Philemon
Sun, Aug 16, 2026
Teacher: Kaleb Rockwell Series: Short and Sweet Scripture: Philemon 1:1-25 & Galatians 3:28
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Short and Sweet
Philemon
Identify the people in the book of Philemon
1. Paul
- Author of the letter
- An apostle of Jesus and elder of the early Christian church
- Wrote the letter from prison in Rome
2. Philemon
- Addressee of the letter
- A wealthy, Greek landowner living in Colossae
- Host and likely a leader of a house church in the city of Colossae
3. Onesimus
- The primary subject of Paul’s letter
- A runaway slave of Philemon
- Ended up in Rome where he converted to Christianity most likely under the guidance of Paul.
Paul’s greeting and appreciation of Philemon
Philemon 1-7 “1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker - 2 also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier - and to the church that meets in your home: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. 6 I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. 7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.”
- This passage says a lot about the character of Philemon. Paul describes him as loving, faithful, encouraging, and refreshing. These are the types of characteristics that we should embody as members of the Church.
- As a leader of the church in Colossae, Philemon would have been very familiar with the love that is needed as a follower of Jesus. Paul starts off his letter by reminding him of this to set the tone for the request that he would then make. By setting the tone and reminding Philemon of the type of love that he had shown in the past, Paul was hoping that Philemon would continue to show this type of love now.
Paul’s appeal for Onesimus
- Paul makes his appeal out of love, not authority.
Philemon 8-9 “8 Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9 yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love.” Paul makes his appeal to Philemon out of love, not force.
- This is a great example of how we should interact as believers. We need to remember not to do things out of compulsion for one another or to force each other into things, but we should make our appeals to one another out of love.
- Putting the Gospel into practice: Paul makes an appeal for Philemon to reconcile with Onesimus.
Philemon 12, 15-17 “12 I am sending him - who is my very heart - back to you…15 Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever - 16 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord. 17 So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.”
- Paul recognizes that God’s family transcends human distinctions. Onesimus was a slave, but as a Christian he was now like a brother to both Philemon and Paul and a member of God’s family.
Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
- This is what the Gospel is all about! It erases the distinctions in our lives and our former identities and gives us a new identity in Jesus. This is not to say that Onesimus was right for running away from his master or that Philemon was justified in owning a slave. But regardless of the labels that existed in their lives, both Onesimus and Philemon were now equals as members of God’s family.
- Paul’s plead to Philemon is so great that he offers to pay any debts that Onesimus may have had as a result of him leaving.
Philemon 17-19 “17 So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back - not to mention that you owe me your very self.”
- This had to be so encouraging for Onesimus that Paul would go to these lengths in order to restore this relationship. As a new Christian, Onesimus’s faith was encouraged by the actions of Paul as an elder in the church.
- Paul’s conclusion: He finishes his letter by planning to visit Philemon himself and with his classic greeting.
Philemon 22-25 “22 And one more thing: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers. 23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. 24 And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. 25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”
So that is the book of Philemon...but what are the takeaways?
Love
- In this passage of scripture, both Paul and Philemon are shown as people who exemplify the type of love that is indicative of a life surrendered to Jesus. This serves as a reminder for us that we need to be people who exemplify love.
- What does Godly love look like? I could write an entire sermon series simply on the way that the bible describes the characteristics of love.
Colossians 3:12-14 “12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
- There is so much depth to the definition of love and the bible has so much to say about it. Here we see how love binds together all these other positive attributes. This is the type of love that Paul was talking about showing towards Philemon.
1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 “4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.”
- This passage is often used to describe romantic love, but these are the characteristics of Godly love.
- Paul’s entire appeal that he makes for Onesimus is made out of love: both love for Onesimus and love for Philemon. He starts by writing about his relationship with Philemon and then later in his appeal for Onesimus, Paul’s love is very evident throughout this letter. Love is so foundational to being a Christian that it must be present in everything that we do.
Forgiveness
- From this passage, we don’t know whether or not Philemon forgave Onesimus. However, Paul sets the tone for how we are to respond when people in our lives hurt us or do us wrong.
- As Christians, we are called to forgive others just as through Jesus’ sacrifice God has forgiven us of all our sins. Jesus taught this concept directly in His sermon on the mount.
Matthew 5:23-24 “23 Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”
Reconciliation
God has an incredible amount of love for people who run away and turn away from him. In spite of all the ways that we fall short, God has a deep desire for us to be reconciled to Him.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”
- Sometimes we are the ones who have wronged someone else and sometimes we are on the receiving end of wrongdoing. Either way, as believers, we need to seek reconciliation to the relationships in our lives. In this passage, we see Onesimus initiating the process of reconciliation with Philemon.