The Bible Study Podcast, Episode 84. Today, the Bible Study podcast wraps up the study of First Timothy.

Welcome to the Bible Study podcast. I'm your host, Chris Christensen. Today we'll wrap up First Timothy with

Chapter 6. All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full

respect so that God's name and our teaching may not be slandered. Those who have believing

masters are not to show less respect for them because they are brothers. Instead, they are to serve them

even better because those who benefit from their service are believers and dear to them.

These are the things that you are to teach and urge on them.

It's always interesting looking at the New Testament verses about slavery and how it is dealt with

because they have often been taken

dramatically out of context in, for instance, U.S. history as it was used to justify

slavery because the Bible doesn't call for slave revolt, for instance, which a lot of people

would be more comfortable if it did. But on the other hand, the Bible and the history of the church both do point and an approach

that is a radical difference where someone who was a master might come to church and have a

bishop who was a slave. Within the church, there was an equality in the first century church that was unparalleled,

and probably more so than we see even in our society today, which tends to be more stratified.

And so Paul is talking to people who are slaves and Christians, and talking about in this

particular set of verses, that they should consider

their master's worthy respect, and that the service they give will determine what kind of

reputation Christianity has, what kind of reputation Jesus and those associated with Jesus get.

And so he's looking that that is the most important thing.

And then he's saying, because we have this issue where you might come to church and be brothers,

and you are still brothers when you go home, he's saying, if you are serving someone who is

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