Philemon 1:17

Philemon 1:17 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.

Philemon was a Christian and a slave owner. One of his slaves, Onesimus, ran away, and was at the time of this letter serving Paul faithfully in Rome. Paul is writing to ask Philemon to treat Onesimus, who is now a Christian, kindly when he returns to his household. Runaway slaves who were caught were sometimes so brutally punished by their masters for running away that they were either maimed for life or killed. To maintain the institution of slavery, slaves had to fear running away; therefore, horrific punishments were meted out to them. In this letter Paul beseeches Philemon to treat Onesimus on his return as he would greet Paul: So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. (vs 17) Of course, this was asking a lot from Philemon, but Paul reminded him that Onesimus was now his brother in Christ. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatian 3:26-28) Paul desired that Onesimus be set free, but we do not know whether he was ever set free, for slavery was a major component of the economy, integrally interwoven in the lifestyle of the ancients.

Paul considered himself not only as a prisoner of the Romans, but also as a prisoner of Jesus Christ. His life had been sold willingly to Jesus Christ. He was no longer his own; therefore, slavery, regardless of the kind, was not a primary concern for his life. As a freeman he became a slave for the cause of Christ. Paul said, everyone is a slave, either to the world or to Christ. Therefore, it did not make a big difference to Paul whether you were free or a slave. He believed the soul of man was either a slave to the devil or to God. Today, in America, we have a lot of freedom. We can decide to do pretty much what we want to do. But, we are still slaves to something by our own choices.

Paul thanked God for Philemon because he had placed his faith in Jesus Christ. He had sold himself to Jesus Christ for God's glory. As American Christians we don't think that way. We equate Christianity with freedom. We idolize freedom, we worship freedom, but the Bible does not view freedom in the same way we view freedom. The Bible indicates we have freedom to serve God, not ourselves. We have freedom to bring glory to God, not to ourselves. As Christians we are under the constraints of the Word of God. In the Old Testament we see the Jews expressing their freedom by serving other gods and marrying women who were not Jews. God judged them for that. They did not have freedom to do whatever they desired. Christians are likewise under the constraints of God's will. We have freedom to serve others and to follow God. When we focus on our freedom, what we deserve and what we should get out of life, we are straying from freedom in Christ, which is to serve the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is the freedom we have inherited.

Well, what about the institution of slavery? What should be done about slavery today? We should abhor it, we should fight it, for it binds men to an earthly master. All men should be free, for they were made in the image of God. Jews were not to own other Jews. But still, slavery is not the most significant issue in the context of a Christian life. We are commanded to serve men readily for we are Christ's servants. We are taught to look out for others because we are Christ's servants. The world knows us as Christians, his servants. Therefore, we should not be our own, but his. I have been asked why does the Bible not speak out strongly against slavery, for even Paul asked slaves to serve faithfully the froward master. Paul knew the actual realities of life. We are all slaves to something, and without Christ, regardless of being free or not, we are still slaves, either to sin and death, or to life eternal. Whether free or not, we will be judged by the master we serve. If we serve Christ Jesus, we have life eternal; if we serve ourselves and Satan, we will be damned. Yes, Jesus Christ has come to set us free; yes, we are free indeed, but we are free to serve the one we love, which is our reasonable service. It is a paradox, but when we stand fast in the freedom of Christ, we willingly serve with all that is within us.