Bible Study May 13, 2025
“Love and Faith”
Philemon 4 – 7 (ESV)
4 “I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6 and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. 7 For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.”
Paul in verse three begins with “grace to you and peace from God.” What do you think someone today would think if we greeted them the same way Paul did? It might throw them for a loop definitely nothing they would expect you to say.
“Love” relates to the final phrase “for all the saints.” What is the love he is writing about here? It encompasses so much more than we might originally think. He is writing about the love of will, choice, self-sacrifice, and humility which was manifested in Philemon’s genuine faith “toward the Lord Jesus.”
Paul uses an interesting word in verse five “sharing.” “Sharing” in the Greek means much more than simply enjoying time with one another. Here it means a mutual sharing of life with one another. They can do this because of their mutual love for Christ and their common life shared in Jesus.
“Knowledge” referenced here is the deep knowledge of the truth of the Gospel message. It comes forth through the power of the message of truth. “The hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.” The word “heart” denotes the idea of “compassionate hearts.” This is a much deeper meaning to the word “heart.”
His choice of the word “refreshing” is also interesting. It comes from the Greek military term that describes an army at rest following a march.
How do you greet people? Is Paul’s greeting something you might want to try?
God Bless.
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