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Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. (Ephesians 6:5 NLT)
Christians who are slaves should give their masters full respect so that the name of God and his teaching will not be shamed. If your master is a Christian, that is no excuse for being disrespectful. You should work all the harder because you are helping another believer by your efforts. Teach these truths, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them. (1 Timothy 6:1-2 NLT)
The servant will be severely punished, for though he knew his duty, he refused to do it. "But people who are not aware that they are doing wrong will be punished only lightly. Much is required from those to whom much is given, and much more is required from those to whom much more is given." (Luke 12:47-48 NLT)
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1. The New Testament is for today and the verses you give prove what I was saying about how words change over the years. "Christians who are slaves" does not work but if you read it as "Christians who are workers" we can see that it applies to us. Being a company employee, I work for my boss and I serve my customers and clients. This is a far cry from being a slave the like of which we saw in the days of William Wilberforce which is a modern invention.
2. Bearing this in mind the New Testament verses you gave read thus:
a) For workers to obey their bosses.
b) For workers to respect their bosses.
c) Is different in as much as it is about the second coming of Jesus and Judgement day and is a warning to Christians that if they neglect to do their duty they will be punished even then because I am a servant of Christ.
All these three instructions if followed make for good employees and there is no reason why everyone cannot follow them.
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