No, Scripture does not condone slavery. Period! But, living the Christ-like life is possible even within the context of slavery. This is God’s fallback plan: don’t sin, but if you do, here is what you should do next. By analogy, the Bible tells us not to offend others, and if we do offend, then we are to confess to one another. But God knows that people often fail at both those things, so He instructs, “Love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). This kind of dichotomy is repeated throughout Scripture. For example, each of us should “bear his own load” (Gal 6:5), but when someone does not, we should “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal 6:2). God hates divorce (Mal 2:6), but He allows for it (Deut 24:1-4) as a concession to hardened hearts (Matt 19:8). To put it simply, God expects obedience to His authority, but He knows that humans will in fact rebel against that authority. He recognizes that we live in a fallen world and must live among fallen sinful people and, by extension, sinful institutions.

Slavery is a symptom of our fallen world. God certainly did not design it, nor does He condone it. But living in slavery is no excuse for not living the Christ-like life, any more than other sinful situations in which we find ourselves. And it is that to which the apostle speaks. And if Christlike living is possible within something as extreme as slavery, then Christlike living is possible within every other situation where our freedoms or rights are limited. In other words, living for Christ trumps anything this world can throw at us!

Christians today tend to apply this teaching about slaves to any hierarchy of human relationships where one person has authority over another (for example, employment). When Paul says, “Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth,” that means employees should submit to their bosses who are their “masters” on earth, even when they are compelled by virtue of their employment to do tasks that they don’t like to do, or when they disagree with their supervisors, or are tempted to criticize, resist or undermine their direct authority. They should genuinely do what is expected of them, for the Lord judges the heart, not just the outward behavior.

Is there a limit to this command? Yes, for we see in Peter and John an exception, when they were chose to follow a higher, more direct command to obey the Lord in sharing the good news, rather than earthly leaders (Acts 5:29).