The apostle Paul's epistle to Philemon is a much-needed 'refresher course' for us in true Christian living in troublesome times.
Paul's letter to Philemon is one of the shortest books of the Bible, coming in at a mere 430 words contained within 25 verses. Being a personal letter from Paul to Philemon, it contains almost no doctrinal teaching, but Paul's letter contains something very valuable to us as Christians and that is why the Holy Spirit included it in the canon of Scripture. It shows us what the real Christian life is all about, and more importantly, how and why we are to live it.
"Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer, And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house: Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Philemon 1:1-3 (KJB)
The book of Philemon is a letter written from Paul to Philemon who has a runaway servant named Onesimus, who is in fact with Paul as this letter is being written. Onesimus had gotten saved under the ministry of Paul, as did Philemon, and contention developed between Philemon and Onesimus his servant and he had run away. Paul writes his letter in the hopes of fostering reconciliation between the two men, (see 2 Corinthians 5:18 ), and what follows in 25 verses is for us living in 2021 a much-needed 'refresher course' in true Christian living in troublesome times. The much-overlooked book of Philemon has much to tell us about how the 'servant of God' can become a 'profitable Christian'.
No comments:
Post a Comment