Philemon 4-5 4I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5because I hear of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints,
Paul begins the body of his letter like many of his other letters with a word of thanksgiving to God. The body of ancient letters like this usually contained thanksgiving and prayer to a deity. Most of Paul’s letters begin this way except Galatians, 2 Corinthians, 1 Timothy, and Titus. This is the shortest of any thanksgiving sections in Paul’s letters, possibly because he is writing a personal letter and needs to get to the point. Philemon can also read the longer letter sent along to the Colossians. He expresses his thanksgiving when he goes to God in prayer. When I remember comes from present active participle and noun that literally mean “making memory or mention.” When he thought of Philemon, his heart swelled with gratefulness for God’s work in Philemon’s life. This is described more specifically in the next verse. Always emphasizes Paul’s spiritual habit of prayer. The plural of prayers also adds to the frequency of Paul’s praying for Philemon. Paul’s prayer list must have been long as he thought of all the people he had met, places he had gone, and names he knew.
One of the reasons for Paul’s thanksgiving is given in verse 5 in the form of a causal adverbial participle because I hear (akouōn). Word had gotten back to him of the growth of Philemon’s love and faith. Here was a man of some means who had become a believer in Jesus and Lord and Savior. His sincerity can be seen with Paul’s description of him here. Love and faith are often listed together along with hope in Paul’s letters (1 Corinthians 13:13; 2 Corinthians 8:7; Galatians 5:6; Ephesians 1:5; 6:23; Colossians 1:4; 1 Thessalonians 3:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:3; 1 Timothy 1:5; 1 Timothy 2:15; 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:13; Titus 2:2). The last clause in this verse could modify either love or faith. The closest reference points back to faith: Philemon had a growing faith in the Lord Jesus. His love could have been directed to either Jesus or all the saints. It is possible that the verse follows ABBA pattern: love is directed towards the saints and faith is directed towards Jesus. Or, Philemon could have been loving and faithful to both Jesus and the saints. His love and faith towards Jesus would show up in how he cared for the members of his house church. This verse shows that Philemon was maturing as a believer, and this was evident in his relationships with others. This will be an important hint and a rhetorical ploy to build up Philemon. Paul will appeal to both Philemon’s love and faith in order to deal gently with the situation about Onesimus.
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