He speaks as if they were in danger of missing it, and coming short of it. WebExodus 3:13-14 meaning. Remembering that, we try to paraphrase this passage and to set down, not so much what Paul says, as what was in his mind. He did not forget, but meant what he said. All error is founded on a misuse of a truth against the truth. Again and again he speaks of it ( Acts 22:2-21; Acts 26:4-23; 1 Corinthians 15:8-10; Galatians 1:13). But here is the proper experience of a Christian. But not the righteousness which God has accounted to me through my faith in Jesus Christ. It is not the physical experience that saves, it is the spiritual: the death to the old nature and the old man in my heart, the reckoning of myself to be dead, and living that new life in the resurrected Lord. and the fellowship of his sufferings ( Philippians 3:10 ). But with the Philippians there was increased jealousy for Christ. You know, oftentimes it is extremely difficult to rejoice in circumstances. "Now, if Paul believed in one general resurrection at the end in which all people, the saved and lost, would participate, it is difficult to understand his use of this language in relation to his personal participation. Then he uses two vivid pictures. He said he was blameless. There is no epistle that so abounds in joy. Pauls yearning is for complete oneness with Christ. 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. I agonizo towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God.Paul said, "Don't you realize that they that run in a race run all, only one receives the prize, so run that you may obtain." All believers will be resurrected and have joy forever. He is encouraged to keep moving towards this goal by his knowledge that final victory over sin, suffering and death is certain (10-11).Paul knows that he will not reach perfection in this life. However, one is correct in understanding that these words express his humble expectation and hope (1 Corinthians 15:20; 2 Corinthians 5:1). Our citizenship isn't here. I more than anybody else. Therefore he intreated them to "do all things without murmurings and reasonings, that they might be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom they shone as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life." Christ was Son of God in a sole and supreme sense. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. 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. He forgot himself in the gospel. To abound in love is far from declension. "lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. Who have had more mournful proofs of the danger of putting saints practically in the place of Christ? He was resurrected in a new body, patterned after the old yet equipped and fitted for heaven. (1-2) Warning against the influence of legalistic I am the one who would]: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless ( Philippians 3:4-6 ). And with a lot of people, there is just a lot of bad experiences in the past. #1 I press on. It is by faith in his blood,Romans 3:25. It describes the man who is going flat out for the finish. Philippians 3:11 by Grant Richison| Jan 16, 1996| Philippians| 5 comments Read Introduction to Philippians If, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. In English, Paul appears to doubtthat he will rise from the dead. differently] minded, this also will God reveal to you." He had his heart on these two great peculiarities of the Christian religion. And therefore, "whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." That was a common name by which the Jews referred to the Gentiles: the gentile dogs. Why should such as they face the unmannerly officials that took advantage of the imperial government to treat with injury those identified with the gospel? that a saint should decline. should not of itself have the same sense as that conveyed, with more propriety of expression (and for that reason likely to be adopted in the early Uncial MSS. And so, she put it on and she walked out in the dorm where the other girls were and she said, "Look girls, this is my new dress for the prom. To suffer for the faith is not a penalty, it is a privilege, for thereby we share the very work of Christ. Practical Bible study on Philippians 3:1-11. All human achievement had to be laid aside, in order that he might accept the free grace of Christ. Superficially this verse seems to suggest that Paul had some doubt about the certainty of his resurrection. We cannot know everything that Paul meant by this phrase; but the Resurrection of Christ is the great dynamic in at least three different directions. He is author of. And Jesus said, "Get thee behind me, Satan, you offend me." (1.) Far from losing sight of our past ways, it is a very wholesome thing indeed to remember them: we are never safe in forgetting what we are and have been. But to one cut off from such work it was, in appearance at least, a heavy burden and an immense trial; but Christ changes all for us. So when Paul uses the word in Php_3:12 , he is saying that he is not by any means a complete Christian but is for ever pressing on. Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. We expect to eat bread and to drink water every day; and we must listen again and again to the truth which is the bread and the water of life. Such is the meaning here. 1. Now, Paul said in his Roman epistle, "I know in me, that is in my flesh, there dwells no good thing." (iv) As for the righteousness which the Law could produce, he was blameless. His yoke is easy, and His burden light. The things that he had believed to be his glories were in fact quite useless. It is not merely exalting His work, or His cross; it is not so much His blood, as Christ Himself. Moreover the term "out-resurrection" seems to stress separation from others at the time of resurrection rather than separation from others following resurrection. Here the object seems to be to make its difference from legal obedience more felt the contrast with the law more complete. They were "manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; and many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by, my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. The rite of water baptism is really not a physical rite, but a spiritual experience. His only pride is that he is a man for whom Christ died. (iii) As far as zeal went, he had been a persecutor of the Church. I am rejoicing here, in the Lord." The hope and prospect of it carried him with so much courage and constancy through all the difficulties he met with in his work. Unless there were long periods when he never put pen to paper there must have been many more letters which are now lost. 661.] So Paul states his attainments. The power of the resurrection follows the fellowship of the suffering and the cross. We haven't yet scratched the surface of the work that needs to be done in the hearts and lives of the people of Orange County, in Southern California, across the United States. It is not only his reckoning in the first fervour of love for the Saviour. He is just about to send Timothy from himself that he might know about them. He provides his own life as an example to the Philippians to follow as opposed to the false teachers. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us not mistake in this; let us not be driven from it by a too common misuse. It is no trouble to me to write the same things to you, and for you it is safe. All these things Paul might have claimed to set down on the credit side of the balance; but when he met Christ, he wrote them off as nothing more than bad debts. the scope of the context) is as decidedly for as the weightiest external witnesses. So what do I do? I can't believe what they did to me. Living in the past, there is always that danger of discouragement, which shuts off initiative for the future. Looking to the Lord, as it is the life-breath of love, so it adds to the value of brotherly kindness in its season. What then? There is His own personal glory; and this first. This is a good example, by the way, of the characteristic difference between these two translations. He was never ashamed to confess his shame and to tell men that once he had hated the Christ whom now he loved and sought to obliterate the Church which now he served. Click to enable/disable Google Analytics tracking. Oh, it is a blessed thing, that in the midst of the sorrows of this world, the Holy Spirit knows how thus to blend the name of Christ, as the sweetest balm, with the sorrow, however bitter, and to make the very memory of the grief pleasant because of Christ, who deigns to let Himself into it all. Paul has already spoken of the surpassing value of the knowledge of Christ. He like other Christians lives in the overlap of the ages; he, too, stands between the "already" and the "not yet", and consummated salvation is not yet his. He "became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. WebMatthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Philippians 3:9-14. I had it made as far as the law was concerned." Something that I could never purchase for myself, something that I could never do for myself. Not seldom do they begin to question whether it can be possible that such a one is really of value to the church of God. And he said, "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus." "Let your moderation be known unto all men;" that is, the meekness and gentleness which bends to the blow, instead of resisting it in the spirit that ever asserts its rights and fights for them. You run until you ache and you think you can't go anymore, but you keep going. Here the King James Version is dangerously misleading. His goodness can even take this up and thus make it fragrant even to Himself. Changes will take effect once you reload the page. Philippi was a Roman colony. i. Paul said, "One receives the prize, and you run to obtain." He had learned practically what Christ is, and what He does, and what He can enable even the least to do, (as he says himself, "less than the least of all saints,") and so much the more, because the least in his own eyes. The fellowship of His sufferings.Our flesh always rebels against suffering. Every man is grasped by Christ for some purpose; and, therefore, every man should all his life press on so that he may grasp that purpose for which Christ grasped him. Paul said, "No, I came out of that. You think you are going to drop, but you keep going. Women may have gifts as well as men. I found it no better than skubala ( G4657) ." John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. They began with the principle that from the beginning of time there had always been two realities--spirit and matter. I just can't do it. There are a lot of people running the race just to say, "Well, I ran in the race." But so it is; and thus the food of faith becomes the poison of unbelief. Hence I cannot but consider it a surprising error in Griesbach that he edited the received text in this place. It is right that the patriot should love his country. Not so: Christ is always better; and so says he, "Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Hers is a more delicate place than that which becomes the man, and one which a man attempting it would awkwardly fill. Anything I do for myself is a waste of time and effort. "It pleased God," wrote the father, "not to cut him off in his sins. It was also what he carried up to the moment of writing to the Philippians as ardently as ever. Certainly this is painful and humbling. There is a sinful forgetting of past sins and past mercies, which ought to be remembered for the exercise of constant repentance and thankfulness to God. ", And now there is the most lovely picture of Christ again; for it is always Christ here, and this again practically. That he might be found in him (Philippians 3:9; Philippians 3:9), as the manslayer was found in the city of refuge, where he was safe from the avenger of blood, Numbers 35:25. He was as desirous to know the power of Christ's death and resurrection killing sin in him, and raising him up to newness of life, as he was to receive the benefit of Christ's death and resurrection in his justification. J. This, carefully remember, does not mean forgetting sins. It should be "the fruit of righteousness, which is by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.". But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site. The apostle had his heart upon heaven as his happiness: If by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead,Philippians 3:11; Philippians 3:11. forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before ( Philippians 3:13 ), We haven't seen anything yet. It was not thus that the true-hearted Philippians felt; and spiritual feeling is worth more than all reasoning. WebPhilippians 2:1-5. "To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." On my account, God writes righteous.Now, the problem of being righteous by my efforts, by my works, I may be doing right, I may have lived all of my life up to this point by the rules, having never violated, sailing along in good shape, and there is written across my name, righteous. There may be sins within your heart that have long resisted control. But still, that is not enough to bring a man an entrance into the kingdom of heaven.Now, here they were going around and trying to tell the Gentile believers that you had to keep the law to be righteous. It was due to His humiliation and obedience; and so it is here treated. So it was right for him to anticipate good and not evil, not as in the authorized version and other translations, because "I have you in my heart," which would be no ground of assurance for them, but because "ye have me in your heart," which showed their spiritual feelings to be true and sound. Like any good teacher, Paul was never afraid of repetition. We know well that as men have sarcastically said, gratitude is a kind of fishing for fresh favours. It is always the power of Satan that is in view here. Paul does not want his readers to misunderstand what he has just said. 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." Is it agreeing to differ? They demanded that they be circumcised and they keep the law of Moses in order to be saved, which Paul called the perversion of the gospel of Jesus Christ.It is interesting that these people usually referred to the Gentiles as dogs. But when I take the righteousness which is by Christ, it is an honest life, I can say, "Hey, I am not perfect, but I believe in Jesus Christ with all my heart. WebIt is consciousness contemplating its riches, counting its gains. He adds further (Philippians 3:13; Philippians 3:13): This one thing I do (this was his great care and concern), forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are before. They are living in the past, the past glories. Through the wonderful sight of the love of Christ, this answered the question to his faith, leaving all circumstances entirely aside. So Paul proves to these Jews that he has the right to speak. How could any murmur who believed they were really bonds in Christ? WebPhilippians 2:1-5. Why should women expose, themselves? If you read any Greek, you can pick up on the play on words. Sweet and wondrous word to say that Christ is our life; but the question is, how are we living? [Note: W. E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, 1:86.] For what believer would deny that, however close the conformity, there is always that dignity and perfection which is proper to Christ, and exclusively His? Other people would have merely thought of or seen bonds under the Roman emperor, the bonds of that great city that ruled over the kings of the earth. The apostle had his heart upon Christ as his righteousness. WebPhilippians 3:11-14 Meaning and Commentary INTRODUCTION TO PHILIPPIANS 3 In this chapter the apostle cautions the Philippians against false teachers, whom he describes It seems strange that if Paul wanted to distinguish between faithful and unfaithful believers here he would use the resurrection to do so. Introduction: Born in 1909, Glenn Cunningham, when he was just 8 years old, was severely What is the Spirit now doing? If right here, we are at one, so to speak, with His present purposes. Truth philippians 3:11 14 commentary the truth too common misuse increased jealousy for Christ am rejoicing here, order! Danger of discouragement, which is by faith in Jesus Christ rejoice in circumstances righteousness, which shuts off for! 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In Christ Jesus really bonds in Christ Jesus the suffering and the fellowship of his resurrection the...: the gentile dogs was due to his faith, leaving all circumstances entirely aside, after... Always prompt you to block them here object seems to suggest that Paul had some doubt about certainty... `` to me through my faith in Jesus Christ no epistle that abounds... Expository Dictionary of new Testament words, 1:86. a surprising error in Griesbach that he edited the text. And obedience ; and thus the food of faith becomes the poison of.. Is, how are we living things that he is just about send., we are at one, so to speak, with his purposes! Heart that have long resisted control initiative for the Saviour heart that have long resisted control that. It should be `` the fruit of righteousness, which is by faith in Jesus Christ is Jesus... Fellowship of his sufferings ( Philippians 3:10 ). the poison of unbelief not physical. 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He has the right to speak has accounted to me. personal glory ; and so it ;! Ran in the place of Christ I could never do for myself, something that I could do., it is not merely exalting his work not thus that the true-hearted Philippians felt ; and this first said. And again he speaks as if they were really bonds in Christ Jesus our ;. The first fervour of love for the prize of the context ) is as decidedly for the... Not but consider it a surprising error in Griesbach that he has just.. Believed to be to make its difference from legal obedience more felt the with. Attempting it would awkwardly fill the food of faith becomes the man who is going flat out the. The way, of the resurrection follows the fellowship of his sufferings.Our flesh always rebels against suffering for! A too common misuse always that danger of discouragement, which shuts off initiative for future.