Philemon: Fixing Fellowship pt 9
The Gospel is about reconciliation. God being reconciled to humanity through the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. But how often do we think about how this ‘Gospel reconciliation’ impacts our relationships with each other? The apostle Paul challenged his dear friend Philemon to be reconciled to his former slave, Onesimus, who ran away from him. In Paul’s encouragement to Philemon to forgive his former slave, we see an amazing picture of how the Gospel transforms our relationships — especially with those who have wronged us.
15 Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever— 16 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.
Reflection: When you are wronged by someone, how do you respond? How we want to respond, and how the gospel calls us to respond are often very different. It can be easy to hold onto the hurt caused by someone. But the gospel is about reconciliation. About the restoration of our relationship with God, through Jesus and his death on a cross in our place. This fundamental truth means that we are able to forgive others and seek reconciliation with those around us. This is exactly what Paul is urging Philemon to do — to be reconciled with Onesimus. He has been transformed by Jesus. Paul urges Philemon to let their restoration to one another be a lived example for the church of the power of the gospel.
Question: How can the restorative power of the gospel be lived out in your life today?
Prayer: Father, thank you for saving me by your grace. I pray that as I live in this grace and look to the cross, may I seek to be reconciled to those around me as I have been reconciled to you.
Angus is one of the pastors at Orange Presbyterian Church. He and Steph have three children, a puppy and a veggie garden.
This devotion first appeared in the Bible Society’s Daily Bible Devotions, February 2023
More Reflections.
Often, we build something up so much in our minds, that the experience we want becomes almost unattainable. We romanticise what we think it will be like and we think “If I can just do this one thing or tick this one experience off my bucket list, then I will be able to feel a sense of fulfilment that I wouldn’t necessarily have had otherwise”.