Charge It to My Account
Today's Verse:
If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account; ~Philemon 1:18
One of the largest industries in the world is the credit card industry. Billions of dollars are transacted annually in most foreign countries. Regardless of the language, consumers of all developed nations utilize credit cards for their purchases. Sometimes, we will entertain another person or family at a restaurant and when it is time to pay the bill, one of us will say, “Charge that to my account.” Those are the words that the Apostle Paul said to his friend Philemon concerning a personal debt that Onesimus owed him. What did Paul mean when he said, “Put that on mine account”?
We see a personal responsibility.
“If he hath wronged thee.” Have you ever been wronged by another person? Has anyone ever done something to offend or hurt you intentionally or unintentionally? If so, you most likely had to battle with feelings of ill will, bitterness, and unforgiveness. You probably marked that person as being someone that you would not have anything to do with again. In life, we must face the reality that we will be wronged. However, we have a choice to make: we can live our life with the sin of unforgiveness or we can take the high road and seek reconciliation. We have a personal responsibility to keep all accounts short and paid up.
We see the pardoned release.
Onesimus was a slave who ran away from Philemon. This was considered a capital offense that was punishable by death. Amazingly, Onesimus meets the Apostle Paul and gets saved! Paul starts the discipling process with Onesimus and uncovers the fact that he had two good friends who needed to make things right with each other. Paul told Philemon that Onesimus had been forgiven by God for all his sins and that he was sending Onesimus back to Philemon so that he could forgive him for running away. Can you imagine how uncomfortable these two men must have felt? The point here is that Onesimus experienced a pardoned release from God when he got saved. How much more Philemon needed to exercise forgiveness to Onesimus and make his account clear.
We see the faithful role.
There is the role of the one who was willing to exercise imputation. “If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account.” I will repay it. Paul loved Onesimus so much that he was willing to pay the capital sum to Philemon to make right for all civil damages that he felt he was due. This is a beautiful picture of the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross for our sins. Our sins were placed on His account, and all of our sins were paid in full by Him. We see the role of the peacemaker in Paul. Paul took incredible risks by being a peacemaker. He could have gotten both men angry with him and lost two friends. Instead, his role brought the two men close to each other again. More importantly, Paul drew closer to God. Peacemakers are promised they will see God. We see the one demonstrated he was a great Christian. That was Philemon. His name means “one who kisses” or “affectionate love.” Paul called him "dearly beloved" in v. 1. Philemon lived up to his name and even more. He let bygones be bygones. He forgave Onesimus, took him back, gave him back his job, and elevated his status to that of a brother. Philemon exceeded Paul’s request.
It takes a lot of character and Christ-likeness to do what Philemon and Paul did. Some people would say Paul was meddling in an affair that was none of his business. However, as a preacher, Paul made it his business for all men to live at peace with each other. Imputation is a powerful action. Be thankful this morning that Jesus placed all your sins on His account.
Have a fulfilling God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Deuteronomy 4-5