“THE BOOK
OF PHILEMON”
“JUSTIFIED:
To be
declared innocent”
“If he
hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine
account;” (Philemon
1:18)
“As you
ponder on your own salvation, this is one of the most important and
heart
moving books of the Bible!.” It contains a very practical example of
the
doctrine of justification.
But you
might say “Philemon? It is only one chapter of 25
verses. How can it be
that important?
What about
Genesis where we have God showing his glory in his
creation of six
days?
What about
David’s 150 Psalms where we discover the
magnificence
and character of God himself?
What about
the book of Matthew where we have the detailed account
of Christ as “…a man
approved of God among you by miracles and
wonders and signs …” (Acts 2:22)?
What about
the book of Romans where God reveals his righteousness
in Jesus Christ?”
And dear
Reader, all
this is true.
Question
Have you
ever done something wrong to another person, and instead of
going to him or her,
and trying
to fix it up, you just wanted to run away?
Well, this
is what
happened to Onesmius. He was a servant of Philemon. Now we aren’t told
what he
did, but it involved stealing money or goods. So Onesimus, not a
Christian,
just took off for Rome about one thousand miles away, which was about
as far as
he could get away. Here he meets Paul, who leads him to the Lord and he
gets
saved. Paul then sends him back to his master, Philemon, with a letter.
So here we
have it,
on what
basis was Onesimus hoping to clear
his name before
Philemon? The fact was that Onesimus was
guilty of stealing, and Philemon and Paul also knew it!
He
couldn’t say
“Dear Master Philemon, I didn’t steal from you.” No.
He
must say “Dear Master, I have stolen from you, but my debt will be paid
for by
the goodness of Paul!”
And
here’s what the word “justify” means – it’s to be able to stand before
someone
and say “I am innocent.” To “justify” yourself is to declare
you
are without blame.
Background
information
Under old
English
law, if a man was found guilty of a crime, a penalty had to be paid.
For
example, if he
killed someone, an ‘eye for an eye’ was enforced. He had to pay with
his own
life. When he was executed, he was said to have been justified. Upon his
death he was
then declared
innocent. If
another person
paid the penalty, and died in his place, he was also said to be
justified. The law
had been satisfied with a life for a life.
Now if he
was
guilty of stealing, as long as he paid back the money, or someone else
did on
his behalf, he was cleared of
the crime, and was justified, and declared
innocent, before the
law. He could
say “I am innocent as the penalty of the law has been paid. I
am now not guilty. I am justified!”
Justification
then,
involves satisfying
the demand of the law.
With
Paul’s
backing, Onesimus could now say “I am innocent. I can now justify
myself. I am
justified. Dear Philemon, my debt has been paid. I am not guilty. The law
has been satisfied.”
God has
laws as well. Have you ever broken any of them?
God’s laws
are
Honour thy
father and thy mother: … Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not
commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not
bear false
witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbour's
house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant,
nor his
maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy
neighbour's.
Exodus 20:12-15,16-17
How about
I am the
LORD thy God …Thou
shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any
likeness
of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,
or that
is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to
them, nor
serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God … Thou shalt not
take
the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not
hold him
guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Exodus 20:2-5,6-7
In summary
Thou shalt
love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all
thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is
like unto
it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:37-40
Are
you guilty” Of course you are, as all have sinned (Rom 3:23).
How
then can you now stand before God and declare you are innocent? How can
you say
“Dear God, I know you have laws that demand to be kept. I have never
broken any of them, so therefore I declare myself innocent. I
am not
guilty of breaking any of them. I am JUSTIFIED.”
No,
of
course you can’t. You cannot declare yourself innocent before the Lord.
Can
you say?
“Dear God
I now stand before you JUSTIFIED (JUST – AS
–
IF – I’D) never
sinned. Jesus
Christ has paid for all my sins – past, present and future. My slate
has been
wiped clean with you and it is by Christ’s blood, that I can do this.
His blood
is the only payment that you will accept as payment. Dear God, I am now
right
with you. I now have right standing with you. I do not have any right
standing
with you because of what I have done, but I totally rely on Christ’s
perfect
record. I have utterly failed to keep any of your laws but Christ
himself has
kept them on my behalf. He has paid my sin debt to you that I could
never pay.
Now his 100% perfect life has been put into my heavenly bank account “JUST AS
IF I’D” paid the
debt myself.”
I have
been justified (JUST – AS –IF – I’D) with
God. JUST – AS –IF – I’D never sinned.
I now have
right
standing with God (righteousness), my sin debt has been paid.
Paul’s letter is one of tact, courtesy, generosity and delicate wording appealing to Philemon, to accept Onesimus back as he would receive Paul (v17). Paul’s object was to intercede on Onesimus’ behalf, pay Philemon any money he was owed, and have Philemon forgive the runaway slave and receive him back as a Christian brother. Indeed, Paul writes to Philemon If thou (Philemon) count me (Paul) therefore a partner, receive him (Onesimus) as myself. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account; (Phil 17-18)
DO YOU
RECOGNIZE THE APPLICATION? (Simply
change the names)
Philemon
= God the Father; Paul = Jesus Christ; Onesimus
= you & me
Paul paid
Onesimus’ money debt he owed to Philemon.
Similarly,
Christ
pays the sin debt we owe to God the Father
Christ has
given
you his sinless record and put this into your account. A transfer has
occurred
– your sin debt has been given the Christ and his sinlessness, and
right
standing with God, has been given to you. Your slate has been wiped
clean now
and forever more. Nothing more to pay.
Yes dear
Reader, this is why we can be called the sons of God. It is
because that God became a man and shed his own blood for our salvation.
“… the
church of God, which he hath purchased with
his own blood. Acts 20:28”
What did
Christ do for us?
Jesus
Christ says
to God the Father - “If You (God), regard Me (Jesus Christ) as a
partner (which
he does), accept him (__________ your name) as You would Me. If he
(_________ your
name) has wronged You in any way (and you have), and owes You anything
(and you
do), put that on my account.”
Coincidence?
Paul has
two books that reveal the righteousness of God, and they like
two book ends on a shelf, as they have all the other books between
them. It is
very fitting that God would have Paul’s last book to Christians in the
New
testament, as a practical explanation of God’s own righteousness.
Paul’s
order of books is as follows: ROMANS, 1&2 Corinthians,
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1&2 Thessalonians,
1&2
Timothy, Titus, PHILEMON.
Romans is
about
God’s getting right with God and Philemon
is also about getting God right with God. Romans
could be described as a ‘theological’ account on how to get right with
God, and
God wants to make sure that we know what this means. So Paul gives a
very practical
and every day example on what this means in Philemon.
Christ
says to God
Just as
Paul
prevailed with Philemon to forgive and receive Onesimus because they
were close
friends, Christ, God in the flesh, intercedes to God the Father on our
behalf.
If thou (God) count me (Christ)
therefore a partner, receive him (the reader) as
myself. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee
ought, put that on
mine account; (Phil 17-18).
Harley Hitchcock
www.
AustralianBibleMinistries
.com
**** ****
Australian Bible
Ministries, PO
Box 5058 Mt. Gravatt East 4122 Qld, Australia
www.AustralianBibleMinistries.com