Thursday – Letters

Reading – Philemon

Highlight Verse:

“I am sending him back to you, and with him comes my own heart.”
‭‭Philemon‬ ‭1‬:‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

There are times that I’ve read this and wondered, “What are you doing, Paul? Why send a slave back to his master?”

Certainly, those who ran the Underground Railway during days of slavery in the US were doing the right thing.

Today it is certainly right to do whatever possible to stop human trafficking.

So, why did Paul return a slave to his master?

I’m sure a big part of it was that he knew both Philemon and Onesimus and expected them to act more like brothers in Christ than slave and master.

Would he have sent Onesimus back if that weren’t true?

I suspect not.

While slavery was legal in the Roman Empire at that time, that didn’t make it right.

Paul openly disobeyed the law in various places by preaching. He ended up in prison and eventually executed for his obedience to God’s law rather than society’s law.

If Philemon had been a tyrannical master, I’m sure Paul would have protected Onesimus.

What do you think? Should Paul have returned Onesimus?
Should he have taken a stand against slavery? Explain.