I consider it a high privilege to stand before you to speak the word of God. I don’t take it lightly. The act of preaching to me is sacred, serious, and very precious. What shall I say? Your leaders gave me the option: choose your own text in the Bible or continue with our Colossians series. So I asked, “Which text in Colossians?” and the answer was Colossians 3:22–4:1, the passage about slavery. And I said I’d like to do that one. Because the issue of slavery in the Bible, in our own American history, and in the world today is huge. And this text, along with the rest of the New Testament, is more radical than many realize.

Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. (Colossians 3:22–4:1)

I believe the main point of this passage can be stated like this: the calling of all Christians is to magnify the supreme lordship of Christ by the way we serve in subordinate lordships. Or to say it another way, we exist to make much of the greatness of Christ by the way we submit to the fading structures of this world. And they’re all fading. Government, as we know it, and democracy will be no more when King Jesus comes to reign in the flesh. Marriage will be no more because, in the resurrection, Jesus said they “neither marry nor are given in marriage” (Luke 20:35). All the children will be grown up in the final kingdom, and family, as we know it, will change forever. And slavery will be no more. We will come back to try to show this from the text.

Four Clarifications

But before we look at the details of this text and how Paul dealt with the issue of slavery in his day, I think it will be helpful to clarify four things. First, let’s see from Colossians who Jesus Christ is. Second, let’s see who these slaves and masters are. Third, let’s ask what their goal in living should be. And fourth, let’s look at Paul’s wider teaching concerning slavery so that we don’t miss what he’s getting at in this text.

1. Who Is Christ?

First, what has Paul said in Colossians about Christ?

Colossians 2:9 says, “In him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” That’s a bombshell — on Dallas and on the world. Jesus Christ is God. Colossians 1:16–17:

By him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Jesus is God. He made all that is. He holds it all in being moment by moment. And it all exists, including you, for him — for his glory, to magnify his greatness, his beauty, and his worth.

And this God-man, Jesus, is sovereign. Colossians 2:10: “He is the head of all rule and authority.” He is absolutely in charge. He rules Israel today, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, and the election processes in America. He is absolutely supreme, unrivaled, and serene. And he is infinitely wise and rich. Colossians 2:3: “In [him] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” And he died for us. Colossians 2:13–14: “[He canceled] the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” This God, this Creator of all, this Sovereign over all, this infinitely wise and rich Person, paid for all our sin by dying in our place.

That is the Lord of our text in Colossians 3:22–4:1.

2. Who Are Christians?

And who are we? Who are these Christian slaves and slave masters? Colossians 1:4, “We heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints.” They are believers. They trust Christ and show it by their love. And they were united to Christ by faith, and they died — they died with Christ, and they live. Colossians 3:3, “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

“We exist to make much of the greatness of Christ by the way we submit to the fading structures of this world.”

And what about now? Colossians 1:13, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.” These Christians, you Christians, are already there — in the kingdom of Christ. The decisive transfer of allegiance, of kingship, is over. You live now under Christ’s supreme lordship. You are now sojourners and exiles here in Dallas, in America. And in this new kingdom, this new allegiance, this new lordship, Colossians 3:11 says, “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.”

3. What Is Our Purpose?

What then is the purpose of the Christian life? Colossians 1:18: “[Christ] is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.” Our purpose is to join him in his purpose — that in everything he might be preeminent.

Or to return to where we started, the calling of all Christians is to magnify the supreme lordship of Christ by the way we serve in subordinate lordships. Or to say it another way, to make much of the greatness of Christ by the way we submit to the fading structures of this world.

4. What Did Paul Say About Slavery?

There is one more step of preparation. The first step was, Who is Christ? Second, who are Christians? And third, what is our purpose in life? The fourth preliminary clarification is this: What does the wider lens reveal about Paul’s teaching on slavery to help us get our bearings in Colossians 3:22?

First Timothy 1:9–10 says,

Understand this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners . . . the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers [literally “man-stealers,” kidnappers for the sake of sale].

Virtually the entire foundation of slavery in our own country was forbidden in this text: stealing people to sell them.

Galatians 3:28–29 says,

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

Slave and free are united in Christ before God and equal as fellow heirs of eternal life.

First Corinthians 7:21–23:

Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.

Amazing! Every Christian slave is free. Every Christian freedman (including slave masters) is a slave. Whatever bondage you were in — whoever owned you — Christ bought you with blood. You have one supreme Master and Lord: Christ.

I wish I had time to take these and many other texts and show how they together gut the system of slavery while leaving in place for the time being the shell, the outward structures, of slavery, so that Paul still used the term “slave” and “master.” But we don’t have time for that. So, I’ll sum it up in a few sentences.

The New Testament ordered human relationships in Christ in such a way as to transform the master-slave relationship into something so different from “owner” and “property” that what remained was no longer recognizable as slavery in the traditional sense. To say it another way, when the New Testament instructions to masters and slaves were obeyed, what was left of the master-slave relationship was not a relationship of owner-property. The master is transformed from owner to one who is owned by Christ along with his slave. The slave is transformed from property to co-heir of Christ with the master.

That transformation would make slavery unrecognizable as slavery.

Lord Above All Lords

Now we are ready for our text in Colossians 3:22-4:1 — to see if my summary of the main point is really there: the calling of all Christians is to magnify the supreme lordship of Christ by the way we serve in subordinate lordships.

The overarching thing here that needs to be clarified — and affects the way the entire paragraph sounds — is that the word for “master” and the word for “Lord” is the same word: kurios. So, let’s read it that way, and I think you’ll get the point.

Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly lords, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. Lords, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Lord in heaven. (Colossians 3:22–4:1)

What’s the point? The point is that earthly lords and earthly slaves, in Christ, are supposed to shape their lives decisively — their attitudes, their behaviors — by the supreme lordship of Jesus over both of them. The subordinate lordship is not decisive. And the not is really important. Look at Colossians 3:23: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not [not!] for men.” Work not for your earthly lord. It’s almost as if the earthly lord doesn’t exist. So, the earthly lord says, “Go to the river and bring back water for tonight’s cooking.” And this earthly slave — from hearty sincerity, not man-pleasing — gladly runs off for the water. And Paul says he is doing this not for the earthly lord.

What does that mean? It means that he is so profoundly shaped and governed in his life by the superior lordship of Christ over all the details of his life that his compliance with subordinate lordships is as if it were compliance with Jesus and not to man. This is a description of all of you Christians. You all live in authority structures — subordinate, earthly lordship structures. It could be child-parent, wife-husband, citizen-government, student-teacher, employee-employer, player-coach, church member–elders, choir member–choir director, corporal-sergeant, and so on.

And this text is summoning us all to magnify the supreme lordship of Christ by the way we serve in subordinate lordships. And that means, according to Colossians 3:23, “Work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” It is a radically Christ-saturated life. It takes seriously all relationships ordained by God and ascribes ultimacy and decisiveness to none of them. We comply with all non-sinful instructions from proper authorities with such a radical orientation on Jesus — above and behind that authority — that it is as if our obedience were not to any man but only Christ. I’ll read it again: “Work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”

That is amazing freedom. “You think, earthly lord, that I am obeying you. But it’s not what you think. You do not have any final authority over me. I do not do anything you say simply because you say it. I have a Lord who is infinitely stronger, infinitely wiser, infinitely more satisfying, infinitely more authoritative in my life than you. What I do, I do for his sake. You have no ultimate claim on me. I march to the beat of another drummer. If you tell me to do anything that contradicts his will, it’s not going to happen. I am in your service at his bidding. And I serve you the way I do because he is an infinitely greater Lord than you are.” That’s radical Christian freedom inside submission to subordinate lordships (where we all live).

Incentives for Our Service

Let’s pose one final question: What powerful incentives does Paul give the slave (or all of us) to be that decisively bound to the superior lordship of Christ that we can serve in subordinate lordships with such radical exactness and freedom? What incentives have set this slave free from resentment and anger, and in the place of all that resentment put a desire to be a glad and faithful servant? Where did that come from?

“Every Christian slave is free. Every Christian freedman (including slave masters) is a slave.”

We know from Colossians 2:14 that ringing in the ears of this earthly slave and this earthly lord — as they sit in church and listen to this letter being read — is the staggering reality that Christ by his blood canceled all their debts. And they know that this unspeakable, undeserved kindness shapes everything they do, and how they treat other people — slave and lord. But that’s not what Paul mentions here. He mentions two things that are built on that.

He mentions the fear of the Lord’s displeasure and hope for the Lord’s inheritance. Colossians 3:22: “Obey . . . your earthly [lords], not with eye-service, as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.” And Colossians 3:23–24 says, “Work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.” Fear of the Lord’s displeasure. Hope for the Lord’s inheritance.

Does the fear of the Lord function in your life this way — to increase your hope and make you free? When my oldest son was about eight years old, we went to visit a family who had a huge German shepherd. It was almost as tall as my son. Just before we walked in the front door, I asked my son to run to the car and get something I forgot. As he ran, this giant dog loped up behind him with a low growl. He and I were afraid. And my friend Dick called out to my son, “Oh, Karsten, you might want to just walk. He doesn’t like it when people run away from him. Just put your arm around his neck and he’ll be fine.”

I do believe that’s the way the fear of the Lord functions in the Christian’s life. God aims for us to put our arm around his neck. And he doesn’t like it when we run away to other guides, other helpers, other treasures. He growls to frighten us and wake us up to the privilege and pleasure we have to walk with God with our arm around his neck.

And when the fear of the Lord brings us back to God in Christ, what do we find? Colossians 3:24: “From the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.” As you come home from your foolish wandering, he looks you in the eye and says, “You’re not my slave. You’re my son, and everything I own, everything I have, is yours.” And with that all-satisfying assurance, we move into the fading structures of this world and magnify the supreme lordship of Christ by the way we gladly serve in these subordinate lordships.