Philemon

Fun fact about the Letter to Philemon: while it may only be 25 verses long, it helped abolish slavery 1800 years after it was written. http://www.esvbible.org/Philemon/

Paul again opens his letter by identifying himself as its author and addressing it to Philemon and Philemon's sister. The church at Colossae, where the letter to the Colossians was written, met in Philemon's house.

Paul says that he is thankful for Philemon because Philemon has a pure heart and is able to extend the love of Christ. He has remained faithful to the work the God set out before him. Paul prays that Philemon will have an even deeper understanding of the blessings we receive from Christ. So often, we overlook things that Christ has done for us. Sometimes, as the old expression goes, we need to "stop and smell the flowers." Philemon is a comforter to God's people. Comforters are very important in the body of Christ because as another expression goes, "God gave you two ears but only one mouth." We need to be there and listen to what troubles other believers.

The main point of this letter is that Paul asks Philemon to free his runaway slave Onesimus, whose name literally means "useful." Onesimus ran away from Philemon, his owner, and found Paul in prison. He eventually accepted Christ as his Savior. Then, he and Paul became friends. He wants to help Paul spread the Good News since Paul is in jail and can't travel around. Paul desires this greatly, but he does not want to hurt his relationship with Philemon, so he sends Onesimus back to Philemon with this letter beseeching him to free Onesimus. He says that Philemon must see Onesimus's value as a person and a Christian. This part could have gone to freeing the slaves in 1865 because slave owners at that time did not view their slaves as people. Paul says that he can even see Onesimus staying with Philemon forever as a brother instead of a slave. He brings up that God wants Paul to command Philemon to do what is right, but Paul knows the best way to to that for Philemon is through an appeal of love. Paul also says that Philemon owes Paul his life, but Paul says he doesn't want to use that because he knows Philemon will see what the right thing to do is. Paul tells Philemon that if he considers himself a partner to Paul, he should treat Onesimus as he would treat Paul. We later see that Philemon must have obeyed because Onesimus serves in the church at Colossae in Colossians. Finally, Paul tells Philemon to prepare the guest rooms because he knows that the people's prayers will free him, and he will be able to visit.

Paul closes the letter with some greetings from fellow Christian prisoners.