School of Jesus Disciples REV 2:7

School of Jesus Disciples     REV 2:7

743 S. Grandview St. L.A. CA. 90057            Tel. (213)928-2932  Pastor P.K.

Every Sunday 3:30 pm            JD-class      Email: peterkim123@sbcglobal.net Seeking to make disciples who make disciples.



“그러나 너는 모든 일에 근신하여 고난을 받으며 전도인의 일을 하며 네 직무를 다하라”    But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.                                       II Tim 4:5

  

Devotional to JDs,

New Creation in Christ Jesus in Romans 5

그리스도안에서 새 피조물에 관하여

Chapter 5 – The Two Adams:  Romans 5

[롬 5:17-롬 5:19]

(17)한 사람의 범죄를 인하여 사망이 그 한 사람으로 말미암아 왕 노릇 하였은즉 더욱 은혜와 의의 선물을 넘치게 받는 자들이 한 분 예수 그리스도로 말미암아 생명 안에서 왕 노릇 하리로다

(17)For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

(17) Porque, si por un delito rein# la muerte por uno, mucho m~s reinar~n en vida por un Jesucristo los que reciben la abundancia de gracia, y del don de la justicia.

  

(18)그런즉 한 범죄로 많은 사람이 정죄에 이른 것같이 의의 한 행동으로 말미암아 많은 사람이 의롭다 하심을 받아 생명에 이르렀느니라

(18)So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.

(18) As@ que, de la manera que por un delito vino la culpa ~ todos los hombres para condenaci#n, as@ por una justicia vino la gracia ~ todos los hombres para justificaci#n de vida.

(19)한 사람의 순종치 아니함으로 많은 사람이 죄인 된 것같이 한 사람의 순종하심으로 많은 사람이 의인이 되리라

(19)For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.                

Rom 5:17-19

(19) Porque como por la desobediencia de un hombre los muchos fueron constitu@dos pecadores, as@ por la obediencia de uno los muchos ser~n constitu@dos justos.

  

The teaching of the two Adams is one of the most neglected and misunderstood doctrines of the bible.  Yet it is vitally important to our salvation because the eternal destiny of all who have ever lived is closely connected with these two men — Adam and Christ, who is the “second Adam.”

As we saw in the previous chapter, God created all mankind in one man, Adam [see Genesis 1:27-28; Acts 17:26].  Likewise, Satan ruined all mankind in one man, Adam [see Romans 5:12, 18; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22].  And God redeemed all mankind in one Man, Christ Jesus, the second Adam [see 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:3, 2:5-6].  Scripture is clear that “in Adam all die” and that “in Christ all will be made alive” [1 Corinthains 15:22].

We may never fully understand all the implications and privileges of our salvation “in Christ” until we come to realize our situation “in Adam.”  Two New Testament passages — Romans 5:12-21 and 1 Corinthians 15:19-23, 45-49 — explain in detail this important teaching of the two Adams.  Let’s look carefully at what they have to say.

  

Romans 5 (King James Version)
Romans 5

1Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:  2By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  3And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;  4And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

  

5And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.  6For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  7For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  9Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

  

10For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  11And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

  

12Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

  

15But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.  17For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

  

18Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

20Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:  21That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

  

Romans 5:12-21 Teaching

In Romans 5:11, the apostle Paul states a glorious truth of the gospel.  He says that we Christians can rejoice because we have already received the atonement.  Paul then goes on to explain verses 12-21 how we have received this atonement.  He does so by using Adam as a type, or pattern, of Christ [see verse 14].  He argues that we are redeemed “in Christ” in the same way that we are lost “in Adam.”  The history of these two men — Adam and Christ — has affected the eternal destiny of all mankind.  In order to use Adam as a pattern of Christ, Paul first explains, in verses 12-14, what our situation is “in Adam.”

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” [Romans 5:12].  In this verse, Paul makes three statements about the sin problem.  He says that sin entered the world (that is, human history) through one man, Adam.  Second, he says that this sin condemned Adam to death.  Third, Paul says that this death spread to all humanity “because all sinned.”  This last phrase has generated endless controversies in the history of the Christian church.  Did Paul means that all die “because all sinned” personally as did Adam? Or did he mean that all die “because all sinned” in Adam?

The conclusion we reach has important implications for our salvation, since Paul’s purpose in discussing Adam is to use him as a pattern of Christ.  When we carefully consider this context of this passage and the logic of Paul’s argument, as well as his teaching regarding justification by faith elsewhere throughout the New Testament, we must conclude that Paul is saying here in Romans 5:12 that death spread to all mankind “because all sinned” in Adam.

Paul’s logic is that all humanity was “in Adam” when he sinned and, therefore, the whole human race was implicated, or participated, in Adam’s act of disobedience.  Hence, Paul says, the condemnation of death that came to Adam automatically passed on to every human being.

We see five reasons to believe that this is what Paul is saying in this verse.

It simply isn’t true that everyone died because they have personally sinned as Adam did.  Babies, for example, die even though they have no personal sins.  The only explanation for the fact that death is universal is that all sinned “in Adam.”
Grammatically, the Greek verb “sinned” in verse 12 is in the aorist tense.  This tense normally refers to an act that took place in the past at a single point in time.  Grammatically, then, “all sinned” most naturally refers to a single past historical event (Adam’s sin) and not to the continuing personal sins of his descendants over the centuries.
Paul goes on to explain in verses 13 and 14 what he meant in verse 12.  He says that all those who lived from Adam until Moses died even though they “did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam” [verse 14].  Therefore, the immediate context of verse 12 contradicts the idea that all die because they have sinned as Adam sinned.
Four times in Romans 5:15-18 Paul explicitly states that Adam’s sin (not our own personal sins) brought judgment, condemnation, and death to the whole human race.  Thus, the context of verse 12 clearly supports the idea that all die because “all sinned” in Adam.  In verse 19, Paul sums up his argument in unmistakable language.  He says, “By one man’s disobedience many were made sinners.”
The logic of Paul’s argument in this passage is that Adam is a type, or pattern, of Christ, that what happened to us in Adam is undone for us in Christ.  Therefore, if we insist that verse 12 means that all men die because “all sinned” as Adam sinned, then we must make the analogy fit by arguing that all men live (or are justified) because all have obeyed as Christ obeyed.  Such an argument turns justification by faith into salvation by works, the very opposite of Paul’s clear teaching in Romans.  Paul’s analogy here is that since “all sinned” in Adam and are, therefore, condemned to death in him, so all have obeyed in Christ and, therefore, stand justified to life in Him [see verse 18].
Now verses 13 and 14 make sense.  In these verses, Paul is simply proving what he stated in verse 12:  that all die because “all sinned” in Adam.  He does this by looking at a segment of the human race, those who lived from Adam until Moses.  To be sure these people were sinning, but since God had not yet explicitly spelled out His law until He gave it to mankind as a legal code through Moses, He could not justly condemn these people to death for their personal sins.  This is what Paul is saying in verse 13.  Nevertheless, they were dying, as Paul points out in verse 14.  Why? His answer is that they were dying because all humanity stands condemned to death in Adam.

In spite of what seems to me to be the clear evidence of Romans 5, some still feel they can harmonize Paul’s logic in these verses with the idea that all men and women die because all have sinned personally as did Adam.  They do so by insisting that the death Paul says we receive “in Adam” is only the first, or “sleep” death.  We receive the “second” death — eternal death — they say, as a result of our own personal sins.

Such reasoning will not stand the test of Scripture, no matter how convincing it may sound.  Paul uses the word death twice in Romans 5:12, once to refer to Adam and next to refer to humanity, Adam’s posterity.  In other words, Paul says the same death that came to Adam passed on to all humanity.  What death was that, the first death or the second?

Before the Fall, Adam surely knew nothing about the first death.  Therefore, the death sentence pronounced on Adam when he sinned was the second death — eternal death.  It was good-bye to life forever.  Had there been no “lamb that was slain from the creation of the world” [Revelation 13:8], Adam would have forfeited his life forever the day he sinned, and mankind would have died eternally in him [see Genesis 2:17].

It is this death — the second death — that has passed to all mankind “in Adam.”  In Adam, the whole human race belongs legally on death row.  It is only in Christ that we can pass from eternal death to eternal life [see John 5:24; 1 Corinthians 15:55-57; 2 Timothy 1:10; Revelation 20:6].

Once Paul has established our situation in Adam [see Romans 5:12-14], he goes on to show how Adam is a type, or pattern of Christ [see verses 15-18].  He argues that, just as Adam’s sin affected all humanity for death, likewise, what Christ did as the second Adam also affected all humanity for life.  When Adam sinned, Paul says, he brought the judgment of condemnation and death to “all men” [meaning all mankind, or all people].

  

In the same way, when Christ obeyed, He not only redeemed humanity from the results of Adam’s sin, but, much more, He cancelled all our personal sins (“many trespasses”) and brought the verdict of “justification that brings life” to all men [verses 16, 18].  This is the unconditional good news that the gospel proclaims.

In verse 19, Paul adds another dimension to the problem Adam’s sin caused for us.  It “made” all men into sinners.  This means that, in addition to condemnation and the death sentence that we receive “in Adam,” we are also born slaves to sin and are, therefore, incapable, in and of ourselves, of producing genuine righteousness [see Romans 3:9-12; 7:14-25].

But in the second half of verse 19, Paul reminds us that, because of Christ’s obedience, we will “be made righteous.”  Notice that Paul uses the future tense here — “will be made righteous” — indicating that this applies to those who receive Jesus Christ [see verse 17].  To demonstrate that Adam’s sin has made us slaves to sin, God gave His law [see verse 20; Romans 7:7-13].

In other words, Paul is clear that God did not give us His law to solve the sin problem but to expose it.  The law showed how Adam’s one sin (“the trespass,” verse 20) has produced a whole race of sinners.  Again, the good news is that, although sin multiplied through Adam’s fall, God’s grace in Christ has increased all the more [see verse 20].

This brings us to the next important point concerning Romans 5.  Notice that, in this chapter, Paul mentions two things in connection with our situation in Christ that he does not apply to our situation in Adam.  First, Paul refers to what God accomplished “in Christ” for all humanity as a “gift” [verse 16], something freely given to us.  This means that, although all have been legally justified in Christ’s doing and dying, justification is still a gift.  Like any gift, it belongs only to those who accept it.  Only those who by faith receive God’s gift of justification will enjoy the benefits of Christ’s obedience.  Paul makes this clear in verse 17.

Second, Paul repeatedly uses the expression “much more” when pointing to the blessings we receive through Christ’s obedience.  In Christ, much more has been accomplished than simply undoing the damage we inherit from Adam.  For example, by His death, Christ not only liberated humanity from the condemnation of death resulting from Adam’s one sin.  Much more, He redeemed us from our own “many [personal] tresspasses and brought justification” [verse 16].  In Christ, not only do we receive eternal life, but much more we shall “reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ” [verse 17].  This is superabundant grace.

Thus Paul concludes “where sin increased, grace increased all the more” [verse 20].  As sin rules our lives from birth and results in death, Paul pleads for us to let grace now take over and reign in our lives, producing righteousness, until eternity is ushered in [see verse 21].

What conclusions, then, can we draw concerning our salvation from Paul’s argument of the two Adams in Romans 5?

Whether I am reckoned a sinner and condemned to death or whether I am declared righteous and qualify for eternal life has to do with the history of Adam or of Christ.  On the basis of Adam’s disobedience I am reckoned a sinner; on the basis of Christ’s obedience I am declared justified or righteous.
If I belong to the humanity produced by Adam, I am made a sinner and am condemned to eternal death.  If, however, I belong to the humanity initiated by Christ, I am declared righteous and qualify for eternal life.  In other words, my eternal destiny rests upon which humanity I choose to belong to.
All of us by creation are “in Adam.”  This is the hopeless situation we inherit by birth into the human race.  Hence we are “by nature objects of wrath” [Ephesians 2:3].  But the good news is that God has given us a new identity and history “in Christ.”  This is His supreme gift to humanity.  Our position “in Adam” is by birth.  Our position “in Christ” is by faith.  What God has done for the whole human race in Christ is given as a “gift,” something we do not deserve.  That is why the gift is referred to as grace or unmerited favor.  To be experienced, this gift must be received, and it is made effective by faith alone.
Adam and Christ belong to opposite camps that cannot be reconciled.  Adam is equated with sin and death, Christ with righteousness and life.  Consequently, it is impossible for anyone to belong, subjectively, to Adam and Christ at the same time.  To accept Christ by faith means to renounce totally our position in Adam [see 2 Corinthians 5:17; 6:14-16].  Baptism is a public declaration that we have died to sin (our position in Adam) and have been resurrected into newness of life (our position in Christ).  [See Romans 6:1-4, 8; 2 Timothy 2:11.]
Thus, the human race can be divided into two groups:
the Adamic race, made up of many nations and tribes [see Acts 17:26], and
believers who are all one in Christ [see Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 10:17; Galatians 3:27-28; Ephesians 4:11-13].
Because of the gospel, we have the choice to belong to either of these two groups.  We may retain our position in Adam by unbelief, and reap the results of his sin.  Or, by faith, we may become united to Christ and receive the benefits of His righteousness.

This is Paul’s teaching in Romans 5 regarding the two Adams.  In the next chapter, we will examine what he has to say on this subject in 1 Corinthians 15 and then draw some conclusions for our own experience.

  

  

Key Points in Chapter 5 • The Two Adams.

In Romans 5, Paul says that men and women have already received the atonement.  He supports this statement by using Adam as a pattern of Christ, whom he calls the “second Adam.”  Paul’s argument is that we are redeemed “in Christ” the same way we are lost “in Adam.”
For Paul, “in Adam” means that all humanity stands condemned to death because we were all corporately “in Adam” when he sinned.
Likewise, for Paul, “in Christ” means that all humanity has been justified because we were all corporately “in Christ” when He obeyed and died.
In Romans 5, Paul mentions two things in connection with our situation “in Christ” that he does not apply to our situation “in Adam”:
What God accomplished for us “in Christ” is a free gift.  Although we all have been justified corporately in Christ’s life and death, justification is still a gift that belongs only to those who accept it.
In Christ, much more has been accomplished than simply undoing the condemnation we inherit from Adam.  God’s grace will abound in our lives to reign and produce righteousness.
Paul’s argument in Romans 5 concerning the two Adams can be summed up as follows:  on the basis of Adam’s disobedience, we are reckoned as sinners; on the basis of Christ’s obedience we are declared justified.
                                                 by E.H. Sequeira

  

  

Paul, Philemon, Onesimus and the New Creation in Christ Jesus

빌레몬서의 그리스도안에서 새 피조물

Epistle to Philemon          - James T. Dennison, Jr.

  

How do we approach this letter to Philemon: the shortest epistle in the Pauline corpus? Perhaps we could begin with William Lloyd Garrison, radical Northern abolitionist, editor of the newspaper the Liberator from 1831, joint founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. "No man can love God who enslaves another," said Garrison. The corollary is that any Christian holding slaves in America in 1830 was to be barred from the Lord's Supper and expelled from the church. Now as I read Paul's letter to Philemon, I did not notice remarks from this inspired apostle which would support Mr. Garrison's sentiments.

  

Well then, suppose we turn to Benjamin Morgan Palmer, Southern Calvinist, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of New Orleans during the Civil War. In his Fast Day sermon of 1861, Palmer stated that the African system of slavery was a "divine trust" which the South was duty bound to "preserve and perpetuate" to the point of taking up arms against the Union. Again, not the flavor of the inspired apostle's comments to Philemon.

  

It was Charles Hodge who would point out in the pages of the Biblical Repertory and Princeton Theological Review that the shift in Southern opinion from a Biblical permission to hold slaves to a Biblical mandate to perpetuate slavery was a move beyond the Biblical data. In an analytical tour de force, Hodge argued convincingly, in my opinion, that slavery was an institution destined to die of attrition.

  

The recent superb and poignant Public Broadcasting System (PBS) series on the Civil War raises Hodge's salient point anew: would an archaic institution (slavery), once isolated and restrained from metastasizing like a malignant cancer, would such an institution have died naturally dribbling out by the end of the 19th century as social consciousness was raised and Christian principles prevailed?

  

But secession was rebellion. And rebellion had to be quelled that is what he said; that is what Abraham Lincoln said!

The tone of the apostle in his letter to Philemon is not virulent invective against slaveholders with the demand for excommunication. Nor is his tone a bill of infallibility for slavery as an institution to be perpetually extended by secession and rebellion. The apostle is neither a crusading abolitionist, nor a defender of slavery in perpetuity. The epistle to Philemon raises issues in our native consciousness; and in raising them, invites us to reflect upon and learn from these issues once more; yea "with malice toward none, with charity for all."

  

  

Structure of the Epistle

Perhaps we should approach Philemon by first analyzing its structure. You will observe that the first three verses include the names of five persons: Paul, Timothy, Philemon, Apphia, Archippus. You will further observe that the last three verses (vv. 23-25) conclude with the names of five persons: Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke. Now observe also that the pattern of verses 1-3 is five names plus the phrase "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ." This is precisely mirrored in verses 23-25: five names plus the phrase "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ."

  

The greeting or salutation of the epistle ends with the Lord Jesus Christ. The closing or conclusion of the epistle ends with the Lord Jesus Christ. A perfectly balanced inclusio structurally envelops the tender plea of the apostle on behalf of Onesimus. Paul, Timothy, Philemon, Apphia, Archippus members of the church; Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke members of the church. Within the church, something new is occurring!

  

Again, perhaps we should approach this letter by considering its epistolary structure. The Pauline epistles have been found to follow a marked rhetorical pattern: Salutation, Thanksgiving, Body of the Letter, Close. In our case, verses 1-3 have been suggested as the Salutation; verses 4-7 as the Thanksgiving; verses 8-22 as the Body; and verses 23-25 as the Close.

  

Some have even compared the Pauline epistles to contemporary Graeco-Roman letters and have attempted to assign patterns of rhetorical similarity, especially in the deliberative section of his epistles in our case, Philemon 4-22. The so-called Exordium secures the goodwill of the reader (vv. 4-7): "I thank my God always," "I hear of your love," "I have come to have much joy."

  

The main body or so-called Proof of the letter urges the main argument of the writer through appeals to honor and reasonable motivation even strong feelings (vv. 8-16): "I appeal to you," "without your consent I did not want to do anything." Finally, the so-called Peroration sums up the argument of the letter by restating the appeal, gaining the reader's favor, enlarging the argument and moving the reader to a favorable emotional frame of mind (vv. 17-22): "If he has wronged you . . . charge that to my account;" "I know that you will do even more than what I say."

  

  

Narrative Pattern of the Epistle

More important than these formal structural patterns, even though they contain theological overtones, is the narrative pattern of the epistle. Yes, surprisingly, there is a story here - story with a cast of players, drama, pathos, anticipation.

Our drama opens in v. 19. Philemon owes Paul a debt. It is his own conversion -transformation which precedes that of Onesimus. Philemon had heard the gospel from Paul and had received the Holy Spirit through the apostle's word possibly at Colossae (ancient patristic commentators thought it was at Colossae).

  

But scene two is in the prison at Rome. At Rome, Paul is bound in chains for the sake of the gospel. Around him are gathered those named in vv. 23-24 plus Onesimus, Philemon's slave. Onesimus had run away perhaps after stealing something, as was supposed by the aforementioned patristic commentators. Onesimus was in debt to Philemon. In the providence of God, Onesimus reached Paul. He too heard the gospel from the apostle and received the Holy Spirit through the apostle's word.

  

Having heard of Philemon's love and faith, Paul sends Onesimus back to his master. Onesimus himself undoubtedly carries the letter asking Philemon to receive him as "more than a slave, yea a beloved brother." The final scenes are left to our imagination. Onesimus arrives at the home of Philemon with Paul's letter. Philemon reads the letter and responds, we trust, affirmatively. Paul then visits Philemon to follow up his letter (an event which may never have occurred).

  

We have two stories here - two narratives. One story is about Philemon, his old nature, his useless slave. The other story is about Onesimus, his new nature, the fact that he is now a useful beloved brother. The father of both is Paul to the one, begotten in freedom; to the other, begotten in bonds. This narrative therefore focuses on relationships: Paul and Philemon; Paul and Onesimus; Philemon and Onesimus.

  

  

The Drama of Relationships

As we examine the vocabulary of the epistle, we begin to notice that the drama of relationship is supported by the language of relationship. The terms "brother" and "sister" occur five times; "beloved," a term of Christian affection, occurs five times; cf. "fellow worker," "my very own heart." These terms of horizontal relationship are touchingly spread through the apostle's appeal. Onesimus is Paul's "child"; Onesimus, while Philemon's "slave," has become by God's grace, Paul's "brother." Onesimus is a "debtor" to Paul, even as Philemon is a "debtor" to the apostle.

  

"Fellow prisoner," "fellow soldier" of the "old man," the elder statesman of the gospel. This wonderfully personal epistle is full of expression of loving and tender relationship. Yet the relationship pivotal to the epistle is the relationship between master and slave. Paul's appeal is an appeal on behalf of a fugitive slave. It is an appeal which seeks more than emancipation –

  

it seeks reconciliation of slave to master. It would be simple enough to reduce this epistle to a treatise on social ethics whether abolitionist, pro-slavery or something in between. It would be easy to reduce this letter to the horizontal dimension of superiors and inferiors with all their political overtones. It would be easy to reduce the epistle to Philemon to our allegedly enlightened social consciousness.

  

  

The Drama of the Lord Jesus Christ

But that is not really what this letter is all about. It is not about abolition or emancipation, human subjugation or bondage. This letter is not really about Philemon and Onesimus. Like all of Scripture, this epistle is about Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the focus of this letter. This is radical concept or it is radical in today's church to expect pastors to focus on Christ rather than on some topical or practical or applicatory agenda - his radical concept is even found in the structure of the epistle.

  

The salutation begins with Christ Jesus (v. 1) and ends with Jesus Christ (v. 3). The thanksgiving and body of the letter begin and end with Lord (Kyriou), while the sequence of Christological names comes to a focus in the pregnant Pauline expression en Christo (v. 8). That eschatological phrase "in Christ" will also reappear at the end of the letter (vv. 20, 23). Finally the conclusion (vv. 23-25) will close with the names of our Savior in the very same Christological sequence as they occurred in the greeting (vv. 1-3): Christ-Jesus-Lord-Jesus-Christ. A remarkable pattern of Christological focus, the chiasm is a literary bonus!

  

  

The New Creation in Christ

But to what end? What is the point? It is the eschatological relationship present "in Christ" who is "Lord and Master" of Paul, Philemon, Onesimus and the church. Paul has a Lord and Master in Christ, he has been set free through the eschatological invasion of history by the Son of God. This Paul, bond slave and prisoner to the beggarly elements of this present evil age, has been emancipated in the "fullness of the times" by the life, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. "In Christ" Paul is no longer a slave to the powers of this present evil age; "in Christ," Paul has been raised up to become a son, an heir, a child of the heavenly, glorified Lord. In the glory of the risen Jesus, Paul is no longer in bondage no longer a prisoner no longer a debtor.  

  

And so this new age -his eschatological era - his age of Christ and "in Christ" breaks in upon Philemon and Onesimus. In Christ, they too are made members of the Lord of glory risen, ascended, seated in heavenly places in him. They are members of the church above heirs of light the sons and daughters of the great king of glory. Slave, Onesimus, is "in Christ," raised up even now to the glory not yet fully revealed. Master, Philemon, is "in Christ," lifted up to the heavenly arena and seated with the slaves of King Jesus even now in glory.  

  

The relationships of this epistle have been transformed. They have been transformed by the eschatological new thing which God has done in Christ Jesus our Lord through his church. Philemon has been purchased from bondage and marvelously brought into Christ. Onesimus has been emancipated from servitude and wonderfully ushered into Christ. Together, through the eschatological transformation of the ages, they are sons, children, heirs together of God and joint-heirs of Jesus Christ.

  

Slavery is not the issue. Christ is the issue and where men and women are in Christ, transformed by the eschatological death and resurrection of their Lord, made new by the divine and heavenly light which has translated them out of darkness into the marvellous glory of the kingdom of Christ where such men and women have been possessed of the eschatological Christ, then "in Christ" they receive one another as "no longer slaves, but more than slaves as beloved brothers and sisters in Christ."

  

In such an eschatological arena, in such an eschatological setting, in such an eschatological fellowship an slavery ask you, brothers and sisters, an slavery long endure? Surely not in such a kingdom in the eschatological kingdom of Christ where there is no more bond or free slavery must wither and die. It, like this present evil age of which it is a part, it too must pass away. It must pass away to that men and women may possess the dignity of the sons and daughters of Christ. En Christo, in Christ who became a slave that he might emancipate those who are subject to bitter bondage. En Christo, in Christ who made himself a bondservant to sin and death, that he might manumit us through his very own emancipation - his eschatological death and resurrection.

  

William Lloyd Garrison was wrong. His abolitionist methods were those of the flesh. Benjamin Morgan Palmer was wrong. His pro-slavery sentiments failed to weigh the eschatological transformation of those in Christ. But Philemon and Onesimus knew. In Christ, in the new relationship in Christ Jesus they understood. No longer a slave, but a beloved brother. No longer a master, but a beloved brother. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ had set them both free. Eschatologically free, free at last. Free in Christ both now and forevermore.

  

[몬 1:16-몬 1:18]

(16)이 후로는 종과 같이 아니하고 종에서 뛰어나 곧 사랑 받는 형제로 둘 자라 내게 특별히 그러하거든 하물며 육신과 주 안에서 상관된 네게랴 17)그러므로 네가 나를 동무로 알진대 저를 영접하기를 내게 하듯 하고 (18)저가 만일 네게 불의를 하였거나 네게 진 것이 있거든 이것을 내게로 회계하라

(16)no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. (17)If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself. (18)But if he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account;

   Philemon 1:16-18

Suggestions for Further Reading
F. Forrester Church, "Rhetorical Structure and Design in Paul's Letter to Philemon." Harvard Theological Review 71 (1978): 17-33.  

Norman R. Petersen, Rediscovering Paul: Philemon and the Sociology of Paul's Narrative World(Fortress Press, 1985).

J. H. Roberts, "Pauline Transitions to the Letter Body," in L'Apotre Paul: Personalite, Style et Conception du Ministere, ed. by A. Vanhoye (Leuven, 1986), pp. 93-99.

Wolfgang Schenk, "Der Brief des Paulus an Philemon in der neueren Forschung (1945-1987)," in Principat 25, 4: Religion, ed. by W. Haase (1987), pp. 3439-95.