In my last post before I took time off to care for my mom, I finished my series on Paul’s Epistle to the Colossians. I’ve been systematically going through the New Testament in the order that the Holy Spirit revealed it to the church.

I started a few years ago, with the four foundational books – James, First Thessalonians, Galatians and Mark. The next thing on the Holy Spirit’s agenda was to inspire books that dealt with our personal walk with the Lord. These books include Second Thessalonians, First and Second Corinthians, Romans, and Luke.

After that, the Lord gave us books dealing with our corporate walk. We need to understand life as a church. These epistles are Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.

The end of the book of Acts found the Apostle Paul standing trial at Rome. This was his first Roman imprisonment. It seems that he had his own apartment while under house arrest.

It was during this time that these last books were written. They are also called the prison epistles. It probably gave Paul a lot of time reflect on what it means for the body of Christ to be a living organism. We’re not just a social organization.

In this post I’ll start the book of Philemon.

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home:

Philemon 1-2 NIV

This short letter was written from Rome with the others. It was addressed to a Christian in Colossi named Philemon. Apphia and Archippus were probably his wife and son.
This letter concerned a young man named Onesimus. Paul met him and led him to Christ on one of his mission trips. Now, Onesimus was working with Paul in the ministry. I’ll wait until later to explain the rest of the details.

For now, I want to look at the way Paul opens this epistle. He calls himself a prisoner of Christ. This is an interesting way for Paul to refer to himself. Not an apostle or an elder, but a prisoner of Christ. Why would he use this terminology?

There was a reason that he considered himself a prisoner of Christ. Prisoners of Christ have a purpose. He tells us about this purpose in the letter to the Ephesian church.

…I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles…

Ephesians 3:1 NIV

It was for the sake of the Gentiles. The word, prisoner, means to be bound or captive by someone. In this case, he’s a captive of Christ Jesus.

That’s why Paul is a prisoner. It wasn’t by his will, but the will of the Lord. If it were up to Paul – the Pharisee – he would go to the Jews. Many times, Paul had an argument with the Lord over this issue. Listen to his own testimony.

“When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance and saw the Lord speaking. ‘Quick!’ he said to me. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’”

Acts 22:17-18 NIV

What was Paul’s response?

“‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these men know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you. And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’”

Acts 22:19-20 NIV

Really? Did he just tell Jesus that He was wrong? That’s how we get sometimes when we’re too focused on what we think we should be doing for God. We need to listen to what the Spirit speaks to us.

“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'”

Acts 22:21 NIV

Sometimes my will and God’s will don’t line up. That’s when I have to remember I chose to be His prisoner. I need to bow my knee to His desire for my life, even when it’s not convenient.

This is how Paul viewed himself. He saw no life other than the calling of God. We need to walk in that same view. We’re captive to the plan of God for our lives.

Question: Were there times when your will and God’s will were at odds?

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi