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Philemon 1:10-11
10 I beseech [parakaleo] thee [se] for [peri] my [emos] son [teknon] Onesimus [Onesimos], whom [hos] I have begotten [gennao] in [en] my [mou] bonds [desmon]:
11 Which [ho] in time past [pote] was [achrestos] to thee [soi] unprofitable [achrestos], but [de] now [nuni] profitable [euchrestos] to thee [soi] and [kai] to me [emoi]: KJV-Interlinear
10 I appeal to you for my child, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment, Onesimus, 11 who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. NASB
Onesimus left Philemon, and somehow made his way to where Paul was in prison. Onesimus is said to be useless and now is useful.
That means simply that as a slave to Philemon, Onesimus was an unconverted person. Unconverted people are useless to their masters.
God is our master, so anyone who lacks salvation, anyone who lacks spiritual growth, is a useless person. A useless person can’t be used for anything. They are inconsistent, unreliable, untrustworthy, and so forth.
Paul was not exactly advertising for converts. So how did Onesimus, a useless and unconverted person, make his way to where Paul was?
Well, useless people simply float along in the fog of the world. They are clueless as to where they are, and clueless as to where they are going. This characteristic applies to all unbelievers, and to all spiritually negative believers.
Doctrine is truth and truth is light. You can only see when there is light. Without light, you cannot see. And that applies to the realities of life.
Remember that we are studying the Bible and the Bible is one long series of parables, which takes life’s experiences and uses them to describe spiritual concepts.
Anyway, somehow, deep down inside, Onesimus was positive toward God, but he did not realize it until one day he happened to meet up with Paul. How that occurred, we do not know. But, needless to say it did occur and Onesimus believed in Christ.
So much so, that he began traveling with Paul’s associates, teaching the gospel and doing whatever he was doing for Paul, Col. 4:9.
This letter is an appeal to Philemon, to release Onesimus of his debts he owed, or wrongs he had done, to Philemon, because now Onesimus has become a transformed and very useful person, to both Paul and to Philemon.
Onesimus is useful to Paul because he is helping him in his ministry. He is useful to Philemon, because he is now a fellow believer in Christ. All believers whether we know them or not, are useful to each one of us because there is a mutual benefit received from God for believers. Onesimus is now useful to God, in that he is advancing in his spiritual life, and God uses prepared believers within His divine plan.
