Paul’s Instruction to Masters
9 And, masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.
Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven (Colossians 4:1).
It is interesting to note what is not said to masters, here or anywhere else in the Scriptures. It is not said that masters should free all their slaves. Instead, masters should submit themselves to God and should subordinate self-interest to serving others. Masters should use their position in such a way as to serve the best interests of those who are their slaves.
Can you imagine what a different place the Roman Empire would have been if every slave owner had used his position to benefit his slaves? The problem with authority is that sinners abuse it, using it for their own selfish gain at the expense of those under them. Paul calls for attitudes and actions which would set Christian masters apart from all others. He calls for actions which would likely cause a Christian slave owner’s peers to be greatly upset with him, for he would put a great deal of pressure on them by his practices.
Probably the most dramatic contrast which our text highlights between a Christian view of slaves and masters and that of the unbelieving culture of that time (and ours) is revealed by this command: Masters, do the same things to them.
In the world, there is a double standard, one for masters, and another for slaves. But with God there is one standard, for masters and slaves, for husbands or wives, for parents or children. All are slaves of Christ, and all are called upon to submit themselves one to another in the fear of Christ (5:21).
At first glance, one might think that Paul has much more to say to slaves than he does to masters. After all, he has four verses addressed to slaves (verses 5-8) and only one addressed to masters (verse 9). But Paul’s words in verse 9 indicate that what he has said previously to slaves applies equally to masters. All Paul adds in verse 9 are a few additional words which more precisely apply the principle of submission to the circumstances of a slave owner.
There is but one specific command given to masters, and that is to “give up threatening.” Threatening must therefore have been a very common practice among slave owners. I think I know why. Consider these verses from the Book of Proverbs.
A slave will not be instructed by words alone; For though he understands, there will be no response (Proverbs 29:19).
He who pampers his slave from childhood Will in the end find him to be a son (Proverbs 29:21).
In these verses, we are being told “how things are,” not necessarily how things should be. Elsewhere we are told that a bribe accomplishes a great deal (Proverbs 17:8). This is not to say that bribes are good, for they are shown to be evil elsewhere (15:5; 17:23). But, in a fallen world where men and women are willing to set aside what is right for money, bribes work. So, too, in a fallen world where slaves rebel against their masters rather than submit to them, beating and threatening “works,” too.
But if Christian slaves serve their masters in an entirely different way than unbelieving slaves, Christian masters rule their slaves in a way that contrasts with the way unbelieving masters rule. Threatening seeks to produce obedience by instilling fear. Christian leadership seeks to motivate service through grace and gratitude. The reverence which the slave should have for his master should not be created by threats, but is the attitude of heart which a Christian slave should have in his heart toward his master because of the work of the Spirit (see verse 5 above). The service which is ideal is that which is rooted in the grace of a master toward his slave, and in the love of the slave for his master:
“But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man,’ then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door of the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently” (Exodus 21:5-6).
The slave’s devotion to his master is the result of his relationship to Christ. So, too, the master’s care for his slaves is the outgrowth of the master’s relationship to the Master. The master is just as much a “slave” of Christ as his slave is. And just as the Christian slave obeys his earthly master, looking to God for his reward, so the slave master fulfills his obligation to his slaves, knowing that he will give answer to his Master, in heaven. And he knows as well that His Master will judge with justice, and not with partiality.
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