Philemon

The letter to Philemon is short, but it reveals something radical about the Gospel: it transforms us, and it changes how we see people. Paul appeals to Philemon not to view Onesimus through the old categories of “slave” and “master,” but as a brother in Christ. Instead of commanding Philemon, Paul appeals in love, even offering to pay any debt Onesimus might owe. In doing so, Paul steps into the middle like a bridge, carrying the weight of the broken relationship so the two can be reconciled. This reflects the way Christ stands in the middle for us—absorbing our debt so that we might be reconciled to God and to one another. The Gospel transforms not only how we see God, but how we see each other. In Christ, God and sinner, slave and free, meet as family.