5. (3:22-4:1) The new man’s servant and master relationship.
Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
a. Obey in all things your masters according to the flesh: As Christians put on the new man, they will show a properly submissive attitude towards their masters – in a modern context, towards their employer or supervisor.
i. This is another sphere of God’s order of authority. Employees have a God-ordained role of obedience and submission to their employers or supervisors.
ii. “It will be noted that this section is far longer than the other two; and its length may well be due to long talks which Paul had with the runaway slave, Onesimus, whom later he was to send back to his master Philemon.” (Barclay)
iii. “More than half the people seen on the streets of the great cities of the Roman world were slaves. And this was the status of the majority of ‘professional’ people such as teachers and doctors as well as that of menials and craftsmen.” (Vaughan)
b. Not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God: We are always tempted to work just as hard as we have to, thinking we only have to please man. But God wants every worker to see that ultimately, they work for Him. Therefore, they should do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men. God promises to reward those who work with that kind of heart.
i. The Christian who is a dishonest, lazy or unreliable worker has something far worse to deal with than a reprimand from his earthly supervisor. His heavenly supervisor may prepare a reprimand as well.
ii. “Far more culpable is the attitude of modern ‘clockwatchers,’ who have contracted to serve their employer and receive an agreed remuneration for their labor. But Christian slaves – or Christian employees today – have the highest of all motives for faithful and conscientious performance of duty; they are above all else servants of Christ, and will work first and foremost so as to please him.” (Bruce)
iii. The reward of the inheritance: “One should properly read ‘the inheritance’; the reference is clearly to the life of the age to come. This is ironic, since in earthly terms slaves could not inherit property.” (Wright)
iv. For you serve the Lord Christ: “The force of this unusual phrase (Paul nowhere else allows the titles ‘Lord’ and ‘Christ’ to stand together without the name ‘Jesus’ as well) could be brought out by a paraphrase: ‘so work for the true Master – Christ!’” (Wright)
c. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done: When a Christian worker does poorly in his job, he should not expect special leniency from his boss, especially if his boss is a Christian. Being a Christian should make us more responsible, not less responsible.
i. “It is possible for an unfaithful servant to wrong and defraud his master in a great variety of ways without being detected; but let all such remember what is here said: he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he has done; God sees him, and will punish him for his breach of honesty and trust.” (Clarke)
ii. Will be repaid… and there is no partiality: For ancient Christian slaves and for modern Christian workers, there is no guarantee on earth of fairness of treatment from those whom they work for. Sometimes partiality means that bad workers are unfairly rewarded and good employees are penalized or left unrewarded. Paul assures both our ancient brethren and us that there is a final rewarding and punishment, and with this there is no partiality.
iii. In Ephesians 6:9 Paul addressed masters and warned them that there was no partiality with God. Here, he warned servants that there is no partiality with God. “In Ephesians masters are not to think that God is influenced by social position; in the present passage, slaves are not to act unscrupulously just because they know men treat them as irresponsible chattel.” (Vaughan)
d. Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair: As Christians put on the new man, they will be just and fair to those who work for them. It is a terrible thing for a boss to cheat or mistreat his workers, but far worse for a Christian to do it.
i. Just and fair: This is even more powerful than a command for masters to be kind or pleasant to slaves. One can be kind or pleasant to animals or pets; but we are only just and fair to fellow human beings. Paul asked masters to make a recognition that would undermine the very foundations of slavery.
ii. Through the history of Christianity, there have been some who used these passages where Paul speaks to slaves and their masters to justify or even promote the practice of slavery. Others have blamed these passages for the practice of slavery. Yet one can never blame Christianity for slavery; it was a universal practice that pre-dated both Christianity and the Jewish nation. Instead, one should see that the abolition of slavery came from Christian people and impulses, and not from any other major religion and certainly not from secularism.
iii. Without making an overt protest against slavery, Paul seemed to understand that if he could establish the point that slaves were equals in the body of Christ, full human beings with both responsibilities and rights (that they should be treated in a manner both just and fair), then in time the whole structure of slavery in the Roman Empire would crumble – and it did.