PREFACE
I finished my exposition of Paul's letter to Titus a couple of days ago, and This morning I am beginning Paul's personal letter to Philemon. This is the only personal letter Paul wrote, that we have recorded in the N.T. Paul's letters to Timothy, and the one to Titus were of a personal nature, however, they differed from this letter in that Paul intended them to be read to the entire assembly at Ephesus and Crete. We must keep in mind that Paul was the one chosen by God to give us doctrine in this age of grace. Paul was chosen to give church doctrine to the nations, while the rest of the Word had Israel in mind. We may be able to reap benefits from the entire Word of God in a general way of learning God's divine viewpoint in His plan of the ages; but when it comes to grace doctrine, we will only find it in Paul's Epistles. In order to be able to keep the Word of God in its proper order we must have a working knowledge of the entire Word of God, and to do this, we must understand God's dispensations. A dispensation is how God dealt with men from Paradise to the thousand-year reign of Christ on this earth. I believe Charles Ryrie wrote a book explaining dispensations which is very good entitled: "Dispensations Today." I will check it out, and if anyone is interested I will see to it that you get this book. I will use my same format in this short letter. May God bless us, through His Holy Spirit, as we study this epistle.
INTRODUCTION
Onesimus was a runaway slave from the household of his master Philemon. He tried to hide himself in the crowds in Rome until he came into the presence of the apostle Paul. He had become converted after hearing the gospel of grace from Paul.
"The occasion of this letter may be inferred from its contents, although some details are obscure. A slave named Onesimus had wronged his owner Philemon, a Christian living with the other persons named in the salutation to Colossae (Col. 4:9, 17).
The nature of the slave's offence is not certain. It usually is assumed that he had stolen money and then absconded (v.18). Since current Roman law required that whoever gave hospitality to a runaway slave was liable to the slave's master for the value of each day's work lost, it may be that Paul's promise to stand guarantor (v. 19) is no more than the assurance to Philemon that he will make up the amount incurred by Onesimus' absence from work.
The primary purpose of the letter is to act as a covering note to insure that Philemon will receive back his delinquent slave" (Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible - Merrill C. Tenney - Editor).
Vincent presents an interesting outline of this small letter that would be a topic for separate studies in themselves:
- Fellowship in Christian service (1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 19).
- Friendship founded in faith (3, 5-7, 20).
- The practical quality of love and faith (2, 5, 6, 7).
The true method of Christian persuasion: the power of the Gospel to deal with the worst: The Christian method of dealing with bad social institutions: The union of all classes and conditions in Christ.
Share freely but cite the source: http://bbbiblehelps.epizy.com