Philemon's letter...

January 5, 2012

Philemon 1-3

V 2 To Philemon our beloved fellow worker…

Philemon had a slave named Onesimus, and he stole some money from Philemon and ran away. He planned to hide away in Rome with his stolen money and a sort of new-found freedom. Yet, like He will sometimes do, God had other plans for Onesimus. At some point during his time in Rome, Onesimus met Paul, and through this meeting Onesimus heard the gospel and was saved. Paul depended on Onesumus both as a friend and a valuable servant while he was in prison, but he also knew that Onesimus had broken the law when he stole the money and ran from Philemon. Paul decided that the best thing to do was to return Onesimus back to Philemon. He did so with this beautiful letter of forgiveness written by him to Philemon.