When God’s Grace Heals Your Past and Builds Your Future (Philemon 17–25)

Have you ever felt like your past disqualified you from a hopeful future? In this episode, Pastor Chris Teien shares how God’s grace can redeem even the most broken stories. Through Paul’s letter to Philemon, we explore what it means to forgive, restore, and walk forward in freedom—with biblical wisdom and practical encouragement.

Key Points:

1. Grace Changes How We See Others – Philemon is challenged to welcome Onesimus not as a runaway slave but as a beloved brother in Christ (Philemon 1:17). God's grace reframes our relationships and calls us to offer redemptive forgiveness.

2. Grace Removes Barriers and Fuels Gratitude – Paul offers to repay whatever Onesimus owes, reflecting how Jesus paid our debt on the cross (Colossians 2:13–14). Grace cancels the past and frees us to move forward with gratitude.

3. Grace Builds Stronger Relationships and Points Us Toward God’s Future – Paul expresses confidence that Philemon will do even more than asked. Grace doesn't just repair what was broken—it lays the foundation for something better (Philemon 1:20–21).

Personal Stories from Pastor Chris:

• A powerful real-life example of someone turning themselves in for a past crime after finding Christ—highlighting how grace leads to true freedom.
• A parking lot story about choosing to forgive a small wrong as an act of everyday grace.

Notable Quotes:

• “Grace doesn’t eliminate justice—it fulfills it through redemptive love.”
• “Forgiveness sets people free. Grace cancels the record of wrongs.”
• “Grace isn’t just a gift—it’s the foundation you build your life on.”

Actionable Takeaways:

• Reflect: Who do you need to forgive—or who do you need to ask forgiveness from?
• Apply: Offer grace in everyday situations, even when people don't “deserve” it.
• Take a Step: Trust Jesus for forgiveness and restoration through His finished work on the cross.
• Live It: Let grace define your relationships and decisions going forward.

Scripture References:

• Philemon 1:17–25 – Paul’s plea for grace and restoration
• Colossians 3:22–4:1 – Guidance for Christian slaves and masters
• Colossians 2:13–14 – Jesus cancels our debt
• Ephesians 4:32 – Forgive as God forgave you
• Romans 6:23 – The gift of God is eternal life
• 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 – You were bought at a price

Keywords:

grace, forgiveness, restoration, Philemon, Christian relationships, Onesimus, biblical mercy, debt canceled, spiritual freedom, gospel transformation

Challenge:

Let the grace of Jesus Christ change how you see people, respond to wrongs, and build relationships. This week, choose one way to offer grace that reflects God’s heart—even if it costs you something.

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The WELL Faith Podcast offers encouraging, Bible-based messages from Pastor Chris Teien and guests. New sermons are released every Sunday. Replay episodes are marked with an asterisk. Find us online at ChrisTeien.com and Rockwell.Church in Virginia, MN. Email comments to wellfaith24@gmail.com

Transcript

Chris T 0:16

I am in a series on grace, talking about God's grace and all that God can do if we are graceful people. And we've been going through the book of Philemon, which is a very small book. But there is lots of gospel truth in there. And if you have an opportunity to read it, that would be good. Just a recap. This is a usually Paul writes his epistles, his letters to churches, like the Church of Colossae, to the Colossians or the Philippians or the Galatians, but he's writing this to a particular person, to a guy named Philemon. And so this guy must have some means. He's got a pretty big house. The church meets in his house. He's a godly guy. And so in that culture, I explained this in the past, in that culture, it was common for people in the Roman Empire to have slaves or be slaves. I read one thing that said one-third of the people, or another thing that said half of the people in the Roman Empire's or Roman Empire was slaves for some reason or another. So we don't condone slavery. But it is very interesting that Jesus didn't call out slavery and say, if you want to be saved, get rid of slavery. And when Paul writes to Philemon, he doesn't say get rid of slavery because it was a cultural thing. It was a law that you had to uphold. If you had slaves, you didn't control them. And from a practical standpoint, if you set all your slaves free in a culture that wasn't open to that, they would be homeless. Where would they live? How would they move forward? So Philemon is really a plea from Paul to Philemon about this guy named Onesimus, who was one of Philemon's runaway slaves. And so he ran away. Don't know why he ran away. I was questioning this week. If Philemon is a godly guy and the church meets in his house, why would Onesimus run away? Maybe he was running away from Christianity that was going on in the household. He was, I guess he was born into slavery. He wasn't one that uh needed to sell himself into slavery to pay his debts or whatever, but I'm sure he thought that life would be better if he could escape and go be free on his own. But I'm sure he quickly discovered that when you are a runaway slave, that you are a target of everybody in the Roman Empire. And so you could be flogged, you could be branded with a mark that marks you as a runaway slave, you could be killed, all of these things. So maybe he thought it was a good idea to run away. He ran away and then he had to live his life in hiding, trying to make sure that people didn't know who he really was. And then somehow, while he is a runaway slave, he comes across the apostle Paul who was arrested. I don't think he, Paul, was like in a jail dungeon kind of prison. He was like on house arrest, but somehow Onesimus crossed paths. And if you read, like in verse 10, Paul says that Onesimus has become like a child in the faith, and I'm his father in the faith. And so he's become this godly guy. So the book of Philemon. This letter to Philemon is really: hey, I sent Onesimus back to you. And Nessimus wants to make things right. He wants to apologize, he wants to be doing the right thing to serve God, and he's become a believer in Christ. He's now your brother in Christ, and I hope that you will show him some grace. And I thought that it was interesting that Paul sent Onesimus back with the book of Colossians also. And if you read in Colossians chapter three about slaves, Paul writes, Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord. Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you are working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the master you are serving is Christ. But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done, for God has no favorites. Masters, be just and fair to your slaves. Remember that you also have a master in heaven. So I thought that was pretty interesting that not only was Onesimus and Tychicis carrying the letter to Philemon, but also the letter to the Colossians. So grace, grace, showing grace is such an important thing. And when we think about graduation, look back or remember back to your graduation and think about the choices that you had available at you to you at the time. Some people were able to go to school on a scholarship, other people wanted to go to college or whatever and couldn't afford it. Some people chose to get into a trade or work in a factory. Some people were all about getting training for their future, and other people were just all about surviving. A few people said, hey, let's uh let's just go have fun. Let me take a few semesters off. Let me just travel and have a good time. And so there's all these people that had different experiences. But for those of that I know who are Christ followers, many people find in their Christian experience that if they hadn't already had a personal relationship with Christ, that somewhere along the way, that God intercepted their plans, maybe put people in their life, gave them opportunity, sometimes tragedy or difficulty to get them set on the right path. And maybe when Onesimus ran away, he thought that he was going to find freedom, but maybe instead what he found was fear and imprisonment and difficulty, and he realized that he had gone and done the wrong thing, and he was in fear for his life, and he was in fear for his future, and he didn't know how in the world he could ever be here. He could go back to where he came from. Maybe I would guess things were better where he came from. And would Philemon ever take him back? So this part of what we're reading today is Paul pleading with Philemon to bring or to take Onesimus back as his brother in Christ, to forgive him and all of that, and to talk about grace. Grace is so important. Grace is forgiveness, grace is moving forward, grace is letting go of what people owe you. However, when I talk about this, I also want to point you back to the peacemaking brochure we have on the wall by the coffee pot there and remind you that peace and grace and forgiveness is sometimes a process. So sometimes people can do all sorts of sad things, difficult things, harsh things, and come at you and say, Well, the Bible says you have to forgive me, so forgive me. But they've done anything to change their ways, they haven't apologized, they haven't repented, they haven't done anything to change, they just want forgiveness. And sometimes that's a process. And sometimes you can say, I forgive you, but sometimes it takes a while for people to trust you, to build up that trust, to give you that opportunity. Sometimes forgiveness, true forgiveness and grace, isn't that you say, take that employee to come that say someone embezzles money from you. So just because you forgive them doesn't mean you bring them back on as your chief accountant again. So maybe instead you say, Yes, I forgive you, and I won't stand in the way now that you've repented and gotten help and whatever, I won't stand in the way of your future jobs, but you're never gonna work here. That's okay. Number one, grace changes how we see others. Grace changes how we see others. So Philemon verse 17, Paul writes to Philemon, if you consider me a partner, welcome him, welcome Onesimus as you would welcome me. So that deep mutual fellowship in Christ. Paul is saying, hey, Philemon, I want you to take this guy who's been super helpful to me, who's been, I would prefer to keep him for myself, but I know that he needs to make things right. That I would, I just want you to forgive him. I want you to bring him into your home, see him as your brother in Christ. If you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. There could be repercussions that need to be taken care of. Oh, Nesimus caused, it was a crime, it was a legal problem for Philemon. He couldn't just let that go without looking at repercussions from the Romans. So he had to be careful about the way that he did this. But he also, being a godly man, had to take into consideration that the person who led him to Christ, the person, the Apostle Paul, the his father in the faith, was basically saying, Hey, I want you to do this for me. I'm vouching for this guy, I'm even willing to pay for his debts. It reminds me of what it says in Ephesians 4.12 or Ephesians 4.32 about how we're supposed to live the Christian life. That we're to be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. For us to forgive other people, for us by grace to say, okay, I suffered some loss. There's been something that happened, and but I forgive you. An example might be that years ago, one of the town police officers was at the mall and ran into my wife's van in the parking lot on an icy day. And first he said, if there's any damage, just let me know and I'll just pay for it. And then later he's I think I have to make a report to my insurance company. And so I looked at the scratch and realized that I could get most of it out and we could live with it. So we just said, you know what, it's okay. So we'll just let it go. Call it grace, is what we did. And so hopefully that was encouraging and helpful. But to show grace, to forgive as people have forgiven. Sometimes people are desperately longing to be forgiven. So I know of one person who really got serious about following Jesus and decided that they needed to go turn themselves in because there was an unsolved crime that they had committed and they had totally gotten away with it, but they were under conviction that they had done wrong, and they were tired of looking over their shoulder, wondering when they were gonna get caught, and they wanted to do the right thing, so they went and turned themselves in for the crime, for the unsolved mystery, for the cold case, for the crime, for the financial crime, just said it's for the financial crime that they had done. And because they wanted to be forgiven, they wanted to get on with their life, they wanted to be free to face justice, pay the penalty, and then move on, forgiven, without having to worry about that anymore. And that's often what we need to do in Christ is we need to think about what is it that I need to be forgiven of? How can I seek that forgiveness? I need to ask God to forgive me, but sometimes we need to go to the individual or the people and ask them to forgive us. Sometimes we need to get help, sometimes we need to show that we've taken action so that we won't do it again, and then own up to it and to ask for forgiveness or to give forgiveness and to set people free. Set people free. Forgiveness sets people free. And when it comes to grace, grace doesn't eliminate justice, it fulfills it through redemptive love. So Paul isn't saying, you know, uh what Onesimus did didn't matter. He's saying that it did matter and it's a big deal, but I want you to consider forgiving him. Because number two, grace removes barriers and fuels gratitude. Grace removes barriers and fuels gratitude. So verse 18. Paul says, if he, if Onesimus has done any wrong or owes you anything, Philemon, charge it to me. Then he says, I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand, I will pay it back, not to mention that you owe me your very self. So Paul again is saying, I care about Onesimus, I'm vouching for Onesimus. If he's done whatever he owes you, whatever the penalty is, whatever he took, so when he ran away, it appears he must have stolen something, probably resources to go on the run. But Paul's like, Whatever it is, let me know, and I will put it on my account. I will take care of it. And then when Paul says I'm writing it, this in my own hand, and Paul had a problem. I don't know what was his with a thorn in the flesh, I don't know if it was his eyes or he had arthritis or what, but in one passage he says, See what I'm writing this with my own hand, see what large letters I am writing. So, but it made it legal. When Paul wrote it with his own hand, it was like a signed contract. What is it that people owe you that you could forgive them of? What is it that somebody that you know of owes somebody else that you have the means and resources to pay it on their behalf, to take care of that? What is it that you could do to help people move forward to show grace, to cancel those charges, to let go of those things holding that person back? To think about what it could be or what that person's life could be if they were free from the obligation, if they were free from the thing that caused them great trouble. So I've known people that had some resources that were able to set people free of financial debt or more specifically medical debt, and so that they were able to move forward in their life. It's a really cool thing when people have resources and they can come in and they can help. They can pay off loans, they can pay off things to help people move forward. What a good thing. But Paul says, I I vouch for Onesimus, I will pay back whatever he owes you. Together we are trying to make this right. Which reminds me of what it says in Colossians 2, 13 about our faith in Christ and about Jesus' grace, that we were dead because of our sins and because of our sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made us alive with Christ and forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. That is what grace does. Grace cancels debt. Grace goes out of its way to cover our sin. So God didn't just look down from heaven and say, Those are sinful people. So you know what? I'm just gonna forgive them. So I proclaim right now everybody's forgiven, because that didn't satisfy God's justice. And said somebody had to pay the price, and it was Jesus. Jesus paid the price for our sin on the cross. And he made it possible for us to be forgiven, not because of what we did or because of God's blanket statement of forgiveness, but because of the act of paying what was due to make things right so that we could be made right with God. Romans 6 23 says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, for us to receive that gift. When you graduate, you get gifts. Sometimes you get gifts. If you have a graduation open house, you probably get more gifts. But you send out your graduation announcements and relatives and family, and people like send you cards, and sometimes there's gifts in there. So I remember on my graduation, my parents gave me a very special gift, very meaningful, luggage. They knew I was gonna go to a Bible college, 1,200 miles away, so they were being helpful. But Jesus is the ultimate gift. When Jesus died on the cross, he made it possible for us by believing in him, by acknowledging what he did on the cross, that he came, that he suffered for our sins on the cross, that he died and rose again and ascended into heaven, making it possible for us to be made right with God. That is the ultimate form of grace. So to respond to this kind of grace, we have to trust in Jesus, the one who paid our debt, took our place, and offers new life. And so maybe everybody here has already received Jesus Christ. I don't know. Maybe you're still somewhere along the way. Maybe someone online is watching or listening, and they're ready to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. To experience God's grace to be forgiven, you don't have to earn it. You don't have to fix yourself up. You don't have to clean yourself up. You don't have to make yourself better. You just come to Jesus the way you are right now. Grace meets you right where you are. God is ready to forgive your past and give you a brand new start if you'll trust in his son Jesus. And you can do that by praying something like, Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that I am a sinner in need of salvation. I acknowledge that you came and lived among us, and you died on the cross for our sin and you rose again in victory over death, and that by me turning from sin and wanting to follow you, that I can be saved. So, Jesus, please come into my life, save me and make me the person you created me to be. I want to follow you. Amen. And if you did that, let us know so we can help you to grow in your Christian faith. That is so important to us. And grace isn't cheap. Grace costs something. And if we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, that does give us a ticket to heaven. That does get us a get out of hell card. That does give us an opportunity to have the Holy Spirit and to live the Christian life and so many things, even a spiritual gift to do things. But in 1 Corinthians 6, it says, Don't you know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies. When we show grace to other people, that is honoring God with our actions, with the things that we do. And we owe it to the Lord to show grace to people because he has shown so much grace for us. Number three, grace builds stronger relationships and points us towards God's future. So verse 20, Paul writes to Philemon, I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask. And what is the ask? The ask is forgive Onesimus, take him back in, treat him like a brother in Christ more than I ask. And he says, and one thing more, prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers. And so here we have Paul, who isn't manipulating, he's just sharing what he expects or hopes out of another Christ follower. He expects that Philemon will read this and say, Paul, you're absolutely right. Jesus has done so much for me. He's forgiven me of so much. Jesus has shown me so much grace that I should show grace and forgiveness to Anesimus, that I should take him in. And he was a useless slave before, but now he will be very useful as we move forward together in Christ. And what a good thing. And so then Paul lists a name, the names of the people that he is serving with that are part of this letter. And so he lists Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. So do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my co-workers. And I just want to point out in this list, real quickly, that Epaphras and Aristarchus, they're like sold-out followers for Christ and serving with Paul and doing what's right, super reliable. And at the time of this writing, so was Demas and Mark. So there was a time when Mark was unreliable, and that Paul said, you know what, I don't want him serving with us anymore. And then Barnabas came alongside and helped and all. But I really want to just focus on Demas for a minute. So there was a time, as I just mentioned, that Demas was faithfully serving Christ. And then slowly he fell away. So I don't know all of the things that happened, but we see that in 2 Timothy 4.10, that Paul writes about Demas, who was a fellow follower, that he writes, Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. What a sad thing. And that can happen to us. We can grow tired, we can grow weary, we can grow bored in the Christian faith if we're not spending time in God's word. Maybe we have bad experiences, maybe we don't show grace, maybe we don't receive grace, but it can cause us to follow away. And Demas had gone back to the world. And today we have graduates who are looking forward to their future and all of the things. I would strongly encourage the graduates to put Christ first in their life, to pray through things, to pray if God wants you to be married, to pray for a godly spouse, to pray for the right career, to pray for the right friends, to pray for the right opportunities, to look at every little job as an opportunity to learn new skills, maybe to find out what you like and what you don't like as you move forward in grace. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, is how Paul ends this letter. Bill Giovanetti in Grace Intervention writes about grace. It's a really good book. He writes, Grace is God empowering, the Spirit indwelling and Christ living through you day by day. Grace is the supernatural power to live each moment of every day to the fullest for the glory of God and the ultimate satisfaction of your own soul. Grace is turning from self to God, from self-effort to Christ effort, from working to resting, and trusting in a God who will see you through. If you need grace, if you need it, grace supplies it. If you break it, grace fixes it. If you lose it, grace finds it. If you spoil it, grace restores it. If you regret it, grace forgives it. If you're sick, grace heals. If you're dirty, grace cleanses. If you're down low, grace lifts you up. If you're up high, grace brings you up. Where you hurt, grace comforts. Where you fear, grace forfeits. Where you doubt, grace convinces. Where you can't, grace can. For the deluded, grace brings truth. For the addicted, grace brings freedom. For the dysfunctional, grace brings wholeness. For the lonely, grace brings love. For the lost, grace brings a salvation so far reaching that words cannot do it justice. Grace is the work of God, doing the thing you need, exactly when you need it. Done on the basis of the finished work of Christ, not on the basis of what you've earned or deserved. The end line is grace isn't just a gift, it's the foundation you build your life on. But next time we get together when God's grace strengthens everyday heroes, where we'll look at what Paul writes in 2 Timothy about being living our lives like faithful soldiers, disciplined athletes, and hardworking farmers, not in our own strength, but through the power of Christ. So I'm going to pray. Jesus, we thank you so much for grace. We thank you that we can experience grace, that we can show grace. God, show us what we can do to be more graceful. Lord, I pray that we would take this little letter that Paul wrote to Philemon and personalize it and see the great love that is shown. Lord, I pray that as we continue with a series on grace, that we would be a church known for grace and that you would do good things. So we just thank you for the graduates. We thank you for everything that's going on here. We thank you for what you've done and what you're gonna do in Jesus' name. Amen.