Faith in Conflict: Philemon 10-16

Without reiterating everything we mentioned last week, I want to remind you that this is a personal letter Paul is writing to Philemon. Philemon, a well-to-do man who loved the LORD, had a slave (Onesimus) run away. During his time away from Philemon, Onesimus was saved under the ministry of Paul.

Paul is writing this letter to encourage Philemon to accept the return of Onesimus, to forgive his sin (apparently he stole some thing or things), and accept him not as a slave but as a brother.

While those are the details, the big picture is that the Christian faith completely changes us, or, it should. In other words, our lives look different as we are growing in our Christlikeness. Paul describes this big theme in a specific context. While this also helps us learn how to handle ourselves in a circumstance such as this, it also provides principles by which we can live more like His Son.