with Philemon Hence the apostle’s tender and moving intercessory letter to his close friend Philemon on behalf of Onesimus The bearers of the letter were Onesimus and Tychicus, who also delivered Paul’s letters to the Ephesian and Colossian churches (Cf Col 4:7-9.) C PLACE AND DATE OF WRITING Paul wrote to Philemon from prison in Rome, around A.D 61 That was about the same time he wrote the other three prison epistles, namely Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians (See Chart 1, p 20.) XXVII SURVEY OF PHILEMON A READINGS First mark paragraph divisions in your Bible, beginning at the following verses: 1, 4, 8, 12, 17, 22 Read the letter a few times, paragraph by paragraph Identify the introduction and conclusion Where in the letter does Paul rst make his request? What does he write about in verses 4-7? Identify the main point of each paragraph, and construct an outline of the letter from this B SURVEY CHART Study the survey, Chart 102 Note among other things the orderly progression of thought, as shown by the two outlines: object of the appeal — the appeal — source of the appeal; praise of Philemon — plea for Onesimus — promise of Paul Study the entries made in the bottom areas of the chart Locate the phrases in the Bible text that are the bases for the entries What title is assigned to the letter? XXVIII PROMINENT SUBJECTS OF PHILEMON A PLEA FOR FORGIVENESS The whole epistle is one Christian’s plea to another to forgive and restore a third person In what di erent ways does Paul make His appeal to Philemon? B SUBSTITUTIONARY ATONEMENT (ILLUSTRATION) Read verses 17-21 and apply the following phrases, by way of illustration, to the substitutionary work of Christ for the sinner: “accept him as you would me” verse 17 “charge that to my account” verse 18 “I will repay it” verse 19 “you owe to me” verse 19 Read the entire epistle and look for other words and phrases similar to those cited above XXIX THEME, KEY WORDS AND VERSES FOR PHILEMON What key words and verses did you observe in your survey study? Compare those with the ones shown on Chart 102 What is the theme of Philemon, in your own words? ... shown by the two outlines: object of the appeal — the appeal — source of the appeal; praise of Philemon — plea for Onesimus — promise of Paul Study the entries made in the bottom areas of the chart... Identify the main point of each paragraph, and construct an outline of the letter from this B SURVEY CHART Study the survey, Chart 102 Note among other things the orderly progression of thought,... chart Locate the phrases in the Bible text that are the bases for the entries What title is assigned to the letter? XXVIII PROMINENT SUBJECTS OF PHILEMON A PLEA FOR FORGIVENESS The whole epistle