I think I’ll back up, so you guys can look at my bald spot the whole time.
Well, I’d like to ask you if you’ll turn with me to the letter of Philemon. Now, Philemon, for those of you who don’t know, is in the New Testament. And, for those of you who don’t know, it is the smallest letter of the Apostle Paul. It is just before Hebrews. That will probably help you find it.
I would like to read the entire letter, since it is only one chapter and twenty-five verses. It is not often that you can read a whole book as your text, but we will do that.
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our beloved and fellow-worker,
and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow-soldier, and to the church in thy house:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God always, making mention of thee in my prayers,
hearing of thy love, and of the faith which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all the saints;
that the fellowship of thy faith may become effectual, in the knowledge of every good thing which is in you, unto Christ.
For I had much joy and comfort in thy love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through thee, brother.
Wherefore, though I have all boldness in Christ to enjoin thee that which is befitting,
yet for love’s sake I rather beseech, being such a one as Paul the aged, and now a prisoner also of Christ Jesus:
I beseech thee for my child, whom I have begotten in my bonds, Onesimus,
who once was unprofitable to thee, but now is profitable to thee and to me:
whom I have sent back to thee in his own person, that is, my very heart;
whom I would fain have kept with me, that in thy behalf he might minister unto me in the bonds of the gospel:
but without thy mind I would do nothing; that thy goodness should not be as of necessity, but of free will.
For perhaps he was therefore parted from thee for a season, that thou shouldest have him forever;
no longer as a servant, but more than a servant, a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much rather to thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
If then thou countest me a partner, receive him as myself.
But if he hath wronged thee at all, or oweth thee aught, put that to mine account:
I Paul write it with mine own hand, I will repay it: that I say not unto thee how that thou owest to me even thine own self besides.
Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord: refresh my heart in Christ.
Having confidence in thine obedience I write unto thee, knowing that thou wilt do even beyond what I say.
But withal prepare me also a lodging: for I hope that through your prayers I shall be granted unto you.
Epaphras, my fellow-prisoner in Christ Jesus, saluteth thee;
and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow-workers.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Let us just pray one more time.
Lord, we know that You alone have the words of eternal life. We rest on that eternal fact. Now, as we share Your Word, we ask You, Lord, to do what we prayed in this song: that You would pierce our ear, that You would open our understanding to what Your Holy Spirit has left for us here as a record.
May we not see with merely natural eyes or receive things with merely natural understanding, but, by the grace of God, may the eyes of our heart be enlightened. May we have the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Christ, and may we see what You have given us in this letter as You see it.
For we ask this together in the beloved name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Oh, water. Thank you.
Now, I do not know if you are like me, but I have a bit of a confession to make. First of all, I have never spoken on Philemon. Never. And I will tell you, I do not even remember ever memorising a single verse out of the letter of Philemon.
Now, how many of you have memorised a verse in Philemon? I knew Alan would raise his hand.
When I thought about Philemon and the other letters of the Apostle Paul, I have to admit that I sort of devalued Philemon in my thinking. Think about the letter to the Ephesians. Some have called it the high-water mark of revelation.
Think of it: the purpose of God in all its grand magnificence, and our part in the purpose of God—how we are brought into Christ, and through His great mystery, He uses us in His eternal purpose. That is a book. That is a powerful book.
You think of Colossians. Nowhere in Scripture is the Lord Jesus revealed in all His magnificence as He is in the letter of Colossians. Christ is exalted, and He is seen in all His fullness. All the fullness of the Godhead bodily dwells in the Lord Jesus.
Think of Romans, which the ladies are studying. What great doctrines of faith! What a foundation of faith! The gospel of the Lord Jesus is revealed in all its glory in the book of Romans.
Think of Galatians. It was Luther’s sword. What great truths are brought to us! We are brought out from where we were, brought out from the law, and brought into grace to live in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ—full liberty, no longer in bondage under the law.
You could go on and on. Think of Corinthians, Thessalonians, and the pastoral letters, such as Timothy and Titus. All these works of the Apostle Paul—how great they are. There were no greater words than those penned by man under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
So, I have a great appreciation for these, but I have not always had the same thought about the book of Philemon. As a matter of fact, Philemon is the only personal letter of the Apostle Paul that survived—the only one.
Now, you may argue with me. You may say Titus is a personal letter, and Timothy certainly contains personal letters. But they were not merely personal letters; they were instructional letters. They were pastoral letters. They told us how we ought to behave ourselves in the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
But when it comes to Philemon, it does not seem to hold the same weight. It seems to be a personal letter dealing with a single issue. That was my estimation of it.
Then the Holy Spirit seemed to open this thing to me: in this little personal letter is opened to us the immeasurable love of God.
He has left us this record. Do you think it was a mistake? As a matter of fact, there are people who have said of the book of Philemon that it should not even be in the canon of Scripture. They doubted its relevance.
But thank God, in this little book written to one single brother, there are the most precious things that are, in fact, an application for us of the immeasurable love of God—the exceeding great love of God toward us. That is what it seems to me that this letter of Philemon speaks about.
Bishop Lightfoot said, “This epistle of Philemon stands unrivalled.” That is a pretty awesome compliment for a personal letter.
Another brother said it is “surpassingly full in its significance.” I have to confess to you: I have devalued it. I have read it a number of times, but I could not remember even memorising a single verse.
So, what I would like us to do is look at this book of Philemon today. I want to take three points and consider together that it speaks to us. It is not merely a record of a dealing with one brother about one incident; it speaks to us about the immeasurable love of God toward us.
That is my burden, if the Lord will help me. I think Martin Luther had great light when he concluded, “For in fact, we are all his Onesimi.”
That may not mean much to you yet, but I hope it does in a few minutes. We are all Onesimus. We are all the slaves who were originally to be used for the Master’s purpose and who went our own way.
God, in His great love and mercy, did not leave us in that condition. He came after us. He found us, sought us out, cleansed us, made us whole, and returned us to usefulness. This is the immeasurable love of God. There is nothing to compare to it.
The very name Onesimus was a common slave name then. The name Onesimus means useful or profitable. That is what he was supposed to be.
But if you know the story, this slave Onesimus left his master. If you read the whole record, he even robbed his master. He robbed his master and fled to Rome—the great city, what one aristocratic historian called the cesspool of all human civilisation.
He left his master. He was supposed to be for God’s purpose, but then he left. Yet God had a plan for him.
Onesimus did not know Paul would be there. Onesimus did not know he was running to Paul. Onesimus did not know that, in that encounter with Paul, he would be gloriously changed.
This one who had been unprofitable to his master would be returned useful to his master. This one who had been unprofitable to his master before would be made profitable to his master. That is the story of Philemon.
Now, maybe you think I am stretching the application too much. After all, it is just a historical record. But it seems to me that, when you look at it that way, it is your story. It is my story.
I agree with Luther: I am Onesimus. I was intended for God’s purpose. This was to be what my life was. Yet I lived for myself.
I did not go to the big city—Richmond. Well, some people might consider Richmond the big city. But God, in His mercy, in His immeasurable love, came after me, sought me out, and saved me.
I am Onesimus. What a beautiful story.
If we do not see in Onesimus what we once were, if we do not see in Onesimus what we are now, and if we do not see in Onesimus what He has done for us, then we miss the point. It is merely a social letter. It has no other meaning. It becomes a Dr. Laura-type letter: “Philemon, do the right thing.”
Is that all it is about? Brothers and sisters, I contend with you today that this letter has to do with the immeasurable love of God. How great is His love toward us.
Now turn with me to Philemon 1:8. I want to begin there. I think that, in just a few words, God shares an amazing thing with us.
Wherefore, though I have all boldness in Christ to enjoin thee that which is befitting,
yet for love’s sake I rather beseech, being such a one as Paul the aged, and now a prisoner also of Christ Jesus:
I beseech thee for my child, whom I have begotten in my bonds, Onesimus,
who once was unprofitable to thee, but now is profitable to thee and to me.
This is the phrase I want you to pay attention to: “Once unprofitable to thee.”
In that single phrase, the Holy Spirit tells us what we are all like by nature. In that single phrase, the Holy Spirit has spoken the most profound thing. This is our condition by nature: we were once unprofitable.
It is not just a story about Philemon and a slave gone awry. It is about us and what we once were. Brothers and sisters, we need to see what we once were.
Paul the aged exhorts Philemon to receive again this wayward slave, Onesimus—the one who had robbed his master and fled to Rome. He acknowledges to Philemon that Onesimus was once unprofitable to him. This is God’s consummate evaluation of us by human nature: what we were.
Now, this may go against the grain of popular thinking. You may think it is a bit harsh or a bit cruel. Surely he was of some use to Philemon. Surely there is something redeemable in me. You might even find some things attractive in me.
But the conclusion of the Word of God was that he was no use to his master. Brothers and sisters, true beginning comes when we see what we once were. We have to begin there.
We do great disservice to the people of God when we are always trying to build them up, saying, “You are this, and you are that,” while they have never seen who they are in nature. It is he who is forgiven much that loves much.
Now, I do not think this is a depressing message by any means. It is a liberating message. I discover that it was God’s understanding all along that I could not measure up and live up to it. He never intended me to be the Christian that He has in mind.
When I read the book of Galatians, I discover this truth. There are three phrases—and I will go off the path for a moment, as I often do. In Galatians there is the phrase, “Christ revealed in me.” Everything begins with seeing Christ—Who He is—and, in fact, seeing who we are.
Then, in Galatians 2:20, there is the phrase, “Christ lives in me.” That is the Christian life. Brothers and sisters, the Lord did not just save us from dying; He saved us from living.
Now, that may sound strange to you, but He not only saved us from dying through His work on the cross; He delivered us from living. He says, “You cannot live this Christian life. You do not measure up. According to that movie, you do not have the right stuff.”
But Christ in you—that is a different matter. He can live through us the Christian life: His life in us. “It is no longer I that live, but Christ that liveth in me.” That was the secret Paul discovered.
Then, in Galatians 4:19, he says, “Christ formed in me.” That is the whole reason you have been left here. That is the whole purpose of your existence as a Christian.
All the work of the Holy Spirit—all the dealings, all the trials, all that He allows, and all the blessings—are for this single purpose: that Christ would be formed in you by the Holy Spirit.
According to nature, God’s consummate evaluation of us is that we are no use to Him. You may think that is hard, but the immeasurable love of God is that He did not leave us in that condition. He had greater thoughts.
I think this word once, this single word, is so powerful. It tells us what we were before by nature. It tells us, in one single word, all our flaws, all our shortcomings, and all our lack—everything that is wrong by nature.
I have another confession to make. You may think a lot less of me after this one. I watched, for the first time the other day, a television show called Extreme Makeover. I was fascinated with it.
They took these people with extreme flaws—flaws by nature. I am sorry, they took some ugly people. They had more wrong with them than a human being should have. They had more than their fair share of deficiencies by nature.
Then they worked on them, and there was this great buildup. They call everything reality now. I think Christ is reality; I do not know what all this reality business is.
But they transformed these people. At the end of the programme, they presented these completely transformed people, and those who had previously known them were astounded at the change. They literally gasped when they saw all their extreme flaws and then saw how beautifully transformed they were by the makeover.
Now, do not take this the wrong way. I am not endorsing liposuction or plastic surgery. The point is that this is what God does for us. He sees all the flaws by nature. He sees all the shortcomings. His conclusion is that we were unprofitable to Him. There was no redeeming value.
But then, in His immeasurable love, He comes to us. He takes up those who had nothing—nothing—and transforms them into the most beautiful of His creation.
This is Onesimus. Once, he was unprofitable. This is the immeasurable love of God.
You may think it is cruel to say that we were of no use to God. We have adapted Christianity today to humanism.
I will make another confession. This is the day of confessions. I torment Linda every once in a while—she probably feels it is more often than once in a while—by turning on some television preaching.
One particular preacher was telling people to stand up, and I do not know why they were patting people on the belly, but they were saying, “You are great.” That was the message. “Turn to your neighbour and just say, ‘You are great.’”
Oh, what a waste. It is far better to see what we are not and to see what He makes us. That is far better.
You may think it is too hard, but it is the Bible. You may be upset with me for saying you are of no value in your natural condition, but be upset with the Bible.
I used to be a big boxing fan. Some people may now believe in sanctification when I say I am not much of a boxing fan anymore. I always wanted to box, by the way.
In boxing, we had this phrase, “pulling punches.” You have heard it. We have adapted it in our culture. A person pulls their punches; they hold back from saying what they really feel.
The Bible does not pull any punches. It tells us exactly what we were: “Once you were unprofitable.” That is the whole conclusion.
I think you see this in Ephesians 2. Jim has been sharing from Ephesians, and I will not take long with this point. It says, “And you being dead.” That is not much of a compliment.
What can you do with a dead person? You do not keep dead people around. We are going to bury a few dead people today. Anybody hearing this, please understand that we are talking about baptism. You bury the dead; they are no use.
And you did He make alive, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins,
wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world.
Once again, the Holy Spirit says, “in which ye once walked.” This tells us what our true condition was. Spiritually, we were dead. That is about as bad as it gets.
It reminds me of something I saw years ago on the Discovery Channel. You will think all I do is watch television; you will be praying for me more. It was about death row and how those sentenced to death were taken from death row and marched to the death house.
As they went, the guards would say over and over, “Dead man walking. Dead man walking.” That is where the phrase came from. That is what we are by nature.
You may say, “I am not dead. I am not that bad. I have a pulse. I have a heartbeat. Even a little brain activity.” But you are dead—dead men walking. You once walked.
Ephesians 2 goes on from there and tells us how bad it was. In verse 3, it says that we once had our manner of life in the lusts of the flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind.
Listen to this powerful phrase: “We were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” That was your nature. You were in with a lot of company.
Ephesians 2:11 says a number of things:
Wherefore remember, that once ye, the Gentiles in the flesh,
who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called Circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands;
that ye were at that time separate from Christ,
alienated from the commonwealth of Israel,
and strangers from the covenants of the promise,
having no hope and without God in the world.
Having no hope—that is hopeless. Without God in the world. This is our true condition. This is what we once were.
There was a man named Alexander Whyte, one of the most famous preachers in Scotland. He stood up in his pulpit and said, “I want to tell you who is the most wicked person in all of Edinburgh.”
Of course, the people had great respect for him, and they must have leaned forward in their seats. They may have thought he was going to talk about the town drunk or the town prostitute.
Alexander Whyte said, “The most wicked person in Edinburgh is Alexander Whyte.”
Do you know that? Has God given you that revelation? Do you think His immeasurable love is based on the fact that you deserve it? Quite the contrary.
The glory of it is that His immeasurable love sees what we are by nature, and it is still there. If it were you or me in God’s place—and thank God you are not—you would say, “Enough with them. Every one of them is worthless. Let us begin all over again.”
But God had a different view of things. And I thank God that this is His immeasurable love. Who can imagine it? “He was once unprofitable to thee.”
The Lord Jesus, in John 15:13, came as close as possible to describing love or defining love:
Greater love hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends.
To me, that comes as close as possible to a definition of the greatest love there could be. There is no greater love than that one should die for his friend.
But, brothers and sisters, when you read Romans 5:6-8, it says Christ died for the ungodly. The love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
To me, the Lord Jesus exceeds His own definition of the greatest love. He defined it; He quantified it. Now, I am an engineer. I love quantities. All my career, I have quantified things, measured things, and discovered the magnitude of things.
He said, “This is the greatest love.” But then, when you come to Romans, it says He loved the ungodly. In those same verses, it says He loved us while we were still sinners. That is immeasurable love.
And when you read on in those same verses, it says, “While we were enemies.” So the Lord Jesus did not even follow His own definition. He exceeded His own definition.
No greater love? Yes, there is. There is a greater love. God’s love is greater.
I hope this helps you see what we are. We need to see it. But, brothers and sisters, we do not need to stay there. That is the good news.
Some people always stay there. They are always saying, “I am this. I am that. Hit me a little harder. Woe is me. Give me a whip. Beat me up, because I am not beating myself up enough.”
We stay there, but God did not stay there. In the same breath, the Apostle Paul said of Onesimus, “Once unprofitable to thee,” and then, in these two gloriously simple words, he says, “but now.”
Once unprofitable to thee, but now is profitable to thee and to me.
“But now.” Those are two of the most glorious words in the Bible at times. Thank God that the immeasurable love of God looks at what we are in full grandeur—all that we are—and then makes this single statement: “But now.”
That is the good news. That is the immeasurable love of God.
When you read Ephesians again, you begin to see this word but over and over. Ephesians 2:4: “But God.” You were dead in your trespasses and sins, but it did not stop there. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love wherewith He loved us, made us alive together with Christ.
This is good news. There are no better words than “but now.” I did a little search on my computer for the words but now. I encourage you to do that.
If you look through Scripture at the word but, God answers all our shortcomings with a single word: “But.” “But now.”
You who were unprofitable, you who did not measure up, you who fell short in every category—there is a good word for you: “But now.”
Ephesians 2:13 says:
But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off
are made nigh in the blood of Christ.
You were out. You were out of sight. “Far off” did not mean just over the fence post like your neighbour. When God talks about it, you were gone. You were in the deep, far recesses, out of sight.
But now, in Christ Jesus, you have been made near. You who were so far off, and you who fell so far short, God has brought to Himself. What good news! You have been brought by the blood of Jesus.
Ephesians 2:19 says that we are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. Ephesians 3:10 says that now, through the church, He might make known the manifold wisdom of God.
Brothers and sisters, this, to me, is what Philemon is about. This is Onesimus.
I will tell you another story. One of the most magnificent pieces in all of Britain, in the British Museum, was what they called the Portland Vase. For those of you who are cultured, it is a vase; for guys like me, it is a vase.
The Portland Vase was a work of incomparable beauty. Then one day, a madman with a stick broke it to smithereens. They are a little wiser now; they do not leave things like that out in the open.
The Portland Vase was shattered. All seemed lost. All was away.
But there came one with infinite patience and infinite love. He picked up every piece. He took every piece and put those broken pieces back together.
In the end, you could not even tell it had been damaged. That is the immeasurable love of God.
You are the Portland Vase. Satan, the strong man, shattered us and thought, “God’s creation is done. It is over. Go to Plan B.” I do not know who Plan B would have been.
But Christ, in His infinite patience and wisdom, took the ruins and made the thing more magnificent than ever before. I hope that speaks to you. That is the infinite love of God. That is Onesimus.
I am glad God does not believe in three strikes and you are out. Those of us who consider ourselves Republicans may kind of like that law. Boy, I hope God never adopts it. Where would you be?
The infinite love of God is that He comes to us in our condition, rescues us, remakes us in His image, and, by the Holy Spirit, puts the life of Christ in us. We are transformed, and that which was so ugly by nature is so beautiful in recovery.
This is the story of the gospel. This is the book of Philemon.
Here is another one of those “but” words. In 1 Peter 2:9-10:
But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession,
that ye may show forth the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light:
who in time past were no people, but now are the people of God:
who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
This is the immeasurable love of God. We who were not a people—not only were we far off, we were not even considered a people—God has made His own people.
Not only that, He has made us His particular possession. In that particular possession, He will show forth all His glory to the coming ages and say, “Look at that. Now let Me show you what it was like. And look at that.”
That is extreme makeover. That is good news.
May the Lord not only show us what we were, but may He show us what we now are in Christ Jesus.
Once unprofitable to thee, but now profitable to thee and to me.
Who knew there was so much in a verse? Holy Spirit, so magnificent.
But it is more than that. We need also to see what He has done. Turn again to Philemon. In Philemon 1:15-16, it says:
For perhaps he was therefore parted from thee for a season,
that thou shouldest have him forever;
no longer as a servant, but more than a servant, a brother beloved,
specially to me, but how much rather to thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
Is that not good news? This is the gospel. For perhaps, for a time, he was separated from you, that you might possess him fully forever.
This is the immeasurable love. This is what He has done. This is what He does for us. We were separated from God, but when He calls us back to Himself, it is for the purpose of not just now, but for eternity.
He will possess us—not partially, but fully and forever. To me, that is what He has done.
Then he goes on to say, “But more than a servant, a brother beloved.” Now, is that not good news? You can imagine Onesimus would have been happy simply to come back into a favoured position as a slave.
You remember the story of the prodigal son. The prodigal son was off eating the husks. I cannot imagine eating husks. But he had fallen to such a low point that he was eating them.
Then the thought entered his mind: “Even my father’s hired servants have it better than this. I will go back and be a hired servant.”
But when he came back and the father saw him coming, even at a distance, he said, “Here comes my son that was dead and is now alive. Bring out the fatted calf. Bring out the gold ring.”
God does not merely make us hired servants. You may think you were a slave to sin and now you are a slave to God. But this is what it says: receive him not merely as a bondservant, but as a dear brother.
Is that not good news?
I have told this story before, and Linda will probably get on me for repeating it, but I will do it again. I changed the names to protect the innocent: Justin, Jessica, and Jonathan.
One day we went to the mall, and they said, “Dad, could you walk over there?” I realised they were ashamed of being with their father. Now, my estimation of myself is that I am not that bad of a guy, but I sure went over to the other side.
They did not want to be seen with me. But in Hebrews 2, it says, “He is not ashamed to call them brethren.”
When the Holy Spirit opened my eyes and I beheld that in my heart, I thought, “Lord, the immeasurable love of God. He is not ashamed to call me brother.”
He does not take me back as a slave, but as a brother. That is what Christ said.
Oh, how much better is our position in Christ! How much more wonderful is our position in Christ! There can be nothing better said than “brother.”
I will never forget being with Stephen one time when someone was trying to compliment him. They said, “Reverend Kong.” I stood back, waiting to see the reaction.
In his sweet way, he said, “Brother,” and stuck out his hand. “Your dear brother.” There could not be a greater title.
When the Lord Jesus says, “My brother,” there could not be a greater title. Not as a bondservant, but as a dear brother. This is the infinite love of God.
He goes further than that. I know I have used up all the time, and I am sorry, but please bear with me and let me finish.
In Philemon 1:17, it says:
If then thou countest me a partner, receive him as myself.
You may not think that is much, but Paul the aged said, “When you receive this man, receive him as me.”
Now, I believe, brothers and sisters, there is an infinitely more precious revelation in that Scripture. The Lord Jesus, when He went back to the Father and presented that holy, precious blood, I believe He had one word to say to the Father: “Receive them.”
Is that not good news? The Father could not deny that request.
“Receive them as Me.” That is immeasurable love. That is love I cannot even begin to quantify. There are not enough numbers to quantify that love.
In John 15:9, the Lord Jesus says:
Even as the Father hath loved Me, I also have loved you.
Now, think for a moment. I am into numbers; remember that. Be patient with me. I like the rhythm of this verse. I am thinking, “How much does the Father love Him? Can you quantify it?”
“So have I loved you.” There are Christians who live under a pall of darkness, always questioning the love of God. What a tragedy.
If you see this fact—that Jesus Himself, in His high intercessory prayer, said, “As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you”—then you see the degree of His love.
In that same intercession, John 17:23 says:
Thou lovedst them, even as Thou lovedst Me.
To me, that is the highest love. The Father did not merely say, “Okay, bring them on. We will accept them.” No. As the Father has loved the Lord Jesus, so He has loved me.
That is infinite. That is infinite. For you mathematicians, write the big old squiggly eight laid down flat. That is infinite. That is immeasurable. That is the degree.
Finally, in Philemon 1:18, it says:
But if he hath wronged thee at all, or oweth thee aught, put that to mine account.
Now, brothers and sisters, I cannot help but think again of when the Lord Jesus broke through the cloud and ascended back to the Father. He must have stood before the Father, and His words must have been, “Whatever they have done, however bad, however extreme, do not hold it to them. Put it to My account.”
That is what the cross said. When the sin of the world came upon Him, God was taking Him at His word: “Put it to My account.”
Then he says these glorious words:
I will repay it.
Brothers and sisters, this is the infinite love of God. This is all that He does. The summary is: paid in full.
I love that hymn. I cannot sing it with a dry eye:
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe.
Can you see that in the apostle? Do you see the infinite love of God in the apostle? “Whatever he owes you, I will repay.” This is the love of God.
Brothers and sisters, we need to see what we once were. True liberty begins with seeing what you once were.
You need to see the “but now”—what you are now in Christ Jesus—or you will always live under condemnation.
But you need to see more than that. You need to see what He does: how infinitely, infinitely loving He is in receiving us as His own, with the same degree of love that the Father has for Him.
This is the immeasurable love of God. This is Onesimus.
You are Onesimus. I am Onesimus. This is God’s love.
Shall we pray?
Lord, we praise You for Your Word that is left for us. I just thank You, Lord. I confess that I have devalued this letter.
But I thank You, Lord, for Your mercy, that You have allowed me to see this in a new light.
Now, Lord, I pray that Your brothers and sisters will live in the good of it. Give us revelation that we will see what we once were—nothing we have to bring to You, no self-improvement, only a new creation.
By Your infinite love, transform us, that “but now” would be true in us, and that we would see, through the eyes of faith, all that You have done.
“Receive him as Me.” What a word.
We bow before You, and we worship at Your footstool. We ask You, Lord, to make real to us what is written in this book, that we may live in the good of it.
May it be said of us that, although we were once unprofitable to Thee, we are now profitable to Thee.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.