New Testament

Philemon 1

Appeal for a Brother

7 passages

Overview

Writing from prison and setting aside apostolic authority in favor of love, Paul appeals to Philemon — through gratitude, personal guarantee, and the witness of the house church — to receive back the transformed Onesimus not as a slave but as a beloved brother, trusting that grace has restructured every category of their former relationship.

Passages

1–3Bound in Love: Paul's Greeting to the Church in Philemon's House 4–7Hearts Refreshed: The Fruitfulness of Faithful Love 8–14Love Over Command: Paul's Intercession for Onesimus 15–17A New Relationship: Onesimus as Beloved Brother and Partner 18–21Paul's Personal Guarantee and Confident Exhortation 22A Room Prepared: Paul's Hope of Return 23–25The Communion of Laborers: Farewell in Grace

Study Resources

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Philemon 1

¹Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon, our beloved fellow worker, ²to the beloved Apphia, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the assembly in your house: ³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, ⁵hearing of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, ⁶that the fellowship of your faith may become effective in the knowledge of every good thing which is in us in Christ Jesus. ⁷For we have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.

⁸Therefore though I have all boldness in Christ to command you that which is appropriate, ⁹yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you, being such a one as Paul, the aged, but also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. ¹⁰I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whom I have become the father of in my chains, ¹¹who once was useless to you, but now is useful to you and to me. ¹²I am sending him back. Therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, ¹³whom I desired to keep with me, that on your behalf he might serve me in my chains for the Good News. ¹⁴But I was willing to do nothing without your consent, that your goodness would not be as of necessity, but of free will. ¹⁵For perhaps he was therefore separated from you for a while that you would have him forever, ¹⁶no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much rather to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

¹⁷If then you count me a partner, receive him as you would receive me. ¹⁸But if he has wronged you at all or owes you anything, put that to my account. ¹⁹I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it (not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self besides). ²⁰Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in the Lord.

²¹Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even beyond what I say.

²²Also, prepare a guest room for me, for I hope that through your prayers I will be restored to you.

²³Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, ²⁴as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.

²⁵The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.