Philemon 1:17-20 17 So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back-- not to mention that you owe me your very self.
Paul radically removes Onesimus’ significant debt and puts it on his own shoulders. Paul’s understanding and action remind us of the Old Testament where slaves who were “brothers” (in the family, that is, those who were part of Israel by birth or conversion) could not be kept as slaves for a lifetime but had to be released when a relative “bought” them out of slavery or at the end of seven years in the year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25).
Paul promises that if necessary, he will serve as a redeemer for his brother in Christ, Onesimus. Paul overtly challenges Philemon to accept Onesimus’ new identity in the family of Christ and implicitly challenges Philemon to forgive Onesimus’ debts (as he has been forgiven) so that Philemon could model self-sacrificial love himself by showing mercy and not insisting on punishment Onesimus and to willingly accept a financial loss by releasing Onesimus to serve for God’s Kingdom. Paul reminded Philemon that his own new life in Christ only came about through Paul’s missionary endeavors, as if to say, “Shouldn’t that be payment enough?!”
It is always hard to forgive someone who had done wrong against us before and now need to accept that person as a fellow believer without grudges and letting go the past freely without getting even. It may seem unfair too. Yet we are reminded that Christ forgave our sins against Him and accept us as His children who enjoy the riches of His love and grace without demanding us to repay our “debt”. He only rightfully demands us to forgive others without grudges as we were freely forgiven. Christ’s forgiveness and grace is our payment for every “debt” (wrong) that people may have done to us. Therefore, we shall not demand it from others as Christ had already “repay” us.
