Why was Onesimus useful to Paul?

In the book of Philemon, we read about a slave named Onesimus that Paul said was useless to his master before but now has become useful to both Paul and Philemon. What has changed? While most people have read the book of Philemon, they never stop to ask the question about Onesimus or even think of his importance.

What we do know is Paul is in prison in Rome waiting to die around 60 A.D. He is bringing his ministry to a close and somehow, this Onesimus builds a relationship with him. Was he in jail with Paul and later released? That part is unsure. Could he have been a discipline before Paul was addressed? Again, we are unsure. Oddly, Luke records nothing in the Book of Acts about Philemon or his servant!

We do know he would come to meet the Apostle in prison and helped him with some basic things. However, that doesn’t seem to be the useful thing that Paul is talking about. We know that he also had women come and help him in prison from time to time. In first century Jewish culture, having a male servant of another’s man would not have that useful and could have created some problems for the Apostle.

What about the letters?

Paul wrote two letters from that jail cell. One of them was to Philemon about Onesimus. However, I believe it is the other letter that he left that jail with that was of importance. It is believed that what we know as the book of Colossians was on the person of Onesimus that day. Paul’s usefulness to delivered his words to the believers in Colossae.

Therefore, the important message that had to get to the people there was more important to Paul and Philemon than whatever offense he had committed in the past. Walking in the light, Paul wanted some healing between them while getting the more important message to the people in the city.

What is interesting is that in the city, one of the elders of the church movement was actually Philemon himself. He is believed to be a bishop of a group of house churches in Colossae. Today’s church that are in Honaz, Turkey (modern name of the area) have some type of roots to the work of Philemon. In other words, because of the usefulness of Onesimus there is churches of Jesus in the same city 2,000 years later.

There is a possibility according to Ignatius of Antioch that Onesimus became a bishop later in Ephesus but that is not something that can be confirmed by history. However, it is because after returning to the area with the letters, he did become part of the house churches and served the Lord faithfully for the remainder of his days.

No matter how you look at it, he had a fundamental role in the completion of the New Testament. It was more what we carried than who he was. Should be he a “saint” in the Eastern Orthodox Church? Probably not but important, nevertheless.

Why was Colossians so important?

Many theologians regard this book as the revelation of Christ to the Church. No matter how you look at it, it is heavy with theological truth for being a short book. Is it short because Paul was trying to hurry or was his health failing? What is known he is getting down to basics very quickly.

In Colossae, there were the forerunners to the second-century heresies that messed up many churches. One of them was Gnosticism. Paul was setting things straight to stop the spread of it in Asia Minor.  People were starting to excuse sin, deny the divinity of Jesus, support asceticism, and return to ritualism. The basis of the message from Paul was dealing with this before it became full-blown. (As it did decades later)

It was clear that men like Philemon loved the Lord and loved the move of the Spirit but did not put emphasis on theological education (sound doctrine) and discerning the presence of the Lord. As a result, a free-for-all happened of some type that left many people confused of what was acceptable and not as believers.

We know this is true because Paul goes into great detail about the worship of angels. Over 7% of all the overall books are connected to this subject and the wider issues that are related make up around 33% of the total book. Dealing with the issues of the deity of Jesus and the extreme prophetic ideals is the main point of the letter.

Does it really matter?

The wider issue about Onesimus is more important. Biblical literacy is a major concern in the American Church. A basic understanding of New Testament survey is something valuable. Does it change your faith to know that the Book of Philemon and Colossians are written together and would delivered at the same time? It doesn’t. However, does it enrich what you understand when you consider the historical facts of them? Yes. It also brings some sense to why Onesimus became useful to Paul!

In the current culture, knowing the scriptures is more critical than ever. This means more than just knowing the books of the Bible and how to quote a few verses. Knowing who wrote what, when it was written, who it was written to, and what was influencing the letters will become more valuable than it ever has been. The reason is people will call the authenticity of scripture into question. This moves beyond “wokism” in the American Church.