Today we will end our study of the prison epistles of Paul, with the most personal of all, this letter to a man by the name of Philemon. Philemon was a Christian man who used his home as a place for followers of Jesus to come and fellowship with one another. Philemon was also a wealthy man who owned slaves, amongst whom was a slave by the name of Onesimus, whose name means ‘profitable.’ Although we do not know what exactly happened between Philemon and Onesimus, it appears from the letter that Onesimus had stolen from Philemon, and for fear of the consequences, ran away. So the man, whose name means profitable, turned out to be a very unprofitable servant. Legally speaking, under Roman slavery law, Philemon could have had Onesimus arrested and even killed for this crime. But God had another plan for both this saved man Philemon and this unsaved slave Onesimus.
In the providence of God, Onesimus ends up in the city of Rome and is led to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through the ministry of the apostle Paul. They become friends, and Onesimus begins to minister care and help to the now aged Paul who is in prison. Eventually, Paul hears Onesimus’ confession of wrongdoing towards Philemon, who ‘just happens to be’ another acquaintance of Paul and another person that Paul led to Christ. Thus, this very tender letter of appeal is written to Philemon, asking him to extend forgiveness, grace and mercy to Onesimus who is now a fellow Christian. The tone of the letter is filled with gospel themes of reconciliation and restoration on both the Godward and human side. The gospel of reconciliation and restoration given to sinners by grace through faith in Christ is meant to find practical application of reconciliation and restoration with sinners within the body of Christ on earth. Do you have an Onesimus in your life this morning? Think about how graciously Jesus Christ has forgiven you.
