Philemon

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 29:1-2
• Hymn — God My King, Thy Might Confessing (#145)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Scripture Reading — Philemon 1–25
• Sermon
• Prayer
• Hymn — Blest Be the Tie That Binds (#409)
• Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14

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Sermon Title: The Gospel and Human Dignity

Scripture: Philemon 1–25

I. Captivity and Communion

A. Paul identifies himself as a prisoner of Christ, not of Rome

1. Nero holds no ultimate authority; God alone is sovereign
2. Paul's intellect and fate are captive to Christ — in life and in death

B. Every person named in the letter — Philemon, Apphia, Archippus, and Onesimus — belongs first and foremost to Jesus

1. All will one day give account before the judgment seat for how they treated those entrusted to them
2. Nero will answer for how he treated Paul; Philemon will answer for how he treated Onesimus

C. Love within the church is a form of testimony to the world

1. 1 John 4:20 — anyone who claims to love God but hates his brother is a liar
2. Philemon 6 — the sharing of faith becomes effective through the full knowledge of every good thing in us for Christ's sake
3. Paul commends Philemon, Apphia, and Archippus for already living this pattern; he now asks them to extend it to Onesimus

D. The church in Philemon's house is a model for Christian households

1. Where two or three gather regularly in a home, there is a church in that house
2. The head of the household should lead in prayer, hymns, and diligent study of Scripture

II. Covering the Cost

A. Onesimus appears to have both run away and stolen from Philemon (Philemon 18)

1. Under Roman law, runaway slaves faced flogging, branding, or crucifixion
2. Paul offers to personally repay any debt Onesimus owes (Philemon 19)

B. The absent-yet-present gospel: Paul does not explicitly mention Christ's death and resurrection, but enacts them

1. As sinners, we resemble Onesimus — we flee from God and rob him of his praise
2. God absorbs our debt at the cost of his own life; Paul asks Philemon to absorb Onesimus's debt in like manner
3. The implicit question: are you willing to sacrifice your demand for retribution so that Onesimus may live?

C. Important distinctions regarding forgiveness and civil justice

1. Greco-Roman slavery was grossly immoral and not in accordance with God's standards — Paul does not validate it
2. Personal forgiveness does not nullify civil accountability; the church has no authority to absolve civil guilt
3. Philemon is uniquely positioned — a person of strength able to absorb a wrong done by someone in weakness
4. Paul's appeal is personal and secular in tone, unlike any other letter he wrote

D. The name Onesimus means "useful" — formerly useless, now truly useful through Christ (Philemon 11)

1. Man apart from the gospel works from selfishness and fear
2. Man redeemed by God works from joy, bringing delight to his heavenly Father
3. This Christ-wrought usefulness has shaped and sustained the benefits of the modern world

E. Paul's indirect appeal: he hints that he wishes Onesimus could remain with him (Philemon 13–16)

1. Onesimus represented a substantial financial investment — approximately the equivalent of $45,000 today
2. Yet Philemon owes Paul far more — even his own soul, having received the gospel through Paul (Philemon 19)
3. Philemon 15 — "have him back forever" refers not to permanent slavery but to eternal brotherhood in God's house

III. Culture and Calling

A. The heavenly reality intrudes upon and reshapes earthly reality

1. In Christ there is neither Greek nor barbarian, slave nor free (Galatians 3:28)
2. Worship gathered in the church is to be carried out as worship into all of life

B. Cognitive dissonance between Sunday fellowship and six-day treatment reveals a contradiction that must be resolved

1. Southern Presbyterians evangelized slaves on Sunday but treated them as property the rest of the week
2. Robert Dabney resolved the dissonance by denying that slaves were persons made in God's image — rejecting Paul's argument in this letter
3. The gospel rightly applied resolves the dissonance by abolishing the institution, not by denying the humanity of the slave

C. Philemon 17 — Philemon is called to receive Onesimus as he would receive Paul himself

1. All in Christ possess equal worth — the precious blood of Jesus
2. The lowliest member of the congregation is to be received with the same dignity as the most honored

D. Philemon 21 — Paul is confident Philemon will do even more than he asks

1. Receiving the gospel makes us new creations — no longer slaves working from fear but fruitful workers acting from joy
2. The knowledge that Jesus absorbed our debt leads us to absorb the debts of others
3. This is how the world sees what our God is like