Daily Lesson for Tuesday 17th of March 2026
Read Colossians 3:22-25 and Colossians 4:1. What instructions are given to slaves? What principles are here for work relations generally?
People today sometimes bring up slavery as a way to relegate some of the Bible’s counsels to the past, if not to discredit Scripture entirely. But, ironically, this takes little to no account of the historical contexts within Old Testament Israel and the New Testament church. Human beings are made in God’s image and, like all of God’s intelligent beings, are designed for freedom. Mosaic laws prohibited Israelites from being perpetual slaves (Deuteronomy 15:12) and stipulated six years as the maximum term of service to pay off financial indebtedness (Exodus 21:2-6, Leviticus 25:39-43). The slavery in the Bible, however repugnant to our modern sense, was not normally like the abominable practices of slavery that have been seen in the Western world, which was a scourge and horrific crime against humanity.
Image © John Baker at Goodsalt.com
In New Testament times, the church had to operate within the framework of Roman law, which provided for owning slaves: “But, unlike modern forms of slavery, Roman law afforded slaves considerable rights and opportunities, and attempting to overturn the practice could have threatened the advancement of the gospel.”—Clinton Wahlen, “Culture, Hermeneutics, and Scripture: Discerning What Is Universal,” in Frank M. Hasel, ed., Biblical Hermeneutics: An Adventist Approach (Silver Spring, MD: Biblical Research Institute/Review and Herald Academic, 2020), p. 166.
In fact, within the church, unlike more generally within the Roman Empire, the slave’s first obligation was to the Lord. And their masters were instructed to treat them fairly, “knowing that you also have a Master in heaven” (Colossians 4:1, NKJV). Moreover, Paul instructed Philemon not to treat Onesimus any longer as his slave but as his brother (Philemon 1:16). Actually, in both the Old and New Testaments, believers are called slaves (or servants) of God (see, for example, Psalms 34:22, Luke 17:10, 1 Peter 2:16).
Even if we don’t like the cultural circumstances in which some Bible texts were written, we still must accept the authority of the text itself. Otherwise, we have placed ourselves and our culture above Scripture. The better option is to look at everything the Bible says about a topic before reaching a conclusion about what the Bible is telling us about it.
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Consider how this passage could apply to your relationships at work. How might its principles be helpful to you as a boss or an employee? |
