Theological term
Gospel Ethic
2 sermons · All terms
Slaves and Masters
Colossians 3:22–4:1 addresses the conduct of bondservants and masters within the Roman imperial context, grounding workplace ethics not in social reform but in the Lordship of Christ over every sphere of life. The passage calls slaves to obey their earthly masters in all lawful things — not with eye-service or people-pleasing, but in sincerity of heart and fear of God — because the ultimate master is Christ, who will reward his servants with an eternal inheritance. Masters are likewise charged to give what is just and fair, knowing they too answer to a heavenly master. The sermon closes with an evangelistic appeal: every person is either a slave to sin or a slave to Christ, and freedom from sin's bondage comes only through faith in the Son.
Slaves and Masters
Colossians 3:22–4:1 addresses the final relationship in the household code — slaves and masters — and Paul's instructions cut against both first-century Aristotelian contempt for slaves and twenty-first-century assumptions about social action. The passage unfolds in three movements: the duty of slaves (obedience in action and sincerity of heart, not eye-service), the incentives for slaves (the promise of an eternal inheritance from the Lord Christ), and the duty of masters (to give what is just and fair, governed by the knowledge that they too answer to a Master in heaven). The governing theological claim is that heavenly-mindedness produces, rather than withdraws from, faithful earthly labor — so every Christian employee and employer is called to work as unto the Lord, fearing God rather than men, whether recognized by their master or not.