Let as many as are bondservants under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and the doctrine not be blasphemed.
The holy gospel must have been especially welcomed and appreciated by slaves who, despite being at the bottom of the social and economic ladder, were nevertheless qualified to receive the glorious promises of Christian truth. "It must have been an unspeakable comfort to the poor slave."[2] In addition to large numbers of slaves being Christians, there is also the likelihood that some of them were even elders. "C. K. Barrett suggested that Paul may have had in mind elders who were slaves."[3]