That is encouraging to hear. We have no plans to stop and are constantly working on our next books. We just released Romans and have already been hard at work on Hebrews. Stay tuned!
Wonderful, Brian! I just learned more about Philemon than I have ever thought of. Thank you so much for pursuing this avenue of teaching to multiple cultures and languages.
Awesome videos Brian! We use SBS style training at Bethany Global University, and these videos will be extremely helpful as we equip our students with knowledge of God's Word.
Thank you for this video! I’m part of a Bible study and we went through Philemon one week. I couldn’t understand why Paul had the authority to send Onesimus back to Philemon while he was in prison. Thank you for explaining that he was under house arrest, so he had a little more freedom than if he was in prison.
That is great to hear! Philemon is a short but powerful book, and it's great to hear that your Bible study spent a week on it. We're glad that this video could be helpful. We have many more videos for books of the New Testament, and we have plans for every book of the Bible. Blessings Elisabeth!
I have always loved verse 6 That by the sharing of our faith may become effectual by the acknowledging every good that is in you that is in Christ Jesus.
Hi Asom. That is great to hear that you are translating this video. We'd love to hear more about it. Please email us directly and we can continue to chat. You can find our email in the 'About' section on our channel. Blessings!
Hi - great overview, thanks... question... As Paul had probably never been to Colossae, there is one character that seems to be important in enabling Paul to get involved with the Onesimus/Philemon relationship and, indeed, Paul's writing of Colossians. The very limited, but almost gushing, mentions of Epaphras, who seems to have been the church planter/evangelist in the Lycus valley and is imprisoned with Paul in Rome - what was his role? Messenger? Co-apostle? Observer? Intercessor?
Great question! You are correct in that Paul has likely never been to Colossae, and that Epaphras was the founder of the Colossian church, as we see in Col 1:7. Here in the book of Philemon, we also see that Epaphras is with Paul in prison (23) as you also mentioned. It seems that there was already a familiarity between Paul and Epaphras, which may have been one of the elements that drew Paul and Onesimus together. As far as how much of a role Epaphras played between Paul and Onesimus is somewhat speculative, as we only have this verse in Philemon, plus a few in Colossians to go on. This part of the story will be incorporated in our Colossians video, which will be released after our Philippians video. Thanks for commenting, and stay tuned!
Based on Ephesians 6:5-9 it doesn't seem like Paul is against slavery but more concerned with how slaves and their masters work and treat each other before God. Do you think in when Paul says "no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother" he is asking Philemon to free Onesimus? What do you think Paul meant by "to say nothing of you owing me even your own self"? Based on other comments on this video it sounds like Paul and Philemon may never have met but only knew each other through Epaphras. Was Paul trying to publicly guilt Philemon before the church since the letter was addressed to "the church in your house"? And was Paul asking for Onesimus to be sent back to Paul to join him in his work in Roman?
You raise some great points and questions, and clearly this is something that you have been giving some good thought to. While Paul doesn't seem to go around promoting the abolition of slavery (Roman slavery had many differences to something like past American slavery), he does advocate for justice in how a slave owner is to treat his/her slave. He never advocates for slaves to revolt, but to always be obedient to their slave owners. A likely reason for this is Paul's concern for the witness of Christ within the Roman society, especially in light of the past Servile Wars in the Empire, where slaves rebelled. As for Philemon, many scholars do believe that Paul is advocating for the release of Onesimus, and the verse that you quote is one big reason why. Another piece of evidence for this is the writing of Ignatius about 50 years later mentions Onesimus as the bishop of Ephesus, which seems to suggest that he was released at some point. Regarding what Paul says in verse 19, "I say nothing about your owing me even your own self", it does seem that Philemon had become a Christian through the ministry of Paul in some form. Because of Colossians 1:7 and 2:1, it sounds like Paul has not been to the city of Colossae, and was not the founder of that church, but rather it was Epaphras, like you mentioned. It is possible that Epaphras was the fruit of Paul's ministry, and was sent to Colossae by Paul, or it is also possible that Paul did have contact with certain people from Colossae through some other possible avenues. The statement itself seems to be a rhetorical method that Paul uses. It is a way to actually remind the person of this point, with emphasis. He does something similar in 2 Corinthians 9:4. In saying this, Paul is not trying to hide the fact that Philemon owes Paul his own self, but actually remind him. Regarding the question of whether Paul was possibly trying to publicly guilt or pressure Philemon, that is one that people are divided on. As Paul says in verse 8, he could command Philemon to do this in Christ, but that is not the method he wishes to employ here. While he is very direct in his request, we can see in his other letters that for Paul this is refraining from using his authority here, like he does in 1 Corinthians 5:1-8. Rather he makes a strong request in the same way that he does for the collection for Jerusalem in 2 Corinthians 8. As for whether Paul wanted Onesimus to be returned to Rome, it seems that with Paul's expectation of his own release (22), he would rather come personally to Philemon, where it could be determined how Onesimus would best serve the ministry. Thank you for your excellent questions!
You can set an example of how you can live a moral and valuable life but you can’t force anybody to change. Change happens when one takes responsibility that if they change then they will be held accountable to different standards. And that’s where the challenges is.
I don’t think we can assume that Onesimus ran away. A slave is not a fugutive "who, having in mind that his master wished physically to chastise him, left to seek a friend whom he persuaded to plead on his behalf. " --Proculus, a prominent Roman jurist of the early first century A.D.
It is true that the book does not specifically say that Onesimus ran away. What we do know however is that Onesimus was Philemon's slave (16), and had done sort of wrong to Philemon that was deserving of punishment (18). At the time of writing, Onesimus was not with Philemon, but instead was with Paul during his imprisonment (10). During this time he had become a changed person (11), and with that Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon with a request that he be taken back, only this time as a brother instead of a slave (16-17). There are other possibilities of the situation between Onesimus and Philemon, however being a runaway slave fits the evidence we have on all accounts. This is also the most widely accepted interpretation of the evidence that we have. In any case, even if the wrong that Onesimus committed differed from this, the message of the power of discipleship, forgiveness and acceptance that we find in the book does not change. Thank you for your comment, and blessings!
Good question. It seems that in Onesimus may have become a follower of Jesus while with Paul, or may have become a more dedicated follower. Paul sees the value of what Onesimus brings in ministry, which is greater than the value he can bring as a slave. For that reason, he is requesting that Philemon have him back, both in a literal physical sense (the flesh), and in the Lord (as a brother in Christ). I hope that helps. Blessings!
Yes that is true that sometimes in desperate situations people would sell themselves into slavery. We don't know how Onesimus ended up as a slave, but in this book we get to see the power of forgiveness for those who have wronged us. Blessings!
Great videos in general. However this line seems a little out of step: "Remember, Paul is trying to make the case that both he and the message of Christianity are not a threat to the peace of Rome." Then, a few minutes later it says Paul is challenging the social norms. That's the bigger point - Paul is there in Rome challenging everything that Rome stood for - power, prestige, wealth, war, and all the social norms. Caesar was believed to be a god, along with all the other gods in the Roman pantheon! There was no way Paul was going into that meeting thinking "hey, Jesus is not a threat to your entire way of life. I just want to keep the peace here." Today, there are scholars who think that the Book of Acts was actually more of legal brief that would be presented before Paul's trial. As the video shows, and as we can tell in the letter to Philemon, Paul knows that what he is doing is counter cultural and what kind of trouble he could get into. He knew that just like he knew that he would have been free, had he not appealed to Caesar (Acts 26:32). He was using these opportunities to present the gospel of Jesus to the Roman world.
Thank you for your very thoughtful comment. We really appreciate you taking the time and energy to provide your feedback on the video. Let me try to clarify the meaning behind the line, “…both he and Christianity are not a threat to the peace of Rome.” The reference to the ‘Peace of Rome’ is specifically referring to what is commonly called the Pax Romana (Latin for ‘Peace of Rome’). After years of unrest and civil war, Caesar Augustus instituted an era of internal peace in the empire that lasted for about 200 years (more or less). During this time, the empire experienced freedom from the insurrection and civil wars that marked previous times. The line mentioned is referring specifically to this Pax Romana. Paul (nor any Christian at the time) was not advocating for violence or civil unrest to overthrow the emperor or the Roman Empire as a whole. In fact, Paul advocated for the Roman Church to be subject to the governing authorities (Rom 13:1-7). As you mentioned, it seems that in Acts, Luke is also making a case that Christianity is not a movement that is of any threat to the Pax Romana. However, also like you said, Christianity would bring a huge upheaval to how society functions, especially the value systems and culture. For instance, in the small letter to Philemon, Paul wisely refrains from openly protesting the system of Roman slavery, as that was a very sensitive topic in Rome (i.e. the Servile Wars). However, in this letter, Paul challenges the social norms of what Christian brotherhood and equality in Christ looks like. In Christ, both individual and societal transformation happens through His Spirit, not through violence. I hope that helps to clarify that line for you. Thank you for your comment!
Well the good news is that we change up our visuals and style in almost every video. So perhaps you'll like the style of some of our other videos better. Glad you liked the content though. Blessings Gabrielle!
He also had white hair, eyes like a flame of fire, voice like a rushing water, 7 stars in his right hand, a double edged sword coming from his mouth and face like the sun shining in its full strength …in the same passage… should all of that also be incorporated? Asking for a friend…
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Please don't stop making these!!! It's helping me so much
That is encouraging to hear. We have no plans to stop and are constantly working on our next books. We just released Romans and have already been hard at work on Hebrews. Stay tuned!
Wonderful, Brian! I just learned more about Philemon than I have ever thought of. Thank you so much for pursuing this avenue of teaching to multiple cultures and languages.
Well done! One of my favorite demonstrations of Christs call to all who follow him.
Thank you Seth. Yeah this is such a small, yet powerful book. Blessings!
New food for thought. Thank y’all for your work
What a blessing these videos are, they give so much wisdom. God bless you for helping and being a servant to his people in such a way
Thank you for the encouragement! Blessings to you too!
Thank you..this is going to be our Bible study tonight..powerful message
This channel is such an awesome blessing.. thank you and God bless
Thank you, Rose! It's encouraging to hear that our videos are helpful!
Thanks a lot, I came here after reading the book and thanks for making us understand the circumstances, I realized how meaningful this is!
So glad that this could help. Blessings Skariya!
@@TheBibleEffect it's sad that viewers are so less, I feel like more people should reach out to your service, God bless you 💙
@@skariyaleodeep5416 That's very kind of you to say! Please feel free to share our videos with your friends!
Thank you, GOD BLESS
Our pleasure. God bless you too!
Awesome videos Brian! We use SBS style training at Bethany Global University, and these videos will be extremely helpful as we equip our students with knowledge of God's Word.
Thanks! 🙏🏻
Our pleasure. Blessings!
Thank you for this video! I’m part of a Bible study and we went through Philemon one week. I couldn’t understand why Paul had the authority to send Onesimus back to Philemon while he was in prison. Thank you for explaining that he was under house arrest, so he had a little more freedom than if he was in prison.
That is great to hear! Philemon is a short but powerful book, and it's great to hear that your Bible study spent a week on it. We're glad that this video could be helpful. We have many more videos for books of the New Testament, and we have plans for every book of the Bible. Blessings Elisabeth!
I have always loved verse 6 That by the sharing of our faith may become effectual by the acknowledging every good that is in you that is in Christ Jesus.
This is awesome work
Thank you Dorcas!
Lovely thanks guys!
Hey Brain this is asom
I am translating this language in my mother tongue to teach the Bible study in my place
Hi Asom. That is great to hear that you are translating this video. We'd love to hear more about it. Please email us directly and we can continue to chat. You can find our email in the 'About' section on our channel. Blessings!
Thanks so much!!!
Our pleasure!
Awesome video! Blessings🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Thank you!! Blessings to you as well!
Thanks brother
May God bless you abundantly
Thank you for watching!
Thank you. It helps me alot.
Thank you so much
Very interested
Blessings Peyton!
Hi - great overview, thanks... question... As Paul had probably never been to Colossae, there is one character that seems to be important in enabling Paul to get involved with the Onesimus/Philemon relationship and, indeed, Paul's writing of Colossians. The very limited, but almost gushing, mentions of Epaphras, who seems to have been the church planter/evangelist in the Lycus valley and is imprisoned with Paul in Rome - what was his role? Messenger? Co-apostle? Observer? Intercessor?
Great question! You are correct in that Paul has likely never been to Colossae, and that Epaphras was the founder of the Colossian church, as we see in Col 1:7. Here in the book of Philemon, we also see that Epaphras is with Paul in prison (23) as you also mentioned. It seems that there was already a familiarity between Paul and Epaphras, which may have been one of the elements that drew Paul and Onesimus together. As far as how much of a role Epaphras played between Paul and Onesimus is somewhat speculative, as we only have this verse in Philemon, plus a few in Colossians to go on. This part of the story will be incorporated in our Colossians video, which will be released after our Philippians video. Thanks for commenting, and stay tuned!
Based on Ephesians 6:5-9 it doesn't seem like Paul is against slavery but more concerned with how slaves and their masters work and treat each other before God. Do you think in when Paul says "no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother" he is asking Philemon to free Onesimus?
What do you think Paul meant by "to say nothing of you owing me even your own self"? Based on other comments on this video it sounds like Paul and Philemon may never have met but only knew each other through Epaphras. Was Paul trying to publicly guilt Philemon before the church since the letter was addressed to "the church in your house"?
And was Paul asking for Onesimus to be sent back to Paul to join him in his work in Roman?
You raise some great points and questions, and clearly this is something that you have been giving some good thought to. While Paul doesn't seem to go around promoting the abolition of slavery (Roman slavery had many differences to something like past American slavery), he does advocate for justice in how a slave owner is to treat his/her slave. He never advocates for slaves to revolt, but to always be obedient to their slave owners. A likely reason for this is Paul's concern for the witness of Christ within the Roman society, especially in light of the past Servile Wars in the Empire, where slaves rebelled.
As for Philemon, many scholars do believe that Paul is advocating for the release of Onesimus, and the verse that you quote is one big reason why. Another piece of evidence for this is the writing of Ignatius about 50 years later mentions Onesimus as the bishop of Ephesus, which seems to suggest that he was released at some point.
Regarding what Paul says in verse 19, "I say nothing about your owing me even your own self", it does seem that Philemon had become a Christian through the ministry of Paul in some form. Because of Colossians 1:7 and 2:1, it sounds like Paul has not been to the city of Colossae, and was not the founder of that church, but rather it was Epaphras, like you mentioned. It is possible that Epaphras was the fruit of Paul's ministry, and was sent to Colossae by Paul, or it is also possible that Paul did have contact with certain people from Colossae through some other possible avenues. The statement itself seems to be a rhetorical method that Paul uses. It is a way to actually remind the person of this point, with emphasis. He does something similar in 2 Corinthians 9:4. In saying this, Paul is not trying to hide the fact that Philemon owes Paul his own self, but actually remind him.
Regarding the question of whether Paul was possibly trying to publicly guilt or pressure Philemon, that is one that people are divided on. As Paul says in verse 8, he could command Philemon to do this in Christ, but that is not the method he wishes to employ here. While he is very direct in his request, we can see in his other letters that for Paul this is refraining from using his authority here, like he does in 1 Corinthians 5:1-8. Rather he makes a strong request in the same way that he does for the collection for Jerusalem in 2 Corinthians 8.
As for whether Paul wanted Onesimus to be returned to Rome, it seems that with Paul's expectation of his own release (22), he would rather come personally to Philemon, where it could be determined how Onesimus would best serve the ministry. Thank you for your excellent questions!
Thank you for your well researched reply.
Amen!
great helpful teaching for the Christian life
For such a tiny book, Philemon is incredibly packed. Thank you, Carolyn! Blessings!
You can set an example of how you can live a moral and valuable life but you can’t force anybody to change. Change happens when one takes responsibility that if they change then they will be held accountable to different standards. And that’s where the challenges is.
Discipleship is definitely something that can have its challenges, and requires patience and grace. Thanks for your comment Aura!
God bless you
Thank you. God bless you too Dana!
❤
I don’t think we can assume that Onesimus ran away. A slave is not a fugutive "who, having in mind that his master wished physically to chastise him, left to seek a friend whom he persuaded to plead on his behalf. " --Proculus, a prominent Roman jurist of the early first century A.D.
It is true that the book does not specifically say that Onesimus ran away. What we do know however is that Onesimus was Philemon's slave (16), and had done sort of wrong to Philemon that was deserving of punishment (18). At the time of writing, Onesimus was not with Philemon, but instead was with Paul during his imprisonment (10). During this time he had become a changed person (11), and with that Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon with a request that he be taken back, only this time as a brother instead of a slave (16-17). There are other possibilities of the situation between Onesimus and Philemon, however being a runaway slave fits the evidence we have on all accounts. This is also the most widely accepted interpretation of the evidence that we have. In any case, even if the wrong that Onesimus committed differed from this, the message of the power of discipleship, forgiveness and acceptance that we find in the book does not change. Thank you for your comment, and blessings!
Ww❤ its really good for me
That is great to hear. Blessings!
What does verse 16 mean? Both in the flesh and in the Lord Jesus? Thanks
Good question. It seems that in Onesimus may have become a follower of Jesus while with Paul, or may have become a more dedicated follower. Paul sees the value of what Onesimus brings in ministry, which is greater than the value he can bring as a slave. For that reason, he is requesting that Philemon have him back, both in a literal physical sense (the flesh), and in the Lord (as a brother in Christ). I hope that helps. Blessings!
@@TheBibleEffect Thanks, I believe your interpretation is biblically correct.
I want learn in urdu language also same this that i can share with my friends
We would love to have all of our videos available in Urdu. We hope and pray that one day we can make this into a reality.
Slaves were often servants by choice. They made a deal to work
Yes that is true that sometimes in desperate situations people would sell themselves into slavery. We don't know how Onesimus ended up as a slave, but in this book we get to see the power of forgiveness for those who have wronged us. Blessings!
Great videos in general. However this line seems a little out of step: "Remember, Paul is trying to make the case that both he and the message of Christianity are not a threat to the peace of Rome." Then, a few minutes later it says Paul is challenging the social norms. That's the bigger point - Paul is there in Rome challenging everything that Rome stood for - power, prestige, wealth, war, and all the social norms. Caesar was believed to be a god, along with all the other gods in the Roman pantheon! There was no way Paul was going into that meeting thinking "hey, Jesus is not a threat to your entire way of life. I just want to keep the peace here." Today, there are scholars who think that the Book of Acts was actually more of legal brief that would be presented before Paul's trial. As the video shows, and as we can tell in the letter to Philemon, Paul knows that what he is doing is counter cultural and what kind of trouble he could get into. He knew that just like he knew that he would have been free, had he not appealed to Caesar (Acts 26:32). He was using these opportunities to present the gospel of Jesus to the Roman world.
Thank you for your very thoughtful comment. We really appreciate you taking the time and energy to provide your feedback on the video.
Let me try to clarify the meaning behind the line, “…both he and Christianity are not a threat to the peace of Rome.” The reference to the ‘Peace of Rome’ is specifically referring to what is commonly called the Pax Romana (Latin for ‘Peace of Rome’). After years of unrest and civil war, Caesar Augustus instituted an era of internal peace in the empire that lasted for about 200 years (more or less). During this time, the empire experienced freedom from the insurrection and civil wars that marked previous times.
The line mentioned is referring specifically to this Pax Romana. Paul (nor any Christian at the time) was not advocating for violence or civil unrest to overthrow the emperor or the Roman Empire as a whole. In fact, Paul advocated for the Roman Church to be subject to the governing authorities (Rom 13:1-7). As you mentioned, it seems that in Acts, Luke is also making a case that Christianity is not a movement that is of any threat to the Pax Romana. However, also like you said, Christianity would bring a huge upheaval to how society functions, especially the value systems and culture. For instance, in the small letter to Philemon, Paul wisely refrains from openly protesting the system of Roman slavery, as that was a very sensitive topic in Rome (i.e. the Servile Wars). However, in this letter, Paul challenges the social norms of what Christian brotherhood and equality in Christ looks like. In Christ, both individual and societal transformation happens through His Spirit, not through violence.
I hope that helps to clarify that line for you. Thank you for your comment!
I hate the drawing style but everything else is good
Well the good news is that we change up our visuals and style in almost every video. So perhaps you'll like the style of some of our other videos better. Glad you liked the content though. Blessings Gabrielle!
noice
How do we know they looked like that? Jesus had hair like wool and skin a burnished copper as in Revelation - so these illustrations are incorrect.
@@UrsahSolar a word!!!
He also had white hair, eyes like a flame of fire, voice like a rushing water, 7 stars in his right hand, a double edged sword coming from his mouth and face like the sun shining in its full strength …in the same passage…
should all of that also be incorporated? Asking for a friend…
LOL!