"Go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. "
Matthew 5:24
USEFUL AGAIN
Read It: Philemon 8-14
Did you know the Greek word Onesimus means useful? Now there's some real irony. What's more useless than a runaway slave-and thief to boot? But Paul says that's all past. Onesimus will live up to his name now (v. 11). What happened? When Onesimus ran away from Philemon, he ran smack into Paul in Rome. Because of Paul the useless young man was turned around. You know by now that it was dangerous to run into Paul, even in prison. One time he had guards chained to him in eight-hour shifts. Poor guards. They didn't have a chance. Paul said at one point that the whole "praetorian guard," the guys guarding him, had heard about Christ (Philippians 1:13). The slave has become a saint. Relationships have changed. Once you come into the family of God, your status changes. You start all over again. Paul brought out the meaning of Onesimus's name to make a point. Onesimus was now useful to Philemon. So Paul was sending him back, although Onesimus was also useful to Paul and Paul wanted him to stay. See the discipler/disciple relationship between Paul and Philemon in verse 8. Paul could have ordered Philemon to do the right thing. Yet as his spiritual father, Paul appealed to him based on their bond. He cared about his relationship with Philemon and didn't want to presume on it. Notice that this wasn't one-sided. Restoring broken relationships requires not only forgiveness but restoration. Onesimus needed to go back to pay back what he'd stolen from Philemon in terms of money and missed work.
So Paul asked Philemon's permission to send Onesimus back (v. 14). Now this is where we often miss it. We say forgive and forget. No, sin must be atoned for. God did not forgive and forget our sins until Jesus did the atoning. See, things can't be right vertically with God until they're also right horizontally with each other. Jesus said we need to fix our human relationships before we can talk about bringing God the kind of worship He wants. Anybody you need to talk to today? Think About It As forgiven people, we have no right to withhold forgiveness from anyone else.
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