The Christians of the New Testament church came from every ethnic background and from every walk of life. Peter, James, and John were fishermen. Lydia was a wealthy businesswoman. Aquila and Priscilla were tentmakers. Apollos was a learned rabbi. Barnabas was a wealthy landowner. Onesimus was a lowly bondslave. 

In the biography of Onesimus, a Phrygian slave, we see the power of the Gospel to change a penitent soul, restore a damaged relationship, clear a guilty conscience, and to restore a runaway slave to a kind, believing master. Onesimus, the slave of Philemon, became Onesimus, the redeemed of Christ.

The account of this remarkable young man is found in the Epistle of Paul to Philemon. Last week we considered the life of Philemon, the forgiving master. This week, we will examine the same account from the perspective of the redeemed slave. 

Slavery was an inherent reality in the Roman Empire. Rome imported slaves from Europe. The Britons were slaves. Eastern Europeans were slaves. In fact, the term Slav, as in the “Slavic people,” may come from the same root word as slavery. 

Roman law was very harsh toward the slave. The master was in total command and had absolute authority over the life of his bond slave.

Paul, in his letter to Philemon, adhered very carefully to the Old Testament Law of God which allowed slavery. He did not idealize the practice of slavery as a perfect system, nor did he condemn it. The apostle instead applied Biblical Christianity to it. 

In his epistle to the Colossian church, Paul called Onesimus “one of you,” meaning that he was originally from Phrygia, the region of Colosse now located in central Turkey. Of all the slaves, Phrygian slaves were considered to be the lowest. In fact, a Phrygian was a common byword used then to signify the most base person that could exist. A common proverb in those times said that a Phrygian would be better and more serviceable for a beating. Such a man was Onesimus. Not only was he a slave, but he was a Phrygian slave. Not only that, he was a runaway, hunted and under condemnation of death upon capture.

Let’s contrast Paul the apostle and Onesimus the bondslave. Both men were together in Rome. The former was in bondage, but he was free in Christ. The latter was a fugitive, temporarily free but shackled by the chains of sin and guilt. 

In the course of time, the latter man—Onesimus—became a Christian. How he came to be saved is unknown. From the Biblical testimony, we know that Paul had ministered in the house of Philemon, Onesimus’s owner. Perhaps it was while in service there that the slave had heard the Gospel. Now, an escapee to Rome, he may have been astonished to hear the same man who had preached in his master’s home delivering the same message in Rome! 

Another possibility is that Tychicus or Epaphras, both familiar with the Lycus River valley in Phrygia, perhaps knew Onesimus. Maybe their paths had crossed on the streets of Rome, and the believer brought the fugitive to Paul. Yet another possibility is that Onesimus came to salvation through the witness of Roman believers who were acquainted with Paul. 

While the slave catchers could not find Onesimus, Christ did. Jesus Christ can do what no slave catcher can do. A slave catcher cannot change a man; he can only capture and return a slave to the bondage from whence he came. However, the Gospel has the power to change a person’s heart and mind and to free him from the bondage of sin. Indeed, Onesimus was saved by grace, and the runaway slave became a Christian brother.

Onesimus became convinced that he should return to his master, Philemon, and seek to make restitution for the wrong committed. To return willingly was a terrifying act for an escaped slave! Upon his return, Onesimus would face the penalty for runaway slaves: death by crucifixion. 

Yet, transformed by the Gospel of Christ, Onesimus retraced his thousand-mile flight. He did not do so with his neck in a slave catcher’s halter. Instead, he returned to his master, constrained by no chain but led by the Holy Spirit. Onesiumus was returning to bondage, but he was returning freer than when he had left! In his escape, he was momentarily free; yet he was still in bondage to the more severe master of sin and guilt. 

Onesimus did not return alone however. Paul sent with him his trusted fellow laborer and courier, Tychicus. Tychicus also carried with him three letters to deliver: one to the church at Ephesus; one to the church at Colosse; and one unique letter, a personal letter from Paul to Philemon, a member of the Colossian church and master of Onesimus. 

In his personal letter, Paul gently introduced the subject of Onesimus to Philemon. His appeal began, “I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds” (Philemon 1:10). The apostle called only two people “my son”—Timothy and Onesimus. 

Paul then made a play on words, “Which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me” (Philemon 1:11). Onesimus is a Greek name that means “profitable.” Paul used this play on words here to indicate that up to this time, Onesimus had not lived up to the meaning of his name. But now, he asserted that Onesimus, as a believer, had become “profitable to thee and to me.”

Next, Paul appealed to the Christian master to receive Onesimus again, not merely as a slave, but as a brother in the Lord. The apostle even offered to make personal restitution for the wrong that Onesimus had formerly committed. Rather than using his apostolic authority to command Philemon, he instead besought him in the name of mercy and the compassion of Christ to forgive and restore the runaway slave.

What is the outcome of this story? We do not have definite information from the Scripture. Neither Philemon nor Onesimus are ever mentioned again. But we need not doubt the success of Paul’s appeal. 

There is much evidence that Philemon did indeed forgive his repentant slave and that Onesimus went on to live a productive and profitable life as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. First, there is the survival of this letter. Would Philemon have kept the letter if he had rejected its appeal? No! Possibly, Philemon treasured this letter as a testimony to his covenant and new relationship to his slave. 

Second, there is evidence from church history. Ignatius, one of the church fathers, reports that in the year A.D. 110, fifty years after this letter was written, there was a pastor named Onesimus at the church at Ephesus. If this identification is correct, Onesimus the former slave pastored in the very same church where the Apostle John pastored for a while, and where Timothy pastored for many years! 

What about you? In a sense, we are all called to be servants—servants to Christ and servants to the Christians about us. The account of Onesimus reminds us that we are all servants, and in this calling there is no shame. How much better it is to be a servant of Christ than a servant of sin! Bondage to Jesus Christ is the only true liberty a man or woman can enjoy.

With Onesimus’s conscience cleared, his sins forgiven, and a broken relationship restored, he was able to truly fulfill the meaning of his name. Would you follow the noble example of Onesimus? Clear your conscience. Humbly submit to those who are authorities in your life. 

Remember: we are all servants. If you choose to have this humble attitude, you will be, as Onesimus was, profitable to God, your family, your boss, and to all those whom God has called you to serve.