PT-2 "Intro to Philemon 8:18"

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/7/2017 5:15 PM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-2 Intro to Philemon 8-18

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Philemon 8-18

            Message of the verses:  “8 Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is proper, 9 yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you-since I am such a person as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus- 10 I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment, 11 who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. 12 I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart, 13 whom I wished to keep with me, so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my imprisonment for the gospel; 14 but without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would not be, in effect, by compulsion but of your own free will. 15  For perhaps he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, 16  no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 17 If then you regard me a partner, accept him as you would me. 18 But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account;”

            In today’s SD we will begin looking at the second of eight foundational element of a biblical doctrine of forgiveness.  The first one was looked at in our last SD on Philemon.

“Second, whoever offends us gives greater offense to God.”  I have not read ahead to find out what all of these elements are, but this one has to be one that I am truly interested in and want to remember as it will help me understand life a bit better.  When David committed adultery with Bathsheba, he sinned against her, her husband and against God, and David knew that.  “Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge (Psalm 51:4).”  MacArthur adds “Whatever his offense against men, he gave a greater offense to God.  God has forgiven those who wrong us of the greater offense of sinning against Him.  Can we not forgive them of the lesser one of offending us?”  As you think about that statement we can understand that if we don’t forgive others who sin against us and against God we are actually putting ourselves above the just and holy God. 

            Everyone reading this has probably been offended by someone at one time in their lives, some more than others, but the truth is no matter how much that person has offended us it does not compare with how we have offended God, and yet God in His great mercy sent His only Son into the world to take our place on the cross so that all of our offesenses against Him was cared for.  Now when we have been forgiven so much, (everything) we need also to forgive others.

7/7/2017 5:41 PM