Ephesians 6:5-9: Bondservants and Masters
- Pastor Jared
- Jul 25
- 6 min read
A few weeks ago I preached on Ephesians 6:1-4, which spoke to children regarding how they should obey and honour their parents and to fathers about how to create a household in which discipline, training, and teaching are the foundation for parenting.
Before that sermon I mentioned that I would not be preaching on verses 5-9 and would instead cover them in a blog.
The reason for doing this comes down to one simple thing. I felt these verses should not be tacked onto the end of verses 1-4, to be dealt with merely in a quick summary at the end of a sermon on the family. But they are not related to the following verses 10-20 so I couldn’t really deal with them when I covered those verses. Which meant they really needed a sermon all on their own. The problem, as I realized it somewhere in April, was that I was running out of Sundays to put all of the sermons in place in order to finish Ephesians by the end of July. I had outlined the book last summer, but somewhere along the line, as I was preaching through the book, I added a couple of sermons that were not in my original outline. This meant, despite my best efforts, I would have to leave out at least a couple of sections of Ephesians in order to finish the book on time. As I continued to preach through May and June, it became evident that the most obvious candidates for me to leave out would be 6:5-9 and 6:21-24. Call it a lack of planning, call it running out of time, but whatever it is, here we are.
These verses are the third and final section in which Paul deals with rules for the household. He has given instructions to husbands/wives and to children/fathers, and now he turns his attention to slaves/masters. As we saw in the previous sections, the verses divide up cleanly into commands directed at the bondservants (vv 5-8) and then commands given to masters (v 9). These instructions are truly unique to the 1st-century, as there is not immediate or direct application to those of us living in the West. But there is stuff to learn here—God’s word is written for our benefit—so let’s get into these verses.
We need to get one thing out of the way immediately. Paul does not advocate slavery. Because he gives instructions to Christian bondservants as to how they are to live within a wicked social structure does not imply that he advocates for that social structure. One only needs to compare how Paul deals with the husband/wife role relations earlier in chapter 5 versus the way he deals with bondservant/master relationships here. Paul never provides a theological rationale or a biblical defence for the institution of slavery as he does with male headship and female submission. His only concern in this passage is to provide a proper perspective on how to live as Christians within this socioeconomic structure. As several commentators have noted, Paul never tries to subvert or overthrow the Roman political structure, so also he does not engage in social protest and lead a revolt against the evils of the institution of slavery. Why he does not do so is an unanswerable question.
What he does is to lay down a foundation for how believing slaves and believing masters should treat each other within the wicked socioeconomic structure within which they find themselves. Once again, we should note how countercultural Paul is in these verses. Slaves were not normally addressed in household codes; the masters got all of the attention and instruction. But here Paul sees their behaviour as integral to their faith in Jesus Christ, so he addresses them directly. In this section of Ephesians we have seen Paul treating all groups—including women, children, and slaves—as responsible believers and equal members of the body of Christ. A truly revolutionary idea.
In this section he first addresses slaves or bondservants, as the ESV translates the Greek word.
Vv 5-8 Bondservants, obey your masters
Paul appeals to bond servants to comply with the orders of their masters. He then outlines six different ways that they should live out their relationship with their masters, all of which arise from their union with Christ. He uses six qualifying phrases to describe the kind of obedience they are to show their masters. They are to obey…
with fear and trembling
with a sincere heart,
as they would Christ,
not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers,
as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man
The motivation for this kind of obedience is laid out at the end of v “8—“knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.”
The bondservant must realize that his behaviour toward his human master should reflect that of his relationship to his spiritual master, Jesus Christ (vv 5, 7). His eyes should be focused on Jesus and what is asked of him by his ultimate Lord, knowing that one day his obedience will be rewarded by God, who sees and knows all and who rewards perfectly.
V 9—Masters, treat your slaves well
Once again we must recognize that this exhortation to masters regarding how they are to treat their slaves would have been considered shocking and outrageous to a 1st-century slave owner. Paul continues his countercultural instructions on account of the new relationship that Christian masters have with Jesus Christ.
One of the practical ways in which owners can treat their slaves well is by no longer threatening them. This was a common motivation tactic in the 1st century, which would include threats of physical beatings, sexual harassment, or being sold to another owner. But Paul teaches that this behaviour has no place in the relationship between a Christian master and his bondservants.
Paul then offers two reasons for why the master must treat his slaves differently…
Both slaves and masters will be held to account for their behaviour by the same Master in heaven. Put simply, Christian masters are actually fellow slaves with their own servants of the same Lord.
God has no partiality in his judgements. Meaning that no one will have an advantage before God on the day of judgment. God cares nothing for social or economic or political status. He will judge rightly, purely, and truthfully.
Conclusion
The message of this passage is clear, but its application beyond the immediate 1st-century context is not. Most commentators recognize the employee-employer relationship as being the closest facsimile to what Paul is speaking about here. (Although there are other applications we could make—to prisoners, for example) In other words, whether you are an employee or a boss, you must recognize that the fundamental guiding principle in all of your activities in whatever role you have should be your relationship with Christ. The kinds of things that often take precedence in your workplace—relationships with fellow employees, your relationship with your boss, the priorities of the company, making a profit, advancing up the ladder, or anything similar—should not be our motivation for anything we do.
This means that for employees, or those with a boss, there are a number of principles that must guide us:
Treat your superiors with respect.
Do your work as though God were your direct superior (cf Colossians 3:23-24).
Don’t do things simply to make a good impression or to advance your career.
Give God’s will top priority in your work.
Recognize that we fulfill our calling as an employee in the presence of Christ.
God sees our work and the attitude we have toward it, for good or bad, and will reward us for all that we have done.
As for bosses:
Being mean and threatening is contrary to Christian character and should not be the foundation for motivating employees.
Avoid favouritism, which is unjust and therefore contrary to the Lord we profess.
All people, no matter how menial their task, are worthy of dignity, respect, a fair wage, and safe conditions.
Recognize that we fulfill our calling as a leader in the presence of Christ
God sees how we lead and the attitude we have toward our employees, for good or bad, and will reward us for all that we have done.
Soli Deo Gloria
