«No longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother»(Philemon 1:16).
SLAVERY, the fact that a person was the property of another, existed from very early times. Slavery was used in the Roman Empire as a very common social and economic practice. The Middle Ages also kept slavery alive, and no one will ever forget the sad story that humanity lived during the colonization of new worlds. Historians suggest numbers that differ, but it is estimated that the numbers of people who were used as slave labor in America, Asia, or Europe were in the millions.
In the Bible, there is a letter written by the apostle Paul to Philemon that has to do with a slave named Onesimus. This slave had escaped from his master, Philemon, and Paul had made friends with him in prison. Jail changed the life of Onesimus. Paul spoke to him about Jesus, and Onesimus became a new creature. In this beautiful letter, Paul makes a moving appeal to Philemon: he asks him to receive Onesimus again, no longer as a slave, but as a beloved brother in the Lord. Finally, he tells him that if Onesimus had wronged him in any way, he should put it on Paul’s account, which he himself would pay when he got out of prison (see Philemon 1:19). What a beautiful story that tells us about the concept that Christians have about human relations: they ought to develop in freedom, equal to equal, without mutual exploitation, and each one dependent on Christ.
Spiritually speaking, we were all born slaves to sin, but «Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery» (Galatians 5: 1, NIV). That salvation that Christ achieved for us also frees us from the slavery of fear: «For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father'» (Romans 8:15).Our freedom has been conferred on us thanks to the sacrifice of Christ in our favor. Jesus asked the Father to accept us, forgive us, and receive us as beloved daughters.
Our debts have been paid and the marks of slavery are only a memory. «But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life» (Romans 6:22).