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Philemon 1:14
14 But [de] without [choris] thy [sos] mind [gnome] would [thelo] I do [poieo] nothing [oudeis]; that [hina
me] thy [sou] benefit [agathos] should [o] not [hina
me] be [o] as [hos] it were of [kata] necessity
[anagke], but [alla] willingly [hekousion][kata]. KJV-Interlinear
14 but without your consent I did
not want to do anything, that your goodness should not be as it were by
compulsion, but of your own free will.NASB
Paul does not wish to
coerce Philemon nor extort Onesimus away from Philemon under false pretenses.
Back in those days,
there were laws concerning slavery and runaway slaves.Philemon had invested time, money, and
resources in Onesimus, so Onesimus owed a debt of sorts to Philemon.
In similar fashion,
Christ went to the Cross and paid our debts, and as such we owe Him for his
work in our behalf.God gives us our
freedom, for only the payment of believing in Him.That is a pretty easy way out of an eternal
obligation.
But if we run away from
God, as Onesimus ran away from Philemon, then we would be constantly on the
run, forever, and freedom would never be ours to possess.
So, certainly after
considerable discussion, and we presume that Onesimus probably came up with
this proposal himself, otherwise how would Paul have learned about Onesimus
past, then Paul composed this letter and proposal to Philemon.
Philemon is the master
and it is his right to decide the fate of Onesimus.
As a runaway, Onesimus
was no good to anyone. He was worthless.Even in his former state of service to Philemon, he was a worthless
slave.But now everyone wins.
Onesimus has believed
in Christ and has apparently accepted greater responsibility for his own
actions.Why else would he agree to
return to his master, and to perhaps certain conviction and a death sentence
for running away?
Paul does not wish to
deprive Philemon the right to make up his own mind, and so Paul defers to
Philemons decision, whatever that decision might be.Likewise, Onesimus defers to Philemons
decision.
Onesimus places his
life, quite literally, and his freedom, in his masters hands.
Normally a person would
not do this unless they had a certain level of trust in their master, and that
is exactly what we face day in and day out with our life.
Far too many people
will give lip service to Christianity, but deep down they do not trust in
God.Generally it takes a period of hardship
before people will really learn to trust in God.
Perhaps that is what is
facing many of us in this world today.There are always hardships in life, but sometimes when the world goes so
negative toward God, those hardships explode, enough to really send us into a
terror tailspin.Life does not have to
be that way, unless you yourself make it that way by not obeying Gods mandates.
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End Of Lesson
Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.
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