Debt...

Scripture:

Philemon 1:19 (ESV)

 I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self.

Devotional:

Philemon is a short book in the Bible.  It consists of one chapter with twenty-five verses.  I am focusing on one verse.  For some reason verse 19 stands out.

Everyone of us has a debt.  We have the debt of sin.  Romans 3:23 (ESV) “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”.  Let’s look at other debts.  We might owe someone a favor.  Someone might owe someone else a service or even money.  If you have bought a house or car you owe a bank or lender money.  Some have student loans. 

Have you ever had that loan or owe someone and couldn’t repay it?  Onesimus owed a debt he could not pay.  As best as I know there was nothing he could do to repay or pay off his debt.  Paul steps in and pays it.  He declares the value Onesimus is to him.  Paul appeals to Philemon to forgive and receive Onesimus not as a bondservant or slave but as a 

friend, coheir and brother in Christ. 

It is true, we can never repay the debt of sin.  There is someone willing to pay your dept of sin for you.  There is someone who will go before God and plead on your behalf.  Jesus is our savior.  Jesus has paid our debt of sin.  All we need to do is accept the payment.  Jesus had provided a way for us to be in the presence of God.  Not as a sinner but as a coheir of Christ.