(7) Servants, be obedient to them that are [your] masters (8) according to the flesh, with (d) fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
(7) Now he descends to the third part of a family, that is, to the duty both of the masters and of the servants. And he shows that the duty of servants consists in a hearty love and reverence for their masters. (8) He moderates the sharpness of service, in that they are spiritually free even though they are servants, and yet that spiritual freedom does not take away physical service: insomuch that they cannot be Christ's, unless they serve their masters willingly and faithfully, as much as they may with clear conscience.
(d) With careful reverence: for slavish fear is not allowable, much less in Christian servants.