Pictured to the left is a copy of a version of the Holy Bible, known as the ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION ( ESV ). Philemon, verses eight through sixteen, read as follows:
"8 Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, 9 yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you-I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus- 10 I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. 11 (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother-especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord."
The phrase "no longer as a slave," in verse sixteen ( above ), has a cross-reference to 1 Corinthians 7:22: verses twenty-two and twenty-three read as follows: "22 For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ. 23 You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men." The phrase "You were bought with a price," in this latter verse in the Holy Bible, is a reference to baptism into Christ. Specifically, in the Old Testament, we see a foreshadowing of this in Leviticus 25:44, 45, which read as follows: "44 As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. 45 You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property."
In the New Testament, Acts 20:28 reads as follows: "28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood." Note that the phrase "which he hath purchased with his own blood" appears in this same passage in the King James Version ( KJV ) of the Holy Bible, for example. One comes in contact with the blood that Christ ( see Matthew 1:16, for example; KJV, for example ) shed on the cross of Calvary when he or she is baptized, by immersion in water, in His name, for the remission of his or her past sins ( see Mark 16:16, Luke 23:26-49 ( especially verse 33, for example; KJV, for example ), Acts 2:38; 8:26-40 ( especially verses 36-39, for example; KJV, for example ), Romans 3:21-26 ( especially verse 25, for example ); 6:1-4 ( especially verses 3 and 4, for example ); 10:1-4 ( especially verse 4, for example ); 15:1-4 ( especially verse 4, for example ), Galatians 3:26, 27, Colossians 1:15-20 ( especially verse 20, for example ), and Revelation 1:1-5 ( especially verse 5, for example ), for example ) and, having been baptized, he or she is added to the church ( see Acts 2:41, 47, for example ).
Jesus, God the Son ( see Romans 1:20, Colossians 2:8, 9, and 1 John 5:7, for example; KJV, for example ), obtained or purchased the New Testament church ( the church of Christ - see Matthew 16:18, Romans 16:16, and Ephesians 1:15-23 ( especially verses 22 and 23, for example ), for example ) and thus, Christians ( see Acts 11:26, for example ), were "bought with a price" ( as we read in the first verse twenty-three, above ). Slaves were bought under the law of Moses, and Christians were bought with the blood of Christ: we are His property, we are His slaves.
The phrase "both in the flesh and in the Lord" ( again, in verse sixteen, above ) has cross-references to Colossians 3:22, 23 and Ephesians 6:5. Colossians 3:22, 23 read as follows: "22 Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men." Additionally, Ephesians 6:5 reads as follows: "5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ." In the context of these two passages from the Holy Bible, the phrase near the beginning of this paragraph must be understood to mean that Onesimus was a slave both in the flesh and in the Lord, for verse sixteen, in Today's English Version ( TEV ) of the Holy Bible; being entitled: GOOD NEWS BIBLE, reads as follows: "16 And now he is not just a slave, but much more than a slave: he is a dear brother in Christ."
Since the work relationship is described in the Holy Bible as one involving masters and slaves ( see Ephesians 6:5-9 and Colossians 3:22-4:1, for example ), slavery to men is still valid today: the heavenly Father ( see Matthew 5:9, 16: 6:9, 14, for example ) has commanded ( see Ecclesiastes 12:13, for example ) us to work ( see 2 Thessalonians 3:10, for example ). The phrase "a slave of Christ," in the first verse twenty-two ( above ), has a cross-reference to chapter nine, verse twenty-one, which reads as follows: "21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law." To be sure, a Christian, or slave of Christ, is under the law of Christ: we are bound by His teachings. When one becomes a Christian, that one is no longer bound by the teachings of men and, hence, it is in this sense that one is not a slave to men.
In conclusion, the phrase "You are not your own," in 1 Corinthians 6:19 ( please read verses eighteen through twenty to get the immediate context ), agrees nicely with the fact that Christians are the property of Jesus. Please study the Holy Bible ( which is God's word - see Psalm 119:65-73, 142, and 151, John 17:1, 3, and 17, and 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16, 17, for example ). If you have any questions about the Holy Bible, you can contact me by e-mail at:
<rewillis1_1@juno.com>
<Russell E. Willis>.
