“Put It On My Account”
Philemon 1:1-25
Sermon Series: “No Longer A Slave”
Introduction: The book of Philemon is a letter to Philemon by the Apostle Paul. It is concerning a runaway slave by the name of Onesimus. It is a literal, historical account that conveys a deeper spiritual picture. Martin Luther said, “All of us are Onesimuses!” He meant that we are all spiritually enslaved sinners who owe a debt we cannot pay to a holy God. We were in a hopeless condition, but thankfully, Jesus intervened and put our debt on His account.
1. Jesus graciously put our sin debt on his account in order to cancel the debt and give us His righteousness. This is pictured by Paul telling Philemon to put the debt on his account and offering to pay it. Warren Wiersbe writes of this, “It takes more than love to solve the problem; love must pay a price. God does not save us by His love, for though He loves the whole world, the whole world is not saved. God saves sinners by His grace (Eph. 2:8-9), and grace is love that pays a price. God in His holiness could not ignore the debt that we owe, for God must be faithful to His own Law. So He paid the debt for us! Theologians call this ‘the doctrine of imputation.’ (To impute means ‘to put it on account.’) When Jesus Christ died on the cross, my sins were put on His account; and He was treated the way I should have been treated. When I trusted Him as my Savior, His righteousness was put on my account; and now God accepts me in Jesus Christ. Jesus said to the Father, ‘He no longer owes You a debt because I paid it fully on the cross. Receive him as you would receive Me. Let him come into the family circle!”
2. Because of Jesus canceling our debt, we are no longer slaves but fully accepted, completely blessed children of God. Paul asked Philemon to “receive him [Onesimus] as you would me.” We are fully accepted by God because we are in Christ. We are no longer slaves under the bondage of sin but children of God blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Romans 8:15-17 says, “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ…” Ephesians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” The end of verse 6 then says “He made us accepted in the Beloved.”
3. To personally experience what Jesus has done for us, we must trust Him. Onesimus had to trust Paul’s word in order to go to Philemon. He was laying his life on the line by doing this. It was a huge step of faith. Step is a key word because he did not just say that he believed, but he acted on his faith by going back to make things right. We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), but faith without works is dead (James 2). True faith puts our life and eternity on the line by giving ourselves to Jesus in faith.
Conclusion: Are you personally trusting Jesus or do you need to come home to Him today by faith? He wants to put your sin on His account and give you His righteousness in exchange. If you are a Christian, stop thinking of yourself as a second class citizen. You are fully accepted, completely blessed child of God. You are not a slave. Be thankful for, enjoy, and live in the freedom that Jesus purchased for you.
