I CAN DO ALL THINGS (PART VII)

“Better Than a Slave”

By Akin Ojumu

In this commentary series, we are examining what Paul meant when he wrote in his letter to the Church in Philippi that he could do all things. It’s a humble attempt by a novice to put on Paul’s skin, enter Paul’s mind, put on Paul’s shoes, and sit where Paul sat when he let those words flow out of his mind through the pen onto the papyrus. We want to understand what he was thinking at the particular moment he said these words:

Philippians 4:13

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

There are many reasons why it’s important we understand what this verse actually means, not the least of which is the way it has been abused and misused by preachers, ordinary Christians, and even non-Christians alike. Often misquoted and misinterpreted, Philippians 4:13 is used for inspiratory purposes and co-opted into motivational speeches. Footballers and other athletes write this verse on their eye black, i.e., the black patches below the eyes, during games.

Context is key to unlocking the meaning of any Bible text. Without the context, a Bible text becomes a pretext for a proof text. R. Scott Clark provides what I consider a great description of proof texting Scriptures in his essay titled, “Any Text Without A Context Is Pretext For A Prooftext,” published on The Heidelblog on May 16, 2025.

There are real problems with ignoring original context and original intent. First, we effectively lose the Scriptures. If the Scriptures really mean what they mean to this reader, and that reader (no matter if those readings contradict each other), then there is no text of Scripture. The reader becomes the text because the reader is determining the text.

A second great problem is that, invariably, when the text is decontextualized from its original setting and re-contextualized in our setting, Scripture is no longer a historical text but is turned into a myth or a moral story. If the text can be removed from history, then it does not really matter if it is historically true so long as it is morally true.

A third problem is that deconstructing Scripture this way fundamentally corrupts its message. When we treat Scripture thus, when we lift passages out of their context, even under the context of “applying them,” we change the message of the text. This is the brilliance of Dr Bergsma’s aphorism. Any (biblical) text, without a (historical, grammatical, canonical, and literary) context, is a pretext (an opportunity falsely taken) for a proof-text (a text abused by a preacher or Bible study leader to make a point that is not actually being made by the text itself). 

Historically, the most frequent result of the abuse of Scripture this way is to make the text to be about “me” or “us” rather than about Christ (however revealed in the text), his objective moral law, his saving acts and Word, and his church (in whatever epoch of redemptive history). Scripture is not, in the first instance, about “us” or “me.” In the first instance, Scripture is about God the Holy Trinity. It is about creation, redemption, and consummation. It is about the progress of redemptive history and revelation. It is about the salvation of God’s people in Christ. We come into the story rather late. It has massive implications for us. We do have to find ourselves in the story that God has written, but it is a great mistake to make the text about us.

To which I say, “Amen! Preach, Brother Scott!”

The immediate context of Philippians 4:13 is Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome in AD 60-62. Confined under house arrest, Paul seized the opportunity provided by the solitude of solitary confinement to write the Prison Epistles (Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, Philippians). After two years, and having been exonerated in his trial by Emperor Nero, Paul would be released. Following his release, history has it that Paul continued his missionary travels for another two years when he eventually traveled to Spain and wrote his first letter to Timothy.

A few years after his release from prison, though, Paul was arrested again and imprisoned in Rome a second time around A.D. 66-67. This second imprisonment occurred after Emperor Nero had set Rome on fire. As rumor spread that the emperor was responsible for setting the imperial city on fire, Nero, in an attempt to divert suspicion from himself, put the blame squarely on the shoulders of Christians. Like the raving lunatic that he was, the emperor went scorched earth on the Christians, declaring them enemies of the state and targeting them as his convenient scapegoats. As a result, Christians were mobbed and an untold number of them were arrested and massacred, including notable Christian leaders such as Peter and Paul.  

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves now. We are still at Paul’s first imprisonment in AD 60-62. Living in his own rented apartment but, nonetheless, chained round the clock to a rotating shift of centurion guards, Paul had some measure of freedom to receive visitors, preach and teach the Gospel, and write letters to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. 

One of the visitors Paul received in his rented apartment was a fugitive slave by the name of Onesimus. It was on his behalf that Paul wrote the letter to Philemon, a wealthy slave owner from Colossae to whom Onesimus belonged as a slave.

Years earlier, Paul had led Philemon to Christ, probably during the three years Paul spent at Ephesus. As a believer in Christ, Philemon had matured in the faith and had become a prominent member of the Church at Colossae, which was approximately 120 miles east of Ephesus. Being a wealthy man, Philemon who owned a large house and a number of slaves. The Colossians Church actually met at his house.

Philemon 1:1-2

“To Philemon our beloved fellow worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets at your house.”

Philemon’s slave, Onesimus, had fled to Rome after running away from his master. Before he ran away, though, he had also stolen some unspecified amount of money from his master.

Philemon 1:18-19

“But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand. I will repay it – not to mention that you owe me your very self.”

Perhaps, because Rome was a huge metropolis crowded with lots and lots of people from all over the Roman empire, Onesimus probably hoped he could lose himself in the imperial capital’s teeming and nondescript slave population. He must have thought that by mixing with the crowd, he would become just another unrecognizable face among the millions of faces milling around Rome. But God had a different plan for Onesimus.

While hiding in a place far away from his earthly master, Onesimus could not hide from his heavenly master who is everywhere. By the providential workings of God, Onesimus met Paul in Rome. The Almighty God orchestrated events for these two unlikely men to meet in an equally unlikely place like Rome. 

Even though we don’t exactly know how Paul and Onesimus met in such a crowded city and given the fact Paul was confined to a house arrest and chained to a centurion guard, God made it happen anyway. As soon as Onesimus met Paul, his life would never be the same again. Paul preached the Gospel to Onesimus and he was led to the saving knowledge of Christ. 

Philemon 1:10

“I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I became while I was in chains.”

Onesimus, whose name means “useful,” was, hitherto, useless to his master. But as soon as he got born again, his story changed. A born-again Onesimus was now able to live up to his name when he became an assistant to Paul, ministering to the needs of the apostle of Christ. The moment Onesimus received Christ into his life as his Lord and Savior, Philemon’s useless slave became useful to God by being useful to a bondslave of the Lord Jesus Christ. God placed Onesimus in Rome and caused his path to cross with Paul’s for the very purpose of the latter in the work of spreading the Gospel message through the capital of idolatry.

Philemon 1:11

“Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.”

Notwithstanding his usefulness to him, however, instead of keeping Onesimus at his side permanently, Paul sent him back to his master. He probably did this to fulfil a provision in the Roman law which required that all runaway slaves be returned to their owners when found. So, Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon in the company of Tychicus with high praise.

Philemon 1:12-16

“I am sending back to you him who is my very heart. I would have liked to keep him with me, so that on your behalf he could minister to me in my chains for the gospel. But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness will not be out of compulsion, but by your own free will. For perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back for good – no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a beloved brother. He is especially beloved to me, but even more so to you, both in person and in the Lord.”

The apostle quickly grew to love this runaway slave (vv. 12, 16) and longed to keep Onesimus in Rome (v. 13), where he was providing valuable service to Paul in his imprisonment (v. 11). But by stealing and running away from Philemon, Onesimus had broken Roman law and defrauded his master. Paul knew those issues had to be dealt with, and decided to send Onesimus back to Colosse. It was too hazardous for him to make the trip alone (because of the danger of slave catchers), so Paul sent him back with Tychicus, who was returning to Colosse with the epistle to the Colossians (Colossians. 4:7–9). Along with Onesimus, Paul sent Philemon this beautiful personal letter, urging him to forgive Onesimus and welcome him back to service as a brother in Christ (vv. 15–17) (Source: The MacArthur Bible Commentary).

Later on in life, Onesimus would become the bishop of Ephesus, a city where he served the Lord faithfully. In the early 2nd century AD, he would eventually be martyred for his faith, possibly by stoning or beheading. 

The story of Onesimus is the story of divine providence. It’s the story of how God, from the beginning of time, orchestrated events that would lead to the unlikely encounter between a bondslave of Christ and a fugitive slave in the most unlikely places. When the Spirit of God compelled Paul to go to Rome, God must have had Onesimus in mind. God’s gracious plan for Onesimus was fulfilled when he met Paul in Rome, heard the Gospel preached, and was saved.

Onesimus’s story is the classic picture of one who tries to run from God, a good and gracious Master, but instead runs right into His arms. Through salvation, the fugitive sinner finds grace, forgiveness, and the freedom that is found only in Jesus Christ (Source: Got Questions).

With many Jews getting saved and a fugitive slave coming to the knowledge of Christ, Paul’s imprisonment in Rome is already up to a great start. But guess what? This is just the beginning of the plundering and pillaging of the kingdom of darkness. There are still many more doomed souls that would be saved through the preaching of Paul in Rome, including members of the household of Caesar. 

Philippians 4:22

“All God’s people here send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household.”

So, stay tuned till next time to hear the rest.