[7. Words of Warning (Philippians 3:1 to Philippians 4:3). (1) AGAINST THE JUDAISERS. (_a_) _Warning against confidence_ “_in the flesh,”_ illustrated by his own renunciation of all Jewish privileges and hopes, in order to have “the righteousness of Christ” (Philippians 3:1). (_b_) _Warning ag... [ Continue Reading ]
III. [6. Original Conclusion of the Epistle (Philippians 3:1). “FINALLY BRETHREN, FAREWELL IN THE LORD.”] (1) FINALLY. — The same word is used in 2 Corinthians 13:11; Ephesians 6:10; 2 Thessalonians 3:1 (as also in this Epistle, Philippians 4:8), to usher in the conclusion. Here, on the contrary,... [ Continue Reading ]
BEWARE OF (_the_) DOGS. — In Revelation 22:15 “the dogs” excluded from the heavenly Jerusalem seem to be those who are impure. In that sense the Jews applied the word to the heathen, as our Lord, for a moment appearing to follow the Jewish usage, does to the Syro-Phœnician woman in Matthew 15:26. Bu... [ Continue Reading ]
WE ARE THE CIRCUMCISION. — So in Colossians 2:11, evidently alluding to baptism as the spiritual circumcision, he says, “In whom ye were circumcised with the circumcision made without hands.” Comp. Romans 2:20, “Circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter;” and passages o... [ Continue Reading ]
CIRCUMCISED THE EIGHTH DAY — _i.e.,_ a Jew born, not a proselyte. OF THE STOCK OF ISRAEL — _i.e._, emphatically, a true scion of the covenanted stock, the royal race of the “Prince of God.” OF THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN — _i.e._, the tribe of the first king, whose name the Apostle bore; the tribe to wh... [ Continue Reading ]
The comparison with the celebrated passage in 2 Corinthians 11:18 is striking, in respect not only of similarity of substance, but of the change of tone from the indignant and impassioned abruptness of the earlier Epistle to the calm impressiveness of this. The first belongs to the crisis of the str... [ Continue Reading ]
CONCERNING ZEAL, PERSECUTING THE CHURCH. — The word “zeal” (as in Acts 22:3) is probably used almost technically to describe his adhesion to the principles of the “Zealots,” who, following the example of Phinehas, were for “executing judgment” at once on all heathens as traitors, ready alike to slay... [ Continue Reading ]
I COUNTED LOSS... — Not merely worthless, but worse than worthless; because preventing the sense of spiritual need and helplessness which should bring to Christ, and so, while “gaining all the world,” tending to the “loss of his own soul.” St. Paul first applies this declaration to the Jewish privil... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE EXCELLENCY OF THE KNOWLEDGE. — The word “excellency” is here strictly used to indicate (as in 2 Corinthians 3:9) that the knowledge of Christ so surpasses all other knowledge, and, indeed, all other blessings whatever, as to make them less nothing. As Chrysostom says here, “When the sun hath... [ Continue Reading ]
NOT HAVING MINE OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, WHICH IS OF THE LAW. — This is not the same as “righteousness in the Law,” that is, defined by law. It is a righteousness resulting from the works of the Law (Galatians 2:16), earned by an obedience to the Law, which is “mine own” — “not of grace, but of debt” (Rom... [ Continue Reading ]
The order of these verses is notable and instructive. (1) First comes the knowledge of “the power of the Resurrection.” What this is we see by examining it as historically the main subject of the first apostolic preaching. There it is considered, as in St. Peter’s first sermons, as giving the earnes... [ Continue Reading ]
Inseparably connected with the possession of this “righteousness of God” is the knowledge of Christ, or more exactly, the gaining the knowledge of Christ (see Philippians 3:8), by conformity both to His suffering and death, and also to His resurrection. This “conformity to the image of Christ” (Roma... [ Continue Reading ]
NOT AS THOUGH... — The tenses are here varied. _Not as though I ever yet attained, or have been already made perfect._ To “attain,” or _receive_ (probably the prize, see Philippians 3:14), is a single act; “to be perfected” a continuous process. Clearly St. Paul has no belief, either in any indefect... [ Continue Reading ]
I COUNT NOT MYSELF... — The “I” is emphatic, evidently in contrast with some of those who thought themselves “perfect.” (See Philippians 3:15.) Not only does St. Paul refuse to count that he has ever yet “attained;” he will not allow that he is yet in a position even to grasp at the prize. (Comp. 1... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HIGH CALLING OF GOD. — Properly, the _calling which is above_ — _i.e._ (much as in Colossians 3:12), “the heavenly calling,” — which is “of God,” proceeding from His will, for “whom He predestinated, them He also called” (Romans 8:30); and is “in Christ Jesus” in virtue of the unity with Him, in... [ Continue Reading ]
PERFECT. — The word is apparently used with a touch of irony (as perhaps the word “spiritual” in Galatians 6:1), in reference to those who hold themselves “to have already attained, to be already perfect.” It is, indeed, mostly used of such maturity in faith and grace as may be, and ought to be, att... [ Continue Reading ]
LET US WALK... — In this verse the last words appear to be an explanatory gloss. The original runs thus: _Nevertheless_ — _as to that to which we did attain_ — _let us walk by the same._ The word “walk” is always used of pursuing a course deliberately chosen. (See Acts 21:24; Romans 4:12; Galatians... [ Continue Reading ]
FOLLOWERS TOGETHER OF ME. — The word is peculiar. It signifies _unite in following me._ In accordance with the genius of the whole Epistle, St. Paul offers his example as a help not only to rectitude but to unity. For the simple phrase “followers of me,” see 1 Corinthians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 11:1; 1... [ Continue Reading ]
(17-21) In these verses St. Paul turns from the party of Pharisaic perfection to the opposite party of Antinomian profligacy, claiming, no doubt, to walk in the way of Christian liberty which he preached. The co-existence of these two parties was, it may be remarked, a feature of the Gnosticism alre... [ Continue Reading ]
EVEN WEEPING. — The especial sorrow, we cannot doubt, lay in this, that the Antinomian profligacy sheltered itself under his own preaching of liberty and of the superiority of the Spirit to the Law. THE ENEMIES OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST. — Here again (as in the application of the epithet “dogs” in Phil... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOSE END IS DESTRUCTION.... — The intense severity of this verse is only paralleled by such passages as 2 Timothy 2:1; 2 Peter 2:12; Jude 1:4; Jude 1:8; Jude 1:12. All express the burning indignation of a true servant of Christ against those who “turn the grace of God into lasciviousness,” and “aft... [ Continue Reading ]
OUR CONVERSATION. — The original may signify either “our city” or “our citizenship” is in heaven. But both the grammatical form and the ordinary usage of the word (not elsewhere found in the New Testament) point to the former sense; which is also far better accordant with the general wording of the... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO SHALL CHANGE... — This passage needs more accurate translation. It should be, _who shall change the fashion of the body of our humiliation, to be conformed to the body of His glory._ (1) On the difference between “fashion” and “form,” see Philippians 2:7. The contrast here signifies that humilia... [ Continue Reading ]