I must confess that I was a little slow in getting this devotion prepared for today as I had to do the PET CT Scan yesterday and it pretty much took most of my energy but God is faithful.
Philemon is a one chapter book about a slave named Onesimus, who had been touched by the witness of Paul and I was drawn to verses 4 through 6 where he says, "I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, because I hear of your love, and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all the saints; and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ's sake."
Paul is writing to Philemon, who was the original owner of the slave, Onesimus, who appears to have "borrowed" some of Philemon's possessions and fled only to end up in jail with Paul (what a God thing).
I was especially impressed that Paul prayed that the "fellowship of your faith..." which is a very important part of any Christian walk "...may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ's sake."
Paul is reminding Philemon of the knowledge he possesses about the love of Christ's and Paul's motivation is for Philemon to take Onesimus back, "no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother..."
It take the smallest amount of energy for any one of us to do a wrong to someone without even thinking about it and here Paul is leaning on the knowledge that Philemon has in his Christianity to be able to forgive and allow this slave back into the fold, not as a slave but as a "free man" because of the love of Christ that he has experienced while imprisoned with Paul.
Philippians 1:9 mentions this knowledge as he says "And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment..." and then again in Colossians 1:9 it says, "For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding..." And then once again in Colossians 3:9-10 Paul says, "Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him..."
What I see that is consistent here with Paul's remarks is that he keeps mentioning the "knowledge that we have in Christ Jesus" which offers us just one option for the sinner. I learned a long time ago that it is important for us as Christian men and women to "Hate the sin, but love the sinner" so this is the message that Paul tries to convey to Philemon about this new found child of God.
Spending a lot of years in the insurance business in my lifetime, I have always said to people that "An insurance company is only as good as it's claims department" and this philosophy would hold true with the previous thought that it is important that we have the ability to look past the "hated sin" and toward the "sinner with love!"
Consequences are not ours to determine but rather that is the job of our Creator so we simply try to follow Paul's lead in the knowledge of the truth which is in Christ Jesus.
And finally in verse 18 & 19 Paul says, "But if he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account; I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand, I will repay it (lest I should mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well)." Paul's plea here is for one brother to accept another newer brother in Christ back into the fellowship, not as a slave, but rather as a beloved brother. He informs Philemon that Onesimus now has a worthwhile purpose in life and is worthy of being brought back into the fold.
I wish that we, today could find it that easy to forgive and bring "that which was lost and now is found" back into the fold faithfully, and without stipulation. I guess what I am trying to say is that there needs to be an "outpouring" of our love, so much so, that the "disapproval" we once experienced in others is overshadowed by that love. I know this is a hard take, I struggle with the same issue, but here Paul, one who we try to follow as a model of Christ, is reminding us of the "knowledge we have" and requesting that we use it to glorify God.
Perhaps someone has wronged you as a non-believer, gone away and returned to your life as a "fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ"! What do you do with this person? Jesus Christ says from the "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew 5:38 & 39 "You have heard that it was said, AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH. But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also." Now while this verse may not fully convey the incident in Philemon, it brings to mind the love of Christ which we DO INDEED have the knowledge of.
Dave
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