This one is an unusual letter, but you are going to love getting to know the people in it. Paul is writing to Philemon to save one of Paul’s ‘spiritual sons’, Onesimus, and his cheeky request comes with everything that makes Paul amazing. The question you are going to ask yourself at the end of this letter is, ‘Did Philemon obey Paul?’
Paul is a lot of things in his letters – fiery, passionate, self-effacing, confident, controversial, and in this letter of Philemon, he is completely cheeky. As we went through in our Snapshot video, Paul is writing to one of the leaders of the house groups in Colosse, Philemon, asking him to pardon his slave, Onesimus. Paul does it with such cheek and confidence that you can only imagine the reaction of Philemon.
One of the unrecognised facets of any New Testament letter is the fact that they were read publicly to the addressed audience. The letter was written with an oral performance in mind; therefore, the structure and argument of it was a speech. More importantly, they were speeches designed to persuade.