Paul addressed slaves in Ephesus who had come to Christ. Slavery in the Roman Empire was common and gave slaves no social status or hope. Yet Paul addressed these brothers and sisters as one in Christ in the church possessing an eternal inheritance. The Roman version of slavery did not allow them to have any inheritance. Paul calls these servants of Christ and human masters to serve well, as to the Lord. Christ Himself said that He did not come to be serve, but to serve. We apply Paul’s instructions to slaves to all of us who are called to serve the Lord, one another, and work at various jobs.

Thankfully slavery was abolished in our society. But the need to work with diligence even when no one is watching is always pertinent to Christians. We emphasize that we have an eternal system of rewards and should not be intimidated by the world which tells us that everything is about the here and now. Yet slaves in Paul’s day are promised a reward by God. There are many times that Jesus speaks of eternal reward and we cannot allow liberalism to intimidate us into believing that the promise of eternal reward is merely religious leaders trying to abuse us now. That does not follow from the teaching of the scriptures.  God does not show favoritism and we must not either. This means that Christian must treat those who work for them and with them with love and respect, even if they seem to have a lowly status in the eyes of the world.