Philemon 1:12

The apostle had not forgotten the master's legal claim over his slave: "Whom I send back to you." Our way of speaking can hardly bear "I sent"; in verse 19 we must say, "I write." It is the epistolary aorist, as it is called: the writer speaks from the time when his letter will be read. So Philemon got his rights back. Onesimus returned to his master; the apostle sent him back. He did not write a letter to secure terms for the slave beforehand, nor to make a bargain with the master. Such a bargain could hardly fit the law. It fits the grace and truth that came by Jesus Christ even less. He sends Onesimus back "in person, that is, mine own bowels," or my very heart! Is not this the mind of heaven?

Paul discloses the purpose of his letter. It would cost him to send the runaway back. "My very heart" tells us of the deep inner feelings that the wrench would cause. The apostle doesn't stop there but goes on to show how he would dearly have liked to retain Onesimus. His return was very costly to the lonely Roman prisoner, but Paul does not keep him. … Paul knows that this is not just a matter of getting a wayward slave back to his legal master. It is a matter of having a brother received and trust established.

Onesimus seems to have been guilty of two things. He had run away from his master, and he had also cheated him. As others have noticed, the apostle treats all this with great delicacy! If he refers to the running away, he calls it departing. Writing about his dishonest conduct, Paul offers to repay what is owed. But he does not drop a single word that could feed resentment in Philemon's heart. At the same time he fully upholds the master's rights. That would give Philemon the chance to show the grace in his heart.

In the first place, Paul's word about Onesimus is, "receive him" (verse 12). He was not to be ignored, and much less to be rejected, but to be received. How fully and really has God received us who have believed.

Notice how fully Paul identifies himself with his convert. "Receive him," he says, "that is, my very heart." Again, "If you count me a partner, receive him as myself." Once more, "If he has wronged you, or owes you anything, put that on my account. I, Paul, have written this with my own hand. I will repay it." Christ has "repaid" what we owed to God — and how much more! He charged Himself with the whole of our responsibility. And He has given us, in association with Himself, His own place and relationship with the Father, so that we are received as Himself.

Now Philemon had to show what was really in his heart, and how simple his faith was. … The apostle says of Onesimus, He is my very heart. Could Philemon treat such a man as unimportant? … If the gospel is true, then there was no difference between people in sin, and there is no difference in the great salvation. Onesimus, Philemon and Paul are blessed alike, and blessed perfectly.