5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; 6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; 7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: 8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
The directives for the relationship between a servant and a master are practical, but also creates yet another picture of our relationship to God. This is emphasized with the three "as" statements, which reveal 1) we are to do all things for God (1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17-25) and 2) as a result we should serve a master with the same fervor that we would if Christ were there. Paul instructs Timothy, the pastor at Ephesus, to teach the same ideas contained in the epistle to the Ephesians, thus revealing the importance of this point (see I Timothy 6:1-2).
9 And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.
The double-edge sword shows itself again: God has high expectations for both the lower and the higher position in every human relationship. The Master is over the masters; the Father over fathers; the Husband over husbands. Notice too that Scripture does not condemn servitude – it does, however, make clear God's respectable and humane expectations for all parties involved.
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