Whom I have sent again: thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels:
Onesimus was a pagan slave who had wronged Philemon, his Christian master, and escaped to Rome. In Rome Paul relieved his poverty and distress, taught him the truth, and led him to confess his sins and be converted to Christ. Onesimus endeared himself to Paul by piety and sincerity and by tender care for his comfort and zeal for the gospel, showing traits that would make him a useful helper in missionary labor.
Paul counseled him to return without delay to ask Philemon for forgiveness and plan for the future, promising to take responsibility for the amount that had been stolen. The verse records Paul sending him back to Philemon in Colosse with Tychicus, who was carrying letters to churches in Asia Minor. Returning and giving himself up to the master he had wronged was a severe test, and by not turning aside from duty Onesimus proved his conversion was genuine.
The appeal to receive him means to welcome Onesimus with the same affection that would be shown to Paul himself, as Paul's own child. Through conversion Onesimus is now a beloved brother rather than merely a servant, and he is to be received willingly and with affection. The letter shows how the gospel changes the relationship between master and servant, so that those who share faith are to be treated with Christian regard rather than as objects of a degrading and cruel system.
Onesimus was a pagan slave who had wronged Philemon, his Christian master, and escaped to Rome. In Rome Paul relieved his poverty and distress, taught him the truth, and led him to confess his sins and be converted to Christ. Onesimus endeared himself to Paul by piety and sincerity and by tender care for his comfort and zeal for the gospel, showing traits that would make him a useful helper in missionary labor.
Paul counseled him to return without delay to ask Philemon for forgiveness and plan for the future, promising to take responsibility for the amount that had been stolen. The verse records Paul sending him back to Philemon in Colosse with Tychicus, who was carrying letters to churches in Asia Minor. Returning and giving himself up to the master he had wronged was a severe test, and by not turning aside from duty Onesimus proved his conversion was genuine.
The appeal to receive him means to welcome Onesimus with the same affection that would be shown to Paul himself, as Paul's own child. Through conversion Onesimus is now a beloved brother rather than merely a servant, and he is to be received willingly and with affection. The letter shows how the gospel changes the relationship between master and servant, so that those who share faith are to be treated with Christian regard rather than as objects of a degrading and cruel system.