<p>1:19 <i>I, Paul, write this with my own hand:</i> <i>I will repay any debt- </i>Paul was writing from his hired house within the Roman prison, in the period at the end of Acts 28. He seems to have access to money. But by 2 Tim. 4 he is in prison again and can't afford even a cloak, and needs writing equipment. He knew how to abound and be abased when it came to money and wealth.</p><p><i>Even though you owe me your own self- </i>Continuing the theme of &lsquo;profit&rsquo;, Paul says that Onesimus &lsquo;owed&rsquo; him his very self because Paul had converted him; therefore any material debt that Onesimus &lsquo;owed&rsquo; Philemon should be forgiven with pleasure (Philemon 18,19). The unpayable debt that we have should lead us to be forgiving of whatever others owe us. Note in passing how Philemon &lsquo;owed&rsquo; his very eternal life to Paul. This is the power and responsibility of witnessing to others. The saviour is the Lord, and yet the preacher manifests that salvation to others to such an extent that effectively we owe our salvation additionally to the person who converted us. See on :22. Philemon owed his salvation to Paul&rsquo;s preaching, and was therefore eternally obligated to him. We too can be a tree of life to those with whom we live; we can win their souls for the Kingdom (Prov. 11:30). The Thessalonians would be accepted in the final glory of judgment day simply &ldquo;because our testimony among you was believed&rdquo; (2 Thess. 1:10). Eve, taken out of the wounded side of the first man, was a type of the ecclesia; and her name means &lsquo;source of life&rsquo;, in anticipation of how the church would bring life to the world.</p><p>The idea of two men in debt, one Onesimus more than the other Philemon recalls the Lord's parable of Mt. 18 about two men like this; and also to another parable of two indebted men who were both frankly forgiven, and the one forgiven most loved his master the most (Lk. 7:42,43). There are several allusions to the parables in the letter to Philemon. The man with the bigger debt was being unreasonable to the other servant who was indeed in his debt, but not so seriously as he was. The debt of Philemon was partly to Paul for saving him, but it could be argued that Onesimus had a similar debt. The rest of his huge accrual of debt was therefore from something else which Onesimus had not done. So it would seem that Philemon, pastor of his own house church, renowned for good deeds... had some pretty dark secrets, and perhaps it was the practice of them which had led Onesmius to steal money for a journey and then run away from him. The &quot;frank forgiveness&quot; of the Lord to the bigger debtor is picked up in :22 <i>I shall be restored to you.</i></p>