by Dr. Paul Chappell

“If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account; I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it: albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides.”

Philemon 18–19

Look past what people do to you and focus on what Christ did for you.

“Amazing Grace,” America’s most-loved hymn according to a Gallup poll, was written by John Newton, a preacher and faithful servant of God. But some people are not aware of Newton’s background. John Newton began his life on the sea at age eleven. His father was a shipmaster, and his mother died when he was young. John and his father sailed six voyages before his father retired. Newton’s father had arranged for him to take over a slave plantation in Jamaica, but John became a midshipman in the British Royal Navy.

After trying to desert his duty, Newton was made a public example to the other sailors and afterward contemplated suicide for a while. Thankfully, he recovered both physically and mentally and left the Navy to become a member of a slave ship, which took him to the coast of Sierra Leone. He was abused by the ship’s captain but was eventually rescued by another sea captain, a friend of his father’s.

Newton was sailing back to England onboard a merchant ship when a sudden storm nearly sank the ship. It was that night that John Newton cried out to God to save him. Newton later recognized this experience as merely a fear of dying, not a time of true conversion. After reaching England, he acquired work on a slave ship and during the first leg of the ship’s journey, he became ill with a high fever. It is then that Newton fully professed faith in Christ and as he said, “felt peace with God Almighty.”

John spent the rest of his life serving God and was a helper of William Wilberforce in his quest to abolish the slave trade in England. He also wrote many pamphlets and poems, including the hymn “Amazing Grace” whose words say, “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.”

Truly John Newton had experienced the forgiveness of God to be able to sing of grace that saved him, a slave trader. Someone else who experienced forgiveness was Onesimus, as we see in our verses. He had been forgiven of running away from his master, yet as we see, Paul exhorted Philemon, Onesimus’ master, to forgive Onesimus; not because he deserved it, but because he had been forgiven of his sins as well.

Paul tells Philemon that if Onesimus had cost him any money or owed him anything, Paul would pay for it. He says, “If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account” (Philemon 18). Paul here pictures how Christ came and paid for our account of sin.

How often do we focus on what other people owe us, not on what we owe others? We owe Christ our lives! He paid for our sins, the sins we should have died for on Calvary. Yet when others wrong us or offend us, we are so quick to become bitter and hold on to hurt feelings.

Think of John Newton. God forgave him for every sin he had committed. The Lord willingly forgave every time John had cursed God’s name, treated others poorly, and sinned; and extended His love and forgiveness to him. That should be our example of forgiveness. Even when others mistreat you, look past what they did and focus on what Christ did for you on Calvary. With this mindset, no one is beyond your forgiveness because God has first forgiven you.

To learn more about the ministries of Lancaster Baptist Church and Pastor Chappell, please visit lancasterbaptist.org.

To learn more about Pastor Paul Chappell and his ministry, please visit paulchappell.com or follow him on twitter. 

                                     
Daily Bible Reading
2 Chronicles 25-27 • John 16