Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 129:514 (Apr 1972)
Article: Paul the Prisoner Part I: An Exposition of Philemon
Author: J. Dwight Pentecost

BSac 129:514 (Apr 72) p. 134

Paul the Prisoner
Part I:
An Exposition of Philemon

J. Dwight Pentecost

[J. Dwight Pentecost, Professor of Bible Exposition, Dallas Theological Seminary.]

In the little Epistle to Philemon, Onesimus, who is a runaway rebel, is restored to his master’s home no longer as a slave but as a beloved brother. The epistle graphically illustrates that which God does in salvation through Jesus Christ. God created man to be in subjection to Himself and through him to subject all creation to the Creator. Early in created history man rebelled against the Creator. The history of the creature—and the history of the world—is the history of rebellion against God. No rebel would voluntarily surrender to the one against whom he is rebelling. And unless a God of mercy and grace subdued the rebel, subjected him to Himself, and brought him to Himself through the salvation that is in Jesus Christ, he would continue as a rebel.

In the doctrine of salvation—revealed in the Word of God—is the plan of God by which He has taken those who were at enmity against Him and brought them to amity. He has caused the warfare to cease. Christ has come and has preached peace. Salvation is the manifestation of the infinite wisdom of God, a manifestation of the infinite love, grace, mercy, justice, holiness, and righteousness of God. And since all that an infinite God is has been brought to bear in bringing the plan of salvation, it is difficult to conceive and to grasp all that God has done in saving a believer. The purpose of this study in the Epistle to Philemon is to understand something, more of the infinite grace of God in providing so great salvation.

The Apostle Paul used a number of different titles for himself as he wrote the New Testament epistles. If one turns for instance to 1 Thessalonians 1:1, he would find that Paul introduces that epistle

BSac 129:514 (Apr 72) p. 135

by saying, “Paul and Sylvanus and Timotheus unto the church of the Thessalonians, which is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” With no title at all, Paul begins to pen this epistle. The absence of any authoritative title indicates that the apostle is dealing with these Thessalonians in a personal and intimate way because his heart was knit to the hearts of these who were his children in the faith. If one were to turn to Galatians 1:1, he would find that Paul writes, “Paul, an apostle, not of men neither by men, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead.” Paul, in this address, is rising above the personal comment in 1 Thessalonians, and is striking an authoritative note. In the Epistle to the Galatia...