1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer, 2 to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow
soldier, and to the church in your house:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, 5 hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, 6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. 7 For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.
8 Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, 9 yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ— 10 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, 11 who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me. 12 I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, 13 whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. 14 But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary. 15 For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, 16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
17 If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. 18 But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. 19 I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides. 20 Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord. 21 Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22 But, meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you.
23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, 24 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers. 25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Devotional Thoughts and Commentary:
The premise for this book is that a slave, Onesimus, has run away from his owner, Philemon. While a runaway, Onesimus encountered the Apostle Paul, who led him to salvation by Jesus. Paul is now sending Onesimus back to Philemon while pleading with Philemon to treat Onesimus as a Christian brother.
This letter, along with other writings of Paul in Ephesians 6:5-9, 1 Corinthians 7:20-23, and Titus 2:9-10, have been used by critics of the Bible to say that Scripture promotes slavery. Before digging into specifically what this book contains, I want to take a little space address this.
- The first thing that we must be careful of is inserting our understanding of American racial slavery into the culture of the 1st Century A.D. in the Mediterranean region. While slavery is not a good situation regardless, slaves in this time and era were "people captured in war or their descendants, those sold into slavery to pay debts, those abandoned as infants and raised as slaves, and those captured by slavers."1 Slavery was actually a better outcome than the likely alternative to people in the first three of those situations (death / execution). Around the time of the writing of Philemon, slaves accounted for roughly 30% of the population of the Roman Empire. They served in roles in the household, agriculture, public works, and military, and they were treated from terrible to peers with princes.
- The second thing to note on the idea of slavery in the context of this book and the broader context of the New Testament is that the prescription of two-way respectable treatment between slaves and masters did not constitute a broad commendation of the institution of slavery. In each of the passages mentioned, Paul (by inspiration of the Holy Spirit) commands masters and slaves to operate with the proper societal respect for each other, treat Christian brothers and sisters with an even higher level of respect regardless of social status, and live in the relationship in obedience to the commands and life of Jesus Christ. While he did not outright condemn slavery (see #3 here), Paul did call for a significant modification to the behaviors within the institution by those who followed Jesus.
- Third, the New Testament is far more concerned with breaking the spiritual bonds of sin than the physical bonds present within a society. This should be noted as a strike against proponents of the "Social Gospel." Our calling in this life is to share the Gospel to see people saved and disciple those people, not the alleviation of suffering that is a direct/indirect consequence of sin. Is it not better to suffer for 70 years on Earth to see eternity of rest in Heaven than vice versa?
- Looking into 1 Timothy 1:10, we see a reference here to "kidnappers" in a list of sinful types of people. The underlying Greek term is a reference to slavers who would kidnap people into slavery. This is a condemnation of taking of slaves without any cause other than profit.
- A fourth thing to note is that Old Testament ideas of slavery hearken back to a different culture, situation, criteria, and dispensation; they should not be superimposed on the church in the New Testament.
Notice that while Philemon is the focal recipient of the letter, it was actually meant for his family and his church as well. By sending a public letter, there would have been increased pressure on Philemon to comply with what Paul was asking. This should not necessarily be interpreted as to mean that Paul did not think he would listen; rather, it conveys the import of the situation both locally in their congregation and in setting a precedent and teaching a lesson to the church at large, by virtue of its inclusion within the canon of Scripture.
I love Paul's approach to Philemon in verses 8-9. He had the authority as an apostle to command Philemon to obey, but instead Paul chose to make a request of Philemon. Philemon thus has a higher responsibility and can receive a blessing from obedience. Whereas the Old Testament focused on commands to show people they were sinners, the New Testament largely emphasizes principles of conduct that actually set a higher bar through freedom. For example, the tithe of giving 10% of income was mandated in the Old Testament. The natural reaction of a God-fearing Jew would then be to give 10%. The New Testament isn't so concerned with specific amounts or percentages, but rather it focuses on giving as much as possible until everything is given. Consider the widow's mite (Mark 12:41-44). She gave her last little bit of money to God. The same principle of principles is at work here. Paul teaches Philemon about the love he should show for his new brother, Onesimus, and then lets him make the decision to do right (see especially verse 14).
The last thing I want us to focus on in the study of this book is in verses 15-16. Paul asked Philemon to consider that God may have used the sin of Onesimus (running away in disobedience) and the inconvenience it proved to Philemon to accomplish His will. It was through this that the Apostle Paul led Onesimus to salvation through Jesus. Now, there are three possibilities for Onesimus's exposure to the good news of Jesus at this point: Philemon had not told his slave about Jesus either because of laziness or pride, Philemon had told his slave about Jesus but Onesimus did not yet believe, or Onesimus had feigned belief in Jesus. There is no evidence for the last of those options, and it would seem that based on the unprofitability and lack of a spiritual relationship of Onesimus with the church, it should be ruled out. That leaves the first two. Regardless of which of these two options, it is clear that Onesimus was not being drawn to belief in Jesus living with Philemon. During his runaway episode, he encounters Paul (apparently by divine design) and accepts Jesus. What an amazing thing to see God use the sinful act of a sinful person to bring that very sinner to a saving knowledge of Jesus!
1. James S. Jeffers, The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era: Exploring the Background of Early Christianity (Downers Grove, IL.: InterVarsity Press Academic, 1999), 220.
Applications:
Be forgiving and treat other believers in Jesus with a great magnitude of love. Do no judge fellow believers or prospective Christians (anyone not already a Christian) by their social status.
Thank God that He uses human failures to accomplish His good will. If He didn't, a great deal of good would have never been done!
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