Philemon, Colossians (15th December) - Alvin

Philemon
This is perhaps one of the shortest letters of Paul but yet it has a very powerful message in it that has helped changed the world over the centuries.

The gist of it is Paul writing to Philemon, one of his spiritual sons, to accept Onesimus, a spiritual son of Paul, but a slave of Philemon, as a fellow brother and to remove the master-slave relationship between them.

In this short letter, Paul brought out two very powerful truths which are evident in the other letters that He wrote.

1) In Christ, we are all equal before God, whether Jews or Greek, man or woman, slave or free. We are all brothers and sisters in the family of God.
2) In Christ, our witness must come from our “doing” of scripture.
For point one, Paul wrote to Philemon asking him to regard Onesimus as a partner in the work of Christ.

15 For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, 16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 17 If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. 18 But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. 19 I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides. 20 Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord. 21 Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22 But, meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you.

To further appeal to Philemon, Paul mentioned that he is a “prisoner of Christ”, describing his sufferings for the Lord, to encourage Philemon also to give up his rights and suffer for God as he understands he is asking Philemon to do a very difficult thing, that is to relinquish his ownership of Onesimus and view him as an equal in the work of the Lord.

For point two, Paul recognises the importance of Philemon demonstrating his faith through actions. The letter suggests that Philemon was one of the leaders of the house church that the believers are attending. Therefore his testimony has great impact on the believers and for the pre-believers. The inward change that Philemon experienced through the grace of God, must now be “worked out” in his life through his example. And the relinquishing of his rights as Onesimus’ master will demonstrate that he truly has experienced the grace of God, which was freely given and so now he must freely give. This will be a powerful display of God’s truth not only to the believers but also to the unbelieving world as it will appear incredible for a slave owner to free the slave without any payment.

This is the scriptural truth that has caused many radical changes in the world which brought about the abolishment of slave trading and other oppressive laws throughout history. And Paul was very serious about Philemon that he asked him to prepare a room for him for his visit.
I believe this is more than a statement of faith by Paul that he will released from prison to visit Philemon, but it is also Paul’s apostolic authority over the church which Philemon is in. In other words, Paul expects to see Philemon’s obedience in this matter when he arrives.

2 more pointers to also take note of when we read this letter of Paul.

1) How do we look at other Christians? Do we judge them by their social status, financial status, spiritual maturity, age? Or we see them as partners in the work of God, fellow brothers and sisters whom God loves and we should too? I guess we know what the answer should be, but upon deeper reflection, sometimes we might really fall short of this.

2) Paul being the spiritual father and leader of Philemon could use his authority to charge him to obey but he chose not to. Instead he appealed to Philemon in love. The end result that matters to Paul is not so much the outward (the abolishment of the master-slave relationship of Philemon and Onesimus), but the inward (reconciliation between two brothers in the family of God and the recognition of the finished work of reconciliation brought about by the Cross of Jesus)

8 Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, 9 yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ— 10 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains,
Sometimes, we need to watch that we do not just focus on the results, but also the process and the purpose.

Colossians
Jesus is Lord, and because He is Lord, how then should we live? The book of Colossians is a very similar book to the book of Ephesians, but whereas the book of Ephesians tells us to walk worthy of the calling of God, the book of Colossian wants us to walk worthy of God. Are our lives worthy of God? This is a very serious question to ask as it brings into scrutiny every aspect of our lives, be it our spiritual, our relationships, our testimony before others, our theology etc.

Hence Paul goes into detail many aspects of our lives and how then we ought to walk worthy of God in those areas, fully pleasing God and being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood,[c] the forgiveness of sins.
Paul goes on to describe the pre-eminence of God, His greatness and fullness. And as such, He is to be first in everything, which includes our lives. Is God first in our lives?
Yet the Almighty God who is the Beginning and the End, the first in ALL things would choose to bring us near to Himself and reconcile us to Himself through His sufferings on the Cross, which is why Paul went on to say that he too will suffer for our sake, so long as to present every man perfect in God. That is the true heart of a slave of God and a spiritual Father. There is a saying that a true mark of a disciple is that of suffering. Are we serious enough with God and His work to say that we are WILLING to suffer for Him?

Paul then goes on to deal with the subject of philosophy and rituals. His argument of the matter is not to allow differing thoughts and rituals to replace the centrality of our faith, which is Christ Himself. We are to be careful and discerning in the things we read and hear, even from the pulpit. This is important because, the centrality of our faith MUST be Christ and nothing else. If anyone or anything preaches another gospel or theology apart of Christ, we need to reject it.

Though in comparison to the time of Paul, we have much lesser rituals and ceremonies in the church, we still need to be careful. We need to be careful that the things we do for God, does not replace God Himself. That we do not just get caught up with the works of ministry, be it in church services, cell groups and all, and all the other things we are accustomed to as Christians, and neglect the place of Christ in our lives. It is a subtle thing, but if we are not careful, we might fall into it. Remember the story of Mary and Martha?

Again, the emphasis is the Lordship of Christ. He is Lord, not our theology or customs or even our ministry. Hence walk worthy of God, walk in Him.

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it[b] with thanksgiving”

If Christ is Lord, and we are now His, then we can no longer live and walked like we once did. Since we have been dead to our trespasses, we must now be alive to God. Paul then tells us to put off our worldly nature, and to put on our new nature which is in Christ. I really would encourage us to meditate on the following verses carefully and reflect. Are there things we have yet to put off? And are there things we have yet to put on? Let us work on them that we may walk in God worthy of Him.

“5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,”
“12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Now as we established the fact that Christ is Lord and He shall be first in all that we do, Paul goes into more detail by showing us how we should treat our different relationships in the light of Christ being Lord in Col 3:18-4:1

Lastly if Christ is Lord, He must be made known. As such Paul solicits prayer for open doors to preach the Gospel and for us to redeem the time, which means to make full use of it in the light of the unfinished work of preaching the Gospel. He also admonishes us to walk in wisdom towards the pre-believers and to watch our words, so that we will always appear attractive to them. Is the Gospel attractive to our pre-believing friends and families? If it is not, maybe it has to do with us, whether we have been a good ambassador for God or not.