Colossians 3:12–13; Philemon 8–22

Bible Studies for Life
Assistant Professor of Religion, Department of Religion, Samford University

Forgive One Another
Colossians 3:12–13; Philemon 8–22
This week, we’ll look at passages in two New Testament letters: Colossians and Philemon. Colossians is a letter from Paul and Timothy to the Christian congregations in Colossae, an important city in Phrygia, which was a region in western Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). Philemon is an epistle that Paul wrote to a single individual. These two very different books have much to say about what Christian congregations have to do in order to get along. No matter how much some present-day congregations might feel threatened by the world, these books remind us that often the greatest threats to community cohesion — and therefore to community survival — come from within. After all, ancient Christians wouldn’t have to be told to forgive one another in so many New Testament books if there wasn’t a constant need for them to do just that.

Christ Is the Example (Col. 3:12–13)
Why did Paul and Timothy feel that they had to provide the Colossians with an example of how to forgive? It must be because forgiveness comes so unnaturally to many. When someone wrongs another, often the first impulse is to seek retribution or cut off contact. It seems that even Christians rarely seek forgiveness and that people seldom actually forgive. And what is the result? Does revenge ever really settle the score, or does it become self-perpetuating, leading to more of the same? Does keeping resentment bottled up truly result in Christian unity, or isn’t it really the case that pent-up anger festers?

Paul and Timothy used the quintessential Christian model for doing right: Jesus Christ. The same idea is expressed even more starkly in Romans 5:8, 10: Christ died for us while we were still sinners; we were reconciled to God while we were His enemies. In the same way, sometimes we forgive even if the offender fails (or refuses) to acknowledge the offense. After all, God, through Christ, forgave before anyone sought forgiveness.

Love Is the Motive (Philemon 8–16)
Why do we forgive one another, even if the offense is real? We do it because we love one another. Last week, we decided that Christian love is something acted out whether or not it is felt, and Jesus provided the model then as well. In Philemon, Paul asked an influential Roman to take back Onesimus. The context suggests that Onesimus was a slave who escaped from Philemon (15) and may have stolen from him before his escape (18–19).

Paul did not overtly condemn the practice of chattel slavery, and unfortunately some Christians (most infamously the Baptist pastor Richard Furman) once used this and other Scriptures to build biblical defenses for slavery. We have since learned how to read God’s message of redemption as an indictment of slavery, but Paul was focusing on the issue of reconciliation between Christian brothers. Evidently Onesimus had become a believer and “useful” to Paul (11) during his imprisonment.

Note that Paul made his appeal on the basis of love: Philemon’s love for him and the love that he should express toward his new brother in Christ, Onesimus. Although Paul could describe his feelings about Onesimus with a metaphor for strong emotion (12), he appealed to Philemon to show love to his former slave by freeing him (16) and returning him to work with Paul (13–14). The offenses were real but Paul also thought real reconciliation was possible.

Restoration Is the Goal (Philemon 17–22)
Restoration is not always possible. The offending party might refuse to admit that he or she has done something wrong. Nevertheless restoration remains the goal, as Paul expressed in these verses. In either case, the offended party must let go of resentment. If both sides are willing to move beyond the pain of the offense, then all the better. The word for the party that was wronged is “forgive.”

Nowhere did a biblical author claim that this is easy. If it were, then there would be no need to keep telling people to do it. Remember Christ did it first and He makes it possible for us to follow His example.