"Put That On My Account"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…

"Put That On My Account"

  

   The epistle of Philemon relates the story of Onesimus, a slave who escaped from his master Philemon.  The fugitive ended up in prison with the Apostle Paul, who led him to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Upon the departure of Onesimus to return to his master, Paul writes to Philemon a letter of intercession, requesting that Onesimus be received by Philemon as a brother in Christ.

   "If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account. I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it:" (Philemon 1:18-19). 

  Paul's request vividly typifies the Gospel of the Lord Jesus.  Our Savior says the same thing to our Father about those who trust in His saving grace.  We do well to view ourselves as the personal recipients of such mercy.  "Father, if Glen has wronged You, or owes You anything, that was long ago imputed to My account.  I have repaid it."  On the cross of Calvary, our Lord bore our sins, and even more, "was made to be sin for us" as God poured out His wrath upon His beloved Son (II Corinthians 5:21).  Thus, the Lord Jesus bears witness to the Father of our sins, "That was on My account. I have repaid it."   "He ever liveth to make intercession for us" (Hebrews 7:25).

  Such grace results in the wonder that God "will not impute" sin to His trusting children (Romans 4:8). He does not place sins on our account because He imputed them to  our Savior.  God rather deals with us as His children, administering affirmation, encouragement, edification, challenge, and discipline as needed (Hebrews 12:6).   He bears a tender heart  toward us because it was furious against the Lord Jesus on the cross.  To the degree Christ was rejected in wrath, we are "accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6).   Of course, His hand can also be firm, as necessary.  We do well to remember that it was of His children that Scripture declares, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31).   Whether in gentleness or firmness, however, God is "for us" (Romans 8:31).  He imputes no sin that would jeopardize our relationship with Him.  Again, such grace flows to us because, and only because the Lord Jesus affirms to His Father, "That was on My account.  I have repaid it."

  The more we understand the exponential measure of our Savior's atoning work on our behalf,  the more our hearts and minds are moved to love, trust, and obey Him.  "Let us have grace, that we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear" (Hebrews 12:28).   Beholding such glory results in our "being changed into the same image" by the Lord Jesus (II Corinthians 3:18).  His love for the Father increasingly becomes our realized love for the Father.  "Put that on My account, I have repaid it" forever echoes in the Heavenlies by our interceding Savior.  As it rings in our hearts, the truth proclaimed by the Apostle John long ago will increasingly become our truth:  "We love Him because He first loved us" (I John 4:19).

"Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."

(Romans 5:20-21)

Weekly Memory Verse

   "The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord."

(Psalm 33:5)