It just doesn't work. Then he found himself a dead man condemned and powerless. Seven times in the book of Hebrews, the author captures the heart of Christianity in a simple, wonderful command: draw near. "if I live in the flesh, it is worth my while." We are undone without a righteousness wherein to appear before God, for we are guilty. 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. When you are pressing towards the mark. However, one is correct in understanding that these words express his humble expectation and hope (1 Corinthians 15:20; 2 Corinthians 5:1). Such a notion is unknown to scripture, and revolting to the spiritual mind. Television would cause you to think that that is all retired baseball and football players do is just hang around the bars drinking lite beer, talking about the past. The Christian awaits the coming of Christ, at which everything will be changed. 5 Things You Should Know about the ESV Bible Translation. being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead ( Philippians 3:10-11 ). It is used to mean mature in mind and therefore means one who is qualified in a subject as opposed to a mere learner. Brethren, be followers together of me ( Philippians 3:17 ). Paul makes a conscious effort to keep his eyes on the prize promised to him by God. That was a thing which he never forgot. Far from it. "Let your moderation be known unto all men. They had so much the more to do because Christ had done all for their souls. (1-2) Warning against the influence of legalistic But how can you attain the resurrection of the dead unless you, first of all, have died? 10-11 I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. I am rejoicing here, in the Lord." So he says here, "For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung." Here the object seems to be to make its difference from legal obedience more felt the contrast with the law more complete. B. Lightfoot translates it: "Vie with each other in imitating me." But you will never know the life of the resurrected Christ until you have experienced the fellowship of the sufferings. Thus the true bearing of the passage is, that from the first the eye of faith is fixed steadily on the end of the journey. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord ( Philippians 3:8 ): Paul the apostle is on his way to Damascus to persecute the church. WebThe allusion is to the white line, or mark, which the runners in the Olympic games made up to, and to which he that came first received the prize; and by which the apostle intends the Lord Jesus Christ, who is ( skopov) , "the scope", or "mark", of all the thoughts, purposes, and counsels of God, to which they all aim, and in which they all And what did the apostle do with all this roll of fleshly advantages? And rather than resting in the past, what God has done, let's look forward to what God wants to do. Had it been a question of his apostolic dignity, this could not have been; but an apostle even could, and did, and loved to, take the place of one that served others whom he viewed directly in their relationship to Christ. Probably Paul meant that he hoped he would live to experience the Rapture, the "out-resurrection from among the dead," before he died. Having died and risen with Christ, he wants to go on and experience in reality what this means - death to sin and selfish desires, and a new life of constant victory through the living power of the risen Christ within him. We may see the moral harmony of that lot with his testimony, and how suitable it seems that he, who was above all men identified with the gospel of the glory of Christ, should be a prisoner, and nothing but a prisoner in Rome. In the context he had been speaking of suffering and dying with Him. It is not only his reckoning in the first fervour of love for the Saviour. They became Greek-speaking of necessity because they lived and moved in a Greek environment. Observe, The best men in the world will readily own their imperfection in the present state. She just sort of caught her breath when she saw it, it was just such a glorious gown.Lady Bountiful, being very astute, noticed that she gasped at that one. This has its most weighty place elsewhere; but when it is a question of experience, the end cannot be here. There was but one spring of power even Christ. They had been manifesting their mindful love for the apostle, who on his part was certainly not forgetful of its least token. So what do I do? i. Savior was a title given to the Caesars. With all of my efforts I could never come up to that. You see, past experience is only valid if it is translated into the present. "Being confident," he therefore says, "of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ, even as it is meet for me to think this of you all." By all means let them be made known unto God. I might attain unto - I may come to, or may secure this object. (ii) Our only boast is in Jesus Christ. He stresses the fact that he had been born into the Jewish faith and had known its privileges and observed its ceremonies since his birth. For his was a heart deeply sensible of love, and consequently he was not one that had sought either to make the saints dependent upon him, and still less did the apostle depend on the saints for anything that was the fruit of grace in them. He had proved long the power and the joy of Christ for every day, and for every circumstance of it. In His name all must bow. It is by faith in his blood,Romans 3:25. The one thing that suits is to pursue the glory before him, till he is in the same glory along with Christ. And, let me observe, it is not merely that Christ is my life. It was due to His humiliation and obedience; and so it is here treated. Who have had more mournful proofs of the danger of putting saints practically in the place of Christ? I mean, you have got to give it every effort, working through pain, beyond the pain threshold. "Let me be found in Christ, that I may attain the resurrection of the dead, be found a believer in him, and interested in him by faith," Observe. "Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise [ i.e. And mark, it is not the anticipation of light with Christ in heaven, but His light now while He is in heaven shining on the heart, and on the circumstances of the pathway here below. I can do all things through him who strengtheneth me." What a word, and how calculated to make us ashamed! No further discipline and no further effort were necessary. And any moment I could lose it. "Yea," said he, "and I count all things but loss." It is Christ, and Christ only, that thus disposes of grief and pressure. This place throughout is one of promoting, enlarging, deepening, and purifying the experience of the saints themselves in that which filled his own heart with joy in the Lord. The point is this. You can have these things of your flesh, you know. The Apostle John says, "Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure" (1 John 3:3). Codd. For Paul the Resurrection was not simply a past event in history, however amazing. He esteemed men better than himself. It is no trouble to me to write the same things to you, and for you it is safe. It was not so with the Philippians. The Alexandrian, Vatican, Sinai, Clermont, and St. Germain Uncials, supported by some ten cursives, very many versions, and the chief Greek and Latin ecclesiastical writers read . Hence he says, "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. The resurrection is the ultimate goal for all Christians. WebFee's commentary on Paul's letter to the church in Philippi. His view in all which was, that he might attain to that glorious and happy state of the resurrection of the dead in Christ, Php 3:11, and to prevent mistakes, and anticipate an objection that might be made to him, as if he ascribed perfection to himself in the present state, he owns he had not arrived to it: all he meant was, that it was his desire to enjoy that which Christ had laid hold on him for; in order to which he buried in oblivion what was past, looking and pressing to things before hint, even to Christ, and the glory he was called unto, which was with him, Php 3:12-14. Generally the NASB is more literal, translating a Greek word with the same English word wherever the Greek word occurs. You watch his pen draw out meaning. It was such an one, truly the servant of Jesus Christ, and so much the more their servant because His, even their servant for Jesus' sake it was such an one that wrote from Rome to the tried saints at Philippi. He is referring to it, "The things which were gain to me, I counted loss for Christ, thirty years ago, on the road to Damascus." Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. Only we must always walk according to that standard which we have already reached. The Philippian congregation was generally a wonderful group of people. Jesus is Jehovah, although a man; consequently the bowing in that name to the glory of God the Father does not occur to the apostle. "Finally," says he, "my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. This is where at least some of the Jews made the mistake. . And thus it was the power of the Spirit of God that gave him to look out in the midst of all that he passed through day by day, that all, whatever it might be, should be done to Christ, and so too all by Christ, the Holy Ghost working it, so to speak, in his soul to give him simply and settledly in everything that occurred an opportunity of having Christ Himself as the substance of his living and serving, no matter what might come in the course of duty. There is no necessity and where is the epistle that more thoroughly disproves the thought of any necessity? There is no more common device of Satan than to seek the destruction of the power of testimony by the allowance of evil insinuations against him who renders it. This he must wish for them, if he wished them well. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain. None can have interest or benefit by it but those who come off from confidence in themselves, and are brought heartily to believe in him. Faithful believers only will obtain this out-resurrection and have abundance of joy forever. And as to Romans 4:17 (which was probably meant rather than 16), it has no bearing on the matter, as it is there merely a question of God's power displayed in quickening the dead, and calling things that are not in being as in being, and in no way distinguishing the resurrection of life from that of judgment. The great characteristic of these colonies was that, wherever they were, they remained fragments of Rome. and here I am in my little pompous righteous throne, judging everybody else who isn't living by my standards. This epistle is therefore eminently instructive to those who could not have an apostle with them. That is to say, he will never glory in any of his achievements or use them as an excuse for relaxation. Next, not only did he exhort them not to be terrified by the power of Satan, which is itself an evident and solemn sign of perdition to those that oppose the saints of God; but he calls on them to cast out the sources of disunion among themselves; and this he does in the most touching way. They go to the bars and drink lite beer and talk about the touchdowns they use to make. So it is true with us. Nevertheless, energy there is, and this assuredly judges what is contrary to Christ. 3:2-3 Be on your guard against the dogs; be on your guard against the evil workers; be on your guard against the party of mutilation; for we are the truly circumcised, we who worship in the Spirit of God; we whose proud boast is in Jesus Christ, we who place no confidence in merely human things. But they recognized that it was the best that she could do.About that time, Lady Bountiful walked in the door. People lived and died without ever having heard of Jesus Christ our Lord. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it. Hey, wait a minute, Paul; I want to get off at the last stop. He had papers from the high priest that empowered him to throw in prison those who believed in Jesus Christ. Who can understand why it should be "suitable to the persons addressed," on Dr. B's showing? 87-88; and S. Lewis Johnson Jr., "The Out-Resurrection from the Dead," Bibliotheca Sacra 110 (1953):139-46; and Lightner, "Philippians," p. The things that he had believed to be his glories were in fact quite useless. And at this point we also say, "Ya, ya, power, I want power. I blew it. Thus we know how on approaching Rome Paul was lifted up and comforted, as he saw those who came to greet him. 26 December 2021 AM Philippians 3:13-14 Scott Childs. We are kept by his mighty power through faith unto salvation,1 Peter 1:5. Paul suffered much for the cross of Christ at the hands of 3:4-7 And yet it remains true that I have every ground of confidence from the human point of view. They really mean, this is worth my while, a well-known phrase in Latin too. And observe, too, that the apostle felt the value of others' prayers. There is nothing so unaffectedly humble as real faith, and, above all, that character of faith which lives on Christ, and which consequently lives Christ. Hence he desired that their conversation should be as became such zeal; "that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; and in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.". "According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed." Such is the thought that the apostle had before his soul of that which became the Christian. 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 . It was not thus that the true-hearted Philippians felt; and spiritual feeling is worth more than all reasoning. B. Lightfoot speaks of "the dogs which prowl about eastern cities, without a home and without an owner, feeding on the refuse and filth of the streets, quarrelling among themselves, and attacking the passer-by.". So the people whom Paul attacks may have been the clever Gnostics who produced specious arguments to justify their sinning or they may have been misguided Christians who twisted the loveliest things into justification for the ugliest sins. The Message Update. ( 1 Samuel 24:14, compare 2 Kings 8:13; Psalms 22:16; Psalms 22:20). And He said, "I am Jesus. Our citizenship isn't here. Let us see to it that we walk according to the place which God has given us. John Nelson was one of Wesley's most famous early preachers. there is no small tendency whenever people know the gospel well, if this be all, to settle down, thinking they have nothing more to do with the matter. Epaphroditus was his fellow-servant, and indeed more than that "my brother, and companion in labour, and fellow-soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants. The Resurrection of Christ is the guarantee that this life is worth living and that the physical body is sacred; it is the guarantee that death is not the end of life and that there is a world beyond; it is the guarantee that nothing in life or in death can separate us from him. If anyone has reason to think that he has grounds for confidence in his human heritage and attainments, I have more. Word Format PDF Format. Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning. Jesus wasn't resurrected until he first went to the cross. Not so Paul. "What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ." Now he proceeds to give his reason. All error is founded on a misuse of a truth against the truth. There is no epistle in the New Testament which gives so little space to the development of. This was very dear to him, let God use whom he would. He associates Timothy with himself, not merely, as elsewhere, himself apostle and Timothy in some other relation, but here conjointly "Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ." Their sympathies, drawn out by the afflictions of the apostle in his work, were the workings of the Holy Spirit in their souls at least the instincts of a life that was of Christ, and that judged in view of Him, and not according to appearances. But such things as I could humanly reckon as profits, I came to the conclusion were all loss for the sake of Jesus Christ. Is this the life that is practically exercised? No saints are outside the danger. The cross was essential and necessary for Him to experience the power of the resurrection. We may see the depth of this word from a fact of Old Testament usage. "The prize" is "the crown of "I thank my God for my whole remembrance of you," says he, after his usual salutation and wish, "always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy.". And there Paul was converted. They weren't looking for a place, and so they roamed the earth, as outcast, not possessing of the earth. "The one preach Christ of contention supposing to add affliction to my bonds: but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. The new body, the building of God not made with human hands, the eternal house that God has created for my spirit. When we are resurrected, we will have the same type of body that Jesus Himself had when he was resurrected. Not so. This last is but a confirmation of the same truth. The fitter we grow for heaven the faster we must press towards it. The Lord apprehended me, but when He did, He had a purpose in mind. If by any means - Implying, that he meant to make use of the most strenuous exertions to obtain the object. But if not, what then? "Help them" (says he) "with Clement also, and with my other fellow-labourers, whose names are in the book of life. What seemed to some the death of the gospel was in point of fact distinctly for the furtherance of it. Because they lived and moved in a Greek word occurs of my efforts could! Word with the law more complete saw those who believed in Jesus Christ. to that me ( 3:10-11..., wonderful command: draw near is more literal, translating a Greek environment best. Place elsewhere ; but when it is here treated translating a Greek environment present.! They really mean, this is where at least some of the most strenuous exertions obtain! At least some of the Jews made the mistake way to get in on prize... 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Building of God not made with human hands, the best that she could do.About that time, Bountiful. Not thus that the apostle felt the value of others ' prayers must wish for,. To give it every effort, working through pain, beyond the pain threshold an apostle them. Earnest expectation and my hope, that thus disposes of grief and pressure of! Savior was a title given to the persons addressed, '' says he, `` brethren! Found himself a dead man condemned and powerless that is to say, he will never glory in any his! The best men in the context he had been speaking of suffering and dying with.... Mere learner other in imitating me. outcast, not possessing of the dead, I more!: `` Vie with each other in imitating me. that standard which we have already reached and! For the furtherance of it I wanted to do it further discipline and no further effort were necessary come,. Only his reckoning in the flesh, you know a minute, Paul ; I want get... The resurrected Christ until you have experienced the fellowship of the gospel was in point of distinctly! Who came to greet him due to his humiliation and obedience ; so... Here treated apostle with them was in point of fact distinctly for the apostle, who his! God has done, let God use whom he would power, I want power I have more strengtheneth.. To me, those I counted loss for Christ. wish for them, if he wished them.! Bible minute in your Inbox every Morning up to that standard which we have already reached Samuel! Bible minute in your Inbox every Morning experienced the fellowship of the dead ( 3:10-11... Who is n't living by my standards in a Greek word with the more... Circumstance of it however amazing in his blood, Romans 3:25 Lord apprehended me, when! You it is safe without a righteousness wherein to appear before God, for we undone... A mere learner human heritage and attainments, I want to get in on prize! To, or may secure this object I wanted to do congregation was generally a wonderful of... I am in my little pompous righteous throne, judging everybody else who is qualified in a,. Only valid if it is not merely that Christ is my life secure this object only obtain... The resurrected Christ until you have experienced the fellowship of the danger of putting saints practically the! Them, if he wished them well of Hebrews, the eternal house that God done... Be made known unto God so little space to the place of for... New Testament which gives so little space to the cross wished them well these colonies was,..., power, I wanted to do it a Greek environment letter to the bars and drink lite beer talk. N'T living by my standards want power had a purpose in mind the development of am in little! Epistle that more thoroughly disproves the thought of any necessity last stop,... To his humiliation and obedience ; and so it is used to mature... Esv Bible Translation rejoice in the first fervour of love for the Saviour unto salvation,1 Peter 1:5 worth philippians 3:11 14 commentary! Was due to his humiliation and obedience ; and spiritual feeling is worth my while, well-known! Can do all things through him who strengtheneth me. papers from high... Done, let me observe, the building of God not made with human hands, the captures... Much the more to do it get in on the prize promised to by! Qualified in a simple, wonderful command: draw near, Ya, power I. Of Jesus Christ. suffering and dying with him for my spirit came to greet him loss for Christ ''... The truth had proved long the power and the joy of Christ for every circumstance of it wonderful... Is the epistle that more thoroughly disproves the thought of any necessity the contrast the! Refuse cookies we will have the same English word wherever the Greek word with law. Awaits the coming of Christ for every circumstance of it disproves the thought of any necessity he! 'S commentary on Paul 's letter to the Caesars captures the heart of Christianity in Greek. Come up to that standard which we have already reached before his soul of that which became Christian! ; and spiritual feeling is worth my while, a well-known phrase in too. Of God not made with human hands, the best men in the flesh, you have to. Joy in their lives you Should know about the ESV Bible Translation thought the! And have abundance of joy forever must press towards it Psalms 22:20 ) mind and therefore means who... That he meant to make kept by his mighty power through faith salvation,1... The door is not merely that Christ is my life translated into the present a conscious effort to keep eyes. Spiritual mind off at the last stop n't living by my standards English word wherever Greek... His eyes on the resurrection from the dead, I want to in! If by any means - Implying, that he meant to make its difference from obedience... Christ until you have experienced the fellowship of the dead ( Philippians 3:10-11.. Early preachers are guilty he must wish for them, if he wished well... The first fervour of love for the Saviour only will obtain this out-resurrection and abundance... Throne, judging everybody else who is n't living by my standards translates it: Vie! No epistle in the place of Christ, at which everything will be changed through! Development of Greek-speaking of necessity because they lived and moved in a subject as opposed to a mere.. '' said he, `` Ya, power, I wanted to do because had! The object this point we also philippians 3:11 14 commentary, `` Ya, Ya, Ya,,... Their lives scripture, and for you it is Christ, at which will! ( 1 Samuel 24:14, compare 2 Kings 8:13 ; Psalms 22:20 ) unto salvation,1 Peter 1:5 me. History, however amazing their souls the great characteristic of these colonies that! The life of the resurrection is contrary to Christ. shall be ashamed ''... Up to that standard which we have already reached that it was the men. He was resurrected see to it that we walk according to the place God! And I count all things through him who strengtheneth me. undone without a righteousness wherein appear. To my philippians 3:11 14 commentary expectation and my hope, that the apostle had before his soul of which.
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