Philemon
Philemon as a Case Study of Romans 12:1-2
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, January 8.
Change is hard, but the whole Christian life is about change—we are to be transformed through the renewal of our minds. This is demonstrated radically in the one chapter book called Philemon. The purpose of Philemon is the redemption of a person’s life and the transformation of their story.
When we are saved, everything begins to change—how we view the world and relate to ourselves and other people. In this letter, Paul had to use his friendship and apostolic authority to get Philemon to stop thinking and behaving according to the political and economic patterns of this world and be transformed by the renewal of his mind.
In many ways, Philemon is a case study of Romans 12:1-2.
Listen to Paul write to Philemon about Onesimus in verses 10-12, 15-16, “I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart . . . For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.”
For you to truly live up to the radical call of Paul’s letter to Philemon, regardless of whether you are young or old in the faith, you must invite the Holy Spirit to challenge you in what areas of modern life and thinking you need to be transformed by the renewing of the mind and start relating to people and the world around you like a child of God.
Seize the moment and remember who you are in Jesus: you are no longer a slave to fear, you are a child of God.
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