Philemon

Philemon was a Christian leader. He had a slave in his home. His name was Onesimus. It seems that he ran away. Maybe he stole some of his master's money (v.18). Onesimus was a slave of ‘no use’ (v.11).

He thought that he was escaping from Christians. But he was actually getting closer to them! This shows the ruling power of God. Onesimus met Paul. This was while Paul was in prison (v.9). Paul told him about the gospel's power (v.10). And Onesimus became a Christian.

Perhaps Paul told him about his earlier life. He had been like Onesimus. He was against the good news about Christ. He was against ‘the people of the way’. (Read Acts 7:58; 8:1; 9:1-2.) So Paul was an enemy of the gospel. But God forgave him. Paul had God's pardon. And God changed him. (Read 1 Timothy 1:12-16.)

Onesimus was a Christian believer now. He had Christ's pardon. But he needed to have his master's pardon too. So it was essential for him to return home. Previously, he had been of ‘no use’. Now he must be true to his name. He must be ‘useful’ (v.11. His name in the Greek language means ‘useful’).

The young slave helped Paul very much. But it would be wrong for Paul to keep him. It would also be very hard for Onesimus to return. And Paul made it easier for him. Paul gave him a letter to take with him. The letter was to his Christian master, Philemon. Paul appealed to Philemon to give a welcome of love to this new Christian.

This is a wonderful personal letter. First there was a greeting (vs. 1-3). Then there were three subjects:

Giving Thanks (Verses 4-7)

Paul was in prison. But he was grateful for so many good things. And his joy did not depend on his circumstances. He came with thanksgiving to God every day (v.4). Then he could remember all of God's blessings and benefits. We should do the same. We have so many blessings too. Every day we should make some time to think about them.

Paul spoke about ‘continuous thanksgiving’. And this was important in his life. We see this most in the letters that he wrote in prison. (Read Ephesians 1:3, 16; 5:20; Philippians 1:3; 4:6; Colossians 1:3, 12; 2:7; 3:15, 17.) He could not continue his busy missionary work. And it would have been easy to get upset. Instead, he thought about his blessings. He recognized that God knew best. And he was grateful about this. (Read Philippians 1:12-14.)

Thanksgiving gives:

Benefits in prayer. Paul was in prison. The prison was under the ground. So it was dark and there was no clean air. But Paul could still pray. And this short letter has several references to prayer. (Read verses 4 and 6.) Christians can help each other by prayer (v.22). It achieves more than we could ever imagine.

Strength to fellowship. Paul was very grateful for other believers (v.7). He could not travel. He could not proclaim the gospel as he would like to do. But he still felt great joy. He was glad because other Christians were at work. They were showing their faith. They were sharing their love. They were increasing their knowledge. And their fellowship was increasing. (Read verses 5-7.)

Honour to Christ. What Christians did for Christ encouraged Paul. But what the Lord did for Christians encouraged him more. He felt great joy. He was glad about ‘every good thing’ that we have in Jesus. And there was no end to those resources (‘good things’). There was no limit to them either. And Paul mentioned some of them. They were:

  • grace and peace (v.2)
  • confidence and security. (He said ‘My God’ in v.4)
  • faith and love (v.5)
  • spiritual understanding (v.6)
  • the chance to share. (The Greek language word in verse 6 is ‘koinonia’. This is the same word as ‘fellowship’.) Christians could share their knowledge in the Christian community. They could share it with those who were not believers too. And this gave Paul great joy (v.7).

Confidence (Verses 8-22)

The main part of the letter was Paul's request. He wanted Philemon to have Onesimus in his home again. Then people would see the gospel in practice. It would not be only in what he preached. We see Paul's spiritual confidence in these verses. He knew that:

God has all authority and power. Paul described himself. He called himself the ‘prisoner of Jesus Christ’ three times. (Read verses 1, 9 and 23.) Paul was not Caesar's prisoner. Then there was his missionary work. It was vital work. Enemies forced him to stop it. But even that was in God’s control. (Read Romans 8:28 and Philippians 1:12-14.)

Paul and Epaphras were in prison. But the God who has all authority and power was still at work. God was working in their lives. And this same God was chasing Onesimus. He was trying to escape from Christian Philemon. But Onesimus could not escape from God. And God offered him pardon and mercy.

People can change. Paul persuaded people when he preached. He really believed in the power of the gospel. He had seen it working during his missionary journeys. And here was another example of its power to change a human life. The young man was of ‘no use’ in the past. Now he was ‘useful’ (v.11). Martin Luther spoke about this letter in the late 1520s. He said that there was no need for despair about anybody.

Christ will overcome. Christ had done this in Paul's own life. And he gave Paul the urgent desire to bring people to Christ. Before, Paul was very proud. He thought that he was always right. He thought that he was very special. (Read Philippians 3:4-6). And he did not care about Gentiles. [Note: Gentiles are people who are not Jews]. Now he wrote about a Gentile slave who had run away. He called him:

  • ‘my son’ (v.10)
  • ‘part of my own heart’ (v.12)
  • ‘very special to me’ (v.16).

Paul wanted to keep Onesimus with him. He wanted his help very much (v.16). This kind of relationship was impossible in the first century. But the power of Christ's gospel changed everything. Things were not the same any more. Very different groups of people became friends. There were Jews and Gentiles (people who were not Jews). There were free citizens and slaves. There were people who had much education. And there were people who had no education.

This same message worked in the life of Onesimus. He turned away from his sins. And he found new life. He had a better kind of freedom in Christ. Now Philemon would read Paul's letter. And this message should work in him too.

In those days, terrible things happened to slaves who ran away. It could mean death. Or someone burned a letter into the slave's skin. The letter was ‘F’. It comes from the Latin word ‘fugitivus’. This means somebody who runs away.

But Paul had confidence in Philemon about Onesimus. He was sure that Philemon understood the gospel. So he wrote, ‘I know that you will do what I ask you to do. I know that you will do even more than I ask’ (v.21).

Partners (Verses 1-4, 23-25)

This is a short letter. There are only 300 words in the first text. But Paul referred to ten partners in it. They were of very great value to him. Timothy offered his friendship (v.1). Philemon offered his home (v.2). Archippus was probably a church leader (v.2. Read Colossians 4:17.) Epaphras was in prison with Paul. He gave his physical help and his prayer help (v.23. Read Colossians 4:12.) Then there were Mark and Luke (v.24). They would write books to spread the gospel. There were four other partners too. There was Apphia, a woman. There were Aristarchus and Demas. Then there was Onesimus.

Paul knew that it was impossible for one man to do the work. It needed teamwork to spread such great news. So he was very grateful for his ‘workers together’ (v.24).