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 ]