1 Timothy 6:1-2
Today's Passage: 1 Timothy 6:1-2
Slavery was a common practice during the time that this letter was written. Sometimes, slaves were treated with honor and cared for well, and sometimes they suffered abuse from their masters.
When scripture addresses the topic of slavery, it is responding to the cultural practice, but it is not endorsing the practice. Slavery was a result of brokenness and sin, but God gives it regulations.
He does this to display His glory and ultimately with the goal to uproot the sin that caused slavery to be an appealing option in the eyes of the masters.
The solution Paul proposes here is the transforming power of the gospel and the communing of God’s people: the church.
Paul knew the gospel’s transforming power as it had taken him from a murderer to a minister, and in this church he saw the slave/master relationship transform to be brothers in Christ.
The church was a unique place that the world looked at and saw a different message. In a culture that valued people as less due to their race, debt, or social status, the gospel said that all people were created in the image of God with value and that anyone who called on the name of the Lord would be forgiven and saved of their sins.
As this message transformed the individual relationships between slave/master, it also transformed the culture around the church. The Lord was gradually at work through His people by the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of His word.
We too can take heart as we look at a sinful broken world, that as God transforms our lives and our relationships, He is also transforming the culture and world that we live in through the faithfulness of His people by the power of His Spirit and with the truth of His word.
Written By: Paulette Carwile
Slavery was a common practice during the time that this letter was written. Sometimes, slaves were treated with honor and cared for well, and sometimes they suffered abuse from their masters.
When scripture addresses the topic of slavery, it is responding to the cultural practice, but it is not endorsing the practice. Slavery was a result of brokenness and sin, but God gives it regulations.
He does this to display His glory and ultimately with the goal to uproot the sin that caused slavery to be an appealing option in the eyes of the masters.
The solution Paul proposes here is the transforming power of the gospel and the communing of God’s people: the church.
Paul knew the gospel’s transforming power as it had taken him from a murderer to a minister, and in this church he saw the slave/master relationship transform to be brothers in Christ.
The church was a unique place that the world looked at and saw a different message. In a culture that valued people as less due to their race, debt, or social status, the gospel said that all people were created in the image of God with value and that anyone who called on the name of the Lord would be forgiven and saved of their sins.
As this message transformed the individual relationships between slave/master, it also transformed the culture around the church. The Lord was gradually at work through His people by the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of His word.
We too can take heart as we look at a sinful broken world, that as God transforms our lives and our relationships, He is also transforming the culture and world that we live in through the faithfulness of His people by the power of His Spirit and with the truth of His word.
Written By: Paulette Carwile
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