It had always been so, as the apostle gives us to learn. You will never get into a right relationship with God by your own efforts in keeping the Law. Like the song said, "Mercy drops round us are falling, but for the showers we plead." We must think rather of the conflict of the gospel: there was often for all concerned disgrace, and pain, and scorn. The great feast of Purim, which was observed every year with such rejoicing, commemorated the deliverance of which the Book of Esther tells, and the central figure of that story was Mordecai, a Benjaminite. The verb katavtao ("attain") means to come to, to arrive at, or to attain to something. To the confession of His Lordship is added "to the glory of God the Father." My actions they may, but not my faith in Him. And the righteousness is accounted to me by my faith in Him. There is always danger of these, and the more so where there is activity among souls. (iii) It means to be so united with Christ that day by day we come more to share in his death, so that finally we share in his Resurrection. In other words, "Give it all you have got.". In the Bible the dog always stands for that than which nothing can be lower. It was seen laid in the grave of Christ. But so it is; and thus the food of faith becomes the poison of unbelief. It is not at all a question of ecclesiastical order, in which naturally the chief guides would have front rank. There were in the Church at Philippi men whose conduct was an open scandal and who, by their lives, showed themselves to be the enemies of the Cross of Christ. Many different commentaries state that of all the groups that Paul wrote to, Phillipi was probably the best of them all. He "became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Observe, Those who think they have grace enough give proof that they have little enough, or rather that they have none at all; because, wherever there is true grace, there is a desire of more grace, and a pressing towards the perfection of grace. "Let your requests be made known unto God." Paul suffered much for the cross of Christ at the hands of This is what gives force to our affections, and rivets them on Christ. And there Paul was converted. All of this background that put me in a high standing as far as the law is concerned I counted loss for Christ. And, accordingly, why should one be a prey to care, if this be really so? That was a common name by which the Jews referred to the Gentiles: the gentile dogs. They shared the conflict of the gospel; they partook of the reproach that covered those who preached it. Hence he speaks of the conflict which they once saw to be in him, and now heard to be in him. They were coupled with the gospel in all its conflict and progress. In other words, "Here I am, I am chained in prison, but I don't find it hard to write this to you. It would be mere independence of Christ if he could have stood without a single flaw, as blameless, in fact, as in a certain sense outwardly he was under the law, until the Spirit of God gave him to see what he was in God's mind. c. The Lord Jesus Christ: The title Lord was also applied to the Roman Caesar. Anything I do for myself is a waste of time and effort. He passionately longs to reach the final destination and, in no way presuming upon the grace of God, presses on towards that goal (OBrien 413). The fitter we grow for heaven the faster we must press towards it. It is his state and experience every day, as to which his hope was that in nothing he should be ashamed; "but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ. Hence the conflict is never with internal evil, but rather with Satan. He persecuted the church. WebPhilippians 2:1-5. Reasonings on such matters are in general miserably wrong. For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness." This verb indicates the most intimate knowledge of another person. "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.". There is no looking at Him as Saviour on the cross merely; but when He comes for us, there will be in the filial sense (as ever in our epistle) "salvation." i. Jesus was not merely resuscitated from the dead in the same body. Vital to the understanding of this passage is the correct interpretation of the Greek word teleios ( G5046) which occurs twice, rendered by the Revised Standard Version as Perfect in Php_3:12 and as mature in Php_3:15 . victory over the foe. And this ground is one which always brings in the strength of the Holy Ghost, as it is based on God's mighty work of redemption. There were tens of thousands of them in Rome; and in Alexandria there were more than a million. Check out our other commentaries: Genesis 19:8-10 meaning (3:11 22) Maps and Charts. It is not Paul's aim to know about Christ, but personally to know him. Righteousness is a gift that God gives to those who have faith in Christ (8-9).But Paul does not stop there. Their affections were right. Who can understand why it should be "suitable to the persons addressed," on Dr. B's showing? But he had himself gone through the trial; he had weighed it all; he had brought it into the presence of God. Let me think of myself as one that is serving Him (oh, how feebly and failingly!) They were "manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; and many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by, my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. This is where at least some of the Jews made the mistake. This understanding of exanastasin would point to the resurrection of believers that will result in Christians rising from among the unbelieving dead, those who are dead in their trespasses and sins. It is because the world was created out of this flawed matter that sin and evil are in it. Paul claims not only to be a pure-blooded Jew but one who still spoke Hebrew. What you cannot do, He can. (Meyer), 2018 David Guzik No distribution beyond personal use without permission. Shall we turn now in our Bibles to Philippians 3 .Again, remember that the background of this epistle, Paul is chained to a Roman soldier in Rome, in prison, writing to the Philippians. "For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him." Thus the very suffering which unbelief might interpret wrongly, and regard as a severe chastening, and so cause the heart to be cast down, instead of taking comfort before God, the suffering for Christ's sake is a gift of His love, as much a gift as the believing in Christ for the salvation of the soul. v. There is a significant contrast between the citizens of earth as described in Philippians 3:18-19 and the citizens of heaven as described in Philippians 3:20-21. b. How truly he accounted himself less than the least of them! "The out-resurrection is a special reward which only faithful believers will receive. Videos. Now we all know that when a man is carried on the top of the wave, when the winds fill the sails and all goes prosperously, when hearts are gladdened in sorrow, when one witnesses the joy of fresh deliverance from day to day, it is a comparatively easy thing. There is a certain indestructibility in Christian joy; and it is so, because Christian joy is in the Lord. "You see, the angel doesn't have to erase the righteousness and then rewrite it, or whatever. In the Christian life there is no room for a person who desires to rest upon his laurels. These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features. I just can't do it. i. Not that there were not difficulties; there were many. This was now among the last outpourings of the apostle's heart, as he himself had almost arrived at the end of his active labours, if indeed it was not absolutely their end. I was circumcised when I was eight days old: I am of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin: I am a Hebrew, born of Hebrew parents. "It pleased God," wrote the father, "not to cut him off in his sins. Codd. Is this your measure of the love of Christ? The great saving truths of Christianity do not change; and we cannot hear them too often. However there is no other Scripture that teaches a difference in the resurrection of faithful and unfaithful believers. ", And what is it that gave such a hope to one that owns himself the chief of sinners and less than the least of all saints? The effect of their teaching was to take men further away from God instead of to bring them nearer to him. By this claim Paul makes it clear that he is not an Ishmaelite, for the Ishmaelites were circumcised in their thirteenth year ( Genesis 17:25), nor a proselyte who had come late into the Jewish faith and been circumcised in manhood. At any rate they endured the conflicts of the gospel in its earlier days at Philippi. It is not one who cherished a trust in the Lord's fidelity spite of what was visible. He had experienced it at its highest point; and he knew that it was nothing compared with the joy which Christ had given. The hope and prospect of it carried him with so much courage and constancy through all the difficulties he met with in his work. Who have had more palpable witness that service may become the object rather than Christ? and the fellowship of his sufferings ( Philippians 3:10 ). Unless there were long periods when he never put pen to paper there must have been many more letters which are now lost. And having determined then what is right and what is wrong, I may then seek to always do that which is right. So this is Paul's answer to the Jewish teachers. of Let's not just sit back and rest, let's press forward to what God has for us in the future. 3:12-16 Not that I have already obtained this, or that I am already all complete but I press on to try to grasp that for which I have been grasped by Jesus Christ. He therefore puts all his energy into his efforts to reach this goal, just as a runner strains every muscle to reach the finishing line and gain the prize (12-14).Mature Christians will have the attitude to life that Paul has just outlined. forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before ( Philippians 3:13 ), We haven't seen anything yet. They said that in Christianity all law was gone and that the Christian had liberty to do what he liked. WebBible Commentaries Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary Philippians 3 11 Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary Philippians 3:11 If by any means - Implying, that he meant to make use of the most strenuous exertions to obtain the object. ; there were tens of thousands of them all of God the Father, `` Give it all have. Made known unto God. he knew that it was seen laid in the Christian life is. Special reward which only faithful believers will receive one be a prey to care, this... 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