If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.
Paul has just asked Philemon to take back Onesimus, a runaway slave, as he would welcome Paul himself. Now he turns to the money, and puts the whole loss on his own books.
The Wrong Is Real
Paul does not pretend nothing happened. He also does not force the word "theft" on his friend.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinOnesimus had probably confessed his theft to Paul. Again Paul chooses his words with great care for this delicate matter. He does not call it "theft" outright. He writes "if he has wronged you," and then softens even that to "or owes you anything." Then he declares himself ready to make good the loss. He takes on the debt in place of the slave Onesimus — "charge that to my account." These same five words are translated in Romans 5:13 by the word "impute."
Conversion did not rewrite the past.
The Bible TreasuryThere is a hint that Onesimus had wronged Philemon. He had robbed or stolen, and then run away from his master. Could God justify dishonesty and fraud? No; for no unrighteous person shall inherit the kingdom of God. The dishonesty of Onesimus led him to Rome, led him to Paul, led him to hear the gospel. But that did not make it any less wrong.
The Word "Account"
Two different words lie behind this language of accounts. Paul chose the sharper one.
J. N. DarbyThe word "imputed" here is not the general word for "imputing righteousness." It means putting a specific item to someone's account, which the other word does not. The same word appears in Philemon 18.
So Paul is using a bookkeeping term. One named amount moves from one column to another.
Paul Signs for It
There is a difference between excusing a debt and paying it.
The Christian's FriendProbably he had defrauded his master. Paul does not overlook this. He does not tell Philemon to just accept the loss, whatever it was. Instead, he freely makes himself the guarantor for its payment, if Philemon should ask for it.
Paul does not leave the promise spoken. He puts it in writing, then adds one line that tips the balance.
F. B. HoleThe damage done is to go to Paul's account. He writes a promissory note in his own hand — "I will repay it." But what a master-stroke are the words that follow: "though I say nothing about your owing me even your own self besides"!
The Gospel in Five Words
Commentators read this sentence as a small model of what happened at the cross.
F. B. HolePaul stands between Philemon and Onesimus. That is a faint picture of what Christ has done. Can we not almost hear the blessed Saviour speaking that way? On the cross He charged Himself with our sins and took up the judgment we deserved. Shall we not bless Him for ever that He said to God, about everything our sins deserved, "Charge that to My account."
The parallel runs further than payment.
The Christian's FriendChrist 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, together with Himself, His own place and relationship with the Father, so that we are received as Himself. How blessed is the likeness between the servant and his Master!
What It Asks of the Reader
If Christ covered our debt at that cost, pressing a brother for his own looks strange.
The Bible TreasuryIf anything is due to us from a brother, let us not demand it. The Lord has written it with His own hand, and He will repay. "Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?" No one loses by giving something up for the Lord's sake. We owe Him ourselves and all we have, yet He is gracious enough to repay any loss we accept for His name's sake.
A Caution
Does this verse tell Christians to guarantee other people's debts?
C. H. MackintoshWe do not think Philemon 18, 19 gives any warrant at all for what is commonly called going security.
Summary
- Debt named. Paul softens the wording, but he never denies the loss. Grace does not pretend the wrong never happened.
- Debt transferred. "Charge that to my account" is a bookkeeping word. It moves one named item onto someone else's page, and it is the word translated "impute" in Romans 5:13.
- Debt signed for. Paul puts his own name behind the debt, in his own handwriting. Then he notes that Philemon owes him his very self.
- Debt repaid. At the cross Christ said the same thing to God about our sins, and then gave us His own place, so we are received as Himself.
- Debt released. Anyone carried like that will not press claims against a brother. Nothing given up for the Lord's sake is ever lost.