Colossians 3:22

Paul probably made this section longer than the preceding two because he sent this epistle to Colosse with the Epistle to Philemon. Onesimus, Philemon’s run-away slave, carried them. [Note: Johnson, 482:109, 113; Lightfoot, p. 226.] Moreover there may well have been more slaves in the Colossian church than masters (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:26). The friction inherent in this situation probably called for extended comments on master-slave relationships in the body of Christ and in this church particularly. Note also that Paul did not argue for the abolition of slavery but urged Christians to behave as Christians within that social structure.

". . . those who live in modern social democracies, in which interest groups can hope to exert political pressure by intensive lobbying, should remember that in the cities of Paul’s day the great bulk of Christians would have had no possibility whatsoever of exerting any political pressure for any particular policy or reform. In such circumstances a pragmatic quietism was the most effective means of gaining room enough to develop the quality of personal relationships which would establish and build up the microcosms (churches) of transformed communities." [Note: Dunn, p. 253.]

Paul’s view was this. It is more important for Christians to carry out our mission as Christians, in whatever social conditions we find ourselves, than it is for us to make changing those conditions our primary concern (cf. Matthew 28:19-20; 1 Corinthians 7:20-22). [Note: See Wiersbe, 2:144.] "On earth" means in your physical relationships. In spiritual matters the slave and his master were equal brothers in Christ. Slaves in the Roman Empire were similar to domestic servants in Victorian Britain. [Note: Dunn, p. 252.]