Hi Lynn, I'm glad that you affirm to the existence of God Almighty; so many don't & wonder why so many distresses come upon them. I don't know your concerns or your spiritual state (when I say that, I mean whether you have repented of sins, turned to God's Son who gave His Life for you & me to bring us salvation, & received His Spirit in what the Bible calls, Re-birth (Read the Gospel of John chapter 3). God does care for each of us intimately but as is often the case, we want to receive good things from Him & not respond to Him as He wants us to (in other words, most people expect God to be like a Santa Claus, a benevolent person: cheerful & giving out gifts). Your 'feelings' could include so many things; but if I could share a thought: if one really desired someone or something or may be carrying emotional pain, to Christians we firstly ask, "what is God telling me in this? To trust Him, to wait, to take the first step, to forgive or reconcile & so on? He does care for you Lynn.
The prince of darkness,he is called. John through the revelation of the holy spirit shows us the war happening in heaven, even while we are in the world,we wrestle against this same darkness. Faith that grows in Christ will do his will. We should not let what others do unto us even imagined, prevent us from worshiping the name of Christ! In this we see the Grace and effectual work of God the Father. Like the apostle John, Paul reveals heavenly and worldly knowledge. The "revelation of Jesus Christ". We are sinners, and must be prepared to forgive one another. No one is above another, that we are all servants of his creation and thrive because it is his will. Thanks be to God
the comments on this book are really humorous! i love this book, and it gives me insight on how to admonish someone to do the right thing in the Lord, not always received by christians. It shows the maturity of Paul and how we should try to encourage one another.
all of you do realize that none of the Historical things really have any value to us, accept to substantiate the facts that what did occur actually occurred... Other than that GOD is using HIS Son Jesus (NOT in man form) to salvage and save many humans from this terrible place called Earth...Violence runs rampant throughout many of the third world countries, and the U.S is becoming Godless...
There is no clear proof that Onesimus was a slave. Paul paid a debt on his behalf but that is not evidence that he indeed was a slave and was redeemed by Paul thru this payoff of a debt. The phrase "mine own bowels" could mean that Paul had an offspring.
Phyllis Engebretson, The claim that Philemon, his wife, son and Onesiums were martyred is an unsubstantiated story, or "tradition," that Christian historians have disregarded because there is no evidence for it. I hope this answers your question. Blessings!
Phyllis; The Father knows every name of every single one of His children whose souls are under the Golden Altar before His Throne. "Why we are afraid." It is an important part of Church History that we should really know, and describes a fulfillment of the Prophecy John wrote to us; and is one of the seven heads of the dragon.
Songs have been written, and sermons preached on, "The life you live, is your testimony to the world." And that sentiment is expressed perfectly in verse 6, "That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus." When the world around us, speaks of our holiness, Jesus, faith, grace and love are being communicated.
I think it is interesting the boldness of Paul. vs 19: "I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it: albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides." On one hand he is saying he will repay Onesimus debt, yet he reminds Philemon, you owe me.
Genesis 6 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. . Gal 5:17
Hi Denise; the words Paul uses are spiritual; like when he told the Corinthians, "I have begotten you..." He was NOT speaking carnally, but spiritually; just as the Apostles and Saints from earlier times are called The Church Fathers. The human is but the vessel through which the Spirit does the thing in spirit. Look at 1 Peter 1:3. The term "Born Again" is more accurately - "Born From Above."
123, Philemon was the saved master of Onesimus. When Apostle Paul was in prison, he met Onesimus the slave. Onesimus got right with God and became friends in the Lord with Paul. Paul told Philemon that Onesimus is one of us and that Paul will pay his bill. How beautiful is this story. Slaves and Masters were a common thing in the Bible. Praise God for freedom from satan. God bless you ........
Onesimus was Philemon's slave who had run away. Philemon 1:10-14. If you're not sure of the meaning ask GOD to give you wisdom knowledge and understanding of His word! He will. We receive not because we ask not! Have a blessed day! GODS CHILD.
I think shows a great lesson. From how I read the chapter, I think Philemon had no problem receiving his servant back. It makes me wonder if he had been praying for Onesimus to meet someone to lead him to the Lord. How wonderful that the Lord reconnected them through a mutual friend. I hope to have my own Onesimus testimony one day with a long-lost friend.
Anne - What I understand is that Onesimus was a slave who belonged to Philemon and that Philemon was a believer who loved both God and the saints. At some point Onesimus ran away to Rome, heard the word of God, and became a believer. Paul calls Onesimus his son because of their common bond, Jesus Christ.
You all have confused me in interpreting words that Paul did not say. Paul refers to Onesimus as his son. There is no mistaking this: 10 "I beseech thee for my son Onesimus whom I have begotten in my bonds." 12 "....that is, mine own bowels." Nowhere am I reading in this chapter that Onesimus was Paul's slave, but was his SON. Acting as ones servant is entirely different. It sounds to me as if Paul begot a son while he was in bondage, this son at some point ran away, or left the fold so to speak, now he has returned a changed person and Paul is asking now that he is aged, elderly , that Onesimus be received as if he were Paul himself. How are you all interpreting the situation to be different other than what Paul said? Explain?
i think this also imply to the church of today.we need to accomodate the whole communite despite their weakness.and be patiant give them time to reform other than descrimnating