Paul names himself
The letter begins plainly. Paul identifies himself as its writer and calls himself a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Timothy is named with Paul in the greeting, but the letter consistently speaks in Paul's own voice, including when he says that he is making an appeal (Philemon 1:1, Philemon 1:9).
Near the end, Paul makes his authorship especially personal. He says he has written a promise with his own hand, showing that he stands behind what the letter asks of Philemon (Philemon 1:19). So Christians have long received Philemon as one of Paul's letters.
Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer,
A letter to a real friend
Philemon was not a general letter sent to many churches. Paul addresses Philemon as a dearly beloved fellow labourer, and also greets Apphia, Archippus, and the church meeting in Philemon's house (Philemon 1:1-2). It is a short, personal note, yet its message has reached far beyond that home.
Paul wrote because Onesimus was connected to Philemon and had become spiritually like a son to Paul during Paul's imprisonment (Philemon 1:10). Paul sends Onesimus back and asks Philemon to welcome him, not merely through duty, but as a beloved brother in the Lord (Philemon 1:12, Philemon 1:16-17).
I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds:
Why Paul's authorship matters
Knowing Paul wrote this letter helps us hear its heart. The same apostle who taught churches in places such as Corinth and Galatia also took time to plead for two people to be reconciled. He did not treat Onesimus as a problem to be managed. He appealed to Philemon on the basis of love (Philemon 1:8-9).
Paul even offers to take responsibility for any debt or wrong connected with Onesimus (Philemon 1:18-19). That costly appeal reflects the gospel Paul preached: believers receive one another as people joined together in Christ. Philemon is brief, but it gives a remarkably close-up picture of grace at work in an ordinary, complicated relationship.
Read the whole letter
Philemon has only one chapter, so it can be read in a few minutes. As you read, notice Paul's tenderness, his confidence in Philemon's faith, and his hope that love will lead to more than bare compliance (Philemon 1:4-7, Philemon 1:21).
The author is Paul. But the letter also invites a personal question: what might it look like to receive another Christian with the same generosity Paul urges Philemon to show? That is where this small letter becomes wonderfully practical.
If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself.