Philemon is a private letter about a runaway slave, and it is only twenty-five verses long. Yet it holds the whole gospel in miniature. A guilty man who has wronged his master and cannot repay him comes back, not in his own name, but in the name of a friend who says, “receive him as myself… put that on mine account… I will repay it.” That is exactly what Christ does for us.
A study in Philemon · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 18 min read
The Church In Thy House
“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
Philemon was a well-to-do believer in Colosse, the town that received Paul’s letter to the Colossians at the same time. That letter was carried by Tychicus, “with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you” (Colossians 4:9). Philemon owned a house large enough for the local church to meet in it. Apphia was probably his wife, and Archippus, “our fellowsoldier,” perhaps his son and a minister in the church (Colossians 4:17).
Notice that Paul addresses a personal matter to the whole house church. How Philemon treated his runaway slave would not be a private decision. The whole congregation would see whether the gospel they believed made any difference in real life.
“I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints; That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.”
Philemon 1:4-7
Philemon was known for his love. He had “refreshed” the hearts of the believers (“bowels” in the old English is the seat of the deepest feelings, as we would say “the heart”). Paul is about to ask him to show that same love to someone who had hurt him. It is easy to love those who love us back. The real test of Christian love is how we treat the one who has wronged us.
“The apostle reminded Philemon that every good purpose and trait of character which he possessed was due to the grace of Christ; this alone made him different from the perverse and the sinful. The same grace could make the debased criminal a child of God and a useful laborer in the gospel.”
Ellen G. White · The Acts of the Apostles, p. 457
For Love’s Sake I Rather Beseech Thee
“Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient, Yet for love’s sake I rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds:”
Philemon 1:8-10
Paul was an apostle. He could simply have ordered Philemon to do the right thing. Instead, “for love’s sake I rather beseech thee.” He appeals as an old man and a prisoner, not as an authority. Love does not force. It asks, and it trusts the other person to respond freely.
Then comes the name Philemon may not have expected to see: Onesimus. Paul delays it until the end of the sentence, after “my son… whom I have begotten in my bonds.” Before Philemon reads the name of the runaway, he has already read that the runaway is now Paul’s own spiritual child.
“In the kindness of his heart, Paul sought to relieve the poverty and distress of the wretched fugitive and then endeavored to shed the light of truth into his darkened mind. Onesimus listened to the words of life, confessed his sins, and was converted to the faith of Christ.”
Ellen G. White · The Acts of the Apostles, p. 456
Unprofitable, But Now Profitable
“Which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me: Whom I have sent again: thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels: Whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel: But without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly.”
Philemon 1:11-14
The name Onesimus means “useful” or “profitable.” It was a common slave name, and Paul plays on it gently: the man called Useful had been useless to Philemon, “but now profitable to thee and to me.” Grace had made him live up to his name.
Sending him back was costly for both of them. Paul lost a helper he had come to love as “mine own bowels,” his own heart. And for Onesimus it meant walking back into the house of the master he had robbed, with no legal protection. Under Roman law a runaway slave could be branded, beaten or even put to death.
“Paul saw in him traits of character that would render him a useful helper in missionary labor, and he counseled him to return without delay to Philemon, beg his forgiveness, and plan for the future. The apostle promised to hold himself responsible for the sum of which Philemon had been robbed. … It was a severe test for this servant thus to deliver himself up to the master he had wronged; but he had been truly converted, and he did not turn aside from his duty.”
Ellen G. White · The Acts of the Apostles, p. 456
True conversion does not only bring peace with God. It also sends us back to make things right with the people we have wronged, as far as it lies in our power (compare Luke 19:8). Onesimus did not use his new faith as an excuse to escape his past. He faced it.
Put That On Mine Account
“For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever; Not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh, and in the Lord? If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account; I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it: albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides.”
Philemon 1:15-19
“For perhaps.” Paul does not excuse what Onesimus did. But he sees God’s hand even in it. Onesimus ran away for a little while, and God used it to bring him back “for ever” — not just as a slave for this life, but as a brother for eternity.
Then comes the most beautiful sentence in the letter: “receive him as myself.” Paul asks Philemon to welcome Onesimus the way he would welcome Paul himself. And whatever Onesimus owes, “put that on mine account.” Paul even writes it out in his own handwriting, like a signed promissory note: “I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it.”
“How fitting an illustration of the love of Christ for the repentant sinner! The servant who had defrauded his master had nothing with which to make restitution. The sinner who has robbed God of years of service has no means of canceling the debt. Jesus interposes between the sinner and God, saying, I will pay the debt. Let the sinner be spared; I will suffer in his stead.”
Ellen G. White · The Acts of the Apostles, p. 458
This is the gospel. We come to God as runaways who have wronged Him and cannot repay what we owe. Christ does not ask the Father to overlook the debt. He takes it on Himself: “put that on mine account.” And He asks the Father to receive us as He would receive His own Son, “accepted in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). Paul’s words to Philemon are an echo of what Christ has done for every sinner who comes home.
A Brother Beloved
“Not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved.” Paul never tells Philemon in so many words to free Onesimus. But he makes it very hard for Philemon to go on treating him as property. How do you own your own brother? How do you punish someone you have been asked to receive “as myself”?
“When converted, the slave became a member of the body of Christ, and as such was to be loved and treated as a brother, a fellow heir with his master to the blessings of God and the privileges of the gospel. … Christianity makes a strong bond of union between master and slave, king and subject, the gospel minister and the degraded sinner who has found in Christ cleansing from sin. They have been washed in the same blood, quickened by the same Spirit; and they are made one in Christ Jesus.”
Ellen G. White · The Acts of the Apostles, p. 459, 460
That principle, “a brother beloved,” worked in the church like yeast in dough. In Christ “there is neither bond nor free” (Galatians 3:28). Centuries later, Christian abolitionists put almost the same words on their medallions and banners: “Am I not a man and a brother?” The gospel did not overturn slavery by force in Paul’s day, but it planted the truth that would eventually bring it down.
“Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord: refresh my bowels in the Lord. Having confidence in thy obedience I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say. But withal prepare me also a lodging: for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you.”
Philemon 1:20-22
“Thou wilt also do more than I say.” Paul expects Philemon to go beyond the minimum — beyond merely not punishing Onesimus, beyond merely taking him back. What would “more” look like? Many readers have seen here a quiet hint at freedom. And Paul adds, with a smile, that he hopes to visit soon, so Philemon had better have a guest room ready. Paul would see for himself how Onesimus had been received.
“There salute thee Epaphras, my fellowprisoner in Christ Jesus; Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.”
Philemon 1:23-25
The closing greetings include two names that tell stories of their own. Mark, who had once turned back from the work, is now a trusted fellow labourer. And Demas is still here too — the same Demas who would later forsake Paul, “having loved this present world” (2 Timothy 4:10). The list is a quiet reminder that restoration is possible, and so is falling away.
We do not know for certain how Philemon responded. But the letter was kept, copied and placed in Scripture, which suggests that Philemon did what Paul asked, and more. And every believer is invited to see himself in the story: sometimes as Philemon, asked to forgive someone who has wronged him; sometimes as Onesimus, needing to go back and make things right; and always as the debtor whose debt Christ has taken on Himself, saying, “put that on mine account.”
