Philemon 1-3 – Experiencing God’s grace and peace

This is a short personal letter from Paul to Philemon, a dear friend of his. Philemon was a wealthy businessman from Colossae, who had a runaway slave named, Onesimus. The slave had stolen some of his master’s possessions (verse 18) and ran to the great city of Rome in a search for freedom. In those days it was a serious offence for slaves to steal from their masters, which was a crime punishable by death. But God who controls all the affairs of men designed that Onesimus should come into contact with Paul. The apostle led him to acknowledge the Lordship of Christ (verse 10). Desiring to help Onesimus make right with his master Philemon, Paul now sent him back with the letter requesting forgiveness for Onesimus. The Apostle even offered to pay for any financial loss caused by the runaway slave. This short personal letter portrays for us a vivid picture of true forgiveness.

Paul began the letter by calling himself a prisoner of Christ Jesus. The reason is because he was in prison for the sake of the Gospel. In a sense, he was in prison by the design of the Lord Jesus Christ. This makes it safe for us to conclude that he wrote this letter from prison, the same place that he wrote the Epistles to the Ephesians, Colossians and Philippians. He mentioned Timothy because he was his close and trusted co-worker. It could also be possible that Timothy also knew Philemon. Furthermore, Paul deliberately mentioned Timothy because someday he would be passing the leadership to him.

Philemon was addressed as a beloved brother and fellow worker. This signifies that Paul had a very close relationship with him. It was in his house that the church service was held. In that sense, Philemon was a co-worker. We are also introduced to Apphia and Archippus. Who are these two people?

Apphia was called “our sister,” thus she is very likely to be Philemon’s wife. Archippus, on the other hand, could well be their son. In mentioning the church in your house, we get the clue that the gathering was in Philemon’s house. The mention of the church meant that this letter, though written as a personal letter, was also read in church. Paul then gave his usual greetings of grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus.

Grace is God acting for our good and peace is the result of our mended relationship with Him. Grace draws us near to God, and peace frees us from the feeling of isolation and alienation from God. In fact they are what keep us in our ongoing relationship with Him and with one another. The request that Paul was making of Philemon would certainly require the working of the grace and peace of God and of Jesus Christ. May the grace of God fill our lives and His peace fills our heart today and always.