Orange Moon Saturday, July 5, 2025 "Philemon" - Part 6 - I Have Repaid

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

(Over the next few days, we will consider the the Apostle Paul's epistle to Philemon, one of my favorite portions of Scripture, and one of its most Christ-exalting and revealing revelations of truth.)

"Philemon"

Part 6 - "I Have Repaid"

    

     

    "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).

    In his intercession for Onesimus conveyed to Philemon, the Apostle Paul beautifully typifies the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  "Put that on my account" declared Paul to his brother in Christ, Philemon, for his brother in Christ, Onesimus.  We can imagine the Lord Jesus saying the same thing about us to his Father, who did precisely that:

   "He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (II Corinthians 5:21).

   When the sinner rightly recognizes his sin against God, a vast mountain of debt looms as insurmountable before his guilty heart.    "I cannot repay!" he must acknowledge.  Another party, however, enters the picture.  "I have repaid!" He declares.  "I have paid in full!"  Indeed, God accounts the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus as so  effectual that the sinner who receives the gift purchased by the Savior enters into an astonishing place in the heart and economy of God…

    "Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord will not impute sin" (Romans 4:8).

    Note the determination of God toward those in Christ.  He "will not impute sin to us."  Why?  Because He so fully, so emphatically, so painfully, and so sacrificially imputed our sins to His beloved Son.  Indeed, can we imagine the Father's remembrance of the Lord Jesus' suffering and forsakenness for us leading to anything other than "as far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us?" (Psalm 103:13).  As a preacher of old once declared, it would be "a sadistic perversion" for God to place even the most insignificant sin on our account when He poured out His wrath on Christ as He "bore our sins" and was "made to be sin" for us (I Peter 2:24).  Our Father is not capable of sadistic perversions, and thus we can rest assured that once we enter into Christ by grace through faith, the "Paid in full!" of His redeeming work forever stamps the debit side of our ledger.

   Paul, in so many ways, declared and portrayed the beauty of God's saving grace in the Lord Jesus.  At least in type, none more vividly and beautifully illustrate the wonder of grace than his plea to Philemon for Onesimus.  "If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account… I will repay it."  Someone else has expressed such mercy, and far more, made the sacrifice that cost Him so much in order to provide our salvation and its eternal wonder so freely.  Indeed, should we ever wonder how God can pardon us, the answer always lies in the truth of no pardon and no reprieve on the cross of Calvary.  As the song goes…

"He paid a debt He did not owe.

I owed a debt I could not pay,

I needed someone to wash my sins away.

And now I sing a brand new song,

Amazing Grace the whole day long.

Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay."

"He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

(Romans 8:32)

Weekly Memory Verse 

    For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory.

(Hebrews 2:10).

  

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Orange Moon Friday, July 4, 2025 "Philemon" - Part 5 - "As Myself"

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

(Over the next few days, we will consider the the Apostle Paul's epistle to Philemon, one of my favorite portions of Scripture, and one of its most Christ-exalting and revealing revelations of truth.)

"Philemon"

Part 5 - "As Myself"

    

     "If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself" (Philemon 1:17).

    In essence, the Apostle Paul says to Philemon, "My brother, consider how you view me, and accept Onesimus as if he were me.  See myself and Onesimus as if we are united.  Because we are."

    In a far greater and more consequential essence, born again believers might think - rightly - of the Lord Jesus Christ saying the same to His Father and our Father.  

    "He hath made us accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6).  

    "For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:18).

   Find the most wayward believer on the planet in any moment.  He is no less accepted with God as a son in Christ than the most faithful and obedient.  His thoughts, attitudes, words, and deeds are not be acceptable to our Heavenly Father, to the degree that chastening and scourging are inevitable in the love of God (II Corinthians 5:9; Hebrews 12:6).  His person, however, is accepted in Christ, based on who Christ is and His redeeming work accomplished for all believers.   In this most elemental aspect of relationship, God receives us in Christ, through Christ, and by Christ.  "Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (I Corinthians 1:30).

   We began our Christian life by placing all faith and hope in the Lord Jesus.  We continue by the same confidence in His eternally ongoing role as our mediator (Hebrews 7:25).  We affirm that even in our best moments, the acceptance of our person by a perfect God requires the merits of Another as the basis of our relationship and standing with Him.  The marvel of our Savior's person and work in the sight of God and on our behalf serves as the basis for such wondrous grace.  Who is the Lord Jesus to His Father?  Who are we, based on Christ's merits serving as the basis for our acceptance?  This is the root question regarding our relationship and standing with God.  Rightly answered in our hearts and minds, the truth of "one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" will make possible and actual our "being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God" (I Timothy 2:5; Philippians 1:11).

    If ever we wonder about our access to God, let us remember that if we are united to Christ by grace through faith, the Father sees us through the lens of His beloved Son.  Paul typified such grace long ago in his request to Philemon that Onesimus be viewed not only as himself, but as inextricably bound with the Apostle.  The epistle to Philemon thus stands not only as an intercession for a brother, but as a clear representation of the Lord Jesus' intercession for all united to Him by faith.  "Receive Him as Myself."

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

(Romans 5:1-2)

Weekly Memory Verse 

    For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory.

(Hebrews 2:10).

  

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Orange Moon Thursday, July 3, 2025 "Philemon" Part 4 - Not Now a Servant

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

(Over the next few days, we will consider the the Apostle Paul's epistle to Philemon, one of my favorite portions of Scripture, and one of its most Christ-exalting and revealing revelations of truth.)

"Philemon"

Part 4 - "Not Now A Servant"

 

    

    The Apostle Paul's intercession for Onesimus serves as one of the most vivid types of the Lord Jesus Christ found in Scripture.

    "For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him forever, not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh, and in the Lord? If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account" (Philemon 1:15-18).

    First, the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus makes possible the rescue of wayward human hearts "departed for a season," but received forever by God.  

   "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all… this is the record, that God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in His Son" (Isaiah 53:6; I John 5:11).

    Former rebels become "dear children" through Christ (Ephesians 5:1).  Paul sought a similar grace for escaped slave Onesimus, whom he desired to be received by Philemon in brotherly love rather than according to the dictates of earthly justice.  Scripture does not record the reception Onesimus received, although most readers and students of the Bible surmise a reunion graced by the love of the Lord Jesus.  We do know, however, the reception sinners receive in the new birth…

    "As many as received Him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name" (John 1:12).

     As the saying goes, "From dust to glory, what a story!"  Even more, from sinful dust to "Christ in you, the hope of glory" blesses the believer with a salvation for which even eternity will not fully reveal the glory made resident within us (Colossians 1:27).  God receives the repentant and trusting sinner by literally entering his spirit and birthing a "new man, created in righteousness and true holiness" (Ephesians 4:24).  We can imagine a brotherly embrace when Philemon and Onesimus reunited, and a lifetime of walking as brothers in Christ.  Salvation also provides a family relationship, but with the divine Father whereby an indwelling occurs, namely, "God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father" (Galatians 4:6).   As sons and daughters in Christ, we thereafter walk with Him thereafter through the presence and power of His promise, "I will dwell in them and walk in them" (II Corinthians 6:16).  What a story indeed, or rather, what a glorious reality that the redemption of the Lord Jesus rescues us from "alienated from the life of God" to "accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 4:18; 1:6).

   Paul's intercession for a spiritual brotherhood to be birthed between a master and a slave stands as a beautiful analogy through the ages of God's redeeming work in the Son whereby He receives "many sons unto glory" (Hebrews 2:10).  We remain servants of our Lord after salvation, of course, but the service of a son or daughter constitutes a far different matter than of a slave.  The matter involves heart, particularly since our relationship with God involves the living presence of His Son in our hearts.  Eternity will not allow our full understanding and experience of "so great salvation" provided by so great a Savior, whose living presence within us means that far more than Philemon and Onesimus knew, "not now as a servant" will grace our primary relationship with God forever (Hebrews 2:3).

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is."

(I John 3:1-2)

Weekly Memory Verse 

    For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory.

(Hebrews 2:10).

  

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