Gluten Free & God Seeking: What Does the Account of Onesimus Show Us in the Book of Philemon?

Sunday, July 13, 2014

What Does the Account of Onesimus Show Us in the Book of Philemon?

The book of Philemon is more than a story about a runaway slave. And you know that’s about all I would have gotten from it if I hadn’t read the Life-Study of Philemon. One thing that touched me from my reading was learning more about the background.

Onesimus was a slave who had runaway from Philemon (who had been saved earlier by Paul) and who was an elder in the church in Colossae. So under the Lord’s sovereignty Onesimus got put into the same Roman prison as Paul. Paul shares in his letter to Philemon that while in prison he had brought his slave Onesimus to the Lord. Paul’s speaking about this is very tender:

I entreat you concerning my child, whom I have begotten in my bonds, Onesimus….Him I have sent back to you—him, that is my very heart…. Philemon 10, 12b

Last week I listened to both of the radio programs on Philemon that are put out by Living Stream Ministry’s radio program called Life-Study of the Bible with Witness Lee, and I really enjoyed listening to them (check the link for this below). I would highly recommend these to you because it is great to hear actual excerpts from these spoken messages and the radio host and his guest have great conversations that give further clarification about these excerpts.

During the first radio program on Philemon a brother shares that Paul’s letter shows that his attitude was not like he was conducting a gospel campaign in that prison to win souls, but that he was begetting a spiritual child. They also shared that Onesimus’ salvation is striking because he was a slave, and slaves in the Roman Empire had no rights and were treated like animals. That's why Paul's charge to Philemon in verse 16 to receive Onesimus not as a slave but as a beloved brother is very touching. I was helped by Witness Lee’s explanation on pages 9-10 in chapter 2 of the Life-Study of Philemon why this account is important to the Body of Christ:

The first church, the church in Jerusalem, came into existence approximately 34 or 35 A.D. The Epistle to Philemon was written about thirty years later....In the Epistle to the Colossians Paul emphasized that all the believers are part of the new man. Furthermore, in the new man there cannot be Greek and Jew, slave and freeman [Colossians 3:10-11]. Philemon was a freeman, and Onesimus was his bondservant. But in the new man they were of equal status....The Epistle to Philemon should be regarded as a continuation of Colossians 4 and considered as an illustration of how in the new man all social rank is put aside...Ranks have been abolished because the believers have been constituted of Christ’s life ( Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Philemon. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry. 1980, Print).