Faithful Servants

Introduction

Titus 2:9–10 ESV

9 Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

The word translated “bondservants,” is the Greek word, “doulous”. This is a slave solely committed to another.

If you want a glimpse of the darkness of sin and the deepest reaches of human depravity, you need look no farther than the institution of slavery. Slavery is so heinous because it takes people who are created in the image of God and treats them like they are property to be bought and sold. It’s a deplorable part of human history and in some places is still around today. We are sinful people, who left to our own will resort to barbarism. Here in America, we have our own history of this evil institution. Children were separated from their parents. Wives were sold away from their husband’s masters. People made in the image of God were beaten, maimed, sexually abused, and mutilated.

This practice was centuries old before America was even discovered. In first century Rome, one third of people were slaves. Outside of Rome, it was one fifth. You would have assumed that with the rise and spread of Christianity, slavery would have decreased. This did not happen. There were those who opposed it, of course, but it remained active. Now, this morning is not history class, this is a sermon so I’m not going to lay the entire history out for you. However, there are some important things to know.

Some Christians in the South argued “What God sanctioned in the OT, and permitted in the New, cannot be sin.” Many in the South, including some Baptists who we would respect theologically in most respects came down on the wrong side of the fence on this issue. Slavery was partially responsible for the formation of the largest protestant denomination in the SBC in 1845. They have since repented of this evil.

It should also be noted that Christians led the way in brining slavery to an end. William Wilberforce, Granville Sharp, John Wesley, and others led the charge as Quakers and Moravians, Methodists, and some Baptists vocally opposed this evil. Eventually slavery was outlawed in England but took almost another sixty years to come to an end in the United States, following the Civil War.

Slavery still exists in the world but where the gospel has found fertile soil, slavery has been pushed into the shadows. As one scholar writes, “ only where there was a Christian impulse did slavery come to an end.”

In his wonderful commentary on Titus, Danny Akin asks the question that I believe we also must ask when we come to passages like Titus 2:9-10.

What does the Bible say about slavery?

What kind of guidance do we get in the biblical teaching on this topic?

Paul, on more than one occasion in scripture speaks to the issue of slavery. Here are a few references to help round out our thinking on this.

Ephesians 6:5–9 ESV

5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

1 Timothy 6:1–2 ESV

1 Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. 2 Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved. Teach and urge these things.

Akin summarizes the Bible’s teaching on slavery in five points. I want to quickly open with these and then move into our exposition of the passage.

“1. The Bible regulates but does not ordain or require slavery” It is not a divine institution.

“2. Paul taught that if you can gain your freedom, then go for it, but do not let it consume you.

“3. Through a wise and strategic extension of the gospel, the NT sows the seed for the unmasking of slavery for the sin that it is and for its eventual destruction.”

“4. Scripture never advocates bloodshed or rebellion in confronting and overturning evil structures of society and culture. Rather, it attacks with the beauty of the gospel, the grace of God, and the ethic of love.”

“5. Paul turned the tables on the institution of slavery by placing it in an eternal perspective.”

This morning’s passage continues the line through verses 1-8 of chapter 2 where we find that the gospel, when rooting into the fertile soil of the believing heart, produces godliness in the life of the believer and that this is a testimony to the unbelieving world.

In addressing slaves, Paul has this aim in mind. If they are followers of Christ and believe the gospel, then their very service to their masters should reflect the gospel and their lives are not exempted from being godly reflections of the grace of God.

I. Submit to your own masters.

The gospel restores the dignity of slaves.

God, man, sin, Christ

Slaves were not to use their newfound status for wrongdoing.

Slaves were an element in the church and Paul did not shy away from addressing how they were to conduct themselves.

They were to follow the example of Jesus.

Be willing to have your rights trampled on without fighting back… or not feeling like you have to take your rights even if by force.

Submit to their own masters… not anyone else’s master.

first to God, then to their masters

II. Serve your masters with excellence.

Well-pleasing - euarestos - in the NT is almost always used in relation to being acceptable and pleasing to God, such as in

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Slaves were encouraged to do excellent work. You should do excellent work. It’s not wrong to seek to advance and increase our income. Those can be good motives when done in the right spirit, BUT they should never ben the highest objective or end goal for the Christian. Above all we should want to do what is well-pleasing to the Lord.

Be productive for your Superior

Respectful - not argumentative - literally “to speak against”

-not talking back or contradicting. It is the opposite of being submissive

this has become almost a way of life for many today… see social media… talk about facebook drama

Honest - not pilfering

to put aside for oneself or misappropriate

taking paper clips home

printing your kid’s homework at work

unauthorized trips in the company car

God takes this seriously. Do you remember what happened to Ananias and Sapphira in the book of Acts?

Acts 5:1–4 ESV

1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”

They were basically pilfering. It cost them their lives.

Loyal - showing all good faith

faithfully doing what the worker is supposed to do

“showing” is from a word meaning “to show forth for the purpose of demonstrating or providing something.”

A Christian slave or in our case today, employee should not leave their loyalty in doubt but give much clear evidence of it.

III. Spotlight the gospel.

The result :

“...so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.”

Adorn - from kosmeo

where we get our word “cosmetics”

Titus: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Result

Paul of course, was not speaking about physical and superficial adornment. What makes the church attractive and influential in the world for the Lord is not its strategy or its programs but the virtue and holiness of its people. His people therefore are to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior by their submissiveness, by the excellence of their work, by their respectful attitude, by their honesty, and by their loyal service to their employer—whether he is a fellow Christian or a rank pagan, fair or unfair, pleasant or unpleasant, deserving or undeserving.

our lives should spotlight the gospel and slaves were not exempted from this… even if they lived in terrible conditions...

1 Peter 2:18 ESV

18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.

Masters - despotes , where we get our word despot from…

Titus: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Submissive

If bondslaves are obligated to submit to their absolute and often cruel and arbitrary masters, how much more are “free” believers obligated to submit to an employer, even one who is mean, unreasonable, and overbearing

You must, in whatever situation you are in, live your life in such a way that the gospel is shown to be true, to be worthy of sacrifice, and that you are not the center of the world… It is truly not about you. Paul was telling Titus how these slaves were to operate in order that their very obedience, even to depraved masters would be a display of the gospel where they found their true freedom in Christ.

to best display the beauty of the gospel - Illustration of the Corners name

Colossians 3:22–24 ESV

22 Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Closing and application

- Modern day employee application

I would gather that most of you are probably not slaves. I’m guessing we don’t have a whole lot of bondservants here today. But we do have a lot of employees. So how can we take what we have seen here and apply it to our lives as workers in the marketplace?

Be productive for your superior

Be pleasing in your spirit

Be polite in speech

Be principled in your service

Be public in your sincerity

Be praiseworthy in your Savior

Colossians 3:23–24 ESV

23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

You are serving the Lord Christ! You ultimately are serving, working, doing, being because of and for Jesus Christ. Your ultimate goal when you became a Christian, changed. Your ultimate goal is to bring Him honor and glory and to see your Savior, save others.