Paul’s Plea for Onesimus
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. 20 I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.
On the basis of all these things, therefore, Paul summed up his plea: “Welcome him as you would welcome me.” Paul knew that if he himself were to come to Philemon, his friend would gladly and hospitably receive him. By faith Paul, Onesimus, and Philemon were now all brothers in Christ. How could one brother in Christ, if he has truly absorbed the spirit of Christ, fail to lovingly receive another brother who came to him in repentance and sought his forgiveness?
There was one other factor that Paul felt should be mentioned, since it posed a potential threat to Philemon’s warm reception of Onesimus. That was the financial loss Philemon had suffered as a result of Onesimus’ previous actions. While Paul never comes right out and says it, it is quite likely that Onesimus stole money from his master before he left for Rome. There was also the matter of the service of which Philemon had been deprived during the time Onesimus was gone. That also could have been valued at a considerable sum.
Paul did not want that factor to stand in the way of Philemon’s reception of Onesimus. If Philemon considered it to be a problem, Paul says, he should charge the debt to Paul’s account. Paul had become Onesimus’ spiritual father. He was ready to assume a father’s obligations. Would Paul have been able to come up with a substantial amount of money if Philemon had requested it? We have no way of knowing. What is clear is that Paul was serious about his offer. He wanted absolutely nothing to stand in the way of Philemon’s receiving and forgiving Onesimus.
Besides, Paul fully expected Philemon to remember that when it came to the matter of settling accounts, he owed the apostle something so valuable that it could not be measured by standards of earthly value. Philemon owed his spiritual life to Paul. It was either directly through Paul’s instruction or indirectly, perhaps through the instruction of Paul’s student Epaphras, that Philemon had become a Christian. Wasn’t the spiritual benefit he had received from the apostle, Paul tactfully suggests, more than enough to counterbalance the material losses he had suffered because of the unfaithfulness of Onesimus?
A positive response by Philemon, Paul says, would bring him true spiritual refreshment. It would bring the apostle a special measure of spiritual joy to see Philemon’s faith and love put into practice in this extraordinary way and to see these two spiritual sons of his be reconciled to each other. A positive answer by Philemon to the apostle’s request—and Paul was confident that such an answer would be forthcoming—would also bring Paul into the blessed circle of those to whom Philemon had given spiritual refreshment by his love. This is always the way it should be among Christians. Those refreshed by the gospel news of love and forgiveness in Christ constantly refresh one another by showing in their lives the loving, forgiving spirit of Christ.
In addition to the marvelous example it gives us of a loving, tactful appeal from one Christian to another, Paul’s eloquent intercession for Onesimus in these verses can also be regarded as a reflection of our Savior’s loving intercession for us. Like Onesimus, we sinners have all wronged and run away from our heavenly master. We deserve nothing but his wrath and condemnation. But, just as Paul found and rescued Onesimus, Jesus has found and rescued us. He stood between the Father and us. He identified himself with us by taking on our nature and becoming our substitute. He not only offered to pay but did pay our sin-debt on the cross to satisfy divine justice. Now, as our Great High Priest, he intercedes for us daily whenever we sin. The Father cannot refuse to listen to the intercession of his Son or refuse to pardon those who by faith are Christ’s brothers and sisters and his own children. “We are Christ’s Onesimi,” Luther put it, “if you will receive it.”