Philemon

“… no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother … both in the flesh and in the Lord” (v16). The Roman world was divided between citizen and non-citizen, slave and free, male and female, Jew and non-Jew, etc. Paul wrote to Philemon because his run-away slave Onesimus had become a believer and Paul’s friend in prison. Demonstrating that the rigid lines of separation were erased by love, Paul urged Philemon to welcome Onesimus home as a brother.

Salvation in Jesus means acknowledging our common humanity: all are equally sinful, equally loved, and equally capable of being redeemed.