-Two over-arching principles here: obey (serve) your master in all things, and do it from the heart.
-Now when Paul says 'all things', does this allow for exceptions when the master asks the slave to do something wrong or unethical? Of course. Obviously the higher obligation is to obey our Master in Heaven in all things, and by extension the slave obeys the earthly lord in everything which is not contrary to what God wants.
-The bigger question is, how does this apply to life in the 21st century? The context here is household living in the 1st century, where domestic slavery was a cultural institution. It was not unusual for a home to have a(t least one) slave, and these typically were regarded as so much property, having no freedom or rights or time of their own. They may have been born into that status, or were perhaps sold as such. But your mileage on how they were treated no doubt varied tremendously according to the character of the master (or lord - same word in the Greek). And yet, Paul doesn’t seem at all concerned with taking time to consider the character or motives of the master in this verse. He is concerned with the motives and the conduct of the slave, this one under authority due to their being owned by another for whatever reason.
-But how do we apply this today? Paul provides principles here for how any of us should relate within whatever authority relationship we may find ourselves - at our place of work or worship, in our home, our school, our community, and in our nation. Simply put, we can and must freely and sincerely and respectfully obey our earthly authorities because they have been put there by God. Whatever authority they have by virtue of their position in relation to us was given to them by our Supreme Authority Himself (John 19.11, Romans 13.1-3). So we should respect and obey them and even pray for them, both for their sakes as well as ours - the better it goes for them, the better it goes for us (cf 1Timothy 2.1-2). But more than that, our sincere submission and deference to those God has placed over us here on earth is actually obedience and worship of our Father in heaven. Remember, all authority comes from God. He is the One Who puts it in place - He is also the One Who takes it away (cf 1Corinthians 15.24, Daniel 4.30-31). But when we disobey and disrespect authorities here on earth, we are in fact rebelling against God Himself (cf Numbers 12.8, 14.2-4, 14.9, 14.26-27). Again, our posture towards human authority, our respect for both the person and the position (or lack thereof), the degree to which we may question and challenge and disregard these, is a reflection of our heart towards the One Who is our Ultimate Authority. Our respect and submission does not have to be earned - it is compelled by a higher obligation, put there by Almighty God (Titus 3.1-2, 1Peter 2.13-17).
-And so we find that freedom can be a sticky proposition - it can give one the illusion of autonomy, and yet no matter our state we are all under some kind of authority (cf Matthew 8.8-9). Consider that the freedom we enjoy in the United States was gained through a rebellion against a(n unreasonable) king, a revolt which we declared was justified by a ‘long line of abuses and usurpations’. Think about it - in the name of God, we felt (usurped?) the freedom to throw off a king who had been given his authority by God. Should it have mattered how he wielded it? In his place we installed a ‘president’ who we freely criticize and disrespect and dismiss every 4-8 years. This is part of the legacy which has been handed down to us. Obviously there have been many upsides of this "American Experiment", but US citizens for centuries have been so predisposed towards disrespect and disregard of authority that we struggle to even think objectively about how we relate TO authority. Submission and respect can be quite optional for many of us. Do we even know how to honor the king? Or our boss? Or our pastor? Look around, so many of us are prone to throw these off at the first opportunity. How about our parents, or our spouse? No, freedom is not a green light to disobey God by dishonoring anyone He has placed in authority in our lives, even if that authority is unreasonable. And again we are not talking about justifying abuse, or insisting that someone stay in a state that is legitimately unsafe. But again, Paul reminds us that submission is inextricably tied to the fear of the Lord. Certainly those in authority should be circumspect in how they wield it, as God will hold them accountable. But we are all accountable. We must proceed and relate to all in authority with circumspect reverence - proper respect for them and healthy fear of God, Who we can trust. “In God We Trust”, right? He’s got this. He put that person in charge. He can and will take them out if He needs to when the time is right. Or He can change their heart - maybe He wants to use us in the process? And He’s got our backs.
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