Today, I am reading and commenting on  Titus and Philemon

In his letter to Titus, Paul reiterates a point which he made in several of the letters which we read before this.  Since we have been saved from living lives of malice, hatred, and sin by God’s grace we should devote ourselves to doing good.  Paul emphasizes that doing good does not save us, does not reconcile us with God.  Rather, those who have been saved do good in response to God’s grace.  So, we should be subject to the rulers and government authorities where we live.  We should slander no one and be peaceable and considerate, gentle towards everyone, always prepared to do good.  We should avoid foolish controversies, arguments and quarrels.  In fact, we should warn those who insist on making divisive arguments twice and then no longer engage with them on any level.  I believe Paul is telling us to deal with those who insist on repeatedly bringing up divisive topics the same way he told the Corinthians to deal with the man who was sleeping with his stepmother.  It seems to me that much that has gone wrong in the modern Church results from a failure to follow Paul’s command here.

When Paul writes to Philemon he begins by praising Philemon’s love of his fellow Believers.  Paul then writes a character reference for Onesimus, a slave who ran away from Philemon.  It seems likely from what Paul writes that, when he ran away from Philemon, Onesimus had either stolen something, or damaged some of Philemon’s property.  Paul asks Philemon to forgive Onesimus his debts to Philemon and welcome him back as a brother in Christ.  While Paul sends Onesimus back to being a slave to Philemon, he indirectly reminds Philemon of what he had written, and almost certainly preached, about how masters should treat their slaves.   In fact, this letter to Philemon seems intended to remind Philemon of Jesus’ parable of the unforgiving servant.  What Paul writes to Philemon about how he should treat Onesimus is essentially the inverse of how the unforgiving servant treated his fellow servants.  Paul indirectly reminds Philemon that while Onesimus may be his slave, both Philemon and Onesimus were servants to God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.