Philemon, a Glimpse into the Life of Paul
Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philemon 1:1–3 ESV Read More
Today we begin a short walk through Philemon. The book of Philemon was in the same bag as the book of Colossians that Tychicus carried from Paul in prison to these little cities. Philemon was a man from Colossae that Paul had visited and who became a Christian while talking to Paul. So instead of the letter to the Colossians, this is a letter to one specific Colossian!
The main point of this letter is to present Onesimus, a runaway slave, back to his master, Philemon. Paul is vouching for O so that He can come back to Phil and be reconciled. Look for themes in this book of the change that Christ brings about in us. There are a lot of “You were, but now…” statements.
The coolest thing about this is that it shows how much Paul cared about the people he served. This might not have some heavy theology or guidelines for marriages and finances, but it gets into the real life of the early church in a culture that condoned slavery, prostitution, idol worship, and worse.
Paul was a real guy in a real time doing real things. This little picture of his care for people and the church that was in their house can open up some doors for us to really care for others. Paul was super happy to reach out to people he hadn’t talked to in a long time and let them know what was going on. We can do the same in a grocery store aisle, to an old friend on Facebook, or to folks at church. Reach out and bless some others, and join us here for a week with Philemon.
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