What About Slavery, Paul?

Just as all individuals have equal dignity before God, as believers, we are equally submissive to God. When Paul addresses slaves or their masters, he says that everything they do ought to be done in submission to Christ and in reverence for Him. In Colossians 3:22 Paul gives the following exhortation: "Slaves, obey your human masters in everything. Don't work only while being watched, in order to please men, but work wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord" (emphasis added; see also Eph 6:5; Col 4:1). One reason we are to submit equally to God is that we will receive equal justice from God. In Colossians 3:25 Paul tells us that God is impartial, and in Ephesians 6:9 we hear the following warning: "And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening them, because you know that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him." In other words, earthly masters have a Master in heaven who will act with perfect justice in response to how slaves are treated. As for Christian slaves, even though they may endure temporary injustice, eternal justice awaits.

So we've seen that the Bible condemns slavery that undermines God's creation; next we see that the Bible likewise condemns slavery that violates God's Word. In clear, unequivocal language the Bible speaks against slavery in two specific ways. First, the Bible denounces physical abuse. This prohibition would apply to many forms of physical abuse but particularly when this abuse is associated with the institution of slavery. In Exodus 21:26-27 God made clear that physical abuse is intolerable, for if the master of a slave caused the slave to lose an eye or a tooth, the slave was to be set free. In verse 20 of the same chapter, we read that if a slave died as a result of physical abuse, then the owner was to be punished. In short, physical abuse of any kind by masters of slaves was directly condemned by God.104

Second, we know slavery is condemned because the Bible denounces human trafficking. Exodus 21:16 says, "Whoever kidnaps a person must be put to death, whether he sells him or the person is found in his possession." Kidnapping a slave is punishable by death, and that death penalty applies to the one selling the slave and the one buying the slave. We're reminded at this point about what Paul said earlier in 1 Timothy concerning the need for the law to restrain evil. Paul explicitly mentions—alongside murder, sexual immorality, and homosexuality—the sin of kidnapping (1:10). The word "kidnappers" in the original means a "man-stealer" or a "slave-dealer" (BDAG, 76). Anyone who kidnaps people in order to sell them as slaves is "lawless and rebellious... ungodly and sinful... unholy and irreverent" (1:9).

I have emphasized the evil of human trafficking for two reasons. First, if these truths had been embraced and obeyed by Christians in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, slavery never would have existed as it did in the South. The Bible is not at all silent on this issue, and it in no way tolerates the kind of slavery that took place in this country. Pastors and church members who used God's Word to justify the practice of slavery were living in sin. Paul clearly considered the kind of practices promoted in the African slave trade as abominable, a violation of God's Word, and a denial of God's gospel.

Second, the issue of human trafficking is important to think about because it is so prevalent around the world today. There are an estimated twenty-seven million slaves in the world today, which is more than any other time in history. Human trafficking, which includes buying, selling, trading, and exploiting people for forced labor or for sex, is the second largest and fastest growing industry in the world today. The statistics are staggering (from Random Facts):

Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing criminal enterprises because it is relatively low risk with high profit potential. Criminal105 organizations are increasingly attracted to human trafficking because, unlike drugs, humans can be sold repeatedly. According to the U.S. State Department, human trafficking is one of the greatest human rights challenges of this century, both in the United States and around the world. As followers of Christ, we cannot ignore these horrific tragedies. We need to see that this is a reality in the world today and that the Bible condemns it. We are called to stand up against these evils (Eph 5:11).

We've seen that the Bible condemns human trafficking and other forms of oppression. Next we need to understand that the Bible regulates slavery. As we saw in Exodus 21 earlier, God mandates physical protection for slaves. Slaves abused by their masters were immediately to be set free and compensated for their injuries (Exod 21:16, 26-27). In addition, God requires financial provision for slaves. Leviticus 25:39-40 talks about impoverished Hebrew servants who sold themselves to a master, and it says the master must provide ample provision for the servant. Likewise, 2 Samuel 9:9-10 talks about the economic rights of slaves, including the right of slaves to have other slaves. Many of these passages communicate a similar idea, namely, God ensures caring supervision of slaves. Leviticus 25 prohibits masters from ruling ruthlessly over their slaves, even giving slaves the right to enjoy the Sabbath. The Old Testament also gives us examples of close, caring relationships between slaves or servants and their masters, such as the relationship between Gehazi and Elisha (2 Kgs 4-8).

Finally, we see that God promotes (and in some ways guarantees) eventual freedom from slavery. Several passages in the Old Testament prohibit masters from keeping slaves for more than six years, unless the slave consented to it (Lev 25; Exod 21; Deut 15). All the slaves in Israel would be released in the seventh year of each seven-year cycle so that slavery would not be a perpetual state for anyone. God provided other ways to keep people out of slavery:

God's promotion of freedom for slaves is a foretaste of the coming heavenly reality when, in the new creation, slavery and the poverty that106 fuels slavery will be no more. For that reason Paul encouraged slaves in 1 Corinthians 7:21 who could become free to avail themselves of the opportunity.

Our survey of the Bible on the topic of slavery has not been exhaustive, but it has provided a needed context for understanding our passage in 1 Timothy 6. When Paul addresses Timothy in verses 1-2, he is writing to the pastor of a church where there is likely tension between slaves and masters. The Bible encourages slaves who are forced to live in this imperfect situation in several ways. They are to honor unbelieving masters. That Paul is referring to non-Christian masters in verse 1 is clear from the fact that he made a contrast between unbelieving masters and Christian masters in verse 2. Slaves should treat their unbelieving masters as "worthy of all respect"; after all, they too are created in the image of God. The word "respect" here might also be translated "honor," and it comes from the same root as the command in 5:3, where Paul said to "honor widows" (NASB; emphasis added).

Paul wanted slaves to honor their masters. Slaves were to honor unbelieving masters "so that God's name and His teaching will not be blasphemed" (6:1). Let's break this purpose clause down into two parts. First, slaves act this way for the glory of God. This is the motivation that drove Paul, and it drives all of Scripture (1 Cor 10:31). In 1 Timothy we've already seen this in several forms. For example, we pray for all people, and we honor widows because this pleases God (2:3; 5:4). Elders must have a good reputation so that God's name is not brought to disrepute (3:7). Paul's deepest concern in addressing the conduct of slaves was for the glory of God to be made known, particularly before unbelieving masters. These unbelieving masters should see the grace of God in the lives of slaves who had become followers of Christ.

There's a sense in which Paul's words apply to all followers of Christ who have unbelieving employers. If you profess to follow Christ, you should honor your employer so that they might see the glory of God in you. Everything you do at work is a representation of your God, so work hard and work well. Even when it's not easy, we are to obey, for Peter said elsewhere,

Whether you're a student or an employee, remember that every time you turn in a project, hand in an assignment, make a decision, or take an action, you are to reflect the glory of God.

There is another related goal in the way slaves honor masters: for the advancement of the gospel. In Titus 2:9-10 Paul said,

This is a beautiful way to describe the goal of obedience—so that we may "adorn" the gospel. Paul's exhortation has a missionary motivation. Unbelieving masters should see the hard work of believers and be drawn to the glory of God and the fruit of the gospel. Christians should view their jobs as serving this great purpose.

These greater purposes that Paul speaks of remind us that Christianity is not primarily aimed at social reform. If the purpose of Christianity was to change societal structures, then we would not expect Paul to speak like he has been in this letter or his other writings. Instead, we would expect him to exhort the Ephesian church to work against the system of slavery, but Paul told slaves to live for the salvation of their masters. That's because Christianity is primarily aimed at personal redemption. So that, as people are redeemed, societal structures begin to be transformed. The key is the heart of the people. That is the primary way the Bible addresses slavery—by aiming for personal redemption and personal transformation. Redeemed individuals are formed into a community of believers who are one in Christ, who love and support one another regardless of whether they are Jews, Gentiles, slaves, or freemen. When the gospel begins to transform people like this, slavery is seen in a much different light. As one writer put it, the gospel lays "the explosive charge... that ultimately—although sadly, belatedly—leads to detonation, and the destruction of slavery" altogether (Harris, Slave of Christ, 68).

If slaves are to adorn the gospel in the way they treat their unbelieving masters, how should they treat a master who is a believer? It seems that some slaves were taking advantage of their Christian masters, thinking that they no longer had an obligation to keep their agreements to108 serve. But Paul says that having a believing master is all the more reason to serve him with joy and hard work. In verse 2 the apostle says that instead of being disrespectful to believing masters, slaves "should serve them better, since those who benefit from their service are believers and dearly loved." Slaves are to work wholeheartedly in such situations and avoid slacking off. The same holds true for Christian employees in our own day. They should not take advantage of brothers and sisters in Christ who have authority over them in the workplace. Instead, they are to serve selflessly. This kind of selfless service is a fruit of gospel transformation. Does this characterize your life and work?

Ultimately, given everything we've seen so far, the Bible redeems slavery. By that I mean that God's Word takes slavery, a product of sin, and turns it into a powerful image of God's goodness. Consider the beauty of Christ and the gospel reality that our Master has become our servant. As Paul said in Philippians 2:7, the same Jesus who was fully divine "emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men" (emphasis added). The word "slave" in Philippians 2 comes from the same word we see in 1 Timothy 6:1—doulos. Christ took the form of a slave. Jesus took this posture in John 13:4-5 when He wrapped a garment around His waist and washed His disciples' feet. And Mark 10:45 says something similar with regard to the purpose for Jesus' coming: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life—a ransom for many." That's the gospel in a nutshell. That's good news!

The essence of Christianity is that our Master has become our servant and so, in turn, we gladly become His slave. The word Paul often uses to describe himself at the beginning of his letters is this same word—doulos—translated as "servant" or "slave."13 A slave is one who belongs to another and is under the authority of another. That was the way Paul wanted to be identified, and it's the way every follower of Christ should want to be identified. We are slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ, and unlike the sinful pictures of slavery we see in the world, slavery and service to the Lord Jesus is glorious freedom! It is glad service rendered to a gracious Master. At the end of the day, the question is not whether we are slaves but whose slaves we are. Either we will serve sin and Satan (John 8:34; Rom 6:11), or we will serve the King of kings.109