6:1 Let {1} as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, {2} that the name of God and [his] doctrine be not blasphemed.
(1) He adds also rules for the servant's duty towards their masters: upon which matter there were no doubt many questions asked by those who took occasion by the Gospel to trouble the normal manner of life. And this is the first rule: let servants that have come to the faith and have the unfaithful for their masters, serve them nonetheless with great faithfulness.
(2) The reason: lest God should seem by the doctrine of the Gospel to stir up men to rebellion and all wickedness.
6:1 Various Duties Enjoined
SUMMARY OF I TIMOTHY 6:
Duties of Servants. Life the Test of Doctrine. The Blessedness of Contentment. The Danger of the Love of Money. Charge to the Man of God. A Lesson for the Rich.
Let as many servants as are under the yoke. Under the yoke of slavery. The slaves were as numerous as the free population, and many of the early Christians belonged to this class.
Count their own masters worthy of all honour. There was danger that these converted slaves would despise their heathen masters. If they were to do so, it would create a great odium against the Christian religion and lead to attempts to extirpate it. Slavery was to be destroyed, not by putting a spirit of insubordination into slaves, but by putting a Christian spirit into masters.
6:1 Let servants under the yoke - Of heathen masters. Account them worthy of all honour - All the honour due from a servant to a master. Lest the name of God and his doctrine be blasphemed - As it surely will, if they do otherwise.
6:1-5 Christians were not to suppose that religious knowledge, or Christian privileges, gave them any right to despise heathen masters, or to disobey lawful commands, or to expose their faults to others. And such as enjoyed the privilege of living with believing masters, were not to withhold due respect and reverence, because they were equal in respect to religious privileges, but were to serve with double diligence and cheerfulness, because of their faith in Christ, and as partakers of his free salvation. We are not to consent to any words as wholesome, except the words of our Lord Jesus Christ; to these we must give unfeigned consent. Commonly those are most proud who know least; for they do not know themselves. Hence come envy, strife, railings, evil-surmisings, disputes that are all subtlety, and of no solidity, between men of corrupt and carnal minds, ignorant of the truth and its sanctifying power, and seeking their worldly advantage.
