Ephesians 6:9
The context
The letter's household code addresses wives and husbands, children and fathers, slaves and masters in turn. This verse turns to the owners with a command to act toward their slaves in the same way and drops the threat. The ground given is that there is no partiality with God.
What it establishes
The code relativises the master's authority by placing him under a higher one. It also denies that worldly status confers advantage before God, which is a real check on the institution as practised.
What it does not establish
It does not abolish the institution. The passage works within the household structure of its world and redirects its exercise; readers who cite it as a defence of slavery are reading against its stated ground of impartiality.
Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.
Cited in these answers
Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.