Philemon 1

Paul wrote to Philemon.

Paul mentioned church in a house.

These first three verses were Paul's introduction. The rest of this short letter was written to encourage Philemon not to punish Onesimus. Everything Paul wrote was in the most positive fashion possible. With each sentence, we will cover both WHAT Paul wrote and HOW what he wrote actually constrained Philemon to forgive and receive Onesimus.

Paul thanked God for Philemon and prayed for him.

Paul had heard of Philemon's love and faith toward Christ and the saints.

Paul prayed that Philemon's love and faith would be proven in his actions. While that sentence was extremely positive, it also set the foundation that Paul could expect Philemon to do the right thing.

Paul stated that he had much joy over Philemon because of what other believers had testified concerning Philemon's love. Paul made Philemon aware there would be many people who could be witnesses to however Philemon would choose to respond to Onesimus. It was time for Paul to make his request.

Paul stated he could make his request boldly, but was going to instead beseech Philemon for love's sake. Paul referred to himself as "Paul the aged" and reminded Philemon he (Paul) was a prisoner. Paul essentially warned Philemon he (Paul) could have approached this in a less positive manner.

Paul stated his request concerned Onesimus.

Onesimus had been unprofitable towards Philemon (he had run away) but now was profitable to Paul and to Philemon: Paul vouched for Onesimus, similar to how Barnabas vouched for Paul in Acts 9:27.

Paul stated he had sent Onesimus back with this letter, reminding Philemon that he owed Paul.

Paul spoke very highly of Onesimus. Paul stated he would have liked for Onesimus to stay with him, and the benefit Paul would have received would have been credited to Philemon. This implied Philemon missed an opportunity to gain spiritual value through sowing Onesimus into Paul's ministry.

However, Paul felt it more important to send Onesimus to Philemon because keeping Onesimus would have been taking from Philemon, instead of giving Philemon the opportunity to choose to sow Onesimus into Paul's ministry and gain spiritual value. Again, Paul implied Philemon owed Paul.

After showing Philemon that he missed out on gaining because Onesimus was returned to him, Paul proposed (theorized) that it may have been for Philemon's benefit Onesimus left and came to Paul because now Onesimus may stay with Philemon forever. The implication being that Onesimus was going to leave eventually and if Onesimus had not left when he did, he may never have returned to Philemon.

Paul made the further point that Onesimus would no longer only be a servant. Onesimus would be a servant and a brother in the Lord: a believer. Again, this was another possible benefit of Onesimus leaving when he did. If he had left at another time, he may not have become a believer. Paul presented this great news which Philemon could not be anything but happy about, unless Philemon did not want to demonstrate Christian love. Remember, this epistle was the Word of God. Do you believe the Holy Spirit would work through believers today to approach other believers in the same fashion that Paul approached Philemon?

Paul connected Philemon's response to Onesimus with Philemon's perspective on Paul, through an if/then. If Philemon did not receive Onesimus, Philemon would be stating he did not see Paul as a partner.

Paul said if Onesimus owed Philemon that Paul would be responsible for what was owed. This effectively prevented Philemon from punishing or not receiving Onesimus because Philemon had been damaged. Paul removed one of Philemon's "outs" in fulfilling Paul's request.

Paul assured Philemon this offer was coming from Paul, and then Paul reminded Philemon that Philemon owed Paul. Paul essentially approached Philemon through "fear of loss." If Philemon was not going to fulfill Paul's request, Paul could request that Philemon repay Paul what Philemon owed.

Paul made a request that Philemon would give him joy and refresh him, just as Paul had stated in verse 7 that Philemon had done for many others. Paul was reminding Philemon of the many witnesses who could be made aware of Philemon's response to Onesimus. Basically, Paul asked Philemon to do the right thing and Paul would look at it in the most positive fashion, in fact, Paul went even further in this same direction...

Paul stated he was confident that Philemon would be obedient and would do more than Paul said because Philemon was a believer and would be obedient to God. Paul exhorted Philemon after proving to Philemon that taking any retribution out on Onesimus would be ungrateful, and ungodly.

Paul stated that he would be coming to see Philemon. Paul removed Philemon's last "out" which would be received and forgive Onesimus in the short term, but punish Onesimus over time. Whatever decision Philemon made about Onesimus, Paul would be able to see for himself...eventually. Paul was resembling Jesus when he warned Philemon to be ready for his return.

Paul's epistle to Philemon was the thirteenth book of the section of the New Testament known as the Pauline Epistles. This letter was written at the same time as Paul's letters to the Ephesians and the Colossians, with all three being delivered by Tychicus. These letters were written by Paul around 64 AD from Rome during his time in prison. This letter was different than the previous twelve from Paul in that this was a personal letter from Paul concerning a specific non-church issue with an individual. Onesimus was a run-away slave of Philemon whom we saw in Paul's letter to the Colossians was from Colossae. At the time of the writing of this letter, Onesimus was with Paul in Rome. Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon along with this letter. The purpose of this letter was to encourage Philemon to forgive and restore Onesimus.