THE CALL TO UNITY (PHILIPPIANS 2:1). In the light of the example of Christ into which they are to enter in their minds (‘let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus' - Philippians 2:5), and of the unifying power of love, and of the working of the one Holy Spirit, Paul calls on the Philipp... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CALL TO UNITY AND LOVE IN THE WAY THAT HAD BEEN EXEMPLIFIED BY JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF AND WHICH GOD WILL WORK WITHIN THEM AS THEY GIVE ATTENTION TO EXPERIENCING THEIR SALVATION TO THE FULL (PHILIPPIANS 2:1). Along with the call to live worthily of Christ, this call to unity and love now presented... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Therefore if there is any exhortation (encouragement, advocacy) in Christ, if any consolation (encouragement) of love, if any sharing in common in and with the Spirit (koinonia of the Spirit, participation in the Spirit), if any tender mercies and compassions,' The initial ‘therefore' here looks ba... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Make full my joy, that you be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind,' The incentives mentioned are intended to persuade them to be ‘of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind'. And if they succeed Paul says that it will fill his cup o... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Doing nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself,' Here indeed is the heart of the matter, ‘faction' and ‘vainglory' (empty glory). We need to recognise that raising points of disagreement and having a high opinion of ourselves, a... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.' This is then summed up in terms of genuine consideration for others. Not as seen in a determination to make them ‘see the truth' as we see it, but in a concern for their genuine welfare and growth in Christ. O... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,' We may translate more literally, ‘Be thus minded (phroneite) in/among yourselves which also in Christ Jesus'. The thought here is not simply that they were to see what Jesus Christ did as an example which they were to follow, although it inclu... [ Continue Reading ]
A DESCRIPTION OF THE PATHWAY OF HUMILITY AND SELFLESSNESS FOLLOWED BY JESUS CHRIST, AND ITS FINAL GLORIOUS CONSEQUENCE (PHILIPPIANS 2:5). Paul has previously emphasised ‘the Gospel' (Philippians 1:5; Philippians 1:27 (twice)), but now he portrays it in all its fullness. It is that we can and should... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men,' Thus they were to follow the pattern of, and set their minds to walk with, the One Who, although by nature Go... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even to death, yes, the death of the cross.' In the same way as Jesus had done they were to choose the way of humility, deliberately electing in their minds to be ‘crucified with Christ' (Galatians 2:20), to as it were die... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Fat... [ Continue Reading ]
AS A RESULT OF THEIR PARTICIPATION WITH CHRIST IN HIS DEATH, RESURRECTION AND EXALTATION THEY ARE TO PUT EVERY EFFORT INTO TOGETHER ‘WORKING OUT' THE SALVATION THAT GOD WAS WORKING WITHIN THEM SO THAT, AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THEIR RESULTING ONENESS AND UNBLEMISHED LIVES, THEY MIGHT BE TRUE LIGHTS IN TH... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For it is God who works within you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.' And they are not to think that they are on their own in this. This verse is crucial to the whole injunction (the separation of the verses must not be allowed to disguise that fact). Had Paul stopped short with Phi... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Do all things without murmurings and questionings, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world,' And part of the working out of this salvation would be that it would res... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Holding forth the word of life, that I may have of which to glory in the day of Christ, that I did not run in vain nor labour in vain.' As lights in the world (the word for ‘lights' was used of beacons) they are to ‘hold forth the word of life'. The witness is to be both practical and verbal as the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But also if I am offered as a libation on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all, and in the same manner do you also joy, and rejoice with me.' In the midst of his confidence he again recognises that he may possibly never see them again if his case goes against him... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be of good comfort (literally ‘well in soul'), when I know your state (literally ‘having known the things concerning you').' Paul was aware of how circumstances at that time were constantly changing, and speaks therefore r... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PROMISE TO SEND TIMOTHY, A PRIME EXAMPLE OF A TRUE SERVANT (PHILIPPIANS 2:19). Paul's first example is of Timothy, the true servant, who is like-minded to Paul (or to Jesus Christ), in contrast with those who seek their own, and not the things of Jesus Christ. He is sending him in order to unde... [ Continue Reading ]
PAUL NOW GIVES TWO EXAMPLES OF MEN WHO, LIKE HIMSELF, HAVE THE MIND THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS (PHILIPPIANS 2:19 TO PHILIPPIANS 3:1). Having expressed his own willingness to be ‘poured out as a libation' in the furtherance of the salvation and blessing of the Philippians, thus demonstrating that he was... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For I have no man likeminded, who will care truly for your state.' His reason for sending Timothy was because, of all whom he had available to him at that time, Timothy was the one whom he considered to be nearest to his own mind and soul (isopsuchos - ‘with the same soul', and therefore sharing h... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ.' That this phrase is not to be applied too widely comes out in what he goes on to say about Epaphroditus, nevertheless it reveals a sad state of affairs in that it brings out that there were few who were with him at that time whom he coul... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But you know the proof of him, that, as a child serves a father, so he served with me in furtherance of the gospel.' He is aware that the Philippians were already acquainted with Timothy, for Timothy had been with him on his first visit to them, so he reminds them that they themselves had sufficie... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Him therefore I hope to send forthwith, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.' And it was because Timothy was in every way trustworthy that he hoped to send him in the near future, as soon as he knew how his own legal case would go, at which point Timothy would be able to tell them the re... [ Continue Reading ]
MEANWHILE PAUL HIMSELF TRUSTS THAT HE WILL SHORTLY BE ABLE TO BE WITH THEM AS WELL (PHILIPPIANS 2:24) As will be apparent from our initial analysis of the whole letter there are good grounds for considering that this statement is the pivot around which the letter is based, the expectancy that he ha... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow-worker and fellow-soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need,' Paul stresses that his sending of Epaphroditus was ‘of necessity'. These words may have been put in lest they got the idea that Epaphroditus had let... [ Continue Reading ]
MEANWHILE HE IS SENDING HIS LETTER WITH EPAPHRODITUS THEIR FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN WHO HAS BEEN CLOSE TO DEATH ‘FOR THE WORK OF CHRIST' (PHILIPPIANS 2:25). Epaphroditus is pictured as having the mind of Christ Jesus in that having served Paul faithfully in his imprisonment for Jesus Christ, he followed i... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Since he longed after you all, and was sorely troubled, because you had heard that he was sick,' But he was also a man who loved his fellow-Christians in Philippi, and had been deeply troubled that they had heard about his serious illness, so much so that his heart had reached out to them in longi... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For indeed he was sick, nigh to death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow.' Paul stresses that Epaphroditus had genuinely been seriously ill. Indeed his illness had been so serious that it had nearly proved fatal. But God's mercy... [ Continue Reading ]
‘I have sent him therefore the more diligently, that, when you see him again, you may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.' It would appear that Paul's fatherly heart had also been burdened because he had shared Epaphroditus' burden (Philippians 2:26), and because of the grief of the Phil... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy, and hold such in honour, because for the work of Christ he came nigh to death, hazarding his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me.' So he calls on the Philippian church to receive Epaphroditus joyfully ‘in the Lord' (i.e. be... [ Continue Reading ]