Philemon 1:8

Wherefore, though I have all boldness in Christ to enjoin thee that which is befitting,

Paul never for a moment relinquished his right of command as an apostle of Jesus Christ; but this verse, with the next, has the effect of saying, "Please do not consider the request that I am about to make as an order; it is not that at all, but an earnest plea from brother to brother."

Though I have all boldness ... to enjoin ... "This is a distinct assertion of the right to command."[21]

Why did not Paul utter that command? There can be no doubt the Philemon would have obeyed it, whether as a formal command or an earnest entreaty. The answer must lie in the fact that had any apostle written a commandment for Christian slave owners to free their slaves, the whole posture of Christianity with regard to the loathsome institution of slavery would have been altered. Persecutions, already looming, would have been a thousand times more vindictive and destructive; and slaves by the thousands would have "accepted" Christianity whether converted or not, and a revolution would have been precipitated. Yet, we do not believe that it was fear of the consequences that caused Paul to make the approach he made here. He did so because it was right; it was the way of the Lord; for Christianity does not operate in the social order as dynamite, but as leaven.