is level at the foot of the cross.
There are no caste systems in Heaven. There are no degrees of social, political or economical status with God. Masters and slave here are brothers in Heaven; bought with a price and introduced by grace into an equal inheritance with Christ.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
We’ve come near the end, folks. Paul will go on now to telling us how to go about the business we’ve been set to. But let’s leave this part of our text today understanding how he has brought us to this point.
From the beginning of the epistle he has told us who we really are in God’s economy, and according to what Christ has accomplished in and for us.
He has lifted us from darkness into the Heavenly realm, and showed us that we have access through Christ to the very throne of very God. Therefore, knowing now that we are called holy and blameless by Him, and that in Him all the riches of Heaven are ours by inheritance, and knowing that we are no longer of this world, or according to the spirit of this world, we, by His grace and power are to walk daily as children of the King; loving each other, bearing with one another, praying for one another while in unison singing praises to God and speaking truth to one another in love.
Then he has shown us what our interpersonal relationships should be like, in order to effectively live before one another and before the world, the type that we are of Christ, and His relationship to the Father and to the church.
So by this point, if we have understood these things, and if we have meditated on them and prayed and asked the Holy Spirit to make them a practical reality in our lives, now we should be free of misconceptions about who we are, and relieved of the burdens of our past lives before Christ, and ready to don His armor and go forward for the Kingdom.
It’s time for the church to move forward in power once more, Christians; as it did at the first.
They didn’t have programs, they didn’t have buildings with spires and crosses on top. They didn’t have seminaries and conventions.
And they didn’t have the backing of the state or the courts to exist in peace and comfort, before they’d venture out to do the Lord’s bidding.
What they had was a sense of awe, and joy that they were saved from sin and Satan.
They had a living Savior who filled them with His Holy Spirit, who then filled them with love for one another, a desire to live with one another as with Christ, and a bold excitement to do spiritual battle, whatever the cost, against the darkness of this age, in order to bring men to the light.
They were at the beginning. May it be so once more, by the grace and mercy of Christ, here at the end. Please pray this for all the churches.
