...I Appeal To You On The Basis Of Love...” (Paul)

BIBLE STUDY#629 – CHURCH IN THE HOUSES MARCH 16- MARCH 22, 2010

Topic: “…I Appeal To You On The Basis Of Love…” (Paul) Philemon 1:9-16 Paul, very tired and lonesome, allows us to see in his walk that there is nothing greater than love. How much greatness when he preached and had crowds of people behind him! But, one day it all ended for Paul and he became a prisoner in Rome, far from his land. Of course, his desire to work and do God’s will did not come to an end, but now he understood that to be an apostle was an honor, as we can see in Romans 1:1 and in 1 Corinthians 1:1 “…Paul, called to be an apostle…” It is also expressed in Romans 11:13, saying “…I am apostle to the gentiles,…” In 1 Corinthians 9:1 it says, “ Am I not apostle?", etc. But, now that he is older he said “… I appeal to you on the basis of love, I then, as Paul, an old man, and a prisoner of Christ Jesus.” Oh! If only we could touch the ground and leave our vanities, like Paul did and say “… I appeal to you on the basis of love.” Here Paul was probably between 45 and 50 years old, therefore he wasn’t an elderly, but rather a man who experienced affliction, whose pride was shattered. He was someone who understood that of all the glory a man could receive, the greatest and the only thing that will be eternal is the love he possesses, because everything passes. As an apostle Paul could hold back at some point, but not the love. For such reason, Paul demands from Philemon, he appeals to him on the basis of love to receive Onesimus, one of Philemon’s exslave who had converted to Christ while in jail. In this letter he lets Philemon know that the reason for sending him is that Onesimus was no longer useless, and because of his encounter with Christ he is now a useful man for God’s work and in Paul’s life. It is as if he had written: “I refer to you the case of Onesimus, Philemon, so that if you judge him you give a verdict that agrees with the love that you should have for him. It is love what we need to have in order to do well to all those possible. We cannot live in quarrels, as if we were injured to seek revenge. I ask you: Where is the love you should have for your loved ones? And the others? It was not Onesimos former history what worried Paul, because he saw in that slave what God works in people’s lives. In verse 12 he says to Philemon: “receive him as if you had received me…” We can see that when he sends Onesimus it is as if he had a portion of Paul’s heart. Therefore, Onesimus was very dear to Paul. In those months Onesimus loved Paul like a father and Paul loved Onesimus like a son, calling him in verse 10, “…my son Onesimus.” He endangered him, he says, because he led him to Jesus Christ making him believe and to be born again; that is as important as if he had brought him to this world. Paul had to implore to Philemon for this man. He did it out of love, leaving aside the authority given to him for his aposthety for having to win them, and who also were considered as his sons. It is the love that appeals, very different from the greatness and the pride that is demanded by his rights. Paul wants to keep Onesimus, but he returns him to Philemon so that he wouldn’t do anything without his consent. He wanted him to return to Philemon as a brother in the faith, not as a pagan slave anymore. Paul wanted Philemon to understand that Onesimus was a son and that he had repented from his past life believing in Christ. It is not easy for men to forgive other men what God forgives. We let them see that we are not willing to grant them our trust again. This is the way it is many times because we think we are more upright than the rest. Poor of us when we don’t manage to love like the Lord and like Paul! Now, Paul begged Philemon to receive Onesimus, not any more as a slave but more than a slave, but as if he would receive Paul who won his soul. We know of Paul, one who never turned back, who had no sin and being a holy man, was now unfairly chained in a prison. Probably Onesimus deserved to be in jail, but Paul was a saint. That is why he asked Philemon to receive Onesimus as if it was him, just as honest, holy, without faults; that is the way love is. He asked him to receive him under the best conditions, better than he had ever known. Paul let Philemon know that it would not be the same relationship, from master to slave, he was a beloved brother in the Lord Paul also wanted Onesimus, who feared Philemon, to replace that fear with another motive, love. Paul had enjoyed Onesimus as a brother, he enjoyed that communion of brothers in the faith. But, he would no longer have his company in prison in Rome. Now, what Paul was willing to accept as a loss, would be a gain for Philemon. Onesimus was already a man free of sin and pure; Philemon gained and Paul lost, because this is how love is. This was the love in Paul, as he said to Philemon: “Receive Onesimus as a beloved brother he is to me, for I have seen him repent, change and grow. Imagine for you when you see him, you knew him before. You will see the transformation that he will no longer be unfaithful, or a theif, or astute, but faithful to you. You will enjoy having him serve you as a brother in the Lord. Receive Onesimus as a beloved brother”. Amen.