Servants and Masters
Wives, submit yourselves to yourselves unto your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives and be not bitter against them.
Children obey your parents in all things for this is well pleasing to the Lord.
Fathers provoke not your children[to anger] lest they be discouraged.
Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as men pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God; And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.
Col.3:18-4:1
C4.1 Slaves in Roman times
The Roman Empire had around 60 million slaves. The slaves, and their families were the property of the masters, to do with them whatever he wished. Their lives were harsh and were often mistreated.
Many of the slaves were well educated and carried out responsibilities in the home; educating the children for example.
It was possible for a servant to be made free. Either by their masters setting them free, or by buying their freedom themselves. This possibility of freedom was an incentive for them to be obedient to their masters.
Paul in the following passage speaks of servants being made free and what their attitude should be.
Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant. Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.
I Cor.7:20-24
C4.2 Servants
As with the previous cases, slaves are to obey their masters, with the usual proviso of Acts 5:29. In all things: meaning the unpleasant as well as the more agreeable duties. But Paul continues, not as men pleasers! The servant is not to ‘catch the master’s eye’, which would be for personal gain or pride, but rather as unto the Lord. Seeking to please the one who is Master of us all.
Ultimately, we are all (bond) servants of Christ and no one else. And whatever we do it should be to please Him, and not any earthly master. This we do in singleness of heart, namely with undivided attention to duty and in sincerity.
C4.3 Masters
To the Masters the exhortation is to be fair and equitable. The parable of the unmerciful servant of the parable in Mtt.18: 23-35, showed the opposite. As the servants are answerable in the first-place to their earthly master, so the master is answerable to God; this alone should be cause to deal justly,
The NT furnishes us an example of master / slave relationship in the book of Philemon, which is connected to the Colossian church!
C4.4 The runaway slave
Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellow labourer, and to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in thy house: 3grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints; that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.
Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient, yet for love’s sake I rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds: 11which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me: whom I have sent again: thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels: 13whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel: but without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly. For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever; 16not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh, and in the Lord? If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself. 18If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account; Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it: albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides. Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord: refresh my bowels in the Lord.
Having confidence in thy obedience I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say. But withal prepare me also a lodging: for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you.
There salute thee Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus; Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellow labourers.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Written from Rome to Philemon, by Onesimus a servant.
Philemon vv1-25
The book of Philemon is a personal letter from the apostle Paul to Philemon, who had the church in his house. So, we can conclude Philemon was a wealthy man.
He had a slave named Onesimus, who had runaway. Somehow, we are not told the details, he came across Paul and was converted. He was profitable to Paul, but Paul wanted to do the right thing and send him back to his rightful earthly master.
However, the penalty for a runaway slave could be severe, and if he had done anything wrong such as theft, that would make matters worse. Paul nonetheless insisted on Onesimus’ return.
So, Paul wrote this letter to explain matters. He had come to the Lord and so he should treat him as a brother and not slave. He then says that if Onesimus had defrauded Philemon then Paul would make it up ; “charge it to my account”, Paul states. This an example of what Christ did for us: He had our sin charged to His account!
This was a test for both Philemon and Onesimus. Would the master receive his slave back on Paul’s terms, or would he take up his right to punish the man? Would Onesimus, having written the letter at Paul’s dictation, now a brother in Christ to Philemon, do the right thing and return not knowing if his master would respond favourably?
Paul could have protected Onesimus and kept him, but it wasn’t the right thing to do. He willingly gave up any advantage of having Onesimus at his side to put matters right. That is a great lesson for us all.
Paul was confident that Philemon would do that, and much more beside. This speaks much of him and his testimony. Let us learn well from it.
The sentence: but he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons. Should give us thought for pause before we act!