Philemon 1:15-18 "For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever; (16) Not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh, and in the Lord? (17) If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself. (18) If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account"
I repeat verses 15 and 16 in order to have the thought flow smoothly into
verses 17 and 18. To refresh our direction of thought, Paul is encouraging
Philemon to receive Onesimus back to himself. He wants him to receive the
former slave not as a servant; rather he is encouraged to receive him as a
brother. That was unheard of in that day and required much grace on the part of
Philemon.
When I read verses 17 and 18, I see a beautiful picture of my Lord. "If
you count me as a partner, receive him as myself." If I understand the
relationship that we have with our precious Lord and Saviour, God sees His Son
in us when He looks upon us. God has received us into His family as His adopted
children because of and through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. He loves us
with a love that is equal to that which He loves His only begotten Son. This
amazes me to think of the depth of love God has for me, unworthy as I am.
I look to the word of Jesus to verify this: "And the glory which
thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
(23) I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in
one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them,
as thou hast loved me." (John 17:22-23)
Again, I see my precious Lord as I read these words: "If he owes you
anything, put it on my account." We read in Hebrews 10:12, "But
this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the
right hand of God" We cannot take this to mean that we are given
free license to live like the world; for God has said He chastises those whom
He loves. If we walk away from God, there is correction that will be
administered. But even that is an expression of the very love of God that has
freely been bestowed upon us. The one sacrifice that was made by Jesus Christ
is sufficient to cover the debt for all our sins. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.
I hope we have found rest, hope, and encouragement as we have read this little
book of Philemon. The rest of the book is instruction for Philemon
concerning the fact that Paul, and we can assume Onesimus, are on their way to
see him. I encourage a repeat of reading this book as you can see the
work of our Lord concerning each of His children in the manner in which Paul
interceded on behalf of Onesimus, the FORMER slave.