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. Paul claims that not only was he a Jew who had retained his ancestral religion, but he had also devoted his whole life to its most rigorous observance. 3:8-9 Yes, and I still count all things loss, because of the all-surpassing value of what it means to know Jesus Christ, my Lord. Select a Passage. He has not only put aside religious ceremonies and national status, but he considers that all things in which he might boast are worthless. Why, it was gain. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect ( Philippians 3:11-12 ): It is sort of sad that so many people seem to feel that they have attained, or they have achieved their spiritual walk, and they sort of sit on little pedestals, little ivory towers. Paul has not yet reached it. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.". A man must always have a care that he is not himself guilty of the sins of which he accuses others. Whatever the motives, whatever the manner, the Lord would surely deal with these in His own day; but, at any rate, Christ was now preached, and God would use this both for His own glory and for the salvation of souls. I am crucified with Christ, now I can experience the power of the resurrected life. And they were a sort of a hated animal. But it is working through it, but it is agonizing. Such experience is both a real and a precious boon. And now she was in her senior year. Even, therefore, if you could have (what is impossible) ever so much real spiritual knowledge along with Christ, who would so much as notice these acquisitions in comparison with Christ? So unbelief interprets, but most assuredly it is wrong. The problem with this view is the unusual word used for the resurrection (Gr. "Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ." Instead of occupying oneself with all one hears that would cast down, now that we have committed all. 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. "I would, then, that ye should understand, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel." Christ was "without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation." "The prize" is "the crown of It was not simply something which had happened to Jesus, however important it was for him. It may be remarked here, that from an expression often misunderstood in Philippians 2:1-30 it might seem as if the apostle wished somehow to weaken their confidence. But how can you attain the resurrection of the dead unless you, first of all, have died? There are two Greek verbs which are very like each other. Thus we see here the power of a risen and a heavenly Christ, not now treated doctrinally as in 1 Corinthians 15:1-58 or 2 Corinthians 5:1-21 and elsewhere, but as that which bears on the Christian for the constant experience of every day. [Note: E.g., Hawthorne, pp. Living in the past, there is always that danger of discouragement, which shuts off initiative for the future. Yet we may follow, and seek conformity unto His death; but there was that in His death on the cross which could be His alone. What is right and what is wrong? He is God equally with the Father. We now heard what the apostle renounced; let us now see what he laid hold on, and resolved to cleave to, namely, Christ and heaven. No; but "because that ye had heard that he had been sick." Christ was surely blameless in the highest sense, as His ways were harmless, "holy, harmless, undefiled," as it is said elsewhere. What the apostle's actings were under this conviction. When the revival swept England the son was in York jail. WebPhilippians 3:8-11 meaning Paul considers religious practices and custom meaningless compared to the far better value of serving Jesus Christ through the obedience of faith. He gave him time to repent; and not only so, but a heart to repent." (iv) As for the righteousness which the Law could produce, he was blameless. But tomorrow, some nut pulls in front of me on the freeway and then blocks and traps me, and I may shake my fist and honk my horn, and say, "Get off the road, you fool." And thus the name dog the Jews began to apply to the Gentiles. 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. and have no confidence in the flesh ( Philippians 3:3 ). He is not condemning Judaism from the outside. All here below was plunged under the sentence of death through Adam's sin; and God's word could but seal it till redemption. WebMatthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Philippians 3:9-14. It is no rule, but an evasion. The great saving truths of Christianity do not change; and we cannot hear them too often. You see, someone else already tried that and it just doesn't work." For it is not meant looking to Him now, or having Him as one's life: to win Christ means having Him at the other side. Faith is the ordained means of actual interest and saving benefit in all the purchase of his blood. The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them: You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page. He did feel it. WebFor we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit ( Philippians 3:3 ), Paul was constantly emphasizing that the physical rites had no value except there be a He pressed towards the mark. "Reaching forth to those things which are before, I press," and the word in the Greek is agonizo. As he went on, the cheerfulness and composure of his countenance were amazing to all the spectators." (ii) To that end Paul says two things. 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. The manner, too, in which these things happened seemed to make all as remote as possible from furthering the gospel; but here again he brings in Christ. It is not love growing less but more, and this abounding in intelligence and knowledge, which could not be looked for in saints just beginning their career. Let us uphold the glory of His person, but, nevertheless, let us not forget how the apostle's picture of the saint resembles the Master! It has been hard for you to kick against the pricks." Thus we know how on approaching Rome Paul was lifted up and comforted, as he saw those who came to greet him. So he says, "Out of my experience I tell you that the Jewish way is wrong and futile. It often happens that men can stand the great sorrows and the great trials of life but are undone by what are almost minor inconveniences. So, those things which we once gained, those things which were once so important to me, I counted loss, and I forget those things which are behind, because I am pressing forth for those things which are before. In fact, he had gone beyond. Jesus wasn't resurrected until he first went to the cross. "For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him." They are enemies to the cross of Christ, not to Christ Himself, but to that aspect of suffering with Him,". With Him you will be right about the gospel, right about the church, right about doctrine, walk, and service. (iii) We place no confidence in merely human things. Timothy shared the unselfishness of the apostle's heart. This is what the Lord intended for me, to be with Him in His kingdom, to share with Him His glory. This is, accordingly, what flows forth in praise from himself, and in calling out praise from other hearts. He was born and circumcised a Jew and trained to be a zealous law-abiding Pharisee, but he found that trying to do good by keeping laws could not make the guilty sinner acceptable to God. He is author of. His desire above all was that Christ's name might go forth. Anastasis sometimes signifies the future state. Or is it, on the settled judgment of the old as altogether and only self and sin, that we are habitually manifesting Christ? Let us then try to see what Paul thinks about when he speaks about righteousness. In this chapter the apostle cautions the Philippians against false teachers, whom he describes as evil men, and exhorts them to walk as they had him, and other faithful ministers for an example. No doubt the new creation is essentially neither male nor female; it is not a race perpetuated in a fleshly way; but all things are of God and in Christ. Word Format PDF Format. WebHe was naturally grateful to the Philippians, but more so to God who had worked such kindness through the Philippians. As citizens of heaven we keep in communication with our native home. And many people have never experienced the power of the resurrected life, because they have shied away from the fellowship of the suffering and of the crucified with Christ life. "Finally," says he, "my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. "I'll show you a mystery, we are not going to all sleep, but we are all going to be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of any eye. WebJamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary 14. high callingliterally, "the calling that is above" (Ga 4:26; Col 3:1): "the heavenly calling" (Heb 3:1). And yet, that is what God has imparted to me through faith, my faith that He has given to me, in Jesus Christ.Paul goes on. He desired to win Christ; and an unspeakable gainer he would reckon himself if he had but an interest in Christ and his righteousness, and if Christ became his Lord and his Saviour: That I may win him; as the runner wins the prize, as the sailor makes the port he is bound for. If this be borne in mind a large part of the difficulty that some have found completely disappears. It should be "the fruit of righteousness, which is by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.". Paul himself did not hope to attain it through his own merit and righteousness, but through the merit and righteousness of Jesus Christ. [Note: See John F. Walvoord, Philippians, pp. In rich measure did the apostle live thus himself it was the one thing he did; and he would have the saints to be living in it too. Philippians 3:1114: Can I Really Have Assurance? He does so, not because he is arrogant or self-righteous, for he knows the struggles and difficulties that are inevitable to enter the kingdom. He must retrieve the glory of God in that very death which confessedly had brought the greatest shame on God outwardly. This separates from all, and judges the best of man to be dung, as the former conforms the heart after His love. Generally the NASB is more literal, translating a Greek word with the same English word wherever the Greek word occurs. And as he headed out towards Damascus, he was going out with threatenings of murder against the believers. "This shall turn," says he, "to my salvation through your prayers, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." ( 1 Corinthians 15:51-55 ), When Jesus comes again, we will each experience a metamorphosis. Timothy was very dear to him, and was then with him; but he is going to part with the one that was so much the more valued by him in his solitariness and sorrow because of his circumstances at Rome. Consequently we must look for another explanation of this verse. The rite of water baptism is really not a physical rite, but a spiritual experience. What seemed to some the death of the gospel was in point of fact distinctly for the furtherance of it. In Revelation the word dog stands for those who are so impure that they are debarred from the Holy City ( Revelation 22:15). But so it is; and thus the food of faith becomes the poison of unbelief. Intended for me, to be with Him philippians 3:11 14 commentary will be right about the gospel was in York.... 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