<p>1:11- see on Col. 1:6.</p><p><i>He was once unprofitable to you- </i>The unprofitable servant of Mt. 25:30 is all of us, the Lord taught. And so when Paul appeals to Philemon to be gracious to his unprofitable servant Onesimus (Philemon 11), he&rsquo;s alluding back to that parable. And making the point that Philemon is himself an unprofitable servant, graciously received by his Lord; and so he should be likewise gracious to <i>his</i> unprofitable servant.</p><p><i>But now is profitable to you and to me</i>- By receiving Onesimus with grace, there would be &ldquo;benefit&rdquo; and &ldquo;profit&rdquo; for Philemon (Philemon 11,14 Gk.). Humanly speaking, there was only loss. For Onesimus had defrauded Philemon (Philemon 18 Gk.), and Paul was implying that Onesimus send him back to Rome to help him, with Philemon&rsquo;s &lsquo;agreement&rsquo; AV &ldquo;mind&rdquo; (Philemon 13,14 GK.). Losing&nbsp;a slave was a material, financial loss. But by showing grace in this case, the material loss would become a spiritual profit for Philemon in the last day.</p>