Philemon 1

CHAPTER 1THEME: Revelation of Christ’s love for us; demonstration of how brotherly love should workThe primary purpose of this epistle is to reveal Christ’s love for us in what He did for us in pleading our case before God. This is one of the finest illustrations of substitution. “If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aught, put that on mine account” (v. Phm_1:18). We can hear Christ agreeing to take our place and to have all our sin imputed to Him. He took our place in death, but He gives us His place in life. “If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself” (v. Phm_1:17).

We have the standing of Christ before God, or we have no standing at all. Onesimus, the unprofitable runaway slave, was to be received as Paul, the great apostle, would have been received in the home of Philemon. The practical purpose is to teach brotherly love. Paul spoke of the new relationship between master and servant in the other Prison Epistles. Here he demonstrates how it should work. These men, belonging to two different classes in the Roman Empire, hating each other and hurting each other, are now brothers in Christ, and they are to act like it. This is the only solution to the problem of capital and labor.

Philemon 1:1

GENIAL GREETING TO PHILEMON AND HIS FAMILYPaul does not mention the fact that he is an apostle. When he was writing to the churches, he gave his official title: an apostle of Jesus Christ. But this is a personal letter to a personal friend. He doesn’t need to defend his apostleship. He intended for this to be very personal, and I think he would really be surprised to know it can be read by the whole world. “Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ.” I have noticed that several of the commentaries try to change this and explain it away by teaching that Paul really meant that he was a prisoner because he was preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. But that is not what Paul said, and Paul had the ability of saying exactly what he had in mind. He was using the Greek language, which is a very flexible, versatile language. He said he was a prisoner of Jesus Christ. If we had been there we might have had a conversation with Paul like this: “Poor Paul, it’s too bad these Romans put you in jail.” “They didn’t put me in jail.” “Oh, we know what you mean. Those hateful religious rulers brought a charge against you.” “They didn’t put me in jail either.” “Who put you in jail, then?” “Jesus Christ. I’m His prisoner.” “You mean to tell me that you would serve Someone who would put you in prison?” “Yes, when it’s His will for me to be in prison, I’m in prison. When it’s His will for me to be out of prison, I’ll be out of prison. When it’s His will for me to be sick, I’m going to be sick. I belong to Him. Since I belong to Him, I have learned to be content in whatsoever state I am in. Everything is all right. Don’t worry about me.” Obviously, the letter to Philemon is one of the Prison Epistles. It goes along with Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. “And Timothy our brother” is really “and Timothy the brother.” That means he is not only Philemon’s brother and Paul’s brother, but he is your brother if you are a Christian. We all are brothers in Christ. “Unto Philemon our dearly beloved.” Does that sound as if Paul is really buttering him up? I think so. But he loved this man, and he is going to make a request of him.

Philemon 1:2

“And to our beloved Apphia.” She apparently was the wife of Philemon. While Philemon is a Greek name, and he was a citizen of Colossae, Apphia is a Phrygian name. That would suggest to me that a young businessman by the name of Philemon went into new territory. He didn’t go west as a young man; he went eastway up on the frontier. He got into business in Colossae and became a wealthy man there. He met and married a Phrygian girl named Apphia. They both now have become Christians. Isn’t that lovely? “And Archippus our fellow-soldier.” I would assume this is their son. He is not a soldier of the Roman army, but a soldier in the army of Jesus Christ. Paul had written elsewhere that we all are to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ. “And to the church in thy house.” Not only had they been converted, but they had a church in their house. Let’s think about this for a moment. The church building has become so all-important to people today that it is all out of relationship to the real purpose of the local church. The local church in Paul’s day wasn’t down on the corner in a separate buildingthey didn’t have any building. There were the great temples to the pagan gods, but the early church didn’t have buildings; they met in homes. It is estimated that for two hundred years the church met in homes. The great cathedrals of the past were actually never meant for public meetings. Westminster Abbey in England, for example, was never intended for public services. It was built in the shape of a cross as a monument to Jesus Christ. Although I think they had the wrong ideainstead of spending all that money on a cathedral, they should have used it to send out missionariesthat was their way of expressing their devotion. The idea of putting the emphasis on a building and on a building program is a little out of line with the example of the early church.

Philemon 1:3

This is the usual greeting of Paul to every person and every church to which he wrote.

Philemon 1:4

GOOD REPUTATION OF PHILEMONHere is a man for whom Paul prayed. If you are writing out a prayer list of the apostle Paul, be sure to put Philemon on that list. The thought here is that every time Philemon’s name was mentioned, Paul prayed for him. This would indicate that Philemon was a rather prominent person.

Philemon 1:5

The life of Philemon was a testimony. Paul describes it in a lovely way. He showed love toward the Lord Jesus and toward other believers. His faith was toward the Lord Jesus, and he was faithful to other believers. That is interesting.

Philemon 1:6

His faith was shared. The life of Philemon was a testimony. “Every good thing” was the result of the fact that “…it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Php_2:13).

Philemon 1:7

Paul had great joy and consolation in the love of Philemon for other believers and for him. “Bowels” or heart implies the entire psychological nature. It is the inner life of the believers that had great satisfaction through him. There are many wonderful Christians across this land whom I have had the privilege of meeting, of being in their homes, and of having fellowship with them. That has been one of the greatest joys of my ministry. Philemon was the kind of person who would have entertained evangelists and conference speakers in his home. He was a marvelous individual.

Philemon 1:8

GRACIOUS PLEA FOR ONESIMUSPaul is making a gracious plea for Onesimus. He is coming to the purpose of his letter. He approaches his subject diplomatically and cautiously and lovingly. He is going to make his request for Onesimus on a threefold basis: “For love’s sake.” This is the love of Paul and Philemon for each other as believers in Christ Jesus. “Being such an one as Paul the aged.” Paul was only in his sixties, but he was an old man. He had suffered and had been persecuted as a missionary for Christ. This had aged him. Paul says to Philemon, “You know that I am an old man now.” “A prisoner of Jesus Christ.” It is evident that he could not come to Philemon in person.

Philemon 1:10

Paul is pleading on behalf of his son. Paul was not married, but he had many sons. He calls Timothy and Titus his sons, and now Onesimus. These are his spiritual sons. He had led Onesimus to the Lord even though he himself was a prisoner at the time.

Philemon 1:11

The name Onesimus means “profitable.” Paul really has a play on words here that is tremendous. He is good at that, by the way. Since his name literally means profitable, Paul is saying, “When you had Profitable, you didn’t have Profitable. Now that you don’t have Profitable, you do have Profitable.” You see, as a slave Onesimus wasn’t very useful. He didn’t work because he wanted to work. His heart wasn’t in it, and I guess I can’t blame him for that. But now Paul is sending him back to Philemon as a believer, and he says, “He is going to be profitable to you now. However, I don’t want him to be received as a slave.”

Philemon 1:12

Paul is asking Philemon to receive Onesimus just as if he were receiving Paul. Now Paul admits that he would have liked to have kept Onesimus. I’m sure Paul would say, “My first thought was that this man knows how to serve, and I need somebody. I am here in prison, old and sick and cold. This fellow could help me. My first thought was to keep him here and just let you know that I have him here with me.” But Paul couldn’t do that. He says

Philemon 1:14

Paul is saying, “I wouldn’t keep Onesimus because that wouldn’t be rightalthough I thought of it. If you willingly want to send him back to me, that will be all right.” Did Philemon send Onesimus back to Paul? Again, that is something we do not know. I think he did. I would imagine that on the next boat going to Rome, there was Onesimus with a lot of things to add to Paul’s comfort.

Philemon 1:15

Since Onesimus has become a believer, his status and relationship to Philemon are different. He is still a slave according to the Roman law, but he is more than that to Philemon. He is now a beloved brother.

Philemon 1:17

GUILTLESS SUBSTITUTES FOR GUILTYThis verse, together with the next verse, gives us one of the grandest illustrations of full substitution and imputation. Behind Paul’s plea is Christ’s plea to the Father on behalf of the sinner who trusts Christ as the Savior. That sinner is received on the same standing that Christ is received. In other words, the saved sinner has as much right in heaven as Christ has, for he has His right to be there. We are accepted in the beloved (see Eph_1:6). “Since you count me as a partner, I want you to receive him just like you would receive me. You always put me up in that guest room. Don’t send him out in the cold; put him up in the guest room.”

Philemon 1:18

GLORIOUS ILLUSTRATION OF IMPUTATIONWe think that the credit card is something new in our day. We can buy almost anything with a credit cardfrom a gallon of gas to a chain of motels. Credit cards are used so much that one restaurant posted the sign: “We take money too.” Paul also had a credit card. He had a credit card because he was a believer in Christ. Paul says, “Look, if Onesimus stole something from you or did something wrong, just put it on my account. Put it on my credit card.” All of this is a glorious picture. When I come to God the Father for salvation, I can hear the Lord Jesus Christ say, “If Vernon McGee has wronged Thee or oweth Thee anything, put that on My account.” Christ on the Cross paid the penalty for my sins. But that isn’t all. I am sure that God the Father would say, “That fellow Vernon McGee is not fit for heaven.” Then the Lord Jesus would say, “If Thou count Me therefore a partner, receive Vernon McGee as Myself.” That is what it means to be in Christaccepted in the Beloved. Oh, what a picture this is of the way God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ accept you and accept me. That makes this a very precious epistle.

Philemon 1:19

GENERAL AND PERSONAL ITEMS AND REQUESTS"I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it." The Lord Jesus Christ gave His life and shed His blood to pay our entire debt of sin. “Albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides.” Paul had led Philemon to the Lord. How could he ever repay Paul for that?

Philemon 1:20

Paul is pleading for Onesimus.

Philemon 1:21

As you can see, this is a personal letter, and in a sense we are reading it over the shoulder of Philemon. Paul expresses his confidence in him and actually feels that Philemon will do more than he requests. It is characteristic of real believers to do more than is requested. Jesus asks us to go the second mile. Maybe the reason that some of us are so poor today is that we have been stingy with the Lord. The Lord is a generous Lord. We should be generous people.

Philemon 1:22

Paul expects to be released from prison. He requests prayers for that purpose. Since this letter was probably written during Paul’s first confinement in Rome, he was released and probably visited Philemon personally.

Philemon 1:23

This beautiful little letter concludes with personal greetings to mutual friends.