God’s will is found in ‘little jewel’ of Philemon

by Lauren Crane

Knowing the will of God is not entirely impossible.

There are four principles, all part of God’s will for his people, to be gleaned from the “little jewel” of Philemon, said Thom Rainer. Rainer, who is president of LifeWay Christian Resources, addressed Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary during chapel on March 4, 2008.

Rainer began by challenging students, staff and faculty to think about their lives, and whether or not they are living them well.

Teaching from the text of Philemon, beginning in verse eight, Rainer said, “I don’t want to look at my life and say, ‘Was it lived well, or was it mostly wasted?’

Whether it has been in pastoral ministry or whether it has been in any other position I have held, a common question that comes to me is, ‘I want to live my life well.’ That’s the statement, and the question is, ‘How can I know the will of God for my life?’”

Rainer said that question comes forward so often in the lives of believers, usually referencing the future. However, he said in the book of Philemon, Paul instructs us on how to do the will of God in the present.

This book, this little jewel of Paul’s, as Rainer calls it, contains four important principles about the will of God for the lives and actions of believers.

“I look at this multi-faceted jewel (the letter to Philemon) and I turn it just a little bit, and I begin to see how Paul, at least in this aspect, not a full-blown treatise, but at least in this aspect, begins to view the will of God,” Rainer said.

Just as Paul focused on the present in this letter, Rainer said modern believers should also learn to discern the will of God for today, not just the future.

“You may end up learning about the future from the present,” he said. “He does not just have a will for us that is for tomorrow or the next day, though that is a part of his plan that he holds in his hand.”

The principles Rainer sees in this passage of Philemon all are examples of how to do God’s will in present-day circumstances. He said loving others, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, forgiving others and putting other before ourselves are all aspects of God’s will that believers can do right now.

Verses eight and nine of Philemon command us to love one another, Rainer said. “There is a tendency among evangelicals to look at that word love and think we’re getting mushy on doctrine. Love is doctrine. Love is tantamount to doctrine, and God is love.”

However, the will of God is not for us to only love those who love us or who are easily loveable, Rainer said, but to love those who are unlovely.

“How often do we wake up and say, ‘Lord, let me come into contact today with someone we can show the love of Christ to, even though they’re unlovely?’” Rainer asked.

Loving people ought to then spur us on to sharing the Gospel with them, Rainer said. He said as people cry out to God, asking to know his will, they should be actively working to love others and share Christ’s love with them.

“Why is that not the normal, everyday life?” he said.

Speaking specifically about Onesimus, the slave whom Paul grew to love as a brother in Christ while in prison, he urges Philemon to forgive others. Forgiving others and removing bitterness toward them can open the doors to revival, Rainer said.

Using an example from his own life about forgiving a man before his church could become effective, Rainer said, “I am convinced God had to do a work in me before he could do a work in the community…That is the will of God that you be reconciled, as he has been reconciled to us through the blood of his son, Jesus Christ.”

Rainer also said this passage in Philemon teaches to put others before you, a natural out-flowing of love for other people.

“You can’t lose if you put everyone else before you,” he said.

“There are no guarantees. I see that life is very precious and fleeting,” Rainer said. “How incredibly brief time is. I don’t want to go back through and say this life was wasted. I hope when the time comes, that come will be able to say, ‘He did alright. He loved God, his family and others.’ That is the will of God.”