Titus Family Ministry

Study Notes for the Week

February 19, 2012

I don’t often read from Philemon, and I don’t know if I have ever heard a sermon or study based upon this short letter from the Bible.  However, this week, I found something that caught my attention.  As I was reading Philemon 1:4-7, I was drawn deeper into it.  Paul was commending his brother in Christ for the faith and love found in him.  This man had apparently been a real blessing to many other Christians.  He had brought much joy and comfort to fellow believers.  Paul was praying that Philemon’s faith would increase and become more effective through the knowledge of that which was in him.  This certainly caught my eye; what was Paul referring to?  What does it mean to have an effective faith? What was “in him” that would allow him to become more effective in his faith?

The context of the letter to Philemon has to do with Onesimus, who had apparently been a slave to Philemon at one time.  Onesimus had somehow wronged his master.  Paul says that Onesimus was previously useless to Philemon.  It is thought that the slave had either run off and/or stolen things from Philemon.  So, they did not part on good terms.  However, since then, Onesimus had become a Christian through contact with Paul.  As a Christian, Onesimus had changed.  He was a new man, renewed by his faith.  Paul found him to be useful to himself, and was now sending Onesimus back to his master.  It was Paul’s prayer that Philemon would receive him back, not as a mere slave, but as a brother in Christ.  (Philemon 1:10-20)  This, in all reality, would be a miracle, and the evidence of His faith in Christ.  This would be “effective faith.”  The NIV translates it as “active in sharing your faith.”  Either way, it is a real and evident faith.

The only way that Philemon would be able to do this, as Paul seemed to know, was according to faith and love.  (Philemon 1:4-7)  Paul was appealing to what he knew already existed inside of Philemon.  Paul knew that as a Christian, Philemon had what he needed to deal with this situation.  He didn’t have to go and gain anything else, because what he needed was already there.  Paul wanted Philemon to know that “every good thing” was already in him, for Christ sake.  In other words, Philemon, as a Christian, had been given what he needed so that he could honor God through faith and love.  Philemon just needed to live out what God had empowered and equipped Him to do.  As he effectively practiced his faith, Christ would be glorified. Paul wanted Philemon to be an effectual doer of the word.  (James 1:22-27)  Putting into practice what he had learned.  (Philippians 4:9)

Believers need to know that they have been empowered by the Holy Spirit of God.  Because of Him, we can do what was formerly impossible to us.  We can walk in the Spirit and resist the flesh.  (Galatians 5:16-26)  This is the reality, even though we may not be fully aware of it at the moment, by faith we can change.  God has empowered His children with the ability to walk in a totally new way, no longer driven by their old ways, but driven by the newness of life that is in them by faith.  (Ephesians 3:16; Ephesians 4:17-32)  So, Paul was encouraging Philemon not to react in the flesh to the slave who had wronged him; instead, he was to live by the Spirit and receive him as a new man and as a fellow bother in Christ.

We are also able to be empowered by the word of God.  (1 Thessalonians 2:13)  When we receive the word of God as truth, as being the actual revealed word of God, it is able to transform us from within.  The word is intended to shape us and reform our inner man.  God is able to inspire us, correct us, guide us, and teach us spiritual things when the word and the Spirit are at work together within us.  (1 Corinthians 2:12-13; 2 Corinthians 4:16; Ephesians 3:14-19; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)  It is not the word spoken outside of us that has the power to change us, it is the word received within us that, believed and acted upon, empowers, strengthens, and transformers our inner man…making our faith effective.

As a final thought this week… we are given direction for our interaction with others as Christians.  I know that the idea of slavery is repulsive to us; yet, 2000 years ago this was a reality of daily living.  Christ did not come to abolish slavery altogether, but we do see that followers of Christ were to live differently; whether they be a master or a slave.   (1 Corinthians 7:17-24; Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:22-4:1; 1 Timothy 6:1-2; Titus 2:9-10; 1 Peter 2:18-20) The point is that we are to honor God through faith and love, no matter what our circumstances in life are.  God sees all believers as His children, regardless of their condition in life.  (Galatians 3:26-29) We are all given the Holy Spirit and the word, and we are all expected to love others and to continue to trust in the Lord.  Whatever place in life we find ourselves, we have within us what we need to do what is good and pleasing in the sight of God; we can have an effective faith.