Here was a picture the Philippians could understand. When the Jews wished to stress their special relationship to God in its most unique sense it was the word Israelite that they used. This joyful resurrection the apostle pressed towards. They want to tell you that you ought to be prosperous, you ought to be successful, you ought to be living in luxury, you are God's child, you ought to be indulging your flesh. The Bible teaches that God will resurrect all people, believers and unbelievers, if they have died (e.g., Daniel 12:2; Matthew 22:29-32; Luke 20:37-38; John 6:39-40; John 6:44; John 6:54; John 11:25; Acts 4:2; Acts 17:18; Acts 23:6; Acts 24:15; Hebrews 6:2; Revelation 20:4-6; Revelation 20:13). All here below was plunged under the sentence of death through Adam's sin; and God's word could but seal it till redemption. I like the power, but I don't like the suffering. So Paul says that in the Christian life we must forget every past achievement and remember only the goal which lies ahead. The effect of their teaching was to take men further away from God instead of to bring them nearer to him. "My desire is to know Him, and to be found in Him." It is hard to rejoice in circumstances. Their mind isn't after the Spirit and after the things of the Spirit, they are more concerned and interested in the types of cars they drive and the things of the flesh and the earthly things, than they are the things of the Spirit. Paul means something when he applies the title to Jesus in the context of citizenship. Paul has not yet reached it. However, one is correct in understanding that these words express his humble expectation and hope (1 Corinthians 15:20; 2 Corinthians 5:1). He is God equally with the Father. 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. Hence I am inclined to retain . So what do I do? They went in. What seemed to some the death of the gospel was in point of fact distinctly for the furtherance of it. God was pleased, even whilst the apostle was alive, to set him aside and to prove the power of faith where he was not. Have rather that spirit which counts nothing as a right to be claimed, but all one has as gifts of grace to be freely used in this world, because one has Christ in view. He says that he proposes to write things to them that he has written before. but so it was that thus the gospel, the glad tidings of His grace, should reach the highest quarters. We may see the depth of this word from a fact of Old Testament usage. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind." Let us see to it that we walk according to the place which God has given us. The excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.I think that we have to be the most blessed and privileged people in the world. Heaven is called here the mark, because it is that which every good Christian has in his eye; as the archer has his eye fixed upon the mark he designs to hit. But she went down to the dime store and picked out the best that she could afford, bought a simplicity pattern. I have not yet accomplished that purpose. of 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. And what is the result? ", "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." "Jesus" is His own name, His personal name. We shall see the importance of this elsewhere. [Note: Idem, "Raised to Run," Grace Evangelical Society News 6:8 (August 1991):2.]. ", "The spiritual resurrection view posits that the out-resurrection refers to the attainment of Christlike character in this life." This has its most weighty place elsewhere; but when it is a question of experience, the end cannot be here. The basic thought of this passage is the uselessness of Law and the sufficiency of knowing Christ and accepting the offer of God's grace. He says to them, "In your proud self-righteousness, you call other men dogs; but it is you who are dogs, because you shamelessly pervert the gospel of Jesus Christ." Not only do we have the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, but we have the privilege of gathering together and studying the word of God together. 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. Because of that, righteousness nearly always for Paul has the meaning of a right relationship with God. It is because the world was created out of this flawed matter that sin and evil are in it. The word is amemptos ( G273) , and J. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ ( Philippians 3:7 ). 1. Self-judgment, where grace is known, is a most wholesome exercise of soul; and we shall have it in perfection even in heaven itself before the judgment-seat of Christ. If the Christian really walks with Christ, he walks with joy. You run until you ache and you think you can't go anymore, but you keep going. There are a lot of people running the race just to say, "Well, I ran in the race." 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. Spirit, they said, is altogether good; and matter is altogether evil. It seems the church of the Philippians, though a faithful and flourishing church, was disturbed by the judaizing teachers, who endeavoured to keep up the law of Moses, I just did a dumb thing, I ran through a red light and hit somebody and I am being sued for a million dollars. *There is no reasonable doubt that the received text is wrong, followed by the Authorised Version ("of," instead of "from" the dead). He has regarded his life on earth, particularly his former life as a Pharisee, as garbage compared to the life he now attains to, the life of knowing Christ. You see, someone else already tried that and it just doesn't work." We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. WebBible Commentaries; Philippians 3:1-11; Philippians 3:1-11. Christ was so truly before his heart, that in fact there was no self left unjudged to warp the choice. No saints are outside the danger. The way to that fellowship is through righteousness, through the kind of life and spirit and attitude to himself which God desires. The resurrected life always follows the crucified life. Beware of doers." But such things as I could humanly reckon as profits, I came to the conclusion were all loss for the sake of Jesus Christ. "But my God shall supply all your need." Preaching and teaching and studying the side-issues may be attractive, and these have their place, but the fundamental truths can neither be spoken nor heard too often for the safety of our souls. To support this statement, Paul refers to his own experience. In His name all must bow. Then Paul urges his followers to continue the Christian race as they have been taught. "Now, the fact that we are sitting here tonight, we can all say the same thing, "I am not yet apprehended that for which I was apprehended." And so they go back to the past, and they pick up the failures of the past, and they are discouraged to try anything in the future. He is able even to subdue all things to Himself and accomplish something as amazing as the resurrection of our bodies after the pattern of Jesus resurrection. But it is working through it, but it is agonizing. The idea is that a man's Christian maturity cannot go beyond martyrdom. The NIV translators simply translated it "the resurrection from the dead.". They were coupled with the gospel in all its conflict and progress. (i) "Beware of the dogs," he says. The Gnostics were heretics who tried to intellectualize Christianity and make a kind of philosophy out of it. 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. Select a Passage. And the problem is that they are constantly going back and going over those bad experiences. Now, because she had spent all of her money on tuition, and just getting by, on her books, and everything else, she really didn't have much money. Soul (14+ yrs) CY (11-14 yrs) Epic Explorers (kids) Universal Editions; Promotional materials; Translations; Booklets and tracts; Books; Shop by Type; Evangelistic Books; So far Paul has been stating the privileges which came to him by birth; now he goes on to state his achievements in the Jewish faith. Whatever the case, all should make sure that they do not slip back from the standard of practical holiness they have already reached (15-16). "My bonds in Christ," he says, "are manifest in all the palace." It describes the man who is going flat out for the finish. I can be honest with myself. Furthermore the resurrection he said he hoped to attain was still future whereas he had already experienced spiritual resurrection with Christ to newness of life (Romans 6:1-11; Galatians 2:20). In 1756 a letter came to John Wesley from a father who had a prodigal son. Love feels acutely nothing so much; but it triumphs. After all it was better for Christ to choose, not for him. He did not make a mistake. The word if can be translated as since: Since I will attain to the resurrection from the dead is the In the Bible the dog always stands for that than which nothing can be lower. When the Lord apprehended us, and you can all look back in your own life to that point where the Lord apprehended you, where He said, "I have chosen you and ordained you that you should be my disciple," and we turn to follow Jesus Christ. 1. Pastor Mark Schlamann. 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. Now, circumcision is only a sign in the flesh, something done to a man's body. He had put all, as it were, into the hands of Christ, who had Himself given him His own comfort about it. The verb katavtao ("attain") means to come to, to arrive at, or to attain to something. The Jew in essence trusted himself ; the Christian in essence trusts God. This is not the same as to say that he was a true Israelite. For them there was the possibility of the same kind of persecution, and even the same kind of death, as threatened himself. That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection ( Philippians 3:10 ). Not our keeping hold of Christ, but his keeping hold of us, is our safety. They had little enough even to eat. This is the more important, because such fear is the main weapon of Satan. 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. How heartily the Germans sing of the dear old fatherland; but they cannot, with all their Germanic patriotism, they cannot beat the genial glow of the Britons heart, when he thinks of his fatherland too. To him to live was Christ. . That is, they want still to live after the flesh so bad, that the idea of being crucified with Christ, the death of the old life, the death of the old man, the death of the old flesh life, is irritating to them. The dogs were the pariah dogs, roaming the streets, sometimes in packs, hunting amidst the garbage dumps and snapping and snarling at all whom they met. Now, when the Lord apprehended us, He had in His mind a plan and a purpose for each of our lives. There were in the Church at Philippi men whose conduct was an open scandal and who, by their lives, showed themselves to be the enemies of the Cross of Christ. 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 Lord may inspire you to some good work that He wants you to do. But the (trace of Christ wrought in them all; and that was the great joy and delight of the apostle's heart. Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things [because their minds are always on earthly things] ( Philippians 3:19 ). Here I am, you know, come and I will teach you. It is a thing more important in practice than many suppose. (ii) As far as the Law went, he was a trained Pharisee. The archangel is at best but a servant; the highest creature, far from having to stoop in order to become a servant, can never rise above that condition. If, then, they really loved him, "If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if there be any comfort of love, any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies," he would venture to seek another proof of it. So, then, Paul is saying, "I found the Law and all its ways of no more use than the refuse thrown on the garbage heap to help me to get into a right relationship with God. 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. This is one of the main features of our chapter. He always looks there in Philippians. Dikaiosune ( G1343) is always difficult to translate in Paul's letters. There were those who distorted the principle of Christian liberty. b. This is the more remarkable because it is so intensely practical. Who can understand why it should be "suitable to the persons addressed," on Dr. B's showing? Videos. "You know, if you only had enough faith, you could be jetting across the United States also in your own Lear Jet." Thus, some translate the phrase, "in the hope of" (Gpd), or "that is the way I can hope to" (JB), and "thus do I hope that" (NAB). They go to the bars and drink lite beer and talk about the touchdowns they use to make. 3:10-11 My object is to know him, and I mean by that, to know the power of his Resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, while I continue to be made like him in his death, if by any chance I may attain to the resurrection of the dead. (iii) As far as zeal went, he had been a persecutor of the Church. I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be [not rejoicing here, but] the less sorrowful." He would have one who begins with Christ to (so on with Christ, have nothing but Christ before his eyes, and pursue this path without a stumble till the day of Christ. All of our resources exist to guide you toward everlasting joy in Jesus Christ. 's critical, scholastic, and exegetic manner. "That is why God apprehended you; He has a glorious plan and a purpose for your future. Fee's commentary on Paul's letter to the church in Philippi. He had experienced it at its highest point; and he knew that it was nothing compared with the joy which Christ had given. As far as the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, Paul had it. There is therefore not the slightest ground to countenance the rather dangerous idea, that the apostle did not employ a phrase analogous to the correct one which is found elsewhere in the New Testament, and adopted "a popular and familiar mode of expression," i.e. I have transcribed this note at length, because it is a fair sample of Dr. This is but a poor human resource, as unworthy of the saints as of the truth of God, who would not have us to wink at any mistake. Suddenly upon meeting Christ, all that he counted as important to him up to that point in his life, all of his religious credits, all of the religious background, he said lost for Christ. "For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him." There were not very many Pharisees, never more than six thousand, but they were the spiritual athletes of Judaism. First of all He emptied Himself, becoming a slave and a man; and having thus come down, so as to take His place in the likeness of men, He, found in figure as a man, humbled Himself, becoming obedient even to the lowest point of degradation here below. They are stagnating now. His goodness can even take this up and thus make it fragrant even to Himself. But Paul was certain that the only kind of righteousness there is comes from casting oneself freely upon the grace of God. Long before them, Mill had given his judgment in favour of the more ancient reading; and Wetstein repeated it apparently with approval. Then he turns to what had drawn out the epistle. In front of people they can act very holy and sanctified and excited and exhilarated in the things of the Lord, but when they get away from the stage, they can have filthy mouths; they can tell dirty jokes, they are living a two-faced life. There is a pun in the Greek which is not transferable to English. There is really no reason to suppose that they preached at all. He has not only put aside religious ceremonies and national status, but he considers that all things in which he might boast are worthless. "I can do all things," as he says elsewhere, "through him that strengtheneth me." Otherwise you will be prompted again when opening a new browser window or new a tab. There is no epistle that so abounds in joy. He and Wesley carried out a mission in Cornwall, near Land's End, and Nelson tells about it. What are you going to do when you pass the guy?" It just doesn't work. I am sure he wasn't rejoicing in the circumstances themselves. Paul had been so zealous a Jew that he had tried to wipe out the opponents of Judaism. F and G, by manifest error, read , and this seems to have been corrected (or rather corrupted) in order to make sense into (omitting ) in K and L and the mass of cursives. It is incumbent upon us, as Christians, to rise out of our despondencies. He breaks it completely, becomes conqueror for ever, wins the title for God's grace to deliver righteously every creature, save only those who, far from receiving Christ, dare to reject Him because of that very nature which He took on Him, and that infinite work on the cross which had caused Him suffering to the utmost in working all out for the glory of God. 165-77, for refutation of the partial rapture view.] I forget those things which are behind.A lot of people make the mistake of trying to live in the past. DWELLER ON EARTH BUT CITIZEN OF HEAVEN ( Php_3:17-21 ). They nevertheless seem to have been disheartened, even distanced, from their faith by Pauls imprisonment. He desired not anything for himself, but only what should abound to their account in the day of Jesus Christ. And they are not really going ahead in life at all, because they are so involved in the past. I would like to know Him in the power of His resurrection. "Don't know what is going to happen tomorrow, so hey, I will jump this ship and get on this one and I will gladly throw overboard the old life, with the struggle and the effort in my flesh, in order to live this new life after the Spirit, believing and trusting in Jesus Christ, to do for me what I really can't do for myself. Again, Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended (Philippians 3:13; Philippians 3:13), ou logizomai. "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. You think you ca n't go anymore, but you keep going iii... Jesus Christ go to the persons addressed, '' he says that he wants you to do length because! Of persecution, and to be found in him. iii ) as as... Paul refers to the dime store and picked out the best that she could,!, someone else already tried that and it just does n't work. pass the guy ''! 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That sin and evil are in it sense it was better for to! And they are not really going ahead in life at all, come and I will you... The word Israelite that they preached at all translators simply translated it `` the spiritual resurrection view posits the... Those things which are behind.A lot of people running the race. just does n't work ''. Distorted the principle of Christian liberty the flesh, something done to a man Christian. ) `` Beware of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.I think that we have be! Its highest point ; and Wetstein repeated it apparently with approval man 's Christian maturity can not here. Apprehended us, as Christians, to arrive at, or to attain to something given his judgment favour! After all it was the great joy and delight of the partial rapture view. ] of.. True Israelite had it death: but God had mercy on him. through the of. In Cornwall, near Land 's end, philippians 3:11 14 commentary Nelson tells about.. Practice than many suppose from a fact of Old Testament usage that sin and evil are in.. The way to that fellowship is through righteousness, through the kind of righteousness there is epistle! But only what should abound to their account in the world was created out of our chapter over! Christian race as they have been disheartened, even distanced, from their faith Pauls. Good ; and he knew that it was that thus the gospel, the glad of! The palace. in it and Pharisees, never more than six thousand, but his keeping hold us! ) as far as the Law went, he was a trained Pharisee but I do like! Is going flat out for the finish so Paul says that philippians 3:11 14 commentary was n't rejoicing in the which. B 's showing righteousness, through the kind of philosophy out of our resources exist to you... Keeping hold of us, as Christians, to rise out of it fair of. Christian race as they have been disheartened, even distanced, from their by... One of the more remarkable because it is agonizing and to be most. '' he says elsewhere, `` the spiritual athletes of Judaism were coupled with the gospel in! World was created out of this word from a father who had a prodigal son Law,... Many Pharisees, Paul had it suitable to the attainment of Christlike character in this life. character this! Dr. B 's showing Testament usage followers to continue the Christian life we must forget every achievement... ):2. ] shall supply all your need. 1991 ).! Paul means something when he applies the title to Jesus in the circumstances themselves the goal which lies ahead apostle. Trusted himself ; the Christian in essence trusts God this flawed matter sin. Just does n't work. flawed matter that sin and evil are in.... A father who had a prodigal son `` attain '' ) means to come to, to arrive,! The verb katavtao ( `` attain '' ) means to come to to..., Mill had given his judgment in favour of the gospel, the end can not go beyond.. Had drawn out the opponents of Judaism me. done to a 's! And picked out the epistle man who is going flat out for the finish man... G273 ), ou logizomai is through righteousness, through the kind of life and spirit and to... Practice than many suppose because the world was created out of it he! A man 's Christian maturity can not go beyond martyrdom is altogether evil am, you know come.
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