Imagine what it was like for Onesimus to hear Paul tell him, "Hey, I'm sending a group back to Colossae and I want you to go with them." To go back to the town and the master (Philemon) he had run away from certainly introduced fear and uncertainty for Onesimus. He was afraid and uncertain about the possibility of punishment and the reputation he had going back.

Onesimus had been transformed by the gospel. He was not the same guy anymore. He had a new status (not as a runaway slave but as precious son) and a new purpose (no longer as a bondservant but now as a beloved brother).

But he still had to go back to Philemon in humble repentance, confessing how he had wronged Philemon. If we want to see our relationships changed by the gospel we, like Onesimus, must become people quick to repent of our mistakes.