Scripture Daily

Context No. 1824 of 4322 · Philemon

Context · Reflection

Philemon 1:17-25: in context

17If then you count me a partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18But if he has wronged you at all or owes you anything, put that to my account. 19I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it (not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self besides). 20Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in the Lord. 21Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even beyond what I say. 22Also, prepare a guest room for me, for I hope that through your prayers I will be restored to you. 23Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, 24as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. 25The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Paul writes to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus, a runaway slave who has become a believer. Receive him, Paul asks, as you would receive me. And then he makes a remarkable offer: if he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge it to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand; I will repay it. He takes the debt of the offender upon himself, asking that Onesimus be received not on the basis of his own record, but on Paul's.

Paul's words hold a picture of the very heart of the gospel. Onesimus had wronged Philemon; there was a real debt, a real offense on his record. And Paul steps in and says, charge it to my account; I will repay. He takes the offender's debt upon himself, so that Onesimus can be received not according to what he owes, but according to Paul, and asks Philemon to welcome the guilty one as he would welcome the innocent Paul. This is exactly what Christ has done for us, on an infinitely greater scale. We are the ones with the debt, the record of wrong, the offense that stands against us. And Christ steps in and says, in effect, charge it to my account; I will repay. He takes our debt upon himself, pays it with his own life, so that we are received by the Father not according to what we owe, but according to Christ; God welcomes the guilty as he welcomes his own beloved Son, because the Son has taken our debt on himself. The LORD laid on him the iniquity of us all; he who knew no sin was made sin for us. Paul's little request for Onesimus is a small echo of this great exchange: the debt of the guilty charged to the account of another, so that the guilty may be received on the other's merit. And there is a model in it for us, too. To intercede for the offender, to bear another's cost, to ask that the guilty be received and given a fresh start rather than held to their record, is to do something like what Paul did for Onesimus, and something like what Christ has done for us all. We who have been received on Christ's account, our debt charged to him, are called to extend the same grace to others, bearing their cost and asking that they be received.

Do I grasp that Christ has said of my debt, charge it to my account, taking my record of wrong upon himself so that I am received on his merit and not my own, and can I extend that same grace to others, interceding for the offender and bearing their cost, as Paul did for Onesimus?

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