Philemon was a slave owner and a Christian who lived in Colosse. Paul had evidently been there or had met Philemon somewhere else and shared the gospel with him. Philemon received Christ as his Savior through Paul’s ministry, and Paul may have visited in the town and church there. Evidently either Paul knew of Onesimus or Onesimus knew of Paul because at some point in time Onesimus got tired of being a slave for Philemon, apparently stole some money or valuables from Philemon, and escaped to Rome; he possibly thought he could earn enough money to take care of himself, but, when he got to Rome he was probably broke, knew that Paul was somewhere in town and sought him out. We don’t know the whole story, but Paul writes that Onesimus became a Christian under Paul’s ministry and spent some time helping him. Now Paul is writing to Philemon asking him to receive Onesimus back as more than a slave because he was a fellow believer. Paul put a lot of pressure on Philemon to do the right thing, and it will be a wonderful story to hear later from Philemon and Onesimus.
Key Verse: I appeal to you to show kindness to my child, Onesimus. I became his father in the faith while here in prison. Philemon 10 NLT.