The Book of Philemon

So Philemon was in a position where he had to think about whether it was right to exercise his right to do whatever he wanted with Onesimus.

Now when someone speaks about a “right” to do something, they’re saying that what they want to do conforms with justice, law, or morality. For example, if you say, “I have a “right” to do such-and-such,” it means that the thing that you want to do is OK because it is just, lawful, or moral.

However, Christians have an additional responsibility to consider before they simply go ahead and exercise a right. You see, just because you have the right to do something doesn’t always mean that you should do it- you first have to think about two important things:

1. Will this honorably represent God?
2. How will other people be affected if I do this?

There’s a Biblical principle found in Romans 12:10 that we can use when thinking about these questions and especially about how other people might be affected by what we choose to do. Here’s what that verse says as it’s translated in different versions:

• “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves” (NIV) 
• “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another” (NKJ)
• “Love each other with brotherly affection and take delight in honoring each other” (TLB)
• “Love each other devotedly and with brotherly love; and set examples for each other in showing respect” (JNT)
• “In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another; in honor preferring one another” (ASV)
• “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor” (NAS)

So this Biblical principle tells us that Christians should not only think about what’s best for them, but they must also think about what’s best for others as well. In this instance, it would have been perfectly within Philemon’s legal right to punish Onesimus as he saw fit, but what’s right isn’t always what’s best. Paul clearly wanted to Philemon to consider all the implications (including the spiritual consequences) before making a final decision on how to deal with Onesimus.

But Paul wasn’t content to sit back and tell Philemon what to do- he was also willing to back up his request by taking action as well…

“If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back– not to mention that you owe me your very self. I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask” (Philemon 1:18-21 NIV).

In these verses, Paul shows just how far he is willing to go to help Onesimus. Even though he was in prison for preaching the gospel when he wrote this letter to Philemon, Paul guaranteed that he would personally take care of anything that Onesimus owed once he got out of jail. But notice that Paul also reminded Philemon of something else: “I will pay it back– not to mention that you owe me your very self.” If Paul was texting or emailing this comment to Philemon today, he might express this idea in modern-day language by saying, “Don’t forget, Philemon- you owe me your life.”

It seems here that Paul is providing a quick reminder that he was one through which God made His offer of salvation to Philemon. This indicates that Paul’s lifestyle and obedience to God provided a good example and a powerful tool to use in encouraging others to do what was right.

While Paul wasn’t going to force Philemon to do something that he didn’t want to do, he was willing to use the motivational tools that he had to encourage Philemon to do what was best. In another sense, Paul was also imitating Jesus’ larger example through his willingness to take responsibility for the sin that Onesimus committed and pay for it himself.

“And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” (Philemon 1:22-25 NIV).

It’s believed that Paul’s letter to Philemon was delivered along with the Biblical book that we know today as Colossians. One reason for this is the fact that each of the men mentioned in these verses are also mentioned at the end of the book of Colossians as well (see Colossians 4:10-17). This seems like a pretty good indication that Paul’s letter to the Colossians and his letter to Philemon were both going to the same general place.

So now that we’ve come to the last verse in the book of Philemon, you might assume that we’re all done with this study, right? Well, not quite- you see, there’s one historical footnote to the book of Philemon that you might find interesting.

Here’s the story: History tells us that there was a church bishop who lived in the town of Ephesus in 110 AD. At that time, a bishop was a person who was entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing the church within a particular area. As it turns out, the Bishop of Ephesus in 110 AD happened to be a man named Onesimus.

Now if Onesimus, the Bishop of Ephesus was the same Onesimus spoken of in the book of Philemon, then it means that Philemon almost certainly took Paul’s request and followed through on it. This means that Philemon did something that was good for Onesimus, but unknowingly did something that would later benefit an entire church.

But the benefits didn’t stop there because Philemon’s response to Paul’s letter is still having a positive, lasting effect to this day through the Biblical letter that carries his name. The lesson here is that you never know how big an impact you may have when you show respect and obedience to God’s Word.

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“I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints” (Philemon 1:4-5 NIV).

These comments may not seem very significant now, but remember what Paul says to Philemon in these verses because they will soon become a lot more important than they may appear.

“Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul– an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus– I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains” (Philemon 1:7-10 NIV).

Paul was the man that God personally selected to be an apostle and write much of the New Testament. Knowing this, we might expect Paul to use this authority that he received from God to command Philemon to do whatever he wanted. But instead of making demands or trying to force Philemon to do what he said, this great leader of God instead chose to act in humility. Paul said in effect, “I could order you to do what I’m about to say, but I really want you to do the right thing for the right reason.”

And what was that reason? Well, you find that answer in verse nine: “I appeal to you on the basis of love.” Remember that love always seeks another person’s highest good and it’s on that basis that Paul is about to make his request…

“Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. I am sending him– who is my very heart– back to you. I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced” (Philemon 1:11-14 NIV).

Now this section may not mean a whole lot to you until you realize that Paul is making a play on words here. You see, the name “Onesimus” means “useful” and Paul is saying, “Look, I know ‘Useful’ has been pretty useless up to this point, but now that he has become a Christian, he can really start living up to his name.” And we see again that Paul wants to encourage Philemon to do the right thing for the right reason. He wants Philemon to do the good, loving, right, and kind thing by choice, not because Paul forced him into doing something he didn’t really want to do.

This is a good example of the way that God interacts with people. You see, God doesn’t force people to become zombified robots who are programmed to do whatever He wants them to do. Instead, God offers people the freedom to make the right choices for the right reasons so they can enter into a genuine, sincere relationship with Him based on mutual love.

Think of it like this: what if God sat up in heaven with a remote control that zapped you every time you did something that He didn’t want you to do? In that case, you’d probably learn to do God’s will really fast, but it would be the right thing for the wrong reason. It would be wrong in the sense that you wouldn’t be motivated by love- you’d be motivated instead by your desire to avoid getting zapped. In the same way, God wants to give you the freedom to make the right choices for the right reasons. He could force you to do what you should, but just like Paul with Philemon, God wants your response to Him to be loving and unforced (see also Romans 2:4).

“Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good– no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord. So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me” (Philemon 1:15-17 NIV).

Now, you might remember something Paul said that The Doctor asked you to remember for later. That “something” was verses four and five that say, “I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.”

Now look again at what Paul says in verse sixteen. Speaking of Onesimus, Paul says, “He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.” What Paul is saying “between the lines” here is this: “Philemon, I know that you love all the brothers in the Lord. Oh, by the way, remember Onesimus, that runaway slave you once had? Guess what? He is a brother in the Lord now too! You do love all the brothers in the Lord, Philemon- remember?” You see, Paul is quietly reminding Philemon that he now had the same obligation to treat Onesimus just as he would treat any other Christian brother or sister.

This reminds us that there are important things to consider when dealing with a fellow Christian. You see, Philemon would have been perfectly within his legal rights to punish Onesimus in any way he desired. But now things were different- Philemon wasn’t only dealing with a worker, he was now dealing with a fellow brother in Christ. This put Philemon in a position where he really had to think about whether it was right to exercise his rights.

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We can now take this definition of evil and use it to get an answer to our question. And we can do it by asking this question: “What good thing is absent when slavery exists?”

When you rephrase the question like this, one answer becomes obvious. The good thing that’s missing from the practice of slavery is freedom. Freedom is good because it gives us the ability to make real choices. The ability to make choices is good because it allows us to experience real love. And love is good because it comes from God who is love (see 1 John 4:8). Taken together, these steps help us understand why the practice of slavery is inherently wrong.

Unfortunately, the problem is that people throughout most of human history have not viewed always slavery as something evil, immoral, or bad. You see, a great moral wrong like slavery can sometimes become established and accepted when people don’t follow the God of the Scriptures. Jesus illustrated this very clearly when He said to His followers, “You know that in this world kings are tyrants and officials lord it over the people beneath them” (Matthew 20:25 NLT).

Jesus also said something else that directly relates to this subject: “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34 NIV). With that statement from Jesus in mind, it shouldn’t surprise us to find examples of sinful human beings who express their own spiritual enslavement by trying to physically enslave others.

However, we should recognize that the fact that slavery exists does not mean that God approves of it. The Scriptures tell us that human beings are made in God’s image (see Genesis 1:27) and slavery is clearly the wrong expression of that image. The Scriptures also tell us that, “We are no longer Jews or Greeks or slaves or free men or even merely men or women, but we are all the same-we are Christians; we are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

Now as you might imagine, the idea that everyone was equal in Christ regardless of his or her social position was revolutionary for the time. This radical teaching also brought about the potential for some unusual situations to come up within the early church.

For example, a situation began to develop where it was possible for a Christian slave and a Christian master to both end up going to church together. You might even have a situation where one man served as a slave during the week but at church on Sunday, that slave was the one who preached the sermon while the master looked to him for spiritual leadership.

So instead of mounting a direct assault on the practice of slavery through the pages of the Bible, we see that God instead chose to use a more subtle, but highly effective tactic. First, the Scriptures told Christian slaves that they should work for their owners just as if they were working for Christ and always give their best effort- even when their boss wasn’t watching. We saw this teaching in the Scriptures that we talked about last time.

Slave-owners were then told to treat those who worked for them in the same God-honoring manner. They were not allowed to threaten slaves and they also had to provide what was right and fair according to Colossians 4:1. These instructions, along with Jesus’ teaching to, “…treat people the same way you want them to treat you” in Matthew 7:12 meant that all Christians -slave or free- had the equal obligation to treat each other with mutual respect and dignity.

Over time, these principles began to slowly undermine the slave/owner mentality that had previously existed. As these values began to change people internally, they also began to influence an outward move away from the old master/slave model of working relationships. So instead of supporting the idea of master/slave relationship working relationships, the Biblical teaching on this subject actually had the opposite effect. The Biblical concept that both slaves and masters were equal in God’s sight laid the important groundwork that helped eliminate the once common practice of slavery and continues to do so today.

So that’s the cultural background for the book of Philemon. But even with this in mind, we should still recognize that Philemon is really not a book about slavery. Philemon is really more about how someone should respond in situations where the legal thing to do might not necessarily be the right thing to do.

Now when you read the Apostle Paul’s letters in the New Testament, you’ll find that he often begins his letters by identifying himself as an Apostle right at the very beginning. For example, Paul began his letter to the Galatians by saying in chapter one, verse one, “Paul, an apostle– sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father…”

In other words, Paul didn’t buy his position, he didn’t inherit it, and he wasn’t elected to it. The other apostles didn’t select him to do the job of an apostle. It wasn’t a career that he chose for himself. His position came through the will of God and that was the basis for the things that he wrote in Biblical letters like Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossians and others.

However, notice that Paul begins his letter to Philemon in a very different way:

“This letter is from Paul, a prisoner for preaching the Good News about Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.

I am writing to Philemon, our beloved co-worker, and to our sister Apphia, and to our fellow soldier Archippus, and to the church that meets in your house. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace” (Philemon 1:1-3 NLT).

The reason that Paul begins his message this way has to do with the informal nature of this letter. You see, Paul was not in a position where he had to establish his credentials first. Unlike his other Biblical letters. Paul is writing as a friend to a friend- and a friend doesn’t have anything to prove.

Next: Doing The Right Thing For The Right Reason

So slavery was an accepted way of life within the Roman Empire. As strange as this may sound to us today, there were also Christians who owned and served as slaves at that time. Although The Doctor has mentioned this before, the master/slave relationship (like the one that existed between Onesimus and Philemon in the first century) can often be very difficult for people to understand in our 21st century world.

For instance, the idea that one human being can be made to serve as the property of another human being is rightly viewed today as a violation of basic human rights. It’s also safe to say that most people today would probably (and correctly) agree that the whole idea of “slavery” is evil and totally unacceptable.

Yet the New Testament contains passages such as Ephesians 6:5 that say, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ” (NIV). And Colossians 3:22 says, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord” (NIV). Then there is 1 Timothy 6:1 which tells us, “All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered” (NIV).

People often validate these Scriptures today by saying, “Well, the master/slave relationship model that used to exist back then no longer exists today. So now we have to take the Biblical teaching on this subject and apply it to the next closest relationship model that does exist today: the employer/employee relationship.”

In other words, we recognize that there is Biblical principle behind these Scriptures that tells us that Christians must honor God and show respect to the people that they work for. This principle (like all Biblical principles) is consistent and stays the same in all times and places.

However, this Biblical principle can be adapted to meet the needs of different cultures. In this instance, the Biblical teaching on slaves and masters can be put to use in any working relationship, no matter what the time or place. So this general approach can often be a good way to interpret and apply Scriptures like the ones that we see above.

However, we should also recognize that these Scriptures also present some tough questions. For example, how could the Bible tell a slave to be obedient, respectful, and sincere in a relationship that we recognize today as immoral and wrong? This sort of question can often be very challenging for someone who wants to be a thinking person of God and represent Christ well in the arena of ideas at school or at work.

This subject came up in a discussion that The Doctor once had with someone who made the following statement:

“What really troubles me is that I don’t see you disavowing the notion from Paul that slavery might just be OK. I know there are some people… who still believe that… a Christian nation… could have slavery as a practice and still be righteous before God.”

“Come now. Let us reason together. You tell me: if slavery were operative today… would you agitate for it to end, or would you read the words of Paul to those who do the agitating and tell them that Holy Scripture says that slaves should obey their masters?”

So how would you answer this question? Is it possible that these Scriptures demonstrate God’s approval of an immoral practice like slavery- the very same practice that serves as the backdrop to the entire book of Philemon? Well, let’s see if we can answer this important question by looking at some assumptions first.

To start, have you ever really thought about why people view slavery (or many other moral wrongs, for that matter) as something evil? ₍₁₎ Perhaps the best way to begin is to first ask, “what is evil?” Well, if we go to the dictionary definition of the word “evil” we find that it says in part that “evil” is…

1. The quality of being morally bad or wrong
2. That which causes harm, misfortune, or destruction
3. Something that is a cause or source of suffering, injury, or destruction ₍₂₎

So you can see that evil can be a “thing” but this immediately presents a problem when you think about it. For instance, let’s say that someone who doesn’t believe in Christianity wants to debate the concept of “evil” as it relates to God. That person might start by saying this…

We both agree that God is good, right? You, of course, respond by agreeing that God is good.

We both agree that God created everything, right? Again, you respond in agreement that God created everything.

Now watch as the trap springs shut…

Well, if God is good and God created everything and evil is something, then God must have created evil too, right? And if God created evil, then God must at least be partially evil as well.

Now we have a problem, don’t we? That conclusion can’t be right because James 1:13 says, “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone…” (NIV). And 1st John 1:5 says, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” So how do we reconcile these things? If God is the creator of everything, but God isn’t evil and isn’t responsible for evil, then how did it get here?

Well, without going outside the lines of our subject, there’s a good way to look at evil that doesn’t deny it’s reality or incorrectly make God responsible for it. Here it is: Evil can also be defined as the absence of something good that should be there. In other words, when something good should exist but doesn’t, then that’s evil.

For example, if you have nice clear skin without any blemishes, then that’s certainly not evil because everyone should ideally have good clear skin. However, if someone was to lose his or her eyesight or hearing, then evil is the result because the good thing that should be there (like the ability to hear and see) is now missing. As one scholar-type puts it, “Evil is, in reality, a parasite that cannot exist except as a hole in something that should be solid.” ₍₃₎

So what does all this have to do with slavery? Well, that answer comes next.

Next: How the Scriptures worked to undermine the slave/owner relationship model

(1) See here

(2) American Heritage Dictionary

(3) “When Skeptics Ask” Dr. Norman Geisler pg. 61

It’s sometimes easy to be drawn towards certain books when reading through the New Testament. For example, there’s the Gospel of John where Jesus’ words and actions at the Last Supper are presented in such detail that you almost feel as if you’re there with His original disciples while reading it.

Then there is the book of Romans, a book with teachings that are so important that people have been writing and commenting and talking about it for centuries. There is the book of Hebrews where the superiority of Jesus Christ is carefully and thoroughly presented. And then there is the book of Revelation with it’s ominous images that highlight the final battle between good and evil.

There’s no question that each of these Biblical books are important and they certainly deserve all the attention that they receive. But hidden away among these Biblical heavyweights is another book. It is a book that has just one chapter. This little book will probably never inspire anyone to write a big, multi-volume study guide to help people understand it. This book is not likely to inspire a blockbuster movie or a million-selling book series. Unlike the other Biblical books mentioned above, this little book will probably never serve as the subject of a seminar or conference. In fact, it’s far more likely that this book will be passed over in favor of other Biblical books that are supposedly “more important.”

But not today.

You see, the Biblical book that we’re talking about is the book of Philemon (pronounced “phy-lee-mon”). Unlike some other books in the Bible, the book of Philemon is a book that contains no inspiring poetry. There are no profound theological explanations. There are no historical records, astounding miracles, or great military battles recorded within it’s pages. Instead, the book of Philemon reads like a letter that someone might send to a friend because that’s exactly what it is.

Philemon is the 18th book of the New Testament and its sandwiched right between the book of Titus and the book of Hebrews. This one-chapter letter was written by Paul the Apostle sometime around AD 61-62. It’s believed that Paul wrote this letter while he was in prison in Rome, and that it was written around the time that Paul also wrote his letter to the Colossians. In fact, it’s thought that this letter to Philemon was originally delivered right along with the Biblical book that we know as Colossians today.

Paul wrote this letter to a man named Philemon and that’s where we get the name of this book. It’s believed that Philemon lived in the town of Colossae and became a Christian after hearing Paul’s teaching some time earlier. Although it doesn’t come right out and say it within the book, it appears that Philemon had some kind of leadership position within the church at Colossae. It also seems that Philemon was fairly wealthy. In fact, the first verse of the book gives the impression that the local church in that area actually met at Philemon’s house.

The subject of this letter is a person named Onesimus (pronounced “o-ness-sim-us”). As we read though this letter, we’ll discover that Onesimus was a slave who had once been owned by Philemon. However, it seems that Onesimus had somehow escaped his slavery and found his way to the city of Rome. As we’ll see from some of the language that’s used in this letter, it’s also possible that Onesimus had stolen from Philemon before he escaped.

Onesimus evidently met with Paul while he was in Rome and became a Christian in much the same way that Philemon had earlier. At some point, it was decided that Onesimus had to go back to Philemon and make things right between them. So Onesimus went back to Philemon and apparently took this letter from Paul with him.

This entire letter consists of Paul talking to Philemon “man to man” and making an emotional appeal to him on behalf of Onesimus. However, we shouldn’t get the impression that this epistle is a sort of “letter of recommendation” from Paul on behalf of Onesimus. As an escaped slave, Onesimus was in very serious trouble. But we’ll talk more about the problems that faced Onesimus a little later. For now, let’s set the stage for this short letter and talk about Onesimus’ position as a slave in the New Testament era and the cultural background of that time.

At the time that Paul wrote this letter to Philemon, there were approximately 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire. It’s believed that this number may have represented up to half the total population of the entire Roman Empire at that time. Each time the Romans conquered some new area of land, they would often sell people as slaves from the areas that they had conquered. Sometimes slaves were taken away as prisoners of war and other times people who had fallen into debt were forced to sell themselves as slaves.

Slaves held all kinds of different positions in the Roman Empire. Some had very high ranking positions with lots of status but for the most part, slaves were considered to be very lower-class people and generally had no rights. Slaves in the Roman Empire were actually considered to be “property” and were really viewed no differently than we might view a television or a radio or a piece of furniture today.

This is illustrated by the fact that under Roman law, a master actually had the right to kill his slave if that slave became sick or could not work. This attitude towards slavery was best summed up by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle who once said that a “…master and slave have nothing in common; a slave is a living tool, just as a tool is an inanimate slave.” ₍₁₎ So a human being who served as a slave in those days was really viewed no differently than a hammer or a wrench in someone’s hand.

Next: Does the Bible teach that slavery is OK?

(1) Nicomachean Ethics