Colossians 3.22-Slaves in the Colossian Christian Community Must Continue to Obey Their Human Masters Because of Reverence for Their True Master
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday December 4, 2016
Colossians: Colossians 3:22-Slaves in the Colossian Christian Community Must Continue to Obey Their Human Masters Because of Reverence for Their True Master
Lesson # 97
Colossians 3:22 Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. (NASB95)
“Slaves” is the noun doulos (δοῦλος) which pertains to a state of being completely controlled by someone and is used in a literal sense referring to a person who is totally under the power and authority and control of another person in contrast to a master who is not but controls others.
“Those who are your masters on earth” is composed of the following: (1) noun kurios (κύριος), “those who are your masters” (6) preposition kata (κατά), which is not translated (7) noun sarx (σάρξ), “on earth.”
The noun kurios means “your masters” since the word pertains to a person who exercises authority over a slave and the article functions as a possessive pronoun referring to the slaves in the Colossian Christian community.
The noun sarx means “human” since the word pertains to the human realm in contrast to the heavenly and is the object of the preposition kata, which is functioning as a marker of a particular standard.
“Obey” is the verb hupakouō (ὑπακούω), which means “to be obedient, to obey” and the second person plural form of this verb refers to the slaves in the Colossian Christian community as a corporate unit and is used in a distributive sense emphasizing no exceptions.
The present imperative form of the verb hupakouō is a customary present imperative which indicates that these slaves in the Colossian Christian community must continue to exist in the state of making it their habit of obeying their masters.
This interpretation of the present imperative is supported by Paul’s teaching in Colossians 1:3-5 and 2:5 which affirm the Colossians were already obeying the commands in this epistle.
“In all things” speaks of the slaves in the Colossian Christian community obeying their masters by submitting in each and every circumstance.
“Not with external service” denies any idea of the slaves in the Colossian Christian community obeying their human masters only when their masters are present with them.
“As those who merely please men” is marking a comparison between the slaves in the Colossian Christian community obeying their human masters out of respect for the Lord Jesus Christ and their doing so merely to please their human masters.
“With sincerity of heart” speaks of being characterized as honest possessing a straightforward attitude and speech with the absence of affectation or pretense and refers to the quality of sincerity as an expression of singleness of purpose or motivation.
“Fearing the Lord” is composed of the following: (1) verb phobeomai (φοβέομαι), “fearing” (2) noun kurios (κύριος), “the Lord.”
This verb phobeomai means “to reverence, to respect” since the word pertains to having such awe or respect for a person as to involve a measure of fear and speaks of having a profound measure of respect for a person.
The participle form of this verb is functioning as a causal participle which indicates that it is presenting the reason or expressing the reason why the slaves in the Colossian Christian community were to continue making it their habit of obeying their human masters in each and every circumstance.
The noun kurios is used to form a play on words since this word was used in relation to the masters of Christian slaves but here it is used of Jesus Christ.
The purpose of this play on words is to emphasize with the slaves in the Christian community that by submitting to the authority of their human masters, they were in reality submitting to the authority of Jesus Christ who placed their human master in authority over them.
Colossians 3:22 Slaves, each of you continue making it your habit of obeying your human masters, submitting in each and every circumstance, not only while being observed as people pleasers but rather with a sincere attitude because each of you are characterized as possessing reverence and respect for your true Master. (My translation)
Paul is teaching the slaves in the Colossian Christian community that when they obey their human masters on the basis of their reverence and respect for the Lord Jesus Christ, they were in fact worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ since reverence and respect are two of four words which characterize Christian worship.
In other words, through their obedient conduct towards their human masters, they would be worshipping the Lord.
This command in Colossians 3:22 and the basis for obeying it echo Paul’s command to the slaves in the Ephesian Christian community in Ephesians 6:5-7 and the reasons he gives for obeying this command.
Paul also addresses the conduct of slaves in the Ephesian Christian community in 1 Timothy 6:1-2 and he also addresses the conduct of slaves in the Cretan Christian community in Titus 2:9-10.
In Colossians 3:22, Ephesians 6:5-7, 1 Timothy 6:1-2 and Titus 2:9-10 we can see that Paul wanted Christian slaves to live out the gospel in their lives.
By Christian slaves demonstrating their obedience to the gospel resulting in their being trustworthy with their master’s affairs, their masters might give the gospel a hearing or simply believe in Jesus Christ as a result of their slave’s trustworthiness.
There are times when a Christian is justified in disobeying legitimate authority as in the case of the Hebrew midwives disobeying Pharaoh orders to kill the Jewish infants at birth (Ex. 1) or Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego disobeying Nebuchadnezzar’s order to worship an idol of himself (cf. Dan. 3).
The apostles disobeyed the orders of the Jewish Sanhedrin for them to stop proclaiming the gospel in Jerusalem (cf. Acts 5:27-32).
The Word of God never commands slaves to seek their freedom or leave their masters or rebel against them.
The doctrine of the apostles does not deal with this problem by telling masters to release their slaves, nor does it teach slaves to leave their masters.
Slaves who had the opportunity to gain their freedom by legal means were not condemned for doing so, but were encouraged (1 Cor. 7:21).
Being a slave in the natural realm was not a hindrance to serving God since He has given each church age believer in Christ spiritual freedom.
The slave had equal opportunity to bring glory to God and receive rewards for faithfulness to the Lord, as did their Christian master (cf. Gal. 3:26-28).
Paul taught Christian slaves in 1 Corinthians 7:20-24 that they were in reality slaves of the Lord and therefore, were in reality serving Him since He purchased them out of the slave market of sin with His death on the cross.
The Son of God became a slave according to Paul’s teaching in Philippians 2:7 and He did this in order to serve mankind (cf. Mark 10:45).
He voluntarily served sinful humanity by suffering a substitutionary spiritual and physical death on a Roman cross as a criminal in order to deliver them from sin and Satan (cf. Mark 10:45), thus, Christian slaves can imitate Him in their present condition as slaves.
The question naturally arises as to why the apostle Paul does not teach against slavery and even reject this institution of the Roman Empire?
The answer is simple in that he knew that social change that is a blessing to mankind can only come through the gospel of Jesus Christ and he knew social problems can only be resolved through the gospel.
Thus, he knew that if enough slave masters were evangelized and responded by faith to the gospel and were regenerated, then this could result in the abolishment of slavery.
This was in fact what happened for within a few centuries, slavery was gone from the Roman Empire.
Paul knew that once the hearts of slave owners were regenerated by the Spirit through their acceptance by faith of the gospel, then slavery could be dealt with.
Christians in America in the twenty first century should learn a lesson from this.
In the Word of God, the Holy Spirit does not prohibit Christians from becoming involved in various aspects of society (we are, after all, “the salt of the world”).
However, when the Christian exchanges the gospel for a social agenda they are contaminating their mission.
There are social implications of the gospel that are quite extensive, but Christians are never to forget that their primary task in relation to the world is not to change political structures, but through the gospel offer forgiveness of sin in the name of Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, Paul does not seek to abolish slavery because slavery was not condemned by God in the Old Testament and in fact was practiced in Israel.
The Mosaic Law provided protection from abuse of slaves by their masters which stands in stark contrast to the laws of pagan nations regarding the treatment of their slaves.
Also, Paul knew that being a slave did not adversely affect a Christian’s ability to execute the Father’s will to become like Jesus Christ and in fact, you could do God’s will by simply being an obedient and submissive slave.
Whether a Christian is a slave or freeman, male or female, Jew or Gentile, they have equal privilege and equal opportunity to execute the Father’s will (Galatians 3:26-28).
There are no social, gender or racial distinctions in the family of God because the gospel of Jesus Christ brought all of this about.
Therefore, Paul’s main objective was to teach and propagate the gospel rather than be a social activist who marches around the Emperor’s home demanding the abolition of slavery in the Roman Empire.