Introduction

At first glance, it seems like we can describe our passage with a familiar idiom—caught between a rock and a hard place. This is without a doubt a difficult passage. You have the difficulties of this relationship between bondservants and masters on one side, and you have the high bar of serving the Lord on the other. 

From the perspective of the world, the church is kind of caught between a rock and a hard place. We live in the world, and yet are not of the world. We have residence on earth, and yet we are citizens of heaven. We suffer from the affects of this fallen world, and yet we are new creations. So how do we handle the difficulties of today?

Paul directs Christian slaves to hope in Christ and to show Christ’s love. And he does that through two commands—to regard their masters as worthy of all honor, and to offer their best service to their believing masters. Despite the difficulties these commands might provide, Paul anchors their obedience in hope in Christ and the love of Christ.

Unlike the other relationships in the NT, this is one that we probably cannot relate to, and that is a blessing from the Lord. But we can certainly experience difficulties that tempt us to look away from Christ. The burdens of this world often crush our hope. And the bitterness of trial often makes our love cold. So the slaves are examples for us to hope in our Savior and to lean on his great love.

First, the slave’s hope in Christ.

Though honoring their masters would have been challenging, Paul directs them to hope in Christ with a commitment to his name and his teaching. Paul addresses this command to “all who are under a yoke as bondservants”. These are Christian slaves—slaves who were in Timothy’s church in Ephesus. Briefly, I want to talk about who these people are and what this slavery is.

I don’t think any of us can think about the term slave without picturing the centuries of evil that plagued our country. The slavery in our passage isn’t the same, but it’s still slavery. One commentator lists five reasons why someone may have become a slave: they were prisoners of war, condemned men, slaves through debt, slaves through kidnapping, or slaves because their parents sold them into it. So the prerequisites for becoming a slave weren’t pleasant. So when we hear about slavery in the NT, this is the kind of slavery that we should think of.

Unfortunately, some have used this text and others like it in the New Testament to justify slavery, but that’s not right. No where in the New Testament does Paul endorse the practice. Rather, he appears to condemn aspects of it. He includes enslavers, those who take someone captive to sell them into slavery, in a list of vile sinners in chapter 1, verse 10 of this letter. 

Then why does he still give these commands, and why does he give so much instruction for slaves in the New Testament? Because slaves were in the church. Christ has made them his own, therefore Paul and Timothy and all the elders must treat them like Christ’s own. Paul did urge slaves to avail themselves, or free themselves, if given the opportunity in 1 Corinthians 7:21. But he also says in 1 Corinthians 7:20 that each should remain in the condition in which he was called. Slaves and masters alike remained in the condition in which they were called to Christ.

Some historians estimate that about a third of the Roman world were slaves. So it is no wonder that some of these slaves would have come into the church. Christ’s church is truly a cross-section of society.

So Paul gives them a command: to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor. Romans 13:1 and 7 explain why: “For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God…. Pay to all what is owed to them…honor to whom honor is owed.” The slave is subject to his master because of the God-given authority of that master. Therefore, by virtue of their authority, these masters are “worthy of all honor.” This command should not be confused with blind obedience. There is no honor in that. Rather, honor recognizes the master as having inherent dignity and value.

Notice how this actually undermines the practice of slavery. While the master may have dehumanized the slave, the slave in turn bestows honor upon his master. If the slave was no more than livestock or property, what livestock or property could show another man honor? Only image-bearers recognize the inherent dignity of other image-bearers.

Paul goes a step further with this command: Christian slaves honor their masters for God’s name and his teaching. This is where he turns their eyes to Christ. The Christian slave, in the midst of trial, saw that his efforts were not done in vain. Showing honor to his master, however worthy or unworthy he was, ultimately results in the name of God and his teaching being magnified. Zeal for God’s name and his teaching should motivate every Christian to endure trials.

At the same time, this contains a staunch warning. The slave’s dishonor would cause God’s name and teaching to be reviled (literally blasphemed). We aren’t told by whom this reviling would come, and that is probably purposeful. But we are told that their conduct causes God’s name and teaching to be reviled.

By his grace, God associates with his people. Throughout Scripture, God refers to himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This doesn’t mean there are other gods who belong to other people, but that the one true God has decided to identify with his people. And so all who are redeemed by Christ bear his name. I can speak of the God of Ed, the God of Nicole, the God of Josh because he has redeemed them. He has put his name upon them through the work of Christ. And so God’s people are identified in the world because his name is upon them. Though the world is deaf and blind to the things of God, the world hears and sees God’s people. The world understands something about God based on how his people act. The slave, tempted to rebellion, must consider how his actions would reflect his God. It is a wonderful privilege that God would say, “I will be your God and you will be my people.” And yet, it is a great responsibility.

Reviling the teaching happens in a similar way. The teaching is essentially the gospel message of sin, repentance and salvation to be received by faith alone, through Christ alone. And this message “accords with godliness”, as Paul writes a few verses later. And yet, the world has no eyes and no ears for this doctrine, but it senses what godliness is. Paul tells Timothy in chapter 4 to “keep a close watch on” himself and his “teaching…for by doing so” he “will save both himself” and his “hearers.” Life and doctrine cannot be separated from one another. The old adage is true: “practice what you preach.” 

One pastor said, “The Christian life is no substitute for the Word of God, but the preaching of the Word must be complemented by Christian living.” So the slave, tempted to dishonor his master must consider how this would affect the ministry of the gospel. “The teaching” implies that the slave’s conduct affects not only his personal evangelism, but also the pulpit ministry at his church. I wonder how our public conduct would change if we knew that it affected the preached word.

So Christian slaves honor their masters so that the name of God and teaching would not be reviled. Paul gives the Christian slaves some perspective on what really happens when they honor their masters. Without the attachment of God’s name and his teaching, the slave might wonder what the whole point of his misery is anyways. But by fixing the slaves on the name of God and his teaching he redirects them away from the challenges in front of them and to Christ. The only reason the slaves could honor their masters was because of their hope in Christ. Apart from hope in Christ, this command would be utterly unbearable. But the Christian slave knew that he had been given a better yoke—his Savior’s yoke.

Jesus says, “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30). Can you imagine going through the trials of this life without that comforting gospel promise? On top of that, consider bearing the trials of this life and the monstrous burden of sin. Yet this is how many people operate. Slavery gives us an extreme picture of how burdensome this world is.

The non-Christian slave would be doubly burdened—burdened by his master and by the weight of his sin. So too, many in this world are doubly burdened—burdened by the challenges of life and the weight of sin. Frankly, until Christ returns, this world will always be burdensome. Psalm 90:10 says, “the years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; but their span is but toil and trouble.” This world is already burdensome, so if we’re looking for our best lives now, then Paul says “we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19). We won’t find it. And here’s what we often get wrong. We think if only we can be freed from the burdens of this world, then we will truly be happy. But the burdens of this world will only return and pile on.

As Christians in the world, we don’t need the world to conform exactly to our expectations in order to live in it. What many get wrong is that they need to change the world and then these burdens will be removed. But the fundamental problem in the world is the burden of sin. Once that is removed, then things will change. The gospel was instrumental in ending the transatlantic slave trade. Men and women who were zealous for God’s name and his teaching won the hardest of hearts to Christ and then the slave trade stopped.

These slaves in Timothy’s church needed real hope, so Paul pointed them to God’s name and his teaching to encourage their hope in Christ. With this comes the sober expectation that things might stink on this side of eternity, but we are not without hope.

The hope of the Christian slave helps us to consider what our hope looks like in challenging circumstances. You can endure the trials of this life, not because you are strong, but because your Savior is. We aren’t in the same scenario as these slaves, and I hope we never will be. But we have the same Christ that they did. Regardless of the many toils and snares, we hope in Christ. For his name and his teaching are worthy of this hope.

Second, the slave’s love in Christ.

Paul gives a second command to a more specific group of slaves—slaves with believing masters. Paul directs to the love of Christ with this command to treat their masters even better because they were brothers in Christ.

My pastor has a phrase for things like this command—that it should “blow every circuit in our brains.” When we confess in the Apostle’s creed, “I believe in the communion of saints,” I am almost certain that we don’t consider the communion to go this far. How could slaves and masters be in the same church together? And better yet, what more could be expected from the already burdened slave? Already they are to regard their masters as worthy of all honor, and here they’re commanded to serve them even better? Or maybe we would go as far as saying how could a slave master be beloved?

Well, that’s the key question, which leads us to the next question. Who are they beloved by? Christ. That’s what ought to blow every circuit in our brains. We profess that we are saved by God’s sovereign grace, which takes dead sinners and makes them alive in Christ. We know that this has nothing to do with our worthiness, but by God’s free choice to show mercy on whom he will show mercy. But do we really consider the extent of that?

With this command, Paul warns the slaves against drawing a line in the sand that God’s grace can only go so far. “Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers.” He reminds them, these are your brothers in Christ, recipients of the same grace as you, so you must respect them. What binds them together is not their earthly relationship, but their union in Christ. But their union with Christ is no excuse for disrespect. Rather, it necessitates greater service.

Interestingly, Paul recognizes the absolute equality of slaves and masters, but he doesn’t abbrogate the authority of the master. We have already discussed the approach of the NT towards slavery: slavery was not condoned. Then why does Paul seem to double down here?

Just as the world looks into the church and sees something about God’s name and his teaching, the world also sees something about God’s love. There are few other pictures of the love of God than when the subordinate loves and serves his superior. Is that now how the Lord Jesus loved us? He counted himself subordinate in every way. He was spit upon, mocked, reviled, cursed at, betrayed, why? Love for his unlovable beloved. And “in this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

Paul reflects on the love of God when he says, “formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Tim. 1:13-15).

The master was not worthy of God’s love, but neither was the slave. If Paul could say he was chief of sinners, how much more could we? Christ’s love is a humbling love, because it comes with the realization that we’ve done nothing to earn it. It’s hard to imagine how the practice of slavery would continue for much longer in a church where slaves served, respected and loved their believing masters. They were equals in Christ, yet one submits himself to love and serve another with his life.

In a sense, our knowledge of the love of Christ can be measured by our love for one another. Paul prays for the Ephesian church, the church where Timothy was at, that they “may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge” (Eph. 3:18-19). But we read later on that their love had grown cold. The Lord Jesus tells the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2, “I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first” (Rev. 2:4). We don’t know exactly what this “love” was, but certainly it’s connected to knowledge of the surpassing love of Christ.

Consider the example of the slave, who served his master with love. Only a sense of the love of Christ could produce such a love for one another. Our love is often cold, and unfortunately the world sees that. But here is an example of love that leaves the world stunned. Beloved in Christ, let us love like this—a genuine love that flows from the love of Christ.

Conclusion

Brothers and sisters, the challenges of this passage yield for us a beautiful sight of Christ. Slavery and the church are two things that shouldn’t be mentioned together, and yet we find them in this text. But because of this paradox, we get to grow in hope in Christ, and we get to drink deeply from his love. The example of the slave proves to us the surpassing love of Christ and his worthiness of our hope.