Paul reminds Philemon early in this letter that he prays for him, that they are in fellowship through prayer. But twice in this letter he also uses forms of the most common word for fellowship in the New Testament. You have probably heard the word koinonia before. It is used regularly in Christian churches when speaking of the kind of shared life that we have together, the fellowship that we have together in Christ. We see the word, and the idea, In Philemon 1:6: I pray that the sharing of faith may become effective for the knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. That word sharing is the word koinonia. In other words, Philemon has fellowship. Fellowship with the whole church arises from faith in Jesus Christ, and Paul wants that fellowship to work deeply in Philemon, so that he might come more and more to understand all that he has in Christ. And that will happen as his fellowship encompasses an Onesimus through forgiveness, and he welcomes him back as a brother.
In Philemon 1:17, we see another form of this word: if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. That word partner is a variant of koinonia. And Paul here is speaking of himself not as a business partner, but rather as a participant with Philemon in the privileges and responsibilities that go with being joined to Jesus Christ. The New Testament scholar Douglas Moo explains this in his comment on this verse: He says, “When people believe in Christ, they become identified with one another in an intimate association, and incur both benefits and responsibilities of that communion. The letter to Philemon I believe is fundamentally about those responsibilities, as Paul, Onesimus and Philemon, bound together in faith, are forced by circumstances to think through the radical implications of their koinonia."1
Tom Ascol
4 I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers,