Philemon

When you consider that if a runaway slave was caught the penalty could be death, this letter to Philemon becomes a picture of the reconciliation of the gospel.

Onesimus is the runaway slave in this case, and he is being sent back to his master by Paul. Paul knows what's at stake here. So he appeals to Philemon, the master, asking him to show grace to Onesimus, and accept him back. But not as a slave; Paul asks him to receive him as a brother, "both in the flesh and in the Lord" (vs 16). This is not what Onesimus deserves. He likely stole from Philemon and then ran off; by law he deserves a harsh beating, maybe even death.

In fact this is what we all deserve (Rom. 6:23). But God, in his mercy, saved us from death by the death of his son, Jesus. So Paul closes the letter with a reference to this: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit" (vs 25). I wonder if this carried any more weight given the subject of the letter? The grace of Jesus has been given to Philemon, and Paul is asking him to extend that same grace to Onesimus.

Is this your response to others when they wrong you? Are you charitable toward them, even though they don't deserve it? Make it a practice to extend grace whenever you can, for Christ your Savior gave his life to give you grace.