Slave or Bondservant?

“I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment, who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me.”

‭‭Philemon‬ ‭1‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/100/phm.1.10-11.NASB1995

Onesimus was a slave of Philemon who ran away and found Paul. There might have been some kind of strife between Philemon and Onesimus. I wonder if maybe Philemon mistreated Onesimus so he ran away purposely to find Paul, for he would have known Paul either from the previous visits or from Pilemon’s testimony. So then Paul was able to witness and convert Onesimus to Christ and was able to show him a better way of living for Jesus. Now Onesimus has become useful to Paul in his ministry but since he belongs to Philemon he cannot hold on to Onesimus and has to send him back. So Paul is sending this letter with Philemon to appeal to Philemon to welcome Onesimus back as he would Paul. 

So how does this apply to us? The closest thing I have to being a slave is my Job, without it I would not be able to support my family and I have not figured out how to live without it. So then I have responsibilities at my job and if anyone of us is a manager then they also have responsibilities to fulfill.

“Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭22‬-‭25‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/100/col.3.22-25.NASB1995

“Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/100/col.4.1.NASB1995

We all answer to one boss. The slave has God as their master whom they are to constantly work for. And the master has a headmaster who is God and will have to answer how they treat the workers under them. 

Some people take offense that we are referred to as slaves in the Bible. But in two ways we are. First, in the physical, we are entrapped by the world’s system of money and debt. And spiritually we are either enslaved to either God, who loves us as His kids, or the Devil, who hates us with great hatred because we reflect God’s image. But through Jesus, we have the choice to follow Jesus’ example to become a slave to God, but really to become a bondservant to God. What is a bondservant you ask?

“But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man,’ then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently.”

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭21‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/100/exo.21.6.NASB1995

It is a willing servant who will serve God for the rest of their life because He is a good master.

Onesimus learned this about God and became a bondservant to Paul, but was sent back to Philemon to serve him willingly in Christ.

“For perhaps he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, 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.”

‭‭Philemon‬ ‭1‬:‭15‬-‭16‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/100/phm.1.15-16.NASB1995

Are you a servant who only serves because you have to or are you a bondservant who serves because you want to?