Love That Refreshes the Saints

Before Paul asks Philemon to do anything, he reminds him who he has already shown himself to be. Paul thanks God for Philemon’s love and faith and prays that the “communication” or fellowship of his faith may become effective in the knowledge of every good thing in Christ. Verse 7 supplies the key image: the hearts—the KJV’s “bowels,” Greek splanchna—of the saints have been refreshed through Philemon. That praise is not decorative. It establishes the standard by which Paul’s later request will be heard. The same language returns when Paul calls Onesimus his own “bowels” or heart in verse 12 and then asks Philemon in verse 20 to refresh his heart. The letter is quietly setting up its argument: the man known for refreshing believers is about to be asked to receive a believer whose social status makes that love costly.