Dear all
Please find below a link to the latest article of the Journal
of Biblical Accuracy (Title: "Paul and Philemon)".
http://www.jba.gr/Articles/jbamar07.htm
For more Biblical Articles please check:
http://www.jba.gr/
Also at the bottom of this mail is a text version of
this article
God bless your day
Tassos Kioulachoglou
----------------------
Paul and Philemon
Have you ever read the book of Philemon? It is such a
short, yet wonderful book. It could hardly be called a
book in the technical sense as it is no more than a
page! You don't believe it?! Well let's read it
together:
Philemon
"Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our
brother, to Philemon our beloved and fellow laborer,
to the sister Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier,
and to the church in your house: Grace to you and
peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I
thank my God, making mention of you always in my
prayers, hearing of your love and faith which you have
toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, that
the sharing of your faith may become effective by the
acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in
Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in
your love, because the hearts of the saints have been
refreshed by you, brother. Therefore, though I might
be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting,
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- I appeal to you for my son Onesimus,
whom I have begotten while in my chains, who once was
unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and
to me. I am sending him back. You therefore receive
him, that is, my own heart, whom I wished to keep with
me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in the
chains of the gospel. But without your consent I
wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be
by compulsion but voluntary. For perhaps he departed
for a while for this purpose, that you might receive
him forever, 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.
If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you
would me. If he has wronged you or owes anything, put
that on my account. 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. Yes, brother, let me
have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the
Lord. Having confidence in your obedience, I write to
you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
But, meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for
I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted
to you. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus,
greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my
fellow laborers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be
with your spirit. Amen."
This is the shortest of Paul's letters and after the
greetings, verse 10 gives us the main reason he wrote
it. This reason was to "appeal", to beseech, to beg
Philemon, about Onesimus. We can infer from verse 16
that Onesimus was a slave of Philemon that for some
reason had escaped from his master. Paul says "he had
begotten Onesimus in his chains". By this we can
understand that Onesimus met with Paul when he was in
prison and he became a believer. Now Onesimus was in
his way back to his master and though it is not stated
I tend to think that he himself carried this letter to
Philemon.
Moving to what the letter says, what stroke me and
which I want to point out is how Paul handled a
potentially difficult situation: here is a servant
that has run away from his master. He most probably
owes money to him too. This master happens to be a
wonderful Christian. The servant meets Paul and
becomes a believer. At the same time he becomes very
useful to Paul in serving him "in the chains of the
gospel". What does Paul do in such a situation? What
would you do? Bring yourself in Paul's position. After
you do this bring yourself in Philemon's position too.
I know this is demanding but take a breath and bring
also yourself in Onesimus' position! All are
Christians and all have to handle a situation here. I
wouldn't call this situation "special". All of us have
to make decisions on "real life" matters and this is a
"real life" situation. It is therefore an excellent
op****tunity to see how Paul handled it. I mention only
Paul because we do not know what Philemon did when he
got the letter. We have therefore to focus on what
Paul did and I trust we are going to learn a lot.
Now first of all, who was Paul? Paul was a wonderful
servant of the Lord. He spread the gospel to the
Gentiles as nobody else did in the first century. The
churches didn't know anybody else more than him. For
most of the Gentile believers he was their "father" in
the faith, the one that brought them to the truth. And
this is also valid for both Onesimus and Philemon. Now
this brother is in prison and Onesimus is ministering
to him. He is very useful to him. The problem is that
he is also a run away slave. His master is a brother
in a church that Paul had planted.
How did Paul handle the situation with this Christian
servant that was actually useful to him? The answer is
with kindness, love and honesty. Speaking to Philemon,
he wrote to him as a brother to brother. He says:
"though I might be very bold in Christ to command you
what is fitting, yet for love's sake I rather appeal
to you". He had the boldness to command, but he
didn't. Instead he beseeched Philemon. He appealed to
him. He begged him. For love's sake. Paul didn't
exercise authority like a superior to his subjects. He
didn't manipulate either. Yes he is bold to command
what is fitting but if he would do this it wouldn't be
for "love's sake" and it is LOVE that matters. What he
is doing, for love's sake, because it is love that
matters, is to appeal - not to command, dictate or
manipulate.
Then he says something else: "I am sending him
[Onesimus] back. You therefore receive him, that is,
my own heart, whom I wished to keep with me, that on
your behalf he might minister to me in the chains of
the gospel. But without your consent I wanted to do
nothing, that your good deed might not be by
compulsion but voluntary."
Paul could have kept Onesimus and just sent a letter
to Philemon telling him that he is commanded to
receive back Onesimus. Or he could have told him that
he is commanded to forget Onesimus because Paul needs
him now and for this reason he will keep him. Paul
didn't do this. He sent back Onesimus appealing to
Philemon to receive him. Then he tells Philemon that
he would like to keep Onesimus to minister to him in
his chains of the gospel "on the behalf of Philemon".
Pay attention to this "on your behalf". Paul is not
saying "instead of you Philemon". Onesimus was not to
be a replacement of Philemon. If Onesimus returned to
serve Paul, he would be there "on behalf of Philemon",
on "account of Philemon", "for Philemon". This needs
to be emphasised because some translations have
translated this as "in stead of you" and this is
misleading. The Greek word that is translated as "on
your behalf" here is the word huper (o~?Y'n~) and it is
used more than 120 times in the New Testament. In only
two occasions is translated (by the KJV) as "in
stead". In 108 cases is translated "for". And it
should be translated as such here as well. Onesimus,
if he returned to minister Paul would be "for
Philemon", "on behalf of Philemon". It would be like
Philemon had lent this servant to Paul. A brother one
day gave me an interesting thought about giving and
sup****ting. He said that when we sup****t a particular
ministry or purpose we become shareholders of that
ministry and we will receive dividends from this. When
you invest resources to a ministry and this ministry
brings fruit then part of this is recorded as dividend
for you by God, because it was done through your
sup****t. If Philemon let Onesimus to serve Paul it
would be an investment "for", "on behalf of" Philemon
and it would return dividends to him according to the
fruit of Paul's ministry! But there is also another
point I want to make here. Though Paul needed
Onesimus, he didn't assume that he had the authority
to keep him, just because let's say he was the apostle
Paul. Instead look what he said: "But without your
consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed
might not be by compulsion but voluntary." Paul
refrained from imparting coercion on Philemon. He made
his situation clear: he was in prison and Onesimus was
a help for him. Yet he wouldn't keep him. He wouldn't
coerce Philemon on this. Philemon had to decide this
on his own, voluntarily. See the kindness of Paul. He
speaks as a brother to brother. Not like a superior
("in faith") to a subordinate ("in faith"). "I need
Onesimus brother Philemon. It will be a great
investment to the ministry for you to give him to me
to minister me in the chains of the gospel. But
brother no way I would want you to do this as of
compulsion. Only voluntarily. Take your time and do as
you think best."
Paul then moves on in his appeal about Onesimus,
telling Philemon that though he left just a slave, now
he returns something more. He returns as a dear
brother in the Lord. But it may be that Onesimus when
he left he owed money to Philemon. What would happen
with these debts? Paul does not command Philemon to
"write them off". To "just forget them", because "you
know now you are brothers". What Paul tells Philemon
are not demands but appeals. And for the debts? Here
is what he says: "If he owes you anything, put this on
my account. I will repay!" This is brotherly love! It
would not be brotherly love to coerce Philemon to
forget about the debts that his old slave owed him.
But it is love to say as Paul said: "Receive him back
brother. I'll take care of his debts. I'll pay you!
Don't worry about this." This IS brotherly love. Paul
tells Philemon that he owes him even himself! Philemon
came to the faith through the work and labour of Paul.
But he does not mention this to exercise coercion on
him. It is a truth but he will not use this to settle
material things.
Closing his appeal, Paul says "Having confidence in
your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will
do even more than I say." Paul knew that Philemon was
a true brother in Christ . Also in the beginning of
the letter he calls him a beloved and fellow labourer,
saying he has heard of his love and faith toward the
Lord Jesus and towards all saints. Paul and Philemon
were not two strangers. They knew each other. The
appeal of Paul was not to a stranger but to a beloved
brother and a fellow labourer known for his
faithfulness. It was an appeal from one faithful
brother to another faithful brother. And Paul is
confident that Philemon not only will grand his appeal
but he will even do more than this.
For me this letter from Paul is an example of how the
first century Christians related to each other. Paul
was sending back to Philemon, Onesimus a slave that
had run away from him and most probably owed him
money. Onesimus at sometime met Paul, became a
believer and was very useful to him, ministering him
in the chains of the gospel. However Paul didn't think
that this gave him the right to do something else than
what would be the correct thing to do. I can imagine
many Christians that would do differently than Paul
today. Many that would claim (or try to get) a
"revelation" from God on the matter to coerce Philemon
into doing what they wanted him to do. Next time
somebody coerces you and let you feel condemned if you
don't do what he wants you to do, please read
Philemon! Next time that somebody will lay claim on
something because it is "for the work of the Lord",
coercing you to give for his purposes, please read
Philemon. Next time that you desire something from a
brother, please read Philemon on how to proceed. Paul
knew what was needed here was not a special revelation
from God on the matter but common sense, coupled with
honesty and truth.
* To whom does Onesimus belong? To Philemon. He should
therefore go back to Philemon.
* Onesimus owes money to Philemon. Somebody should pay
it. Who will pay? Paul takes up this burden.
* Onesimus is useful to Paul in the work of the
ministry. However, does this give Paul the right to
keep him without asking Philemon? No! Onesimus needs
first to go back to Philemon and only if Philemon,
voluntary and not of compulsion, considers that he
wants to send him back to Paul then he will come back.
See the respect of Paul towards Philemon. See the way
he related to the brothers. Learn from this. Granted,
in many occasions we are at crossroads and we need
word of wisdom, God's intervention to make the right
choice. And God will give this to us if we ask him
with faith (James 1:5-8). In many other occasions
though all that we need - instead of
over-spiritualising - is application of the truth we
know with love and honesty.
Philippians 2:3
"Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or
conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem
others better than himself."
Tassos Kioulachoglou
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