SLAVES AND MASTERS
Ephesians 6.5-9
The slavery is very controversial issue among world societies, but not in the Bible. The Bible characterizes slavery as a part of the other layers of society and considered as a class of social structure and social order with its own rules and regulations uniquely exclusive and distinctive to each society on Earth.
In reality, possession and the treatment of slave have been horribly distorted in the books and in the movies and does not reflect the truth and reality of the treatment of slaves not only in the past but also in our modern times. This subject very well written and very well described in the Bible in all its details, and Paul specifically paid a special attention to this issue, but not from the point of view of the secular world but from the point of view of the Christian world.
Not a single passage in entire Bible condemns denounce or rebuke slavery in any of its form or regulations but accepted as a part of GOD'S society on Earth with its own rules and regulations. Paul among the first who to pay a special attention to this subject and urged all parties, masters and slaves, to treat one another fairly, reasonably, respectfully, and humanely in Christ.
While all true Christians are equal before the Lord no matter who they are, the equality does not relate to earthly duties of each and every Christian individual according to his/her status and position in society. Whoever you are, you must do your earthly duties honestly and in full as is your render your service to GOD Himself (6-8). If you live in Christ, you do everything first for Christ, and then for yourself and for others.
SPIRITUAL ARMOR
Ephesians 6.10-17
In these verses Paul beautifully compared Spiritual Qualities of Christian with the physical armor of a warrior, and he portrait Devil as an adversary against whom the Spiritual Armor of a Christian will protect from temptations, deceit, and evil of Devil and his world. It is indeed the war of the Spirits and required its own strategy and protection and Spiritual weapons from the Spiritual forces of the opponent.
Paul very well described against whom the Spiritual Armor of Truth, Righteousness, the Gospel of Peace (14-15), the shield of Faith, the helmet of Salvation, the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of GOD-the Gospel (16-17), is needed. Against all kinds of authorities and rulers of the world's forces, the darkness of evil spirits, against the Spiritual forces of Wickedness and godlessness, it is the battlefields against the schemes of Devil (11-12.16).
Such Spiritual War is completely different war that we used to know and required a different set of armor, weaponry, tactic, and military skills. The Spiritual War is not the war for land, resources, or global domination, "against flesh and blood" (12), but it is war for most precious commodity on Earth and for GOD, the human souls that cannot be hospitalized or replaced by others, because if they lost, they lost forever and there is no resurrection for them.
Indeed, GOD loves humanity, because He created man in His Own Intellectual Image and created him in Righteousness (Ecclesiastes 7.29) (Ephesians 4.24). For this reason GOD do not hate humans but hate their deeds. In order to punish deeds of humans GOD of course must punish humans themselves in order to change the course of their Spiritual direction from Evil back to Righteousness as it was designed and planned from the beginning by GOD.
Those who went through the punishment of GOD and did not change their Spiritual direction from Evil to Righteousness, their souls will perish into non-existence. Those who will change the course of their Spiritual direction from Evil to Righteousness, they will be forgiven and surely saved by GOD.
It is not the humans who make these decisions and use their own will to change sides, but it because of outside Spiritual Forces of Evil who manipulate human beings to go astray from GOD and commit grievous violations against their Maker. This is why Paul wrote that our struggle is not against flesh and blood (12), means against human beings, but against the Spiritual Evil forces of those who have power to control our Spirits and our behavior.