Will of God from the Heart

There were three primary kinds of slavery in the days of the early church age:

• Slaves – those taken in war and forced to serve another
• Bondservants – those who indebted themselves to another and were obliged to serve until the debt was paid
• Christians – those who loved God fully and were committed to serving the will of Jesus in whatever circumstance they were in

While we would like to deny ‘slaves’ exist in our modern age, human trafficking still exists and is fundamentally wrong and sin to be withstood. Bondservants also exist and is typically the result of not providing sufficiently for the needs of the social unit and going into debt to have more than is needed which eventually assumes the obligation to pay the debt by serving the lender. Then the is the Christian who serves the LORD.

Today’s passage continues on from the submission theme of the previous chapter in Ephesians,

Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 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. ¹

One under bond had incurred a legitimate debt and as a term of agreement was obligated to serve the lender to work off the debt. Paul is addressing Christians who were in that relationship and is encouraging them to serve their master as they would serve Christ. While a bondservant was expected to serve to please his master, Christians were to serve the higher calling of serving to please the LORD. Whatever the condition of their service, they were to be doing it in the image of Jesus.

…knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. 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. ²

Service by the disciple of the LORD Jesus is always to be without reserve, to be wholeheartedly served as if it was service to the LORD. It is. And the attitude and quality reflects the relationship of the disciple to his ultimate Master which becomes a demonstration of the LORD to the earthly master. Paul then switches the focus to the master of the bondservant and reminds that the master of the bondservant also has a responsibility to treat his servant as the LORD would treat him.

While the master does not become the servant, he is to ‘submit’ to the LORD and demonstrate the heart of God in his treatment and care of the bondservant. Paul wrote an entire letter about this relationship in the book of Philemon. Or, for another perspective on ‘slaves of Christ’ see the ‘Slaves of Christ’ devotional, August 17. ³