Personally yours, Part 1

Most of the books of the New Testament are epistles (or letters) written by Paul to the various churches that he either founded or visited. These letters contained Paul's greetings to the church that he was addressing, corrections in doctrine, instructions for church worship or organization, and personal greetings to some of the members of the particular church that Paul was addressing.  It appears from reading the last chapter of most of the epistles that Paul has dictated the letter to someone else to write because there will be a verse added where Paul is writing with his own hand. In Romans 16:22, Tertius states that he has written the epistle.  In Galatians 6:11, Paul states:  "See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!" I think that poor eyesight was the "thorn" that Paul suffered from after his vision of Paradise in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9.  If Paul's sight was poor, he wouldn't have been able to write the epistles so that they could be read by the church they were addressed to. Paul would have to write in very large letters so that he could read his own handwriting.

One of Paul's epistles, however, is not directed to a church. It is directed to a person. Philemon is a short letter; it is only 25 verses long.  Paul starts his letter by calling himself a prisoner of Christ Jesus.  The commentaries I have reviewed indicate that Paul was in prison in Rome when this letter was written. Paul was a believer in Christ and it was for his faith that he was a prisoner.  Timothy was probably in Rome attending to Paul's needs, and that may be why he is mentioned in verse 1.  

Verse 2 states that the letter is addressed to Philemon and the people in his house, along with the church that was meeting in Philemon's house.  Verse 3 is a blessing to the recipients of Paul's letter.  

Paul addresses Philemon personally in verses 4-7 and praises him for his faith and love toward Jesus and all of the saints. Paul states that Philemon has refreshed the hearts of the saints and that he has great joy because of that. 

Now that Paul has gotten all of the niceties out of the way, he gets down to business in verses 8-11.  Paul states that he could be bold and demand that Philemon do what he is going to request, but instead, he appeals to Philemon in love because he is old and he is also a prisoner of Christ.  Paul requests that Philemon take back Onesimus, Philemon's runaway slave.  Onesimus apparently ran away from Philemon to Rome to see Paul. In verse 10, Paul states that Onesimus is his own "son," and Onesimus is now profitable to Paul and to Philemon. I believe this means that Onesimus repented of his sins and was born again while he was with Paul.  

Paul wanted to keep Onesimus with him in Rome so that he could minister to Paul in his chains.  However, Paul realized that Onesimus should return to Philemon, his earthly master, so he sent Onesimus back to Philemon. Paul states to Philemon that he wanted Philemon to take Onesimus back voluntarily and not by compulsion. Paul explains that now Onesimus is not only Philemon's slave, he is Philemon's brother in Christ.  

Paul asks Philemon to receive Onesimus as he would Paul.  Paul states that if Onesimus has wronged Philemon or owes him anything, Paul would take care of it. It appears that this letter was not dictated to another person, for in verse 19, Paul states that he is writing with his own hand.  Paul states that Philemon owes Paul his own self besides - Paul probably led Philemon to Christ. 

Paul tells Philemon to refresh his heart in the Lord and to have joy from him in the Lord.  Paul states that he knows that Philemon will do more than he asks him to do, because Paul has confidence in Philemon's obedience.  

Paul must have hoped that he would be released from prison, for he asks Philemon to prepare a guest room for him because he believed that through Philemon's prayers that he would be able to come to Philemon.  However, we know from history that Paul was not released  from prison in Rome and he was executed there.  

Verses 23-24 are more greetings from various laborers in Christ and from Epaphras, Paul's fellow prisoner in Christ.  Paul ends the letter with a gracious benediction.

So since the letter to Philemon was not addressed to a church, why was it included in the New Testament canon? I believe the letter to Philemon has lessons that we as Christians can and should learn.  When people repent of their sins and believe in Christ as Savior, we are to treat them as the new creatures in Christ that they have become and not as the sinners they once were. We are to receive them graciously in Christ. When we want others to do things for us, we are to ask in love and not with demands.  We should always speak graciously and in love to fellow believers. And Onesimus' story is similar to the parable of the Prodigal Son - Onesimus ran away but believed in Christ and returned home, and the Prodigal Son came to his senses and returned home as well. Onesimus is also mentioned as a faithful and beloved brother in Colossians 4:9, which means that Philemon was probably written before Colossians.

The Apostle John also has two epistles that were addressed to individuals, and I'll look at those in my next post.  Thanks as always for reading - I'm sorry it's been a long time since my last post.   In the meantime, don't forget to check out and subscribe to this blog's YouTube channel - the link is here:  Reflections, Ruminations & Recollections.  See you next time!

Diane