Submit to your masters

Read 1 Peter 2:18

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Living “good lives” (2:12) requires not only submitting to civic rulers but also to those who are our masters at work. This applies even to slaves. The word here is not doulos (slave) but a word meaning house-servant. However, most servants were slaves, and Paul uses doulos in his similar teaching (Eph.6:5).

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Slavery was common in the ancient world and many slaves became Christians (Philemon 16; 1 Cor.1:26). But their freedom in Christ didn’t release them from being bound to their human masters. So both Peter and Paul made clear that their masters must still be respected and obeyed, and the principle obviously applies to all other employment situations. We are to do what the bosses say, not to win their favour but “with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord” (Col.3:22), irrespective of whether the boss (like with the emperor) is good or bad.

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This is because we count ourselves “slaves of God” (2:16), and it’s because we are submitted to him that we obey his command to submit respectfully to those who are over us, either in government or in employment. So “whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” (Col.3:23).