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Master and Servant, December 10
Philemon
Not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially to
me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh, and in the Lord?
Philemon 16
.
Among those who gave their hearts to God through the labors of Paul in
Rome was Onesimus, a pagan slave who had wronged his master, Philemon, a
Christian believer in Colosse, and had escaped to Rome. In the kindness of his
heart, Paul sought to relieve the poverty and distress of the wretched fugitive
and then endeavored to shed the light of truth into his darkened mind. Onesimus
listened to the words of life, confessed his sins, and was converted to the faith
of Christ.... Paul ... counseled him to return without delay to Philemon, beg
his forgiveness, and plan for the future. The apostle promised to hold himself
responsible for the sum of which Philemon had been robbed.... It was a severe
test for this servant thus to deliver himself up to the master he had wronged; but
he had been truly converted, and he did not turn aside from this duty....
Paul’s letter to Philemon shows the influence of the gospel upon the rela-
tion between master and servant. Slaveholding was an established institution
throughout the Roman Empire, and both masters and slaves were found in most
of the churches for which Paul labored....
It was not the apostle’s work to overturn arbitrarily or suddenly the estab-
lished order of society. To attempt this would be to prevent the success of the
gospel. But he taught principles which struck at the very foundation of slavery
and which, if carried into effect, would surely undermine the whole system....
When converted, the slave became a member of the body of Christ, and as such
was to be loved and treated as a brother, a fellow heir with his master to the
blessings of God and the privileges of the gospel. On the other hand, servants
were to perform their duties, “not with eyeservice, as men pleasers; but as the
servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart” (
Ephesians 6:6
).
Christianity makes a strong bond of union between master and slave, king
and subject.... They have been washed in the same blood, quickened by the same
Spirit; and they are made one in Christ Jesus
[351]
20
The Acts of the Apostles, 456-460
.
365