The Gospel According to Philemon: Picture of Christ and Justification

Found in the overlooked gem of a letter to Philemon is the stirring drama of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Justification in Him. Philemon "plays" the role of the Righteous Father, his runaway slave Onesimus "plays" the role of the lost and hopeless sinner, while Paul "plays" the role of Christ. The double imputation of Justification (Christ's righteousness is imputed to the sinner and the sinner's unrighteousness is imputed to Christ) is dramatized as Paul exhorts Philemon to receive Onesimus "as you would me" and to "put on my account" anything Onesimus owes.