GLEANING ON PHILEMONS FIELD...7 TEXT: VS 16-19a 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;/ I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it... We have maintained, after much observation, that the crux of Pauls letter to Philemon, are forgiveness for and reinstatement of Onesimus. Onesimus was once part of the household of Philemon now he has been estranged by his act of thiefery. The whole substance of this epistle gives us the picture of the true import of the new testament. We shall look at the scope or dimension of the forgiveness and reinstatement. What is the extent of Gods forgiveness and reinstatement in the light of the gospel of Christ? The above text from Pauls epistle under consideration provides for us a complete illustration and the answer for this question. Victorious Christian life is preceded by a revelational knowledge of the full extent of Gods stand with humanity in the light of what Jesus did in the behalf of all men and the personal unfeigned appropriation of same. Victorious Christian life is not a product of self discipline and observance of a set of regid rules but faith in the whole gospel of Christ, the only power of God unto salvation. Let us look at the dimension and scope, therefore, of Gods acceptance of all that believe in Christ. Let me reveal some lies here before I continue. The feeling of distance from God as a believer is a lie! Any message that makes a believer feels like a second class citizen is from the spirit of error. The feeling of constant guilt is not from God. The Bible says : those of us that are far away has He made nigh by the blood of Christ... We are right in His presence. Philemon was commanded not to look at Onesimus as a servant any more: he was admonished to receive him Not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved... hallelujah! Paul was saying in essence: dont treat him like slave any more! As you would a brother, treat him with respect. Give him access to your life and make him feel welcome always. If any man accept Christ sacrifice, he becomes a brother to Jesus: Jesus would hold him as such before God. Living and talking life slave is a perversion of the gospel. The Bible says: So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received Gods Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, Abba, Father. For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are Gods children. And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of Gods glory. But if we are to share His glory, we must also share His suffering. (New Living Translation)Rom. 8:15-17. This is the extent to which God has accepted us and nothing can change that not even God, because with Him, there is no shaddow of turning. We are brothers beloved to Jesus. Heirs of God, yea, joint-heirs with Christ. Paul told Philemon : If thou count me therefore a partner, received him as myself... This is so deep and too true to believe! The word partner means, better half, consort, mate, spouse, significant other...Jesus is in partnership with God! Jesus demand on our behalf before God is: if thou count me in partnership with you, then received them as myself The extent to which God accepts Jesus to that extent has He accepted us. When our eyes opened to this fact, then a new day would begin For us. Any acceptance from God short of this would be a manifest breach of Gods pact with the messiah. God has sworn to .Jesus: thou art an High priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. This is the extent of our acceptance before God and this is the gospel: any man that preaches otherwise must be avoided!
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 05:36:25 +0000
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