1 Timothy 6:1
Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.
The yoke means something that joins or binds and can refer to an obligation, and elsewhere in the New Testament it describes religious duties or obligations, not slavery. Being under the yoke describes people joined together in service, and God's people are likewise yoked together as fellow workers with God, so that when those sharing the yoke lack harmony their service becomes hard and uncomfortable. As many as can also mean as long as, yielding the sense that servants should honor their masters for as long as they remain under obligation. The verse does not establish that the servants were chattel slaves, that slavery is right, or that slavery has apostolic sanction, for to treat being under the yoke as proof they were slaves is circular since that meaning would first have to be established from their status, and it can be read as directing servants under obligation to honor their masters without endorsing or justifying chattel slavery.
The verse gives instruction for conduct within the abnormal condition of slavery, which was not part of God's original order and was tolerated because of human hardness of heart, without making slavery part of the original plan. Even if the servants were slaves, their slavery existed outside the church, and the instruction is addressed through Timothy about the church, not to wicked heathen masters, since a direct order to those masters to free their slaves could have provoked opposition and endangered the young church. The verse commands servants, even if treated as chattel slaves, to count their own masters worthy of all honor, respect, and obedience while they remain under obligation, so that the name of God and Christian teaching will not be slandered, blasphemed, or dishonored, for careful, respectful service reflects well on the faith.
The command does not establish that masters have a rightful claim to slavery or that Paul approves of it, but servants are instructed to act in ways that limit their masters' anger and to show the Spirit of Christ in whatever position and social conditions they find themselves, rather than trying to change hearts through political or legal reform, while the gospel is expected to abolish slavery as people come under its influence. The duty to honor masters does not cover a Sabbathkeeper engaging to work for an unbeliever on a dairy or stock ranch and doing regular daily work on the Sabbath.