Paul instructs Philemon on how, as a child of God, he should receive his runaway slave, Onesimus. By commanding Philemon to receive Onesimus as more than a slave, but as a brother, forgiving his debts, and graciously accepting him into his home. In doing so, Paul commands Philemon, like all Christians, to relate to believers in a way that illustrates the Gospel and imitates what Christ did for the lost.