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that would arouse his deepest and tenderest feelings as a Christian.
The conversion of Onesimus had made him a brother in the faith, and
any punishment inflicted on this new convert would be regarded by
Paul as inflicted on himself.
Paul voluntarily proposed to assume the debt of Onesimus in order
that the guilty one might be spared the disgrace of punishment, and
might again enjoy the privileges he had forfeited. “If thou count me
therefore a partner,” he wrote to Philemon, “receive him as myself. If
he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aught, put that on mine account;
I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it.”
How fitting an illustration of the love of Christ for the repentant
sinner! The servant who had defrauded his master had nothing with
which to make restitution. The sinner who has robbed God of years of
service has no means of canceling the debt. Jesus interposes between
the sinner and God, saying, I will pay the debt. Let the sinner be
spared; I will suffer in his stead.
After offering to assume the debt of Onesimus, Paul reminded
Philemon how greatly he himself was indebted to the apostle. He
owed him his own self, since God had made Paul the instrument of his
conversion. Then, in a tender, earnest appeal, he besought Philemon
that as he had by his liberalities refreshed the saints, so he would
refresh the spirit of the apostle by granting him this cause of rejoicing.
“Having confidence in thy obedience,” he added, “I wrote unto thee,
[459]
knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say.”
Paul’s letter to Philemon shows the influence of the gospel upon the
relation between master and servant. Slave-holding was an established
institution throughout the Roman Empire, and both masters and slaves
were found in most of the churches for which Paul labored. In the
cities, where slaves often greatly outnumbered the free population,
laws of terrible severity were regarded as necessary to keep them in
subjection. A wealthy Roman often owned hundreds of slaves, of
every rank, of every nation, and of every accomplishment. With full
control over the souls and bodies of these helpless beings, he could
inflict upon them any suffering he chose. If one of them in retaliation
or self-defense ventured to raise a hand against his owner, the whole
family of the offender might be inhumanly sacrificed. The slightest
mistake, accident, or carelessness was often punished without mercy.