and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.
Paul's letter to Philemon asks a slave-owner to take back a runaway slave, Onesimus, as a brother. Before he asks, he prays verse 6 for him: that Philemon's share in the faith would go to work in him, showing him the good Christ has put in fellow believers.
Prayer came first
The desire in this verse reached God before it ever reached Philemon's ears.
The Bible TreasuryThe apostle deeply desired to see that love and that faith grow. But he had spread this desire before God before he mentioned it to Philemon. And he mentions it in a way that brings the soul of Philemon at once before God.
Sharing the faith, not talking about it
Commentators read "the sharing of your faith" as Philemon's share in the faith all Christians hold.
Leslie M. GrantPhilemon's love and faith were of such a character that his participation in the faith might become operative in a full and precious way. His participation means his having part in the blessed faith of Christianity. It becomes operative by the acknowledging of every good thing that is in us in Christ Jesus. "In us" no doubt refers to Christians as such, because they are in Christ Jesus.
One writer describes the prayer as asking for an answering movement in Philemon's heart:
The Christian's FriendPaul prayed that his friend Philemon might find a response worked in his heart with power. That response would match, and be in unison with, the grace working in Paul on his behalf. Both had obtained the same precious faith. The chord struck by the Spirit in the heart of Paul must sound again in the heart of his friend and fellow believer.
"In us" or "in you"
Older English versions read "in you." The best manuscripts read "in us," and that one word changes the sense.
William KellyHe puts forward Philemon's love, but in no way leaves out his faith, so that his sharing in the faith might work every good. It is "not in you," which though true is commonplace and feeble, but "in us" according to the best authorities. That is, in other Christians from Paul to Onesimus as regards Christ.
That reading widens the verse. The good to acknowledge is not Philemon's own record. It is what Christ has produced in other believers — including the runaway slave about to walk back through his door.
Acknowledging every good thing
The ESV says "full knowledge" of every good thing; the translation these writers use says "acknowledgment." To acknowledge good in another believer means owning the new life God has given, instead of stopping at what is wrong in people.
William KellyHow harmful it is when saints never rise above the sense of our natural evil! They dwell only on the heart that is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Is there no reality in the new creation? No power in the ever-indwelling Holy Spirit that makes good Christ in us?
This takes discernment. Not everything attractive in a person comes from Christ.
An Outline of Sound Words"Every good thing … in Christ Jesus," whether in the apostle or in Philemon, brings before us the fruits of Christ's grace shown in His own. The Lord said in Matthew 7:20, "you will recognize them by their fruits." How good it is when we can recognise and acknowledge what we see of Christ in those who are His! It may be hard for a simple Christian to tell natural kindness apart from the fruit of Christ's grace. But one who is living near the Lord will know the difference.
Where faith had to work
The test was a real man Philemon had every reason to refuse.
The Bible TreasuryIt must be faith working by love, which alone could cause Philemon to receive Onesimus warmly as a brother. And where would faith put Philemon? Surely before God as a lost and ruined sinner, saved only by His sovereign grace. And if he put Onesimus beside him there, where was the difference? He could only see one equally ruined in himself, and saved by the same grace.
Whose good thing is in view
Commentators differ over whose good is in view. One writer takes the "good thing" as Paul's own motive in writing:
The Christian's FriendAs we understand it, the apostle prayed that Philemon might see this: the glory of Christ Jesus moved Paul to write to him on this subject. Christ, in other words, was both his motive and his object — this was the "good thing" in him which he hoped Philemon would acknowledge.
Summary
- Prayed — Paul brought this desire to God before he brought it to Philemon, so the appeal comes as prayer, not pressure.
- Shared — the verse speaks of Philemon's part in the faith all Christians hold, not of skill in explaining it.
- Effective — that share is meant to work with power, striking an answering chord in the heart.
- Acknowledged — that power shows in recognising every good thing Christ has produced in fellow believers, not in stopping at their evil.
- Proved — Onesimus was the test. Faith working by love puts master and slave side by side, sinners saved by the same grace.