Text -- Philippians 3:12 (NET)

Keep Going Forward

3:12 Not that I have already attained this– that is, I have not already been perfected– but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Robertson: Phi 3:12

Not that ( ouch hoti ).

To guard against a misunderstanding as in Joh 6:26; Joh 12:6; 2Co 1:24; Phi 4:11, Phi 4:17.

Robertson: Phi 3:12

I have already obtained ( ēdē elabon ).

Rather, "I did already obtain,"constative second aorist active indicative of lambanō , summing up all his previous experiences as a single event.

Robertson: Phi 3:12

Or am already made perfect ( ē ēdē teteleiōmai ).

Perfect passive indicative (state of completion) of teleioō , old verb from teleios and that from telos (end). Paul pointedly denies that he has reached a spiritual impasse of non- development. Certainly he knew nothing of so-called sudden absolute perfection by any single experience. Paul has made great progress in Christlikeness, but the goal is still before him, not behind him.

Robertson: Phi 3:12

But I press on ( diōkō de ).

He is not discouraged, but encouraged. He keeps up the chase (real idea in diōkō , as in 1Co 14:1; Rom 9:30; 1Ti 6:11).

Robertson: Phi 3:12

If so be that ( ei kai ).

"I follow after."The condition (third class, ei̇̇katalabō , second aorist active subjunctive of katalambanō ) is really a sort of purpose clause or aim. There are plenty of examples in the Koiné[28928]š of the use of ei and the subjunctive as here (Robertson, Grammar , p. 1017), "if I also may lay hold of that for which (Ephesians' hōi , purpose expressed by epi ) I was laid hold of (katelēmphthēn , first aorist passive of the same verb katalambanō ) by Christ Jesus."His conversion was the beginning, not the end of the chase.

Vincent: Phi 3:12

Not as though ( οὐχ ὅτι )

Lit., not that , as Rev. By this I do not mean to say that. For similar usage, see Joh 7:22; 2Co 1:24; Phi 4:17.

Vincent: Phi 3:12

Had attained - were perfect ( ἔλαβον - τετελείωμαι )

Rev., have attained , am made perfect . There is a change of tenses which may be intentional; the aorist attained pointing to the definite period of his conversion, the perfect, am made perfect , referring to his present state. Neither when I became Christ's did I attain, nor, up to this time, have I been perfected. With attained supply the prize from Phi 3:14. Rev., am made perfect , is preferable, as preserving the passive form of the verb.

Vincent: Phi 3:12

I follow after ( διώκω )

Rev., better, press on . The A.V. gives the sense of chasing ; whereas the apostle's meaning is the pressing toward a fixed point. The continuous present would be better, I am pressing .

Vincent: Phi 3:12

May apprehend ( καταλάβω )

American Rev., lay hold on . Neither A.V. nor Rev. give the force of καὶ also ; if I may also apprehend as well as pursue. For the verb, see on Joh 1:5.

Vincent: Phi 3:12

For which also I am apprehended

Rev., correctly, was apprehended. American Rev., laid hold on . Paul's meaning is, " I would grasp that for which Christ grasped me. Paul's conversion was literally of the nature of a seizure . That for which Christ laid hold of him was indeed his mission to the Gentiles, but it was also his personal salvation, and it is of this that the context treats. Some render, seeing that also I was apprehended . Rev., in margin.

Wesley: Phi 3:12

The prize. He here enters on a new set of metaphors, taken from a race. But observe how, in the utmost fervour, he retains his sobriety of spirit.

Wesley: Phi 3:12

There is a difference between one that is perfect, and one that is perfected. The one is fitted for the race, Phi 3:15; the other, ready to receive the prize. But I pursue, if I may apprehend that - Perfect holiness, preparatory to glory. For, in order to which I was apprehended by Christ Jesus - Appearing to me in the way, Act 26:14. The speaking conditionally both here and in the preceding verse, implies no uncertainty, but only the difficulty of attaining.

JFB: Phi 3:12

Translate, "Not that I," &c. (I do not wish to be understood as saying that, &c.).

JFB: Phi 3:12

"obtained," namely, a perfect knowledge of Christ, and of the power of His death, and fellowship of His sufferings, and a conformity to His death.

JFB: Phi 3:12

"or am already perfected," that is, crowned with the garland of victory, my course completed, and perfection absolutely reached. The image is that of a race course throughout. See 1Co 9:24; Heb 12:23. See TRENCH [Greek Synonyms of the New Testament].

JFB: Phi 3:12

"I press on."

JFB: Phi 3:12

"If so be that I may lay hold on that (namely, the prize, Phi 3:14) for which also I was laid hold on by Christ" (namely, at my conversion, Son 1:4; 1Co 13:12).

JFB: Phi 3:12

Omitted in the oldest manuscripts. Paul was close to "apprehending" the prize (2Ti 4:7-8). Christ the Author, is also the Finisher of His people's "race."

Clarke: Phi 3:12

Not as though I had already attained - Ουχ ὁτι ηδη ελαβον· For I have not yet received the prize; I am not glorified, for I have not finished my course; and I have a conflict still to maintain, and the issue will prove whether I should be crowned. From the beginning of the 11th to the end of the 17th verse there is one continued allusion to the contests at the Olympic games; exercises with which, and their laws, the Philippians were well acquainted

Clarke: Phi 3:12

Either were already perfect - Η ηδη τετελειωμαι· Nor am I yet perfect; I am not yet crowned, in consequence of having suffered martyrdom. I am quite satisfied that the apostle here alludes to the Olympic games, and the word τετελειωμαι is the proof; for τελειωθηναι is spoken of those who have completed their race, reached the goal, and are honored with the prize. Thus it is used by Philo, Allegoriar. lib. iii. page 101, edit. Mangey: Ποτε ουν, ω ψυχη, μαλιστα νεκροφορειν ( νικοφορειν ) σεαυτην ὑποληψη· αραγε ουχ ὁταν τελειωθῃς και βραβειων και στεφανων αξιωθῃς "When is it, O soul, that thou shalt appear to have the victory? Is it not when thou shalt be perfected, (have completed thy course by death), and be honored with prizes and crowns?

That τελειωσις signified martyrdom, we learn most expressly from Clemens Alexand., Stromata, lib. iii. page 480, where he has these remarkable words: -

τελειωσιν μαρτυριον καλουμεν, ουχ ὁτι τελος του βιου ὁ ανθρωπος ελεβεν, ῳς οἱ λοιποι, αλλ ’ ὁτι τελειον εργον αγαπης ενεδειξατο·

"We call martyrdom τελειωσις, or perfection, not because man receives it as the end, τελος, or completion of life; but because it is the consummation τελειος, of the work of charity.

So Basil the great, Hom. in Psa 116:13

Ποτηριον σωτηριου ληψομαι· τουτεστι, διψων επι την δια του μαρτυριου τελειωσιν ερχομαι·

"I will receive the cup of salvation; that is, thirsting and earnestly desiring to come, by martyrdom, to the consummation.

So Oecumenius, on Acts 28

Παντα ετη απο της κλησεως του Παυλου, μεχρι της τελειωσεως αυτου, τριακοντα και πεντε·

"All the years of Paul, from his calling to his martyrdom, were thirty and five.

And in Balsamon, Can. i. Ancyran., page 764

Τον της τελειωσεως στεφανον αναδησασθαι

"To be crowned with the crown of martyrdom.

Eusebius, Hist. Eccles, lib. vii. cap. 13, uses the word τελειουσθαι to express to suffer martyrdom. I have been the more particular here, because some critics have denied that the word has any such signification. See Suicer, Rosenmuller, Macknight, etc

St. Paul, therefore, is not speaking here of any deficiency in his own grace, or spiritual state; he does not mean by not being yet perfect, that he had a body of sin and death cleaving to him, and was still polluted with indwelling sin, as some have most falsely and dangerously imagined; he speaks of his not having terminated his course by martyrdom, which he knew would sooner or later be the case. This he considered as the τελειωσις, or perfection, of his whole career, and was led to view every thing as imperfect or unfinished till this had taken place

Clarke: Phi 3:12

But I follow after - Διωκω δε· But I pursue; several are gone before me in this glorious way, and have obtained the crown of martyrdom; I am hurrying after them

Clarke: Phi 3:12

That I may apprehend - That I may receive those blessings to which I am called by Christ Jesus. There is still an allusion here to the stadium, and exercises there: the apostle considers Christ as the brabeus, or judge in the games, who proclaimed the victor, and distributed the prizes; and he represents himself as being introduced by this very brabeus, or judge, into the contest; and this brabeus brought him in with the design to crown him, if he contended faithfully. To complete this faithful contention is what he has in view; that he may apprehend, or lay hold on that for which he had been apprehended, or taken by the hand by Christ who had converted, strengthened, and endowed him with apostolical powers, that he might fight the good fight of faith, and lay hold on eternal life.

Calvin: Phi 3:12

12.Not as though I had already apprehended Paul insists upon this, that he may convince the Philippians that he thinks of nothing but Christ — knows nothing else — desires nothing else — is occupied with no other subject of meditation. In connection with this, there is much weight in what he now adds — that he himself, while he had given up all hinderances, had nevertheless not attained that object of aim, and that, on this account, he always aimed and eagerly aspired at something further. How much more was this incumbent on the Philippians, who were still far behind him?

It is asked, however, what it is that Paul says he has not yet attained? For unquestionably, so soon as we are by faith ingrafted into the body of Christ, we have already entered the kingdom of God, and, as it is stated in Eph 2:6, we already, in hope, sit in heavenly places. I answer, that our salvation, in the mean time, is in hope, so that the inheritance indeed is secure; but we nevertheless have it not as yet in possession. At the same time, Paul here looks at something else — the advancement of faith, and of that mortification of which he had made mention. He had said that he aimed and eagerly aspired at the resurrection of the dead through fellowship in the Cross of Christ. He adds, that he has not as yet arrived at this. At what? At the attainment of having entire fellowship in Christ’s sufferings, having a full taste of the power of his resurrection, and knowing him perfectly. He teaches, therefore, by his own example, that we ought to make progress, and that the knowledge of Christ is an attainment of such difficulty, that even those who apply themselves exclusively to it, do nevertheless not attain perfection in it so long as they live. This, however, does not detract in any degree from the authority of Paul’s doctrine, inasmuch as he had acquired as much as was sufficient for discharging the office committed to him. In the mean time, it was necessary for him to make progress, that this divinely-furnished instructor of all might be trained to humility.

As also I have been apprehended This clause he has inserted by way of correction, that he might ascribe all his endeavors to the grace of God. It is not of much importance whether you read as, or in so far as; for the meaning in either case remains the same — that Paul was apprehended by Christ, that he might apprehend Christ; that is, that he did nothing except under Christ’s influence and guidance. I have chosen, however, the more distinct rendering, as it seemed to be optional.

TSK: Phi 3:12

I had : Phi 3:13, Phi 3:16; Psa 119:5, Psa 119:173-176; Rom 7:19-24; Gal 5:17; 1Ti 6:12; Jam 3:2

already perfect : Job 17:9; Psa 138:8; Pro 4:18; 1Co 13:10; 2Co 7:1, 2Co 13:9; Eph 4:12; Heb 12:23, Heb 13:21; 1Pe 5:10; 2Pe 1:5-8, 2Pe 3:18

I follow : Phi 3:14; Psa 42:1, Psa 63:1-3, Psa 63:8, Psa 84:2, Psa 94:15; Isa 51:1; Hos 6:3; 1Th 5:15; 1Ti 5:10, 1Ti 6:11; Heb 12:14; 1Pe 3:11-13

that I : Phi 3:14; 1Ti 6:12

apprehended : Psa 110:2, Psa 110:3; Act 9:3-6, Act 9:15; Eph 1:4; 2Th 2:13

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Phi 3:12

Not as though I had already attained - This verse and the two following are full of allusions to the Grecian races. "The word rendered ‘ attained’ signifies, to have arrived at the goal and won the prize, but without having as yet received it"- The Pictorial Bible. The meaning here is, I do not pretend to have attained to what I wish or hope to be. He had indeed been converted; he had been raised up from the death of sin; he had been imbued with spiritual life and peace; but there was a glorious object before him which he had not yet received. There was to be a kind of resurrection which he had not arrived at. It is possible that Paul here may have had his eye on an error which prevailed to some extent in the early church, that "the resurrection was already past"2Ti 2:18, by which the faith of some had been perverted. How far this error had spread, or on what it was founded, is not now known; but it is possible that it might have found advocates extensively in the churches. Paul says, however, that he entertained no such opinion. He looked forward to a resurrection which had not yet occurred. He anticipated it as a glorious event yet to come, and he purposed to secure it by every effort which he could make.

Either were already perfect - This is a distinct assertion of the apostle Paul that he did not regard himself as a perfect man. He had not reached that state where he was free from sin. It is not indeed a declaration that no one was perfect, or that no one could be in this life but it is a declaration that he did not regard himself as having attained to it. Yet who can urge better claims to having attained perfection than Paul could have done? Who has surpassed him in love, and zeal, and self-denial, and true devotedness to the service of the Redeemer? Who has more elevated views of God, and of the plan of salvation? Who prays more, or lives nearer to God than he did? That must be extraordinary piety which surpasses that of the apostle Paul; and he who lays claim to a degree of holiness which even Paul did not pretend to, gives little evidence that he has any true knowledge of himself, or has ever been imbued with the true humility which the gospel produces.

It should be observed, however, that many critics, as Bloomfield, Koppe, Rosenmuller, Robinson (Lexicon), Clarke, the editor of The Pictorial Bible, and others, suppose the word used here - τελειόω teleioō - not to refer to moral or Christian perfection, but to be an allusion to the games that were celebrated in Greece, and to mean that he had not completed his course and arrived at the goal, so as to receive the prize. According to this, the sense would be, that he had not yet received the crown which he aspired after as the result of his efforts in this life. It is of importance to understand precisely what he meant by the declaration here; and, in order to this, it will be proper to look at the meaning of the word elsewhere in the New Testament. The word properly means, to complete, to make perfect, so as to be full, or so that nothing shall be wanting. In the New Testament it is used in the following places, and is translated in the following manner: It is rendered "fulfilled"in Luk 2:23; Joh 19:28; "perfect,"and "perfected,"in Luk 13:32; Joh 17:23; 2Co 12:9; Phi 3:12; Heb 2:10; Heb 5:9; Heb 7:19; Heb 9:9; Heb 10:1, Heb 10:14; Heb 11:40; Heb 12:23; Jam 2:22; 1Jo 2:5; 1Jo 4:12, 1Jo 4:17-18; "finish,"and "finished,"Joh 5:36; Act 20:24; and "consecrated,"Heb 7:28.

In one case Act 20:24, it is applied to a race or course that is run - "That I might finish my course with joy;"but this is the only instance, unless it be in the case before us. The proper sense of the word is that of bringing to an end, or rendering complete, so that nothing shall be wanting. The idea of Paul evidently is, that he had not yet attained that which would be the completion of his hopes. There was something which he was striving after, which he had not obtained, and which was needful to render him perfect, or complete. He lacked now what he hoped yet to attain to; and that which he lacked may refer to all those things which were wanting in his character and condition then, which he expected to secure in the resurrection. What he would then obtain, would be - perfect freedom from sin, deliverance from trials and temptations, victory over the grave, and the possession of immortal life.

As those things were needful in order to the completion of his happiness, we may suppose that he referred to them now, when he says that he was not yet "perfect."This word, therefore, while it will embrace an allusion to moral character, need not be understood of that only, but may include all those things which were necessary to be observed in order to his complete felicity. Though there may be, therefore, an allusion in the passage to the Grecian foot-races, yet still it would teach that he did not regard himself as in any sense perfect in all respects, there were things wanting to render his character and condition complete, or what he desired they might ultimately be. The same is true of all Christians now. We are imperfect in our moral and religious character, in our joys, in our condition. Our state here is far different from that which will exist in heaven; and no Christian can say, anymore than Paul could, that he has obtained that which is requisite to the completion or perfection of his character and condition. He looks for something brighter and purer in the world beyond the grave. Though, therefore, there may be - as I think the connection and phraseology seem to demand - a reference to the Grecian games, yet the sense of the passage is not materially varied. It was still a struggle for the crown of perfection - a crown which the apostle says he had not yet obtained.

But I follow after - I pursue the object, striving to obtain it. The prize was seen in the distance, and he diligently sought to obtain it. There is a reference here to the Grecian races, and the meaning is, "I steadily pursue my course;"compare the notes at 1Co 9:24.

If that I may apprehend - If I may obtain, or reach, the heavenly prize. There was a glorious object in view, and he made most strenuous exertions to obtain it. The idea in the word "apprehend"is that of taking hold of, or of seizing suddenly and with eagerness; and, since there is no doubt of its being used in an allusion to the Grecian foot-races, it is not improbable that there is a reference to the laying hold of the pole or post which marked the goal, by the racer who had outstripped the other competitors, and who, by that act, might claim the victory and the reward.

That for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus - By Christ Jesus. The idea is, that he had been called into the service of the Lord Jesus, with a view to the obtaining of an important object. He recognized:

\caps1 (1) t\caps0 he fact that the Lord Jesus had, as it were, laid hold on him, or seized him with eagerness or suddenness, for so the word used here - κατελήμφθην katelēmphthēn - means (compare Mar 9:18; Joh 8:3-4; Joh 12:35; 1Th 5:4; and,

\caps1 (2) t\caps0 he fact that the Lord Jesus had laid hold on him, with a view to his obtaining the prize. He had done it in order that he might obtain the crown of life, that he might serve him faithfully here, and then be rewarded in heaven.

We may learn, from this:

(1) That Christians are seized, or laid hold on, when they are converted, by the power of Christ, to be employed in his service.

\caps1 (2) t\caps0 hat there is an object or purpose which he has in view. He designs that they shall obtain a glorious prize, and he "apprehends"them with reference to its attainment.

\caps1 (3) t\caps0 hat the fact that Christ has called us into his service with reference to such an object, and designs to bestow the crown upon us, need not and should not dampen our exertions, or diminish our zeal. It should rather, as in the case of Paul, excite our ardor, and urge us forward. We should seek diligently to gain that, for the securing of which, Christ has called us into his service. The fact that he has thus arrested us in our mad career of sin; that he has by his grace constrained us to enter into his service, and that he contemplates the bestowment upon us of the immortal crown, should be the highest motive for effort. The true Christian, then, who feels that heaven is to be his home, and who believes that Christ means to bestow it upon him, will make the most strenuous efforts to obtain it. The prize is so beautiful and glorious, that he will exert every power of body and soul that it may be his. The belief, therefore, that God means to save us, is one of the highest incentives to effort in the cause of religion.

Poole: Phi 3:12

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: by an elegant anticipation and correction, lest any should conclude from what he had written, as if he were now arrived at the height he aimed at in the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, and a full and perfect stature in that body, or almost at the very pitch, he doth here make a modest confession of his not attainment, (whatever false apostles might pretend to), 2Co 10:12 12:6,7 ; but of his earnest desire and utmost endeavour to be raised to the complete holiness he was designed to,

in heavenly places in Christ Jesus Eph 2:6 .

But I follow after he did pursue with all vigour, as those labouring in the agonistics, with all his might and main, not desponding of obtaining the goal, 1Co 9:26 , with 2Co 4:8 ; with groanings and longings after utmost perfection, 2Co 5:4,6,7 2Pe 3:12 ; as those perfected in glory, Heb 12:23 .

If that I may apprehend that if that, or whether that, (not as intimating any uncertainty, but his more earnest contending for holiness in the Christian race), I may lay hold on that attainment to be as holy as men shall be at the resurrection.

For which even as, or for which, ( as we render it well so, Phi 4:10 ), i.e. for which end, or for this purpose, to be perfectly sanctified and glorified at the resurrection.

I am apprehended of Christ Jesus he was at his effectual calling laid hold on by Christ, being found in whom, he was striving after perfection. This apprehended is a metaphor borrowed from those that run in a race, one taking hold of another to draw him after to win the prize as well as himself. He eyed Christ having taken him into his hand, as one that would not suffer him to be plucked out by any opposers, Joh 10:28 . He knew that Christ, having brought him nigh unto God, and undertook to work such a measure of holiness in him, one day would completely glorify him, so that, whatever he passed through, nothing should be lost, Joh 6:39 .

Haydock: Phi 3:12

Not as though I had already attained the happiness I hope for, or am now become perfect as to that perfection in virtue, which I must always endeavour to increase in; but, like a person still running a race for a prize, I pursue and run as well as I can, I stretch myself with perseverance towards[2] the mark, forgetting that part of the course which I had made. Let all of us, though perfect as the knowledge of the mysteries we are to believe, be of this mind, that we are still to advance in the way of Christian perfection; and if any of you be of another mind, and think otherwise, God will reveal to you and teach you this truth, that we may all continue in the same rule of doctrine and discipline. We may here take notice with St. John Chrysostom that it is not enough to believe, or have the true faith, but that we must strive and labour to the end in the way of perfection; secondly that St. Paul did not look upon himself absolutely certain of his salvation: and how much greater presumption would this be in us? (Witham)

Gill: Phi 3:12

Not as though I had already attained,.... Or "received"; he had received much grace out of the fulness of it in Christ; he had received the gift of righteousness, the forgiveness of his sins, and the adoption of children; he had attained to a lively hope of the incorruptible inheritance, and had received a right unto it, and had a meetness for it; but as yet he had not received the thing itself, nor was he come to the end of his race, and so had not received the crown of righteousness laid up for him; he had not yet attained to perfect knowledge, nor perfect holiness, nor perfect happiness: wherefore he adds,

either were already perfect; he was perfect in comparison of others, that were in a lower class of grace, experience, and knowledge, in which sense the word is used in Phi 3:15, and in 1Co 2:6; he was so, as perfection intends sincerity, uprightness, and integrity; the root of the matter, the truth of grace was in him; his faith was unfeigned, his love was without dissimulation, his hope was without hypocrisy, his conversation in the world was in godly simplicity, and his preaching and his whole conduct in his ministry were of sincerity, and in the sight of God: he was perfect as a new creature with respect to parts, having Christ formed in him, and all the parts of the new man, though not as to degrees; this new man not being as yet grown up to a perfect man, or to its full growth, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; he was perfect with respect to justification, being perfectly justified from all things, by the righteousness of Christ, but not with respect to sanctification; and though his sanctification was perfect in Christ, yet not in himself; his knowledge was imperfect, something was wanting in his faith, and sin dwelt in him, of which he sometimes grievously complained: now this he says, lest he should be thought to arrogate that to himself, which he had not:

but I follow after; Christ the forerunner, after perfect knowledge of him, perfect holiness from him, and perfect happiness with him: the metaphor is taken from runners in a race, who pursue it with eagerness, press forward with all might and main, to get up to the mark, in order to receive the prize; accordingly the Syriac version renders it, רהט אנא, "I run", and so the Arabic: the apostle's sense is, that though he had not yet reached the mark, he pressed forward towards it, he had it in view, he stretched and exerted himself, and followed up very closely to it, in hope of enjoying the prize:

if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus; he was apprehended of Christ, when he met him in his way to Damascus, stopped him in his journey, laid him prostrate on the ground, and laid hold on him as his own, challenged and claimed his interest in him, Act 9:3, as one that the Father had given him, and he had purchased by his blood; he entered into him, and took possession of him, and took up his residence in him, having dispossessed the strong man armed, and ever since held him as his own; and he apprehended, or laid hold on him, to bring him as he had engaged to do, to a participation of grace here, and glory hereafter; that he might know him himself, and make him known to others; that he might be made like unto him, have communion with him, and everlastingly enjoy him: and these things the apostle pursued after with great vehemence, that he might apprehend them, and be in full possession of them; and which he did, in the way and manner hereafter described.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Phi 3:12

¹ tn Grk “that for which I also was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” The passive has been translated as active in keeping with contemporary English style.

Geneva Bible: Phi 3:12

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 ^{( l )} apprehended of Christ Jesus.

^{( l )} For we run only as far forth as we are laid hold on by Christ, that is, as God gives us strength, and shows us the way.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Phi 3:1-21

1 He warns them to beware of the false teachers of the circumcision;

4 shewing that himself has greater cause than they to trust in the righteousness of the law;

7 which notwithstanding he counts as dung and loss, to gain Christ and his righteousness;

12 therein acknowledging his own imperfection.

15 He exhorts them to be thus minded;

17 and to imitate him,

18 and to decline the ways of carnal Christians.

Maclaren: Phi 3:12

Laid Hold Of And Laying Hold

I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I was apprehended of Christ Jesus.'--Phil. 3:12.

I WAS laid hold of by Jesus Christ.' That is how Paul thinks of what we call his conversion. He would never have' turned' unless a hand had been laid upon him. A strong loving grasp had gripped him in the midst of his career of persecution, and all that he had done was to yield to the grip, and not to wriggle out of it. The strong expression suggests, as it seems to me, the suddenness of the incident. Possibly impressions may have been working underground, ever since the martyrdom of Stephen, which were undermining his convictions, and the very insanity of his zeal may have been due to an uneasy consciousness that the ground was yielding beneath his feet. That may have been so, but, whether it were so or not, the crisis came like a bolt out of the blue, and he was Checked in full career, as if a voice had spoken to the sea in its wildest storm, and frozen its waves into immobility.

There is suggested in the word, too, distinctly, our Lord's personal action in the matter. No doubt, the fact of His supernatural appearance gives emphasis to the phrase here. But every Christian man and woman has been, as truly as ever Paul was, laid hold of by the personal action of Jesus Christ. He is present in His Word, and, by multitudes of inward impulses and outward providences, He is putting out a gentle and a firm hand, and laying it upon the shoulders of all of us. Have we yielded? Have we resisted, when we were laid hold of? Did we try to get away? Did we plant our feet and say, I will not be drawn,' or did we simply neglect the pressure? If we have yielded, my text tells us what we have to do next. For that hand is laid upon a man for a purpose, and that purpose is not secured by the hand being laid upon him, unless he, in his turn, will put out a hand and grasp. Our activity is needed; that activity will not be put forth without very distinct effort, and that effort has to be life-long, because our grasp at the best is incomplete. So then, we have here, first of all, to consider--

I. What Christ Has Laid His Grip On Us For.

Now, the immediate result of that grasp, when it is yielded to, is the sense of the removal of guilt, forgiveness of sins, acceptance with God. But these, the immediate results, are by no means the whole results, although a great many of us live as if we thought that the only thing that Christianity is meant to do to us is that it bars the gates of some future hell, and brings to us the message of forgiveness. We cannot think too nobly or too loftily of that gift of forgiveness, the initial gift that is laid in every Christian man's hands, but we may think too exclusively of it, and a great many of us do think of it as if it were all that was to be given. A painter has to clear away the old paint off a door, or a wall, before he lays on the new. The initial gift that comes from being laid hold of by Jesus Christ is the burning off of the old coat of paint. But that is only the preliminary to the laying on of the new. A man away in the backwoods will spend a couple of years after he has got his bit of land in felling and burning the trees, and rooting out and destroying the weeds. But is that what he got the clearing for? That is only a preliminary to sowing the seed. My friend! If Jesus Christ has laid hold of you, and you have let Him keep hold of you, it is not only that you may be forgiven, not only that you may sun yourself in the light of God's countenance, and feel that a new blessed relation is set up between you and Him, but there are great purposes lying at the back of that, of which all that is only the preliminary and the preparation.

Conversion. Yes; but what is the good of turning a man round unless he goes in the direction in which his face is turned? And so here the Apostle having for years lived in the light of that great thought, that God was reconciled in Jesus Christ, and that he was God's friend, discerns far beyond that, in dim perspective, towering high above the land in the front, the snowy sunlit summits of a great range to which he has yet to climb, and says, I press on to lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Jesus Christ.'

And what was that? On the road to Damascus Paul was only told one thing, that Christ had grasped him and drawn him to Himself in order that He might make him a chosen vessel to bear the Word far hence amongst the Gentiles. The bearing of His conversion upon Paul himself was never mentioned. The bearing of His conversion on the world was the only subject that Jesus spoke of at first. But here Paul has nothing to say about his world-wide mission. He does not think of himself as being called to be an Apostle, but as being summoned to be a Christian. And so, forgetting for the time all the glorious and yet burdensome obligations which were laid upon him, and the discharge of which was the very life of his life, he thinks only of what affects his own character, the perfecting of which he regards as being the one thing for which he was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.' The purpose is twofold. No Christian man is made a Christian only in order that he may secure his own salvation; there is the world to think of. No Christian man is made a Christian only in order that he may be Christ's instrument for carrying the Word to other people; there is himself to think of. And these two phases of the purpose for which Jesus Christ lays hold upon us are very hard to unite in practice, giving to each its due place and prominence, and they are often separated, to the detriment of both the one that is attended to, and the one that is neglected. The monastic life has not produced the noblest Christians; and there are pitfalls lying in the path of every man who, like me, has for his profession to preach the Gospel, which, if they are fallen into, the inward life is utterly wrecked.

The two sides of Christ's purpose have, in our practice, to be held together, but for the present I only wish to say a word or two about that which, as I have indicated, is but one hemisphere of the completed orb, and that is our personal culture and growth in the divine life. What did Christ lay hold of me for? Paul answers the question very strikingly and beautifully in a previous verse. Here is his conception of the purpose, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.' That is what you were forgiven for; that is what you have passed from death unto life' for; that is what you have come into the sweet fellowship of God, and can think of Him as your Friend and Helper for.

Let us take the clauses seriatim, and say a word about each of them. That I may know Him.' Ah! there is a great deal more in Jesus Christ than a man sees when he first sees Him through his tears and his fears, and apprehends Him as the Saviour of his soul, and the sacrifice on whom the burden and the guilt of his sins were laid. We must begin there, as I believe. But woe to us if we stop there. There is far more in Christ than that; although all that is in Him is included in that, yet you have to dig deep before you find all that is included in it. You have to live with Him day by day, and year by year, and to learn to know Him as we learn to know husbands and wives, by continual intercourse, by continual experience of a sweet and unfailing love, by many a sacred hour of interchange of affection and reception of gifts and counsels. It is only thus that we learn to know what Jesus Christ is. When He lays hold of us, He comes like the angel that came to Peter in the prison in the dark and awoke him out of his sleep and said Rise! and follow me.' It is only when we get out into the street, and have been with Him for awhile, and the daylight begins to stream in, that we see clearly the face of our Deliverer, and know Him for all that He is. This knowledge is not the sort of knowledge that you can get by thinking, or out of a book. It is the knowledge of experience. It is the knowledge of love, it is the knowledge of union, and it is in order that we may know Christ that He lays his hand upon us.

The power of His Resurrection.' Now, by that I understand a similar knowledge, by experience, of the risen life of Jesus Christ flowing into us, and filling our hearts and minds with its own power. The risen life of Jesus is the nourishment and strengthening and blessing and life of a Christian. Our daily experience ought to be that there comes, wavelet by wavelet, that silent, gentle, and yet omnipotent influx into our empty hearts, the very life of Christ Himself.

I know that this generation says that that is mysticism. I do not know whether it is mysticism or not. I am sure it is truth; and I do not understand Christianity at all, unless there is that kind of mysticism, perfectly wholesome and good, in it. You will never know Jesus Christ until you know Him as pouring into your hearts the power of an endless life, His own life. Christ for us by all means,--Christ's death the basis of our hope, but Christ in us, and Christ's life as the true gift to His Church. Have you got that? Do you know the power of His Resurrection?

The fellowship of His sufferings.' Has Paul made a mistake, and deserted the chronological order? Why does he put the fellowship of the sufferings' after the power of the Resurrection'? For this plain reason, that if we get Christ's life into our hearts, in the measure in which we get it we shall bear a similar relation to the world which He bore to it, and in our measure will fill up that which is behind in the sufferings of Christ,' and will understand how true it is that if they hate Me they will hate you also.' Brethren, the test of us who have the life of Christ in our hearts is that we shall, in some measure, suffer with Him, because as He is, so are we, in this world," and because we must in that case look upon the world, its sins and its sorrows, with something of the sad gaze with which He looked across the valley to the Temple sparkling in the morning light, and wept over it. So if we know the power of His Resurrection we shall know the fellowship of His sufferings.

And then Paul goes on, in his definition of the purpose for which Christ lays hold upon men, apparently to say the same thing over again, only in the opposite order, that I may be conformable to His death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.' Both of these clauses, I think, refer to the future, to the actual dying of the body, and the actual future resurrection of the same. And the thought is this, that if here, through our earthly lives, we have been recipients of the risen life of Jesus Christ, and so have stood to the world in our degree as He stood to it, then when the moment of death comes to us, we shall, in so far, have our departure shaped after His as that we shall be able to say, Into Thy hands I commit my spirit,' and die willingly, and at last shall be partakers of that blessed Resurrection unto life eternal which closes the vista of our earthly history. Stephen's death was conformed to Christ's in outward fashion, in so far as it echoed the Master's prayer, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do,' and in so far as it echoed the Master's last words, with the significant alteration that, whilst Jesus commended His spirit to the Father, the first martyr commended his to Jesus Christ.

These, then, are the purposes for which Christ laid His hand upon us, that we might know Him, the power of His Resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death yet by attaining the resurrection of the dead.

II. Notice, Again, Our Laying Hold Because We Have Been Laid Hold Of.

Christ's laying hold of me, blessed and powerful as it is, does not of itself secure that I shall reach the end which He had in view in His arresting of me. What more is wanted? My effort. I follow after if I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended.' Now, notice, in the one case, the Apostle speaks of himself, not as passive, but certainly not as active. I was laid hold of.' What did he do? As I have said, he simply yielded to the grasp. But I may lay hold of' conveys the idea of personal effort; and so these two expressions, I was apprehended,' and I apprehend,' suggest this consideration, that, for the initial blessings of the Christian life, forgiveness, acceptance, the sense of God's favour, and of reconciliation with him, nothing is needed but the simple faith that yields itself altogether to the grasp of Christ's hand, but that for my possessing what Christ means that I should possess when He lays His hand on me, there is needed not only faith but effort. I have to put out my hand and tighten my fingers round the thing, if I would make it my own, and keep it.

So--faith, to begin with, and work based on faith, to go on with. It is because a man is sure that Jesus Christ has laid His hand upon him, and meant something when He did it, that he fights on with all his might to realise Christ's purpose, and to get and keep the thing which Christ meant him to have. There is stimulus in the thought, I was laid hold of by Him for a purpose. There is all the difference between striving, however eagerly, however nobly, however strenuously, however constantly, after self-improvement, by one's own effort only, and striving after it because one knows that he is therein fulfilling the purpose for which Jesus Christ drew him to Himself.

And if that be so, then the nature of the thing to be laid hold of determines what we are to do to lay hold of it. And since to know Christ, and the power of His Resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, is the aim and end of our conversion, the way to secure it must be keeping in continual touch with Jesus by meditating upon Him, by holding many a moment of still, sacred, sweet communion with Him, by carefully avoiding whatever might come between us and our knowledge of Him, and the influx of His life into us, and by yielding ourselves, day by day, to the continual influence of His divine grace upon us, and by the discipline which shall make our inward natures more and more capable of receiving more and more of that dear Lord. These being the things to do, in regard to the inward life, there must be effort too, in regard to the outward; for we must, if we are to lay hold of that for which we are laid hold of by Jesus Christ, bring all the outward life under the dominion of this inward impulse, and when the flood pours into our hearts we must, by many a sluice and trench, guide it into every corner of the field, that all may be irrigated. The first thing they do when they are going to sow rice in an Eastern field is to flood it, and then they cast in the seed, and it germinates. Flood your lives with Christ, and then sow the seed, and you will get a crop.

III. Lastly, The Text Suggests The Incompleteness Of Our Grasp.

I follow that,' says Paul, if that I may apprehend.' This letter was written far on in his career, in the time of his imprisonment in Rome, which all but ended his ministerial activity; and was many years after that day on the road to Damascus. And yet, matured Christian and exercised Apostle as he was, with all that past behind him, he says, I follow after, that I may apprehend.' Ah, brother, our experience must be incomplete, for we have an infinite aim set before us, and there is no end to the possibilities of plunging deeper and deeper and deeper into the knowledge of Christ, and having larger and larger and larger draughts of the fulness of His life. We have only been like gold seekers, who have contented themselves as yet with washing the precious grains out of the gravel of the river. There are great reefs filled with the ore that we have not touched. Thank God for the necessary incompleteness of our apprehending.' It is the very salt of life. To have realised our aims, to have fulfilled our ideals, to have sucked dry the cluster of the grapes is the death of aspiration, of hope, of blessedness; and to have the distance beckoning, and all experience an arch, where thro' gleams the untravelled world to which we move,' is the secret of perpetual youth and energy.

Because incomplete, our experience should be progressive; and that is a truth that needs hammering into Christian people to-day. About how many of us can it be said that our light shineth more and more unto the noonday.' Alas! about an enormous number of us it must be said, When for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you.' All our churches have many grown babies, and cases of arrested development--people that ought to be living on strong meat, and are unable to masticate or digest it, and by their own fault have still need of the milk of infancy. There is an old fable about a strange animal that fastened itself to the keel of sailing ships, and by some uncanny power was able to arrest them in mid-ocean, though the winds were filling all their sails. There is a remora, as they called it, of that sort adhering to a great many Christian people, and keeping them fixed on one spot, instead of' following after, if that they may apprehend.'

Dear friends--and especially you younger Christians --Christ has laid hold of you. Well and good! that is the beginning. He has laid hold of you for an end. That end will not be reached without your effort, and that effort must be perpetual. It is a life-long task. Ay! and even up yonder the apprehending will be incomplete. Like those mathematical lines that ever approximate to a point which they never reach, we shall through Eternity be, as it were, rising, in ascending and ever-closer drawing spirals, to that great Throne, and to Him that sits upon it. So that, striking out the humble may' from our text, the rest of it describes the progressive blessedness of the endless life in the heavens, as truly as it does the progressive duty of the Christian life here, and the glorified flock that follows the Lamb in the heavenly pastures may each say: I follow after in order to apprehend that for which,' long ago and down amidst the dim shadows of earth, I was apprehended of Christ Jesus.'

MHCC: Phi 3:12-21

This simple dependence and earnestness of soul, were not mentioned as if the apostle had gained the prize, or were already made perfect in the Saviour's likeness. He forgot the things which were behind, so as not to be content with past labours or present measures of grace. He reached forth, stretched himself forward towards his point; expressions showing great concern to become more and more like unto Christ. He who runs a race, must never stop short of the end, but press forward as fast as he can; so those who have heaven in their view, must still press forward to it, in holy desires and hopes, and constant endeavours. Eternal life is the gift of God, but it is in Christ Jesus; through his hand it must come to us, as it is procured for us by him. There is no getting to heaven as our home, but by Christ as our Way. True believers, in seeking this assurance, as well as to glorify him, will seek more nearly to resemble his sufferings and death, by dying to sin, and by crucifying the flesh with its affections and lusts. In these things there is a great difference among real Christians, but all know something of them. Believers make Christ all in all, and set their hearts upon another world. If they differ from one another, and are not of the same judgment in lesser matters, yet they must not judge one another; while they all meet now in Christ, and hope to meet shortly in heaven. Let them join in all the great things in which they are agreed, and wait for further light as to lesser things wherein they differ. The enemies of the cross of Christ mind nothing but their sensual appetites. Sin is the sinner's shame, especially when gloried in. The way of those who mind earthly things, may seem pleasant, but death and hell are at the end of it. If we choose their way, we shall share their end. The life of a Christian is in heaven, where his Head and his home are, and where he hopes to be shortly; he sets his affections upon things above; and where his heart is, there will his conversation be. There is glory kept for the bodies of the saints, in which they will appear at the resurrection. Then the body will be made glorious; not only raised again to life, but raised to great advantage. Observe the power by which this change will be wrought. May we be always prepared for the coming of our Judge; looking to have our vile bodies changed by his Almighty power, and applying to him daily to new-create our souls unto holiness; to deliver us from our enemies, and to employ our bodies and souls as instruments of righteousness in his service.

Matthew Henry: Phi 3:9-14

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. He had his heart on these two great peculiarities of the Christian religion.

I. The apostle had his heart upon Christ as his righteousness. This is illustrated in several instances. 1. 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. The expression intimates that we have need to strive for him and after him, and that all is little enough to win him. 2. That he might be found in him (Phi 3:9), as the manslayer was found in the city of refuge, where he was safe from the avenger of blood, Num 35:25. Or it alludes to a judicial appearance; so we are to be found of our Judge in peace, 2Pe 3:14. We are undone without a righteousness wherein to appear before God, for we are guilty. There is a righteousness provided for us in Jesus Christ, and it is a complete and perfect righteousness. 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. " Not having my own righteousness, which is of the law; not thinking that my outward observances and good deeds are able to atone for my bad ones, or that by setting the one over against the other I can come to balance accounts with God. No, the righteousness which I depend upon is that which is through the faith of Christ, not a legal, but evangelical righteousness: The righteousness which is of God by faith, ordained and appointed of God."The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord our righteousness, Isa 45:24; Jer 23:6. Had he not been God, he could not have been our righteousness; the transcendent excellence of the divine nature put such a value upon, and such a virtue into, his sufferings, that they became sufficient to satisfy for the sins of the world, and to bring in a righteousness which will be effectual to all that believe. Faith is the ordained means of actual interest and saving benefit in all the purchase of his blood. It is by faith in his blood, Rom 3:25. 3. That he might know Christ (Phi 3:10): That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings. Faith is called knowledge, Isa 53:11. Knowing him here is believing in him: it is an experimental knowledge of the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, or feeling the transforming efficacy and virtue of them. Observe, The apostle was as ambitious of being sanctified as he was of being justified. 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. 4. That he might be conformable unto him, and this also is meant of his sanctification. We are then made conformable to his death when we die to sin, as Christ died for sin, when we are crucified with Christ, the flesh and affections of it mortified, and the world is crucified to us, and we to the world, by virtue of the cross of Christ. This is our conformity to his death.

II. The apostle had his heart upon heaven as his happiness: If by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead, Phi 3:11.

1. The happiness of heaven is here called the resurrection of the dead, because, though the souls of the faithful, when they depart, are immediately with Christ, yet their happiness will not be complete till the general resurrection of the dead at the last day, when soul and body shall be glorified together. Anastasis sometimes signifies the future state. This the apostle had his eye upon; this he would attain. There will be a resurrection of the unjust, who shall arise to shame and everlasting contempt; and our care must be to escape that: but the joyful and glorious resurrection of saints is called the resurrection, kat' exochēn - by eminence, because it is in virtue of Christ's resurrection, as their head and first-fruits; whereas the wicked shall rise only by the power of Christ, as their judge. To the saints it will be indeed a resurrection, a return to bliss, and life, and glory; while the resurrection of the wicked is a rising from the grave, but a return to a second death. It is called the resurrection of the just, and the resurrection of life (Joh 5:29), and they are counted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead, Luk 20:35.

2. This joyful resurrection the apostle pressed towards. He was willing to do any thing, or suffer any thing, that he might attain that resurrection. The hope and prospect of it carried him with so much courage and constancy through all the difficulties he met with in his work. He speaks as if they were in danger of missing it, and coming short of it. A holy fear of coming short is an excellent means of perseverance. Observe, His care to be found in Christ was in order to his attaining the resurrection of the dead. Paul himself did not hope to attain it through his own merit and righteousness, but through the merit and righteousness of Jesus Christ. "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,

(1.) He looks upon himself to be in a state of imperfection and trial: Not as though I had already attained, or were already perfect, Phi 3:12. Observe, The best men in the world will readily own their imperfection in the present state. We have not yet attained, are not already perfect; there is still much wanting in all our duties, and graces, and comforts. If Paul had not attained to perfection (who had reached to so high a pitch of holiness), much less have we. Again, Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended (Phi 3:13), ou logizomai . "I make this judgment of the case; I thus reason with myself."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.

(2.) What the apostle's actings were under this conviction. Considering that he had not already attained, and had not apprehended, he pressed forward: " I follow after (Phi 3:12), diōkō - I pursue with vigour, as one following after the game. I endeavour to get more grace and do more good, and never think I have done enough: If that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. "Observe, [1.] Whence our grace comes - from our being apprehended of Christ Jesus. It is not our laying hold of Christ first, but his laying hold of us, which is our happiness and salvation. We love him because he first loved us, 1Jo 4:19. Not our keeping hold of Christ, but his keeping hold of us, is our safety. We are kept by his mighty power through faith unto salvation, 1Pe 1:5. Observe, [2.] What the happiness of heaven is: it is to apprehend that for which we are apprehended of Christ. When Christ laid hold of us, it was to bring us to heaven; and to apprehend that for which he apprehended us is to attain the perfection of our bliss. He adds further (Phi 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. 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. But Paul forgot the things which were behind so as not to be content with present measures of grace: he was still for having more and more. So he reaches forth, epekteinomenos - stretched himself forward, bearing towards his point: it is expressive of a vehement concern.

(3.) The apostle's aim in these actings: I press towards the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, Phi 3:14. He pressed towards the mark. As he who runs a race never takes up short of the end, but is still making forwards as fast as he can, so those who have heaven in their eye must still be pressing forward to it in holy desires and hopes, and constant endeavours and preparations. The fitter we grow for heaven the faster we must press towards it. 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. For the prize of the high calling. Observe, A Christian's calling is a high calling: it is from heaven, as its original; and it is to heaven in its tendency. Heaven is the prize of the high calling; to brabeion - the prize we fight for, and run for, and wrestle for, what we aim at in all we do, and what will reward all our pains. It is of great use in the Christian course to keep our eye upon heaven. This is proper to give us measures in all our service, and to quicken us every step we take; and it is of God, from whom we are to expect it. Eternal life is the gift of God (Rom 6:23), but it is in Christ Jesus; through his hand it must come to us, as it is procured for us by him. There is no getting to heaven as our home but by Christ as our way.

Barclay: Phi 3:12-16

Vital to the understanding of this passage is the correct interpretation of the Greek word teleios (5046) which occurs twice, rendered by the Revised Standard Version as Perfect in Phi 3:12and as mature in Phi 3:15. Teleios (5046) in Greek has a variety of interrelated meanings. In by far the most of them it does not signify what we might call abstract perfection but a kind of functional perfection, adequacy for some given purpose. It means full-grown in contradistinction to undeveloped; for example, it is used of a full-grown man as opposed to an undeveloped youth. It is used to mean mature in mind and therefore means one who is qualified in a subject as opposed to a mere learner. When it is used of offerings, it means without blemish and fit to offer God. When it is used of Christians, it often means baptized persons who are full members of the Church, as opposed to those who are still under instruction. In the days of the early Church it is quite often used to describe martyrs. A martyr is said to be perfected by the sword, and the day of his death is said to be the day of his perfecting. The idea is that a man's Christian maturity cannot go beyond martyrdom.

So when Paul uses the word in Phi 3:12, he is saying that he is not by any means a complete Christian but is for ever pressing on. Then he uses two vivid pictures.

(i) He says that he is trying to grasp that for which he has been grasped by Christ. That is a wonderful thought. Paul felt that when Christ stopped him on the Damascus Road, he had a vision and a purpose for Paul; and Paul felt that all his life he was bound to press on, lest he fail Jesus and frustrate his dream. 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.

(ii) To that end Paul says two things. He is forgetting the things which are behind. That is to say, he will never glory in any of his achievements or use them as an excuse for relaxation. In effect Paul is saying that the Christian must forget all that he has done and remember only what he has still to do. In the Christian life there is no room for a person who desires to rest upon his laurels. He is also reaching out for the things which are in front. The word he uses for reaching out (epekteinomenos, 1901) is very vivid and is used of a racer going hard for the tape. It describes him with eyes for nothing but the goal. It describes the man who is going flat out for the finish. So Paul says that in the Christian life we must forget every past achievement and remember only the goal which lies ahead.

There is no doubt that Paul is here speaking to the antinomians. They were those who denied that there was any law at all in the Christian life. They declared that they were within the grace of God and that, therefore, it did not matter what they did; God would forgive. No further discipline and no further effort were necessary. Paul is insisting that to the end of the day the Christian life is the life of an athlete pressing onwards to a goal which is always in front.

In Phi 3:15he again uses teleios (5046) and says that this must be the attitude of those who are teleios (5046). What he means is: "Anyone who has come to be mature in the faith and knows what Christianity is must recognize the discipline and the effort and the agony of the Christian life." He may perhaps think differently, but, if he is an honest man, God will make it plain to him that he must never relax his effort or lower his standards but must press towards the goal, until the end.

As Paul saw it, the Christian is the athlete of Christ.

Constable: Phi 1:27--4:10

III. Partnership in the gospel 1:27--4:9

Paul had been saying he hoped to be able to revisit Philippi and to minister to his original readers again in person. However, he was not sure that he could do that. This uncertain state of affairs led him to exhort them now that he had the opportunity. Whether he came to them or not, their duty was the same. In the following verses he emphasized the importance of certain qualities essential to conduct worthy of the Lord. He did this so his readers would perceive the importance of these traits and give them proper attention.

Constable: Phi 3:1--4:2

2. Walking in steadfastness 3:1-4:1

Paul now turned to the second major quality that he introduced in 1:27-30, namely steadfastness in the face of opposition to the gospel (cf. 1:7, 28). He had introduced the idea of joy in the face of opposition earlier (1:19, 28-30; 2:17-18). He would discuss how to face overt persecution later (4:4-9).

There were two main sources of opposition that the Philippians faced as they sought to have fellowship with Paul in the proclamation of the gospel. Paul dealt with both of these. However, he began with a charge to rejoice in the Lord and ended this section with a summary exhortation.

Constable: Phi 3:12-14

Paul's persistent zeal 3:12-14

3:12 Paul had said that he had not already grasped the intimate knowledge of His Savior that he sought to obtain (v. 10). He did not want his readers to understand him as saying that his conversion brought him into the intimate personal relationship with Christ that he desired. At conversion his views about what is important in life changed drastically, however. He did not believe he was perfect. There are some Christians who believe that after conversion they do not sin (cf. 1 John 1:6-10).

Paul realized his responsibility to pursue greater personal experiential knowledge of Christ, intimacy with Christ, conformity to Christ, and holiness. One of the reasons that God has saved us is that we might enjoy fellowship with Christ (John 15; 1 John 1:1-3). Practical sanctification does not come automatically by faith as justification and glorification do. We must pursue it diligently by following the Lord (vv. 13-15; cf. Gal. 5:16; 2 Pet. 1:5-11).

"To know the incomprehensible greatness of Christ demands a lifetime of arduous inquiry."¹²⁸

"A divine dissatisfaction is essential for spiritual progress."¹²⁹

3:13 Again Paul disclaimed having attained conformity to Christ. He viewed his experience as similar to a runner's. He did not look back. The apostle did not mean that he refused to remember things that had happened to him in the past. He had just reviewed some of those things. He meant that he did not rest in his heritage (vv. 5-7) or in his past attainments (vv. 9-12). He had abandoned the unworthy goal that he had pursued in the past. Now he had a new goal toward which he was looking and running.

"Forget those wrongs done, e.g. the persecution of the church (v 6), and so on, whose memory could paralyze one with guilt and despair. Forget, too, those attainments so far achieved as a Christian, the recollection of which might cause one to put life into neutral and to say, I have arrived.' Forget in such a way that the past, good or bad, will have no negative bearing on one's present spiritual growth or conduct."¹³⁰

3:14 Paul's goal (Gr. skopos, lit. goal marker, the post at the end of the course on which the runner fixes his gaze) was complete knowledge of Christ. He would receive a prize when he reached that goal. He would only reach that goal when he entered the Lord's presence and saw Him face to face (1 John 3:2-3). Nevertheless he pursued the goal while living on the earth because he wanted to get to know the Lord as well as possible before dying.

The prize would come at the end of the race, when he had attained the goal, but not before then. Therefore "the prize of the upward call" probably does not refer to the Rapture. There is another reason this is not a proper identification. The Rapture is not a reward. God will catch up (rapture) into heaven every living Christian regardless of how he or she has run the race (1 Cor. 15:51-52; 1 Thess. 4:15-17). The prize probably refers to the reward faithful believers will receive at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10). God has called every believer to salvation so we may obtain that prize. However only those who run the race as Paul did, namely to gain an ever increasing experiential knowledge of Christ, will obtain it (1 Cor. 9:24).

"Each believer is on the track; each has a special lane in which to run; and each has a goal to achieve. If we reach the goal the way God has planned, then we receive a reward. If we fail, we lose the reward, but we do not lose our citizenship."¹³¹

"In keeping with the vivid imagery drawn from the Greek games that pervades this section there is still another explanation of the upward call' that seems the most reasonable explanation of all. It sees in the expression tes ano kleseos ["the upward call"] an allusion to the fact that the Olympian games, which included foot-races, where organized and presided over by agonothetes, highly respected officers called Hellenodikai. After each event they had a herald announce the name of the victor, his father's name and his country, and the athlete or charioteer would come and receive a palm branch at their hands' (G. Glotz, Hellenodikai,' in C. Daremberg and E. Saglio [eds.], Dictionnaire des antiqus grecques et romaines [Paris: Hachette, 1900-1963] 3,1, 60-64). This is the call to which Paul is now alluding (Collange)."¹³²

College: Phi 3:1-21

PHILIPPIANS 3

V. WARNING AGAINST "EVIL WORKERS" (3:1-3)

¹ Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. ² Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. ³ For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh -

The letter now makes an abrupt and rather surprising turn. Matters are introduced of which there has been little, if any, forewarning. Not only does the content of the letter change, but the section we are now approaching offers certain stylistic peculiarities. "Finally" (v. 1) is understood by some as preparing for the conclusion of the letter (but see the notes on v. 1). If the reader skips from 3:1 to 4:4 the transition is a smooth one and there is no sense of loss of the intervening material. For this reason some have concluded 3:2-4:3 are an interpolated section - another writing of Paul inserted here.

There are other explanations of this phenomenon, however. Readers of Paul know that he can make abrupt shifts, sometimes even in midsentence (cf. Eph 3:1ff), though none are as extensive as this. Further, a personal letter does not flow like the development of a logical treatise. Changes of subject can be dramatic in such documents. There are also connections between 3:1-21 and 1:27-30, and the present text offers possible comment on the destruction and salvation statement of 1:28. If this section is a simple addition to the letter, why insert it here rather than near the end? And if the passage, though an interpolation, was meant to be understood as part of the original text, why wasn't it incorporated more smoothly into the text? Thus, the same argument that is used to favor an insertion can also argue against it.

As for the "finally" in verse 1, O'Brien argues a better sense is to understand it to mean "and so," as in 1 Thessalonians 4:1. Thus it affords a transition, rather than introducing a conclusion. In 1 Thessalonians the word stands one third of the way from the end of the epistle.

3:1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord!

Once again the call to joy is sounded (see the discussion at 1:4) but here for the first time "in the Lord" is added. Martin suggests this longer expression could be considered the equivalent of "hallelujah." The last word (2:18) before the personal section in 2:19-30 was a like summons. Some, on the basis of the interpolation theory discussed above, wish to give "rejoice" the sense of "farewell." But the word does not appear in that sense elsewhere in the New Testament.

Here was joy despite potential problems. In fact the contexts in which joy is mentioned in Philippians always mention some difficulty.

It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.

Paul knew the value of reminder and that a danger to faith could be simple forgetfulness, due to a lack of continual spiritual reflection and nourishment. The meaning of "write the same things" is problematic. Was a previous letter implied? Perhaps. Or was this the first time to write what had been previously delivered in some other form? What were the "same things?" Paul considered them a safeguard, so we think it may be both the multifaceted call to unity in the previous parts of the letter and the warnings which follow these words. They could even include the exhortation in 4:4-9. Note in 3:17f the references to "example," "pattern," and to what was "often told . . . before."

3:2 Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil,

Even the casual reader is struck by Paul's abrupt change of tone here. Various theories have been offered to explain it (an interruption; a problem surfacing during the period the letter was being dictated; stimulus from a coworker, perhaps Epaphroditus). This is a new problem, quite different from the previous text of the letter. To this point Paul had dealt primarily with problems within the church. Here he seems to focus on one from without. The description clearly indicates a threat from a Jewish source. The attempt was to compel Christians to observance of the law. The virulence of Paul's language has led most writers to conclude these were evangelistic Jews (not Christian) trying either to win back Jewish Christian converts or to convert Gentile Christians. We should note, though, that Paul could also use harsh language of Christian brothers whom he opposed (cf. Gal 1:8f).

"Watch out" (blevpete , blepete ) is repeated three times in the Greek, giving a force the English lacks. The Greek also has three words beginning with "k." They are the words translated "dogs" (kuvna" , kynas ), "evil workers" (kakouΙ" ejrgavta" , kakous ergatas ), and "mutilation" (katatomhvn , katatomçn ). This enhances the stylistic impact of the verse.

It seems better for us to consider Paul's words as a warning of a possible danger than as a description of a problem within the congregation. If the latter we would expect a more explicit indication of it.

"Dogs" get negative press throughout Scripture. Jews referred to Gentiles with this term, so Paul was apparently doing a turn on that derogatory epithet in so referring to the Jews. The strength of this "insult" is one reason for presuming Paul did not speak of Judaizing Christians. "Those who do" translates a term used of Epaphroditus in 2:25 (in a compound form - "fellow worker") and elsewhere of Christians. Other translations render the term "workers." If Jews thought keeping the law made them good workers, Paul has done a turn on that as well. It was not that Paul saw law keeping as evil, but the intents of these people would deny salvation through Christ.

those mutilators of the flesh.

"Mutilators" seems an apparent play on circumcision. The word here is katatomhv (katatomç ) and the word for circumcision is peritomhv (peritomç ). The obvious Jewish coloring of this term is a reason for interpreting "dogs" and "men who do evil" in the Jewish sense. Paul had no argument against circumcision; indeed he had circumcised Timothy (Acts 16:3). It was the intent, not the act, that he opposed. Still, "mutilators" was a very strong term, and vividly conveyed Paul's distress (cf. Gal 5:12), no doubt caused by insistence this act was essential for salvation. It was not! It did not make one part of the new Israel. It was surgery, no more.

3:3 For it is we who are the circumcision,

Now Paul speaks of the true circumcision. It is described in three ways, as were those of whom Paul has just warned his readers. In other contexts Paul might simply have denied any need for circumcision as essential to salvation. But given this context it was an appropriate way to speak of God's true community. In a sense he said circumcision still marked the covenant people, if the term were properly understood.

we who worship by the Spirit of God,

The first mark of God's people was "worship by the Spirit of God." Some see the next two terms as modifiers of this; i.e., such worship "glories in Christ" and "puts no confidence in the flesh." This does have the advantage of clarifying Paul's point. Otherwise it is hard to know just what point of difference from Jewish worship he had in mind. Was he implying a contrast between ritual and a more spiritual worship (cf. John 2:24)?

Most commentators prefer to see these three terms as parallel. Then this would be worship by those indwelt by the Spirit and empowered by it in their lives of praise. The term latreuvw (latreuô ) translated "worship" is the Old Testament term for Israel's worship of God, used now by Paul of the new people of God.

who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh -

"Glory" and "confidence" present two places the human heart can look for meaning and security. This is a theme Paul develops from his own experience in the next few verses. It is implied that Israel did not "glory in Christ Jesus" (obviously) and did put "confidence in the flesh." The verb translated "glory" (kaucavomai , kauchaomai ) is used by Paul thirty times in the New Testament, and only two times by other writers. We learn the meaning of "confidence in the flesh" from the following verses. To "glory in Christ Jesus" meant an abdication of pride in self and one's accomplishments. It admits the human need which, though real, is often ignored or disguised. The verb translated "put confidence" is found elsewhere in Philippians 1:6,14,25; and 2:25.

"Flesh" (savrx , sarx ) is understood two ways in the commentaries. One position sees it as all in which humans trust; and the other as Jewish righteousness, with its lawkeeping, ritual, etc. Paul focuses on the second in the succeeding verses, but his case may have been a specific demonstration of a broader truth, i.e., the first meaning.

VI. PAUL'S CHANGED LIFE (3:4-11)

A. PAUL'S FORMER CONFIDENCE (3:4-6)

⁴ though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.

Paul turns again to personal reference to enforce his point. He is arguing to support the true "circumcision" set forth in verse 3. In verses 4-6 he recounts his past, which would eminently qualify him for divine approval in the eyes of those against whom he inveighed in verse 2. His own situation made his point more telling than if he simply made impersonal arguments.

3:4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence.

Key words of this and the previous verse are "confidence" and "flesh." "Flesh" here was Paul's Jewishness, both by his birth status and by his personal accomplishments. But placing "confidence in the flesh" would be to lack ultimate confidence. Aside from the power of the argument in context , we are given marvelous insight into Paul's spiritual commitment (cf. also 2 Cor 11:16-12:11; Gal 1:13-24).

If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:

This testimony would demonstrate to the reader that Paul knew whereof he spoke. He had once been on the other side of the fence, and knew the futility of that position. The wording of verse 2 showed how strongly he felt this. It is even possible that Paul may have presented his preeminence in Judaism as a way of saying "if I changed, so should others." Whoever would argue Paul changed because he was not a loyal and zealous Israelite would be refuted here.

3:5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel,

This verse and the next list seven qualities. The first four were a result of birth and circumstance. The fifth, being "a Pharisee," may have been a matter of heritage (cf. the son of a Pharisee in Acts 23:6) or of choice.

Several of these characteristics appear more significant if we assume that Paul was contrasting himself with Jewish proselytes. He was circumcised on the eighth day, in contrast to proselytes who would be circumcised later in life. "People" is from a word indicating racial descent, again in possible contrast to proselytes. Nor could a proselyte claim membership in a particular tribe, as Paul could (in Benjamin). And "Hebrew of Hebrews" may mean he spoke Hebrew and Aramaic, in distinction from Greek-speaking proselytes. It could also indicate his refusal to compromise with Greek culture (though compare his attitude in 1 Cor 9:19-23). But even if Paul was not making an implicit contrast here, his statements still supported his argument about the true source of righteousness. However, there was not any particular virtue in these first four items since they were Paul's "birthright," beyond his control.

of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews;

Why the reference to Benjamin? Did this bear special significance in Judaism? Benjamin was the only son born in the promised land. Jerusalem was located in its tribal territory. The first king of Israel, Saul, was from Benjamin, and our Saul/Paul may have been named after him. Paul also noted that he was from Benjamin in Romans 11:1. Thus membership in this tribe seemed of special significance, though at this distance we may not know why.

in regard to the law, a Pharisee;

Besides this verse Pharisees are mentioned in the New Testament only in the Gospels and Acts. Their zeal for pure lives and rigid adherence to law and tradition is well known, as is the fact some of them carried it to excess (cf. the woes in Matt 23; Luke 11). They were admired by the people and many of them were admirable and energetic in their religious zeal (besides Paul, note Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus).

3:6 as for zeal, persecuting the church;

Though zeal in normal Jewish thought might be understood as zeal for the law, Paul offers a surprising alternative. His former role as a persecutor was a lifelong haunting and, because of divine mercy, a source of joy (1 Cor 15:9; Gal 1:13, etc.). If he was convinced the church was so wrong, why did he change? This would seem to be an appeal to outsiders, not to Judaisers in the church. This could support the argument that Paul was opposing evangelistic non-Christian Jews.

as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.

"Legalistic" translates words which are literally "in law" (ejn novmw/ , en nomô ), and the exact meaning of the term is debated. The most logical sense would be that they referred to one who achieved righteousness by law keeping. Is "legalistic" the best translation here? Does a modern negative attitude to the term unduly prejudice Paul's thought?

Paul was "faultless" (the Greek word, a[mempto" [ amemptos ], is translated "blameless" in 2:15) in his law keeping. We believe one could observe the law's demands punctiliously and still come to have doubts, as Paul might have done even before the Damascus Road experience (cf. Acts 26:14). Some have felt a difficulty in reconciling "faultless" here with Paul's statements of failure in Romans 7:14-25 (assuming Romans describes his pre-Christian experience). It could well be, however, that Romans describes his inner perceptions, while the present text speaks of outward observance.

Bruce has well caught the thought of this and the next section when he observes that Paul "made the grade" only to find it inadequate!

B. FROM LOSS TO GAIN (3:7-11)

⁷ But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

3:7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss

Now Paul offers a striking personal contrast in validation of the situation described in verse 3. He employs bookkeeping language. "Profit" (kevrdo" , kerdos ) and "gain" (kerdaivnw , kerdainô , v. 8) describe the one side of the ledger, and "loss" (zhmiva [zçmia ], here and twice in v. 8) the other. The life transition was dramatic. "Profit" is a plural term, as if Paul had counted his past benefits one by one (like a miser, it has been suggested). But his mind changed ("consider") due to the powerful motivations which he relates in the following verses. "Loss" is singular, indicating all Paul once had was lumped together and put aside. The one who had measured his treasures individually now discards the whole stack of them as one.

for the sake of Christ.

Paul did not consider his background valueless per se . But in comparison to his new state, and as preferable to knowing Christ, it was "loss." Use of the term "rubbish" in verse 8 should be seen the same way - compared to Christ, and not as an absolute judgment. Upon analysis Paul counted as loss the saving value of correct ritual observance (circumcision), birth status (Israel, Benjamin, Hebrew of Hebrews) and personal accomplishments (Pharisees, zeal, law keeping).

3:8 What is more, I consider everything a loss

Paul now begins to amplify the statement of verse 7. In the Greek verses 8-11 are a single sentence. He first develops the idea of loss, then goes on to speak of the profit, expanding the concept by speaking of what it means to "know" Christ. There is a powerful statement of divine grace in these verses. What Paul was and did was nothing. What Christ had done was everything. Nor was it just the Jewish background he counted loss. Paul gave his statement universal validity with the word "everything." Absolutely nothing could transcend for him the value of knowing Christ.

compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.

"Surpassing greatness" and "knowing" are in apposition - two ways of describing the same reality. The content of this experience is given in verses 9-11. "Knowing" here, therefore, included personal involvement - love, obedience and blessing. It was not just a detached intellectual awareness. Paul never knew Jesus in the flesh, though he did see him on the Damascus Road. But he knew him.

I consider them rubbish,

"Rubbish" (skuvbala , skybala ) is a strong term, found only here in the New Testament. It has been called a vulgar word, and is the more forceful for that. A survey of the translations shows the variety of possibilities. They seem to fall into two categories. The word either refers to human waste or to unwanted food (garbage). Which of these two is meant here remains an object of discussion. With either option the point is unforgettable. Could Paul have put it any more strongly?

that I may gain Christ

"Gain" picks up the idea of "profit" from verse 7. The term indicates the "gain" experienced through life in relationship with Christ (cf. the idea of growth in Christ at 1:6; 2:13 and 16) as well as the ultimate gain at the last day. It goes from the Damascus Road to the final glory. The idea of growth will be further developed in verses 12ff.

3:9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

Advancing on the idea of "surpassing greatness/knowing" the apostle now develops the idea of gaining Christ. It would involve righteousness (v. 9), power, sharing (v. 10), and the hope of resurrection from the dead (v. 11).

Some believe being found in Christ referred to the experiences of this life. Others see it as a hope for death. We believe it had a comprehensive meaning. The righteousness is God's gift in this life, but will assure acceptance by God at death.

There are two kinds of righteousness described here. The first, Paul says, is "of my own" and "comes from law." It represents human achievement, and writings like Galatians and Romans show how this righteousness cannot save. The second righteousness is "through faith in Christ," "comes from God," and is "by faith." It is quite possible that "faith in Christ" could mean the faithfulness of Christ. Christ's fidelity to God's purposes (cf. 2:5-11) achieved man's salvation. Then "by faith" in the last of the verse would refer to the human trust that must accept what God had done. This verse contrasts faith in Christ and human merit. If one attempts to receive righteousness by the latter means, then it cannot be gained by the former, which means, in Christian terms, it cannot be gained at all. Paul does not develop the reasons why righteousness that comes from the law is unavailing. Elsewhere he argued that law keeping imposed an impossible task (Gal 3:10ff).

3:10 I want to know Christ

The "knowing" of verse 8 is here elaborated as "power" (duvnami" , dunamis ) and "fellowship" (koinwniva , koinônia ) (the two expressions are preceded by a single article in Greek, unlike the English). Thus the knowledge was clearly experiential, depicting a lifestyle. Paul's expressed goal indicated his desire for continual progress, and is elaborated in verses 12-14.

and the power of his resurrection

"Power of his resurrection" probably did not mean Paul's resurrection, of which he speaks in the next verse. Rather the stress was on "power" - "power" so mighty that by it Jesus was victor over death. That power both energizes the life and sets its hope. In this context the special significance may be to the ability to endure suffering.

and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

"Sharing in his sufferings" does not imply that Paul sought martyrdom. "Sharing" (koinônia ) is the key word. To what does he refer by this and by the following reference to "death?" Some see these as referring to dying and rising in baptism. It seems preferable to consider the reference as the total experience of dying with Christ through life and accepting any consequences of that. To share with Christ is high joy and privilege to those with the assurance death cannot conquer them (cf. 1:29). The unbelievers would find Paul's words about suffering and death being gain highly puzzling. One only comes to glow with holy joy in the experience of faith.

3:11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

The reference to resurrection here is clearly the final resurrection. The Greek expression, found only here, means something like "out of the death of the dead." "Attain" is a subjunctive, indicating something yet to be attained. Again the themes of the Christ hymn are seen as central to the letter, with these words echoing those of 2:8.

VII. PRESSING ON TO THE GOAL (3:12-16)

A. "ONE THING I DO" (3:12-14)

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Pulsing through these verses are the ideas of growth and progress in Christ, as well as the idea of spending maximum energy in the cause of Christ. The theme of growth permeates the letter (1:6,9-11, 2:1-4,12f, etc.) The idea of energy demonstrates that though righteousness comes by faith and is God's work, it does not imply a lax and indolent "let God do it" attitude (cf. 2:12f). The course to be run and the goal to be achieved are exciting and challenging, so that one who loves Christ because Christ loved him must run it.

But why are these words included here? Certainly Paul was using his own outlook as a way to encourage the readers to press on. Was there more? Parts of the text would make sense if we assume Paul was refuting those who claimed to have reached perfection (perhaps by lawkeeping, as v. 2 might imply). But if so, there are no other references to such persons in the book, and we might think Paul would be more explicit if he were debating them.

If it appeared from Paul's statements about "profit" and "loss" and "confidence in the flesh" that he seemed to deny the importance of human effort, his own testimony now refutes that.

3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect,

Commentators have puzzled over what Paul had not "already attained." He had just spoken of knowledge of Christ, righteousness by faith, resurrection power, sharing in Christ's suffering and death, and future resurrection. He had already been accounted righteous, so that was probably not his meaning. Nor would it be the resurrection from the dead since he was discussing attainments in this life. Resurrection power and sharing with Christ could both be subsumed under "knowing Christ." Thus we suppose Paul spoke of further growth in Christ. He denies complacency and affirms yet unreached possibilities. Indeed, one of the joys of being in Christ is this process of open-ended growth. As one writer has observed, the more one knows of Christ the more one wishes to know. The opportunity opens before one like a race course. "Perfect" (from teleiovw , teleiôo ) is in parallel to "all this" and if Paul gave the term a different shade of meaning it is not clear from the text. Certainly these words would include an ethical dimension.

Those who think Paul was arguing against persons claiming to have reached perfection cite this passage (see the remarks above). "Perfect" implies the idea of completion or maturity, and need not be understood as complete sinlessness. The same term is rendered "mature" in verse 15.

but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Added to the power of the "loss" and "rubbish" images of verse 8 is the picture of a runner devoting maximum effort to finish the race. A runner would ignore all else in pursuit of "one thing" (v. 13). Christ took hold of Paul, which was grace, and Paul therefore pressed on, which was work responding to grace. God's deed was the motive. God allowed Paul to enter the race, but Paul had to run it.

3:13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.

The point must have been an important one, for Paul here affirmed his incompleteness a third time. Paul was doing more than giving a personal devotional statement. He was expressing what should be true for all Christians. Note that when he spoke of his Jewish background the idea was that he had "arrived." In Christ, however, he is "straining" forward. Yet the former gave no assurance, and the latter does.

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,

Though a runner may occasionally steal a glance at competitors this dare not detract from the one goal of completing the race. Thus Paul forgot what was behind. This could include his achievements in Judaism as well as Christian accomplishments. Could it also include wrongs done, such as the persecution of the church? He was aware of these things but they did not weigh on him or deter his dedication. His forward progress was intense, as indicated by the strong "straining" (from ejpekteivnw , epekteinô ). Cf. race imagery also in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.

3:14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

This is a race in which all finishers are winners. Yet this does not diminish the effort of the runner, for the course (like a marathon) is such that even to finish is an achievement. The Greek term translated "goal" (skopov" , skopos , literally "goal marker") is found only here in the New Testament. The prize is not defined, but would include all that is involved in complete fellowship with God beyond the restrictions encountered in this life. "Heavenward" (a[nw , anô ) does not translate the usual word for heaven, but is a term meaning "above" or "upwards." Some see the prize as identical to the call, and others as the reward. This kind of nuanced interpretation may oversophisticate a basic point which all Christians would understand quite well.

Hawthorne suggests an interesting interpretation, citing the custom of the herald announcing the name of the victor after the race (remember that in this race all finishers were winners). Thus the image would be God calling the spiritual athlete and giving him the prize (in Christ) as his name was announced. This interpretation is colorful, though we cannot know if it was in Paul's mind or not.

B. THE MATURE VIEWPOINT (3:15-16)

¹⁵ All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. ¹⁶ Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

3:15 All of us who are mature

Paul now leaves his personal narrative to call readers to share the dedication he has expressed. If he was controverting those who claimed perfection (see discussion at v. 12), this could be his exhortation to them. They would be dealt with by God. But it has been argued that the gentleness of Paul's words here implies they were addressed to friends, not to opponents.

Not all would be "mature," so Paul was inviting those who lacked maturity to achieve it. It involved knowing the need to forget the past and press on. "Mature" is from the Greek word tevleio" ( teleios ) rendered "perfect" in verse 12. How are we to explain Paul's denial of the quality in verse 12 and his affirmation of it here? He may have been using the word in two senses, a not uncommon practice. In verse 12 it was the full knowledge of Christ, and here it was the recognition of one's incompleteness. Or Paul's use may have been ironical: i.e., the way to be perfect (mature) in Christ is to realize one is imperfect. "Grow up and recognize you aren't grown all the way yet." However Paul was using the terms, the ultimate call of the verse is clear.

should take such a view of things.

"Take . . . a view," as well as "think" both translate fronevw (phroneô ), a term often employed by Paul in this letter. See the discussion at 1:7. The term indicates the values of a lifestyle, not just intellectual concepts.

And if on some point you think differently,

The last sentence of this verse offers a major interpretive problem. What is involved in "think differently"? The word for "think" (phroneô ) would indicate it was not simply a matter of doctrine. Rather it would be belief which determined how one lived. Some think Paul now turns from major to minor issues, leaving it to God to convict those of whom he spoke. Others think he refers to the bad attitudes causing disunity in the church. In this case Paul felt that if he could not correct the division then he would let it be left to God. However, since disunity has always plagued the church, one would have to assume such correction would come at the last day. This implied threat of judgment does not seem to fit the tenor of Paul's argument here.

We prefer to think these were the immature who were not prepared to accept and practice the single-minded devotion to Christ which characterized Paul. Since ultimately it is God's active grace that leads to such commitment, Paul hoped that God would reveal the truth to them in ways that Paul's example could not. The apostle recognized that Christians are at different stages so he lovingly indicates how God leads each person to greater levels of Christian service and life. Paul himself knew he had growing to do, and thus did not grow impatient with others in the same condition. This was no bossy, "holier than thou" attitude.

that too God will make clear to you.

"Make clear" translates the verb (ajpokaluvptw , apokalyptô ) from which "apocalyptic" and the Greek title for the book of Revelation come. The mode by which God would give revelation is not stated. Given the general use of the term in the New Testament, it is logical to hold that the revelation would come through the growing process of being Christian (as in fact it does for all Christians).

3:16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

This exhortation is corporate ("let us"). The mature and those who think differently should still follow Christ in unity, as would Paul himself. Differences in spiritual levels ought not deter Christians from being consistent with whatever level each had reached. Minor differences in spiritual development have often divided the church, and Paul would not have that happen in Philippi. "Already attained" would be the righteousness that comes by faith and whatever of the blessings listed in verses 9-11 each had appropriated, though these things may not have exhausted Paul's intentions (cf. 1 Cor 4:17, and note "pattern" and "example" in the next verse). The apostle was apparently asking them to augment the growth process by building on what they had. Paul's words may indicate he feared apostasy or divisiveness by some.

VIII. TRUE AND FALSE MODELS (3:17-21)

¹⁷ Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. ¹⁸ For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. ²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

In this paragraph verse 17 gives a positive exhortation. Verses 18 and 19 describe a group negative to Christianity, and verses 20 and 21 the blessings of those committed to Christ.

3:17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.

"Example" and "pattern" are two ways of expressing the same thing. Paul taught the faith ("pattern") and also lived it. In a day when no written New Testaments were available, it is possible the "incarnated" message was more influential than today (though not without influence in any age). It was important to follow Paul, however, only as he lived the pattern. Thus the deeper reality was to follow Christ. Throughout Philippians Paul has offered exhortation through example, with the Christ hymn (2:5-11) being the centerpiece. But Timothy and Epaphroditus were also commended for their examples.

Paul was no egotist here. He had expressed his renunciation of everything for Christ's sake in verses 7-11, and acknowledged his imperfection in verses 12-14. Indeed, these attitudes are basic to any who would follow Jesus. "Following" would be recognized by readers, however, as containing all those aspects of Paul's life and teaching which showed forth Christ.

"Join with others in following . . . example" (summimhthv" , symmimçtçs ) translates an expression found only here in all Greek literature. The basic root, which means "mimic," is prefixed by "with." Quite possibly the prefix indicated that the "following" should be done together with one another - another stress on the importance of unity within the church.

"Pattern" (tuvpo" , typos ) is singular, while "we" is obviously plural. Though some see a problem, we hold that the one pattern of Christian life was demonstrated by Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus, as they "mimicked" Christ. Some would change "we" to the singular, and argue that Paul was asserting apostolic authority. But this lacks textual support, and Paul was not concerned in this letter to affirm and defend his apostolicity (cf. absence of "apostle" in 1:1).

3:18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears,

Paul speaks of another facet of his past instruction - regarding the lamented enemies of the cross. "Often" indicates an intense and ongoing concern and probably a pervasive problem as well. There is no proof these people had reached Philippi. If they had not, they were yet perceived as a very real threat. Or previous warnings may not have been totally effective so that now they had infiltrated the church. We cannot know for sure. Paul's "tears" (cf. Acts 20:31; Rom 9:2f; 10:1; 2 Cor 2:4) indicate both his passionate personal concern and the seriousness of the situation. Imitation of Christ, then (v. 17), was a powerful antidote. Here and in verse 17 Paul has presented two ways to pursue, stressed by the repetition of "live."

many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

Who were these people? Was their failing doctrinal or behavioral? Were they Christians or outsiders? A wide range of speculations has failed to resolve the question. If Christians, it has been suggested they may have been Judaizers; or perhaps quasi-Gnostics; or those who considered themselves outside any law; or those whose commitment was nominal; or those who denied Christ under persecution. If non-Christians, suppositions suggest heathens who opposed Christian ethical standards; or evangelistic Jews. Though the issue is very difficult, we think Paul's tears and the use of the word "enemies" (most significant if they might have been assumed to be friends) of the cross indicate Christians. Beyond this it is difficult to conjecture, but if a guess be hazarded, we would opt for Christians still snared in the ways of the world whose lifestyles evinced no true reform and who thus denied the efficacy of the cross for their lives. Whatever their reason for being in the church, it had little to do with God's intent in crucifixion. If this view be correct, we are not dealing with an organized party or position in the church but with moral failure. It may or may not have infected the Philippian church. A survey of the Pauline letters (and others in the New Testament) shows how pervasive was the problem of worldliness in the early church.

Another perspective on these people considers their relation to the "dogs," "evil men," and mutilators of verse two. If they were the same and those in verse 2 were Judaizers, then so were these. Though we have accepted an alternate view, we will show how this position leads us to understand the next verse.

3:19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.

Those considering these as Judaizers interpret "stomach" as indicating the scrupulous practice of the food laws; in Paul's view virtually deifying them. "Shame," which is a term for the private organs, is interpreted as circumcision, with the sense that they boasted because of their circumcision. Though Paul says nothing against circumcision per se (see the notes on 3:3) in this context it was shameful to him because they gloried in it.

If these were worldly Christians then the "stomach" could refer to gluttony in the specific sense, or to unlicensed sensuality in the more general sense. Thus "stomach" would stand for all uncontrolled appetites. And "shame" would refer to excesses as well, especially of a sexual nature.

Where did this course lead? Inevitably to destruction and thus to the opposite destiny from that which God intended for humans. Some suggest "destruction," "stomach," and "shame" all implied the perishability of man. Thus these people had given the highest value to that which must pass away. This was a sad situation indeed. No wonder Paul wept.

Their mind is on earthly things.

"Mind" is from another form of phroneô (see the notes at 1:7). This was their life intent and direction. "Earthly things" (ejpijgeia , epigeia ) forms a sad counterpoint to "heaven" in the next verse.

3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven.

As Paul contrasted his past (and Jewish achievements) with his present in verses 4-11, so here he completes another contrast of lifestyles. A link is formed to verses 20 and 21 by verse 11. The resurrection noted there receives fuller elaboration here.

Verses 20 and 21 form a contrast to verses 18 and 19 in several ways. The "mind on earthly things" contrasts with "heavenly citizenship." The "stomach as god" contrasts with the transformation of the body to be like Christ's. And "glory in shame" contrasts with likeness to Christ's glorious body.

Because of the language, form, and theology of this section some have conjectured it was also a Christian hymn, as was 2:5-11. Others disagree, but grant that the verses may contain hymnic fragments. Still others think the un-Pauline expressions may be because the apostle reflected earlier Christian traditional usage.

Morna Hooker has observed an interesting relation of these verses to 2:5-11. Verses 5-8 of chapter 2 speak of Christ becoming like man; verses 9-11 speak of him as he now is; and the present text speaks of men as they will be when transformed into his likeness.

"Citizenship" (polivteuma , politeuma ) translates a word found nowhere else in the New Testament. The parallel is probably to the right of Roman citizenship possessed by the citizens of Philippi. Wherever a Philippian went, he enjoyed the "rights and privileges" of his Roman citizenship, and he would spread Roman culture as well. So those in Christ, wherever they were, and whatever their circumstances, were heavenly citizens. Included in that position was the assurance of a wonderful transformation. What a powerfully sustaining thought! The Christian thus possessed both present and future blessing. See Hebrews 11:13,16; and 1 Peter 1:4f.

And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,

"Enemies of the cross" denied the saving efficacy of the crucifixion. By contrast his followers acknowledge Christ as Savior (the first time Paul adds the term to Jesus' name in Philippians). Because Jesus had saved and would save their lives, they knew the excited anticipation of "eagerly" awaiting.

3:21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control,

The certainty of that which Paul anticipated is underscored by the reference to power. Though "power" (ejnevrgeia , energeia ) could be described with several illustrations, this is the ultimate one, comprehending all others. The word "power" comes from a Greek root which stands behind the English "energy."

will transform our lowly bodies

"Lowly" (tapeinwvsi" [tapeinôsis ]; some translations have "vile") was not meant to derogate the body, but to indicate its weakness or frailty. But God who raises the dead brings strength out of weakness. The Christian doctrine is the resurrection and transformation of the body. It will be changed, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:44, to a spiritual body (see 1 Corinthians 15:42ff for the fullest description of the phenomenon in the New Testament). Similar ideas are found in 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:4 and 1 John 3:2. The enemies focused on the body only as it related to this life (v. 19). Christ called men to consider it as it related to the next. The Christian's destiny is not decay, but transformation.

so that they will be like his glorious body.

"Like his glorious body," though an expression incapable of exact definition, sets the mind stretching to exalted heights, and raises hope to the boiling point.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

Commentary -- Other

Evidence: Phi 3:12

" Man is never so tall as when he kneels before God—never so great as when he humbles himself before God. And the man who kneels to God can stand up to anything." Louis H. Evans

Introduction / Outline

Robertson: Philippians (Book Introduction)

The Epistle to the Philippians

From Rome About a.d. 61

By Way of Introduction

There is something to be said for the idea that Paul wrote the Epistle to the Philippians while a prisoner in Ephesus if he ever was a prisoner there. All that can be said for that view has been presented by Professor George S. Duncan in St. Paul’s Ephesian Ministry (1930). But, when all is considered carefully in the light of the facts in the Acts and the Epistles, the best that one can say is that a possible case is made out with many difficulties remaining unexplained. The argument is more ingenious than convincing. It is not possible here to review the arguments pro and con that convince me that Paul was in Rome when he wrote this letter to Philippi. It is not clear whether it was written before the three that went together (Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians) or afterwards. Probably there was no great difference in time, but there was time for Epaphroditus to come to Rome, to fall sick, for the news to reach Philippi and for Epaphroditus to hear of their concern about him. The church in Philippi was Paul’s joy and pride and they had helped him before as they did this time.

The Epistle is a beautiful expression of gratitude for the love and gifts of the Philippian saints. He is a prisoner of hope in Rome with possible death before him, but with the note of joy running through all that Paul says. He hopes to be set free and to see them again.

Meanwhile he tells the Philippians about the difficulties and triumphs in Rome. The Judaizers have followed Paul here and there is an echo in chapters Philippians 1; 3 of their opposition. But Paul rises to full stature in the great Christological passages in chapters Philippians 2; 3 which prepare the way for the controversy with the Gnostics over the Person of Christ in Colossians and Ephesians.

JFB: Philippians (Book Introduction)

The INTERNAL EVIDENCE for the authenticity of this Epistle is strong. The style, manner of thought, and doctrine, accord with Paul's. The incidental allusions also establish his authorship. PALEY [Horæ Paulinæ, ch. 7] instances the mention of the object of Epaphroditus' journey to Rome, the Philippian contribution to Paul's wants, Epaphroditus' sickness (Phi 1:7; Phi 2:25-30; Phi 4:10-18), the fact that Timothy had been long with Paul at Philippi (Phi 1:1; Phi 2:19), the reference to his being a prisoner at Rome now for a long time (Phi 1:12-14; Phi 2:17-28), his willingness to die (compare Phi 1:23, with 2Co 5:8), the reference to the Philippians having seen his maltreatment at Philippi (Phi 1:29-30; Phi 2:1-2).

The EXTERNAL EVIDENCE is equally decisive: POLYCARP [Epistle to the Philippians, 3; 11]; IRENÆUS [Against Heresies, 4.18.4]; CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA [The Instructor, 1.1, p. 107]; EUSEBIUS [The Epistle of the Churches of Lyons and Vienne, in Ecclesiastical History, 5. 2]; TERTULLIAN [On the Resurrection of the Flesh, 23]; ORIGEN [Against Celsus, 1.3, p. 122]; CYPRIAN [Testimonies against the Jews, 3.39].

Philippi was the first (that is, the farthest from Rome, and first which met Paul in entering Macedonia) Macedonian city of the district, called Macedonia Prima (so called as lying farthest eastward). The Greek (Act 16:12) should not be translated "the chief city," as English Version, but as above [ALFORD]. Not it, but Thessalonica, was the chief city of the province, and Amphipolis, of the district called Macedonia Prima. It was a Roman "colony" (Act 16:12), made so by Augustus, to commemorate his famous victory over Brutus and Cassius. A colony was in fact a portion of Rome itself transplanted to the provinces, an offshoot from Rome, and as it were a portrait of the mother city on a small scale [AULUS GELLIUS, Attic Nights, 16.13]. Its inhabitants were Roman citizens, having the right of voting in the Roman tribes, governed by their own senate and magistrates, and not by the governor of the province, with the Roman law and Latin language.

Paul, with Silas and Timothy, planted the Gospel there (Act 16:12, &c.), in his second missionary journey, A.D. 51. Doubtless he visited it again on his journey from Ephesus into Macedonia (Act 20:1); and Act 20:3, Act 20:6, expressly mentions his third visit on his return from Greece (Corinth) to Syria by way of Macedonia. His sufferings at Philippi (Act 16:19, &c.) strengthened the Christian bond of union between him and his Philippian converts, who also, like him, were exposed to trials for the Gospel's sake (1Th 2:2). They alone sent supplies for his temporal wants, twice shortly after he had left them (Phi 4:15-16), and again a third time shortly before writing this Epistle (Phi 4:10, Phi 4:18; 2Co 11:9). This fervent attachment on their part was, perhaps, also in part due to the fact that few Jews were in Philippi, as in other scenes of his labors, to sow the seeds of distrust and suspicion. There was no synagogue, but merely a Jewish Proseucha, or oratory, by the riverside. So that there only do we read of his meeting no opposition from Jews, but only from the masters of the divining damsel, whose gains had been put an end to by her being dispossessed.

Though the Philippian Church was as yet free from Judaizing influence, yet it needed to be forewarned of that danger which might at any time assail it from without (Phi 3:2); even as such evil influences had crept into the Galatian churches. In Phi 4:2-3 we find a trace of the fact recorded in the history (Act 16:13-14), that female converts were among the first to receive the Gospel at Philippi.

As to the state of the Church, we gather from 2Co 8:1-2 that its members were poor, yet most liberal; and from Phi 1:28-30, that they were undergoing persecution. The only blemish referred to in their character was, on the part of some members, a tendency to dissension. Hence arise his admonitions against disputings (Phi 1:27; Phi 2:1-4, Phi 2:12, Phi 2:14; Phi 4:2).

The OBJECT of the Epistle is general: not only to thank the Philippians for their contribution sent by Epaphroditus, who was now in returning to take back the apostle's letter, but to express his Christian love and sympathy, and to exhort them to a life consonant with that of Christ, and to warn them against existing dissensions and future possible assaults of Judaizers from without. It is remarkable in this Epistle alone, as compared with the others, that, amidst many commendations, there are no express censures of those to whom it is addressed. No doctrinal error, or schism, has as yet sprung up; the only blemish hinted at is, that some of the Philippian Church were somewhat wanting in lowliness of mind, the result of which want was disputation. Two women, Euodias and Syntyche, are mentioned as having erred in this respect (Phi 4:2-3). The Epistle may be divided into three parts: (1) Affectionate address to the Philippians; reference to his own state as a prisoner at Rome, and to theirs, and to his mission of Epaphroditus to them (the first and second chapters). Epaphroditus probably held a leading office in the Philippian Church, perhaps as a presbyter. After Tychicus and Onesimus had departed (A.D. 62), carrying the Epistles to the Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon, Paul was cheered in his imprisonment by the arrival of Epaphroditus with the Philippian contribution. That faithful "brother, companion in labor, and fellow soldier" (Phi 2:25), had brought on himself by the fatigues of the journey a dangerous sickness (Phi 2:26, Phi 2:30). But now that he was recovered, he "longed" (Phi 2:26) to return to his Philippian flock, and in person to relieve their anxiety on his behalf, in respect to his sickness; and the apostle gladly availed himself of the opportunity of writing to them a letter of grateful acknowledgments and Christian exhortations. (2) Caution against Judaizing teachers, supported by reference to his own former and present feeling towards Jewish legalism (Phi. 3:1-21). (3) Admonitions to individuals, and to the Church in general, thanks for their seasonable aid, and concluding benedictions and salutations (Phi. 4:1-23).

This Epistle was written from Rome during the imprisonment, the beginning of which is related in Act 28:16, Act 28:20, Act 28:30-31. The reference to "Cæsar's household" (Phi 4:22), and to the "palace" (Phi 1:13, Greek, "Prætorium," probably, the barrack of the Prætorian bodyguard, attached to the palace of Nero) confirms this. It must have been during his first imprisonment at Rome, for the mention of the Prætorium agrees with the fact that it was during his first imprisonment he was in the custody of the Prætorian Prefect, and his situation, described in Phi 1:12-14, agrees with his situation in the first two years of his imprisonment (Act 28:30-31). The following reasons show, moreover, that it was written towards the close of that imprisonment: (1) He, in it, expresses his expectation of the immediate decision of his cause (Phi 2:23). (2) Enough time had elapsed for the Philippians to hear of his imprisonment, to send Epaphroditus to him, to hear of Epaphroditus' arrival and sickness, and send back word to Rome of their distress (Phi 2:26). (3) It must have been written after the three other Epistles sent from Rome, namely, Colossians, Ephesians, and Philemon; for Luke is no longer with him (Phi 2:20); otherwise he would have been specified as saluting them, having formerly labored among them, whereas he is mentioned as with him, Col 4:14; Phm 1:24. Again, in Eph 6:19-20, his freedom to preach is implied: but in Phi 1:13-18, his bondage is dwelt on, and it is implied that, not himself, but others, preached, and made his imprisonment known. Again, in Phm 1:22, he confidently anticipates his release, which contrasts with the more depressed anticipations of this Epistle. (4) A considerable time had elapsed since the beginning of his imprisonment, for "his bonds" to have become so widely known, and to have produced such good effects for the Gospel (Phi 1:13). (5) There is evidently an increase in the rigor of his imprisonment implied now, as compared with the early stage of it, as described in Acts 28:1-31; compare Phi 1:29-30; Phi 2:27. History furnishes a probable clue to account for this increase of vigor. In the second year of Paul's imprisonment (A.D. 62), Burrus, the Prætorian Prefect, to whose custody he had been committed (Act 28:16, "the captain of the guard"), died; and Nero the emperor having divorced Octavia, and married Poppoea, a Jewish proselytess (who then caused her rival, Octavia, to be murdered, and gloated over the head of her victim), exalted Tigellinus, the chief promoter of the marriage, a monster of wickedness, to the Prætorian Prefecture. It was then he seems to have been removed from his own house into the Prætorium, or barrack of the Prætorian guards, attached to the palace, for stricter custody; and hence he writes with less hopeful anticipations as to the result of his trial (Phi 2:17; Phi 3:11). Some of the Prætorian guards who had the custody of him before, would then naturally make known his "bonds," in accordance with Phi 1:13; from the smaller Prætorian bodyguard at the palace the report would spread to the general permanent Prætorian camp, which Tiberius had established north of the city, outside of the walls. He had arrived in Rome, February, 61; the "two whole years (Act 20:30) in his own hired house" ended February, 63, so that the date of this Epistle, written shortly after, evidently while the danger was imminent, would be about spring or summer, 63. The providence of God averted the danger. He probably was thought beneath the notice of Tigellinus, who was more intent on court intrigues. The death of Nero's favorite, Pallas, the brother of Felix, this same year, also took out of the way another source of danger.

The STYLE is abrupt and discontinuous, his fervor of affection leading him to pass rapidly from one theme to another (Phi 2:18, Phi 2:19-24, Phi 2:25-30; Phi 3:1, Phi 3:2-3, Phi 3:4-14, Phi 3:15). In no Epistle does he use so warm expressions of love. In Phi 4:1 he seems at a loss for words sufficient to express all the extent and ardor of his affection for the Philippians: "My brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved." The mention of bishops and deacons in Phi 1:1 is due to the late date of the Epistle, at a time when the Church had begun to assume that order which is laid down in the Pastoral Epistles, and which continued the prevalent one in the first and purest age of the Church.

JFB: Philippians (Outline)

• INSCRIPTION. THANKSGIVING AND PRAYERS FOR THE FLOURISHING SPIRITUAL STATE OF THE PHILIPPIANS. HIS OWN STATE AT ROME, AND THE RESULT OF HIS IMPRISONMENT IN SPREADING THE GOSPEL. EXHORTATION TO CHRISTIAN CONSISTENCY. (Phi. 1:1-30)
• CONTINUED EXHORTATION: TO UNITY: TO HUMILITY AFTER CHRIST'S EXAMPLE, WHOSE GLORY FOLLOWED HIS HUMILIATION: TO EARNESTNESS IN SEEKING PERFECTION, THAT THEY MAY BE HIS JOY IN THE DAY OF CHRIST: HIS JOYFUL READINESS TO BE OFFERED NOW BY DEATH, SO AS TO PROMOTE THEIR FAITH. HIS INTENTION TO SEND TIMOTHY: HIS SENDING EPAPHRODITUS MEANTIME. (Phi. 2:1-30) The "therefore" implies that he is here expanding on the exhortation (Phi 1:27), "In one Spirit, with one mind (soul)." He urges four influencing motives in this verse, to inculcate the four Christian duties corresponding respectively to them (Phi 2:2). "That ye be like-minded, having the same love, of one accord, of one mind"; (1) "If there be (with you) any consolation in Christ," that is, any consolation of which Christ is the source, leading you to wish to console me in my afflictions borne for Christ's sake, ye owe it to me to grant my request "that ye be like-minded" [CHRYSOSTOM and ESTIUS]: (2) "If there be any comfort of (that is, flowing from) love," the adjunct of "consolation in Christ"; (3) "If any fellowship of (communion together as Christians, flowing from joint participation in) the Spirit" (2Co 13:14). As Pagans meant literally those who were of one village, and drank of one fountain, how much greater is the union which conjoins those who drink of the same Spirit! (1Co 12:4, 1Co 12:13) [GROTIUS]: (4) "If any bowels (tender emotions) and mercies (compassions)," the adjuncts of "fellowship of the Spirit." The opposites of the two pairs, into which the four fall, are reprobated, Phi 2:3-4.
• WARNING AGAINST JUDAIZERS: HE HAS GREATER CAUSE THAN THEY TO TRUST IN LEGAL RIGHTEOUSNESS, BUT RENOUNCED IT FOR CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS, IN WHICH HE PRESSES AFTER PERFECTION: WARNING AGAINST CARNAL PERSONS: CONTRAST OF THE BELIEVER'S LIFE AND HOPE. (Phi. 3:1-21)
• EXHORTATIONS: THANKS FOR THE SUPPLY FROM PHILIPPI: GREETING; AND CLOSING BENEDICTION. (Phi. 4:1-23) "Wherefore"; since we have such a glorious hope (Phi 3:20-21).

TSK: Philippians (Book Introduction)

The Church at Philippi in Macedonia was planted by the Apostle Paul about ad 53 (Acts 16:9-40); and it appears he visited them again, ad 60, though no particulars are recorded concerning that visit (Act 20:6). The Philippians were greatly attached to St. Paul, and testified their affection by sending him supplies, even when labouring for other churches (Phi 4:15, Phi 4:16; 2Co 11:9); and when they heard that he was under confinement at Rome, they sent Epaphroditus, one of their pastors, to him with a present, lest he should want necessaries during his imprisonment (Phi 2:25; Phi 4:10, Phi 4:14-18). The more immediate occasion of the Epistle was the return of Epaphroditus, by whom the apostle sent it as a grateful acknowledgment of their kindness; which occurred towards the close of his first imprisonment, about the end of ad 62, or the commencement of 63.

TSK: Philippians 3 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Phi 3:1, He warns them to beware of the false teachers of the circumcision; Phi 3:4, shewing that himself has greater cause than they to trust in the righteousness of the law; Phi 3:7, which notwithstanding he counts as dung and loss, to gain Christ and his righteousness; Phi 3:12, therein acknowledging his own imperfection; Phi 3:15, He exhorts them to be thus minded; Phi 3:17, and to imitate him, Phi 3:18. and to decline the ways of carnal Christians.

Poole: Philippians 3 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 3

MHCC: Philippians (Book Introduction)

The Philippians felt a very deep interest for the apostle. The scope of the epistle is to confirm them in the faith, to encourage them to walk as becomes the gospel of Christ, to caution them against judaizing teachers, and to express gratitude for their Christian bounty. This epistle is the only one, among those written by St. Paul, in which no censures are implied or expressed. Full commendation and confidence are in every part, and the Philippians are addressed with a peculiar affection, which every serious reader will perceive.

MHCC: Philippians 3 (Chapter Introduction)

(Phi 3:1-11) The apostle cautions the Philippians against judaizing false teachers, and renounces his own former privileges.

(Phi 3:12-21) Expresses earnest desire to be found in Christ; also his pressing on toward perfection; and recommends his own example to other believers.

Matthew Henry: Philippians (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians

Philippi was a chief city of the western part of Macedonia, prōtē tēs Makedonias polis , Act 16:12. It took its name from Philip, the famous king of Macedon, who repaired and beautified it, and it was afterwards made a Roman colony. Near this place were the Campi Philippici, remarkable for the famous battles between Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great, and that between Augustus and Antony on one side and Cassius and Brutus on the other. But it is most remarkable among Christians for this epistle, which was written when Paul was a prisoner at Rome, a.d. 62. Paul seems to have had a very particular kindness for the church at Philippi, which he himself had been instrumental in planting; and, though he had the care of all the churches, he had, upon that account, a particular fatherly tender care of this. To those to whom God has employed us to do any good we should look upon ourselves both as encouraged and engaged to study to do more good. He looked upon them as his children, and, having begotten them by the gospel, he was desirous by the same gospel to nourish and nurse them up. I. He was called in an extraordinary manner to preach the gospel at Philippi, Act 16:9. A vision appeared to Paul in the night: There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. He saw God going before him, and was encouraged to use all means for carrying on the good work which was begun among them, and building upon the foundation which was laid. II. At Philippi he suffered hard things; he was scourged, and put into the stocks (Act 16:23, Act 16:24); yet he had not the less kindness for the place for the hard usage he met with there. We must never love our friends the less for the ill treatment which our enemies give us. III. The beginnings of that church were very small; Lydia was converted there, and the jailer, and a few more: yet that did not discourage him. If good be not done at first, it may be done afterwards, and the last works may be more abundant. We must not be discouraged by small beginnings. IV. It seems, by many passages in this epistle, that this church at Philippi grew into a flourishing church, and particularly that the brethren were very kind to Paul. He had reaped of their temporal things, and he made a return in spiritual things. He acknowledges the receipt of a present they had sent him (Phi 4:18), and this when no other church communicated with him as concerning giving and receiving (Phi 4:15); and he gives them a prophet's, an apostle's reward, in this epistle, which is of more value than thousands of gold and silver.

Matthew Henry: Philippians 3 (Chapter Introduction)

He cautions them against judaizing seducers (Phi 3:1-3) and proposes his own example: and here he enumerates the privileges of his Jewish state which he rejected (Phi 3:4-8), describes the matter of his own choice (Phi 3:9-16), and closes with an exhortation to beware of wicked men, and to follow his example (Phi 3:17-21).

Barclay: Philippians (Book Introduction)

A GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS OF PAUL

The Letters Of Paul

There is no more interesting body of documents in the New Testament than the letters of Paul. That is because of all forms of literature a letter is most personal. Demetrius, one of the old Greek literary critics, once wrote, "Every one reveals his own soul in his letters. In every other form of composition it is possible to discern the writercharacter, but in none so clearly as the epistolary." (Demetrius, On Style, 227). It is just because he left us so many letters that we feel we know Paul so well. In them he opened his mind and heart to the folk he loved so much; and in them, to this day, we can see that great mind grappling with the problems of the early church, and feel that great heart throbbing with love for men, even when they were misguided and mistaken.

The Difficulty Of Letters

At the same time, there is often nothing so difficult to understand as a letter. Demetrius (On Style, 223) quotes a saying of Artemon, who edited the letters of Aristotle. Artemon said that a letter ought to be written in the same manner as a dialogue, because it was one of the two sides of a dialogue. In other words, to read a letter is like listening to one side of a telephone conversation. So when we read the letters of Paul we are often in a difficulty. We do not possess the letter which he was answering; we do not fully know the circumstances with which he was dealing; it is only from the letter itself that we can deduce the situation which prompted it. Before we can hope to understand fully any letter Paul wrote, we must try to reconstruct the situation which produced it.

The Ancient Letters

It is a great pity that Paulletters were ever called epistles. They are in the most literal sense letters. One of the great lights shed on the interpretation of the New Testament has been the discovery and the publication of the papyri. In the ancient world, papyrus was the substance on which most documents were written. It was composed of strips of the pith of a certain bulrush that grew on the banks of the Nile. These strips were laid one on top of the other to form a substance very like brown paper. The sands of the Egyptian desert were ideal for preservation, for papyrus, although very brittle, will last forever so long as moisture does not get at it. As a result, from the Egyptian rubbish heaps, archaeologists have rescued hundreds of documents, marriage contracts, legal agreements, government forms, and, most interesting of all, private letters. When we read these private letters we find that there was a pattern to which nearly all conformed; and we find that Paulletters reproduce exactly that pattern. Here is one of these ancient letters. It is from a soldier, called Apion, to his father Epimachus. He is writing from Misenum to tell his father that he has arrived safely after a stormy passage.

"Apion sends heartiest greetings to his father and lord Epimachus.

I pray above all that you are well and fit; and that things are

going well with you and my sister and her daughter and my brother.

I thank my Lord Serapis [his god] that he kept me safe when I was

in peril on the sea. As soon as I got to Misenum I got my journey

money from Caesar--three gold pieces. And things are going fine

with me. So I beg you, my dear father, send me a line, first to let

me know how you are, and then about my brothers, and thirdly, that

I may kiss your hand, because you brought me up well, and because

of that I hope, God willing, soon to be promoted. Give Capito my

heartiest greetings, and my brothers and Serenilla and my friends.

I sent you a little picture of myself painted by Euctemon. My

military name is Antonius Maximus. I pray for your good health.

Serenus sends good wishes, Agathos Daimonboy, and Turbo,

Galloniuson." (G. Milligan, Selections from the Greek Papyri,

36.)

Little did Apion think that we would be reading his letter to his father 1800 years after he had written it. It shows how little human nature changes. The lad is hoping for promotion quickly. Who would Serenilla be but the girl he left behind him? He sends the ancient equivalent of a photograph to the folk at home. Now that letter falls into certain sections. (i) There is a greeting. (ii) There is a prayer for the health of the recipients. (iii) There is a thanksgiving to the gods. (iv) There are the special contents. (v) Finally, there are the special salutations and the personal greetings. Practically every one of Paulletters shows exactly the same sections, as we now demonstrate.

(i) The Greeting: Rom_1:1 ; 1Co_1:1 ; 2Co_1:1 ; Gal_1:1 ; Eph_1:1 ; Phi_1:1 ; Col_1:1-2 ; 1Th_1:1 ; 2Th_1:1 .

(ii) The Prayer: in every case Paul prays for the grace of God on the people to whom he writes: Rom_1:7 ; 1Co_1:3 ; 2Co_1:2 ; Gal_1:3 ; Eph_1:2 ; Phi_1:3 ; Col_1:2 ; 1Th_1:1 ; 2Th_1:2 .

(iii) The Thanksgiving: Rom_1:8 ; 1Co_1:4 ; 2Co_1:3 ; Eph_1:3 ; Phi_1:3 ; 1Th_1:3 ; 2Th_1:3 .

(iv) The Special Contents: the main body of the letters.

(v) Special Salutations and Personal Greetings: Rom 16 ; 1Co_16:19 ; 2Co_13:13 ; Phi_4:21-22 ; Col_4:12-15 ; 1Th_5:26 .

When Paul wrote letters, he wrote them on the pattern which everyone used. Deissmann says of them, "They differ from the messages of the homely papyrus leaves of Egypt, not as letters but only as the letters of Paul." When we read Paulletters we are not reading things which were meant to be academic exercises and theological treatises, but human documents written by a friend to his friends.

The Immediate Situation

With a very few exceptions, all Paulletters were written to meet an immediate situation and not treatises which he sat down to write in the peace and silence of his study. There was some threatening situation in Corinth, or Galatia, or Philippi, or Thessalonica, and he wrote a letter to meet it. He was not in the least thinking of us when he wrote, but solely of the people to whom he was writing. Deissmann writes, "Paul had no thought of adding a few fresh compositions to the already extant Jewish epistles; still less of enriching the sacred literature of his nation.... He had no presentiment of the place his words would occupy in universal history; not so much that they would be in existence in the next generation, far less that one day people would look at them as Holy Scripture." We must always remember that a thing need not be transient because it was written to meet an immediate situation. All the great love songs of the world were written for one person, but they live on for the whole of mankind. It is just because Paulletters were written to meet a threatening danger or a clamant need that they still throb with life. And it is because human need and the human situation do not change that God speaks to us through them today.

The Spoken Word

One other thing we must note about these letters. Paul did what most people did in his day. He did not normally pen his own letters but dictated them to a secretary, and then added Ws own authenticating signature. (We actually know the name of one of the people who did the writing for him. In Rom_16:22 Tertius, the secretary, slips in his own greeting before the letter draws to an end). In 1Co_16:21 Paul says, "This is my own signature, my autograph, so that you can be sure this letter comes from me." (compare Col_4:18 ; 2Th_3:17 .)

This explains a great deal. Sometimes Paul is hard to understand, because his sentences begin and never finish; his grammar breaks down and the construction becomes involved. We must not think of him sitting quietly at a desk, carefully polishing each sentence as he writes. We must think of him striding up and down some little room, pouring out a torrent of words, while his secretary races to get them down. When Paul composed his letters, he had in his mindeye a vision of the folk to whom he was writing, and he was pouring out his heart to them in words that fell over each other in his eagerness to help.

THE LETTER TO THE PHILIPPIANS

Introduction To The Letter To The Philippians

We are fortunate in one thing in our study of Philippians--there are practically no critical problems involved; for no reputable New Testament critic has ever doubted its genuineness. We can accept Philippians as undoubtedly an authentic letter of Paul.

Philippi

When Paul chose a place wherein to preach the gospel, he always did so with the eye of a strategist. He always chose one which was not only important in itself but was also the key point of a whole area. To this day many of Paulpreaching-centres are still great road centres and railway junctions. Such was Philippi which had at least three great claims to distinction.

(i) In the neighbourhood there were gold and silver mines, which had been worked as far back as the time of the Phoenicians. It is true that by the time of the Christian era they had become exhausted, but they had made Philippi a great commercial centre of the ancient world.

(ii) The city had been founded by Philip, father of Alexander the Great, and it is his name that it bears. It was founded on the site of an ancient city called Krenides, a name which means The Wells or Fountains. Philip had founded Philippi in 368 B.C. because there was no more strategic site in all Europe. There is a range of hills which divides Europe from Asia, east from west and just at Philippi that chain of hills dips into a pass so that the city commanded the road from Europe to Asia, since the road must go through the pass. This was the reason that one of the great battles of history was fought at Philippi; for it was here that Antony defeated Brutus and Cassius, and thereby decided the future of the Roman Empire.

(iii) Not very long after, Philippi attained the dignity of a Roman Colony. The Roman Colonies were amazing institutions. They were not colonies in the sense of being outposts of civilization in unexplored parts of the world. They had begun by having a military significance. It was the custom of Rome to send out parties of veteran soldiers, who had served their time and been granted citizenship, to settle in strategic road centres. Usually these parties consisted of three hundred veterans with their wives and children. These colonies were the focal points of the great Roman road systems which were so engineered that reinforcements could speedily be sent from one colony to another. They were founded to keep the peace and to command the strategic centres in Romefar-flung Empire. At first they had been founded in Italy; but soon they were scattered throughout the whole Empire, as the Empire grew. In later days the title of colony was given by the government to any city which it wished to honour for faithful service.

Wherever they were, these colonies were little fragments of Rome and their pride in their Roman citizenship was their dominating characteristic. The Roman language was spoken; Roman dress was worn; Roman customs were observed; their magistrates had Roman titles, and carried out the am ceremonies as were carried out in Rome itself. They were stubbornly and unalterably Roman and would never have dreamt of becoming assimilated to the people amidst whom they wert set. We can hear the Roman pride breathing through the charge against Paul and Silas in Ac 16:20-21: "These men are Jews, and they are trying to teach and to introduce laws and customs which it is not right for us to observe--for we are Romans."

"You are a colony of heaven" (King James Version), Paul wrote to the Philippian Church (Phi_3:20 ). Just as the Roman colonist never forgot in any environment that he was a Roman, so they must never forget in any society that they were Christians. Nowhere were men prouder of being Roman citizens than in these colonies; and such was Philippi.

Paul And Philippi

It was on the second missionary journey, about the year A.D. 52, that Paul first came to Philippi. Urged on by the vision of the man of Macedonia with his appeal to come over and help us, Paul had sailed from Alexandrian Troas in Asia Minor. He had landed at Neapolis in Europe, and thence made his way to Philippi.

The story of Paulstay in Philippi is told in Ac 16 ; and an interesting story it is. It centres round three people--Lydia, the seller of purple; the demented slave-girl, used by her masters to tell fortunes; and the Roman jailor. It is an extraordinary cross-section of ancient life. These three people were of different nationalities. Lydia was an Asiatic, and her name may well be not a proper name at all but simply "the Lydian lady." The slave-girl was a native Greek. The jailor was a Roman citizen. The whole Empire was being gathered into the Christian Church. But not only were these three of different nationalities; they came from very different grades of society. Lydia was a dealer in purple, one of the most costly substances in the ancient world, and was the equivalent of a merchant prince. The girl was a slave, and, therefore, in the eyes of the law not a person at all, but a living tool. The jailor was a Roman citizen, member of the sturdy Roman middle-class from which the civil service was drawn. In these three the top, the bottom and middle of society are all represented. No chapter in the Bible shows so well the all-embracing faith which Jesus Christ brought to men.

Persecution

Paul had to leave Philippi after a storm of persecution and an illegal imprisonment. That persecution was inherited by the Philippian Church. He tells them that they have shared in his bonds and in his defence of the gospel (Phi_1:7 ). He bids them not to fear their adversaries for they are going through what he himself has gone through and is now enduring (Phi_1:28-30 ).

True Friendship

There had grown up between Paul and the Philippian Church a bond of friendship closer than that which existed between him and any other Church. It was his proud boast that he had never taken help from any man or from any Church, and that, with his own two hands, he had satisfied his needs. It was from the Philippians alone that he had agreed to accept a gift. Soon after he left them and moved on to Thessalonica, they sent him a present (Phi_4:16 ). When he moved on and arrived in Corinth by way of Athens, they alone again remembered him with their gifts (2Co_11:9 ). "My brethren whom I love and long for," he calls them, "my joy and crown in the Lord" (Phi_4:1 ).

The Occasion Of The Writing Of The Letter

When Paul wrote this letter he was in prison in Rome, and he wrote it with certain definite objects.

(i) It is a letter of thanks. The years have passed; it is now A.D. 63 or 64 and once again the Philippians have sent him a gift (Phi_4:10-11 ).

(ii) It has to do with Epaphroditus. It seems that the Philippians had sent him not only as a bearer of their gift, but that he might stay with Paul and be his personal servant. But Epaphroditus had fallen ill. He was sick for home; and he was worried because he knew that the people at home were worried about him. Paul sent him home, but he had the unhappy feeling that the people in Philippi might think Epaphroditus a quilter, so he goes out of his way to give him a testimonial: "Receive him with all joy, and honour such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ" (Phi_2:29-30 ). There is something very moving in the sight of Paul, himself in prison and awaiting death, seeking to make things easier for Epaphroditus, when he was unexpectedly and unwillingly compelled to go home. Here is the peak of Christian courtesy.

(iii) It is a letter of encouragement to the Philippians in the trials which they are going through (Phi_1:28-30 ).

(iv) It is an appeal for unity. It is from that, that there rises the great passage which speaks of the selfless humility of Jesus Christ (Phi_2:1-11 ). In the Church at Philippi there were two women who had quarrelled and were endangering the peace (Phi_4:2 ); and there were false teachers who were seeking to lure the Philippians from the true path (Phi_3:2 ). This letter is an appeal to maintain the unity of the Church.

The Problem

It is just here that the problem of Philippians arises. At Phi_3:2 there is an extraordinary break in the letter. Up to Phi_3:1 everything is serenity and the letter seems to be drawing gently to its close; then without warning comes the outburst: "Beware of dogs; beware of evil workers; beware of the concision." There is no connection with what goes before. Further, Phi_3:1 looks like the end. "Finally, my brethren," says Paul, "rejoice in the Lord" and having said finally he begins all over again! (That, of course, is not an unknown phenomenon in preaching).

Because of this break many scholars think that Philippians, as we possess it, is not one letter but two letters put together. They regard Phi_3:2-21 and Phi_4:1-3 as a letter of thanks and warning sent quite early after the arrival of Epaphroditus in Rome; and they regard Php 1 - 2; Phi_3:1 and Phi_4:4-23 as a letter written a good deal later, and sent with Epaphroditus when he had to go home. That is perfectly possible. We know that Paul almost certainly did, in fact, write more than one letter to Philippi, for Polycarp, in his letter to the Philippian Church, says of him, "when he was absent he wrote letters to you."

The Explanation

And yet it seems to us that there is no good reason for splitting this letter into two. The sudden break between Phi_3:1 and Phi_3:2 can be otherwise explained in one of two ways.

(i) As Paul was writing, fresh news may have come of trouble at Philippi; and there and then he may have interrupted his line of thought to deal with it.

(ii) The simplest explanation is this. Philippians is a personal letter and a personal letter is never logically ordered like a treatise. In such a letter we put things down as they come into our heads; we chat on paper with our friends; and an association of ideas which may be clear enough to us may not be so obvious to anyone else. The sudden change of subject here is just the kind of thing which might occur in any such letter.

The Lovely Letter

For many of us Philippians is the loveliest letter Paul ever wrote. It has been called by two titles. It has been called The Epistle of excellent Things--and so indeed it is; and it has been called The Epistle of Joy. Again and again the words joy and rejoice recur. "Rejoice," writes Paul, "again I will say rejoice," even in prison directing the hearts of his friends--and ours--to the joy that no man can take from us.

FURTHER READINGS

Philippians

J. B. Lightfoot, Saint PaulEpistle to the Philippians (MmC; G)

R. P. Martin, The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians (TC; E)

J. H. Michael, The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians (MC; E)

M. R. Vincent, Philippians and Philemon (ICC; G)

Abbreviations

CGT: Cambridge Greek Testament

ICC: International Critical Commentary

MC: Moffatt Commentary

MmC: Macmillan Commentary

TC: Tyndale Commentary

E: English Text

G: Greek Text

Barclay: Philippians 3 (Chapter Introduction)

The Indestructible Joy (Phi_3:1)

The Evil Teachers (Phi_3:2-3)

The Only True Circumcision (Phi_3:2-3 Continued)

The Privileges Of Paul (Phi_3:4-7)

The Attainments Of Paul (Phi_3:4-7 Continued)

The Worthlessness Of The Law And The Value Of Christ (Phi_3:8-9)

What It Means To Know Christ (Phi_3:10-11)

Pressing On (Phi_3:12-16)

Dweller On Earth But Citizen Of Heaven (Phi_3:17-21)

Constable: Philippians (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Historical background

The name of the city of Philippi was originally Krinides (lit. springs). It stood about 10 miles inland from the Aegean Sea in the Roman province of Macedonia. In 356 B.C. Philip II, king of Macedonia and father of Alexander the Great, renamed the town after himself and enlarged it.

In 42 B.C. the Romans Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus defeated Brutus and Cassius in a battle fought just west of Philippi. After that battle Philippi became a military colony. Subsequent battles in 42 and 31 B.C. resulted in Philippi receiving even higher status. The citizens enjoyed autonomous government, immunity from taxes, and treatment as if they lived in Italy.¹ Some commentators have seen indications of the pride the Philippians took in their city in Acts 16:20-21 and Philippians 1:27 and 3:20. Luke's description of Philippi as a "leading city of the district of Macedonia" (Acts 16:12) probably refers to its colonial status since it was the only colony in the area. Amphipolis was the capital of the district, and Thessalonica was the capital of the province.

The Via Egnatia, the main highway from Rome to the east, ran through Philippi and brought much commerce and many travelers to Philippi. Also the nearby Gangites (modern Angitis) River was another natural advantage since it constituted another ancient thoroughfare (cf. Acts 16:13).

The story of the founding of the church in Philippi appears in Acts 16. Philippi was the first town in which Paul preached after he crossed the Aegean Sea from Troas and entered Europe. Then (50 A.D.) the city had few Jewish residents and the first converts were Lydia, a Gentile businesswoman from Thyatira in the province of Asia Minor, and the Philippian jailer. The church evidently met in Lydia's home at first (Acts 16:15). Paul's companions on his first visit to Philippi included Silas, Timothy, and Luke. Luke may have stayed in Philippi to establish the new converts when the other members of Paul's missionary team moved on to Thessalonica.² The Philippian Christians sent financial support to Paul in Thessalonica more than once (Phil. 4:15-16).

Probably Paul visited Philippi again during his third missionary journey in 57 A.D. He travelled from Ephesus to Corinth by land and then from Corinth back to Miletus mostly by land. From there he took a ship to Jerusalem. The land route he took on both occasions would have led him through Philippi.

No serious question about the Pauline authorship of this epistle arose until the nineteenth century. Paul claimed to have written it (Phil. l:1), and the references to his acquaintances, events in his life, and his way of thinking all point to him as the writer.

The apostle was a prisoner when he penned this letter (Phil. 1:7, 13, 16). References to the palace guard (1:13) and Caesar's household (4:22) have led most interpreters to conclude that Paul wrote from Rome rather than from Caesarea (cf. 1:19-24; 2:24).³ The Marcionite Prologue (c. 170 A.D.) also refers to Paul writing Philippians from Rome. Evidently he did so during his first Roman imprisonment (60-62 A.D.) during which time he also wrote Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon, the other Prison Epistles.⁴

The primary purpose Paul had in mind in writing this epistle seems to have been to reassure the Philippians. Epaphroditus, whom they had sent with a gift for Paul and to minister to his needs in prison, had recovered from a serious illness and was about to return to Philippi. Paul built up Epaphroditus in the eyes of his readers (2:25-30), which suggests that they may not have appreciated him adequately for some reason. Secondary reasons for sending this letter include expressing thanks for the Philippians' gift to Paul in prison (4:10-14) and announcing Timothy's approaching visit (2:19). Paul also wanted to explain his desire to revisit his readers (2:24) and to deal with the problem of the two women in the church who needed to reconcile (4:2). One commentator identified the genre of this epistle as a letter of friendship and moral exhortation.⁵

Of all Paul's epistles Philippians is the most consistently positive and personal. It reflects a joyful spirit.⁶ Paul did not rebuke this church sharply nor did he refer to any major problems in it. His warnings are of a precautionary nature. His occupation with Jesus Christ also stands out. In 104 verses there are 51 references to the Lord Jesus by name.

". . . what is most noticeable in this letter is the general paucity of Paul's more specialized theological vocabulary and the infrequency of the explanatory for,' which is always a dead giveaway that Paul is involved in heavy argumentation."⁷

Message⁸

The Philippian Christians were special favorites of the apostle Paul. Their response to the gospel and their subsequent progress in the faith were exemplary. However the connections between Paul and Philippi that the New Testament records, both in Acts and in this letter, reveal an interesting paradox.

In both books there is a lot about prison and a lot about rejoicing. Paul ended up in prison when he first evangelized Philippi. Yet in prison Paul and Silas sang praises to God. When Paul wrote Philippians he was in prison, this time in Rome. However the dominant emotion that he projected in this book was rejoicing.

The paradox of a man in prison rejoicing lies at the root of what this book is all about. Such an attitude demonstrates an unusual view of life. It is a uniquely Christian view of life. It demonstrates the mind of Christ, which is the key to this epistle.

The theme of the epistle is participation in the gospel. Everything in this letter deals with that subject in some way, as I have pointed out in the notes. By participation in the gospel I mean the fellowship that Paul and the Philippians shared in the work of disseminating the gospel. This is the work in which all Christians should participate as well. Paul, the Philippians, and we are all partners in the work of the gospel. The key to working together effectively as partners in the gospel is having the mind of Christ. Therefore in this overview of the book I would like to emphasize this fundamental attitude about which Paul had so much to say in this book.

The key revelation in this epistle is that of the Christian attitude, or viewpoint, or consciousness. Note some of the references to the mind or attitude in this epistle: 1:7; 2:2, 3, 5; 3:15, 19; 4:2, 10. This is a key word in this book, and it indicates the emphasis of Philippians.

Paul revealed what the mind of Christ was in the Savior. We find this revelation in 2:5-11, one of the greatest Christological passages in the Bible. The Gospels reveal Jesus' words and works, but this passage unveils His mind.

Notice first the mental attitude of our Savior in 2:6. He did not regard His privileged position as something that He needed to retain. He did not value His position for the sake of the position. He laid it aside and stooped to unbelievable depths to lift those who needed redemption out of ruin.

This attitude resulted in certain activity, which we read of in verses 7 and 8. Jesus Christ selflessly gave up what was in His own best interests for the sake of the betterment of others. He left the heights of heaven for the lowliness of earth. He who was sovereign became a servant. Instead of becoming the highest of servants, an angel, he became a lowly servant, a man. He could have lived a life of ease, but He submitted to shame and death. He might have died in comfort and private surrounded by those who loved Him. Instead He died in agony and shame in public surrounded by those who hated Him. He could have died appreciated, but instead he died hated and misunderstood. This is the mind of Christ, a lowly mind, a loving mind.

This activity resulted in an award: verses 9-11.

Paul also revealed what the mind of the saints who are in Christ should be. We too should have a certain attitude that expresses itself in specific activity, which God will just as surely reward.

Our attitude should be that our love abounds increasingly and that we are sincere and void of offense (1:9-10). Christ's love is to be our love. His attitude is to be our attitude. Regardless of the present privileged position we may occupy we must not retain it as a prize.

Paul had this attitude. We can see it clearly in the statement he made in Romans 9:1-3. Just before he wrote these words, Paul wrote that nothing could separate him for the love of God in Christ Jesus. Yet he did not count that secure position something to retain for his own benefit. He was willing to give it up for the welfare of the Jews. You may remember that Moses voiced a similar sentiment in Exodus 32:32.

What is the activity that should flow out of this attitude?

Look first at 1:27. Our life should be worthy of the gospel. This was one of Paul's favorite ways to describe our conduct responsibility as Christians (cf. Eph. 4:1; Col. 1:10; 1 Thess. 2:12). Worthy conduct is not just morally upright behavior. It is conduct that the gospel drives, conduct that aims at proclaiming the gospel, making it known. It is conduct that responds appropriately to God's gift of grace to us.

Notice also 2:14-15. We are to be blameless in our relationship to God. Moreover we are to be harmless in our relationships with people, not doing them harm but good. Our Lord's example of humble service to the point of death is our model. How much do we know about emptying ourselves, humbling ourselves, becoming obedient to death, even the death of the cross?

What is the award that will follow this attitude and this activity? It is twofold.

There is present victory over circumstances. This whole epistle is a revelation of Paul's triumph over circumstances that would have defeated many people. The pioneer missionary to the regions beyond sat confined in prison. Rather than saying everything was against him, Paul rejoiced that God's program was advancing. In all the Prison Epistles, Paul viewed himself not as the prisoner of Nero but of Jesus Christ. He believed the Lord had placed him where he was for the best purpose. Anyone can sing when he or she escapes from prison, but Paul sang in prison.

Second, there is also future reward. Throughout this epistle Paul had the judgment seat of Christ in view (1:6, 10-11, 20; 2:16; 3:8-9, 14; 4:1, 5). God will reward the mind of Christ in the saints just as He has rewarded the mind of Christ in the Savior. We should strive to gain that prize, not to glorify ourselves in heaven but to have a crown to lay down at Jesus' feet in worship in heaven (cf. Rev. 4:10).

We have seen that the mind of Christ is the key to this epistle. We have also seen that Paul revealed this mind in the Savior and in the saints. What did he say about this mind or attitude? He said, "Have this mind in you" (2:5).

What is the resource for this kind of thinking? Where do we find what it takes to have the mind of Christ in us? We find it in Christ. Specifically we find it when we orient our lives with Him at the center. Paul put it this way: "To me, to live is Christ" (1:21). For some people to live is finances. For others it is fame. For some it is family. For others to live is fun. Life is whatever we put at the center of living. Paul put Christ there. Consequently he viewed God as Christ did. He saw people as Christ did. He viewed his purpose as Christ did. He established his priorities as Christ did. He conducted his daily affairs as Christ did. His life was Christ.

What is our responsibility with this attitude? It is to work out our own salvation in response to God's working in us (2:12-13). We work out what God works in. How do we do this? We do this by forgetting what is past and by pressing on to God's goal for us. Paul used the same Greek word to describe his persecution of Christians (3:6) and his pressing toward his new goal (3:14; dioko). He pursued both goals zealously. He transferred all the passion and fervor that he once expended on tearing down the church into building it up. Our responsibility is absolute dedication and unfailing endeavor to the goal of building the church.

What are the rules we must follow with this attitude? Primarily we must rejoice in the Lord (3:1; 4:4). Rejoicing is not only a privilege, but it is a duty for the Christian. God has commanded us to rejoice. To do this we need to focus our thinking on what God is really doing as He has revealed this in His Word. We must also be forbearing toward all men rather than antagonistic (4:5). We must also give ourselves to prayer rather than to anxiety (4:6). These are the basic rules we need to follow.

By way of application, what does adopting the mind of Christ mean?

For the church the measure of her authority is the measure of her conformity to the mind of Christ. The church, the corporate body of believers, depends on many different things today to give it authority: political power, charismatic leaders, social influence, etc. Yet the church's real authority today is the same as Jesus Christ's authority was when He walked this earth, His humble attitude of submissiveness and obedience to His Father. The essence of the mind of Christ is love. Its consciousness is joy. Its expression is sacrifice. If love, joy, and sacrificial service characterize the church, it will have authority in the world.

For the individual Christian the application is that we should allow Jesus Christ to master us completely. We should view ourselves as His captives, His prisoners (cf. 1:1). It is only by entering into bondage to the Savior that we can find true liberty. His ideal must become our ideal. His power should be what we depend on to fulfill that ideal. Furthermore the certainty of His ultimate victory and ours now and in the future should be the inspiration for our ceaseless song. The present joy of our lives should come from our comradeship with Him day by day. Sharing the mind of Christ will teach us how to love, to serve, and to sing as we live the Christian life.

Constable: Philippians (Outline)

Outline

I. Salutation 1:1-2

II. Prologue 1:3-26

A. Thanksgiving 1:3-8

B. Prayer 1:9-11

C. Progress report 1:12-26

1. Paul's present imprisonment 1:12-18

2. Paul's anticipated deliverance 1:19-26

III. Partnership in the gospel 1:27-4:9

A. A worthy walk 1:27-30

B. Unity and steadfastness 2:1-4:1

1. Walking in unity ch. 2

2. Walking in steadfastness 3:1-4:1

C. Specific duties 4:2-9

1. Restoring unity 4:2-3

2. Maintaining tranquillity 4:4-9

IV. Epilogue 4:10-20

A. The recent gift 4:10-14

B. The previous gifts 4:15-20

V. Greetings and benediction 4:21-23

Constable: Philippians

Philippians

Bibliography

Alford, Henry. The Greek Testament. 4 vols. Cambridge: Deighton, Bell, and Co., 1884.

Barclay, William. The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians. Daily Study Bible series, 2nd ed. and reprint ed. Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 1960.

Bateman, Herbert W., IV. "Were the Opponents at Philippi Necessarily Jewish?" Bibliotheca Sacra 155:617 (January-March 1998):39-61.

Baxter, J. Sidlow. Explore the Book. 6 vols. London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1965.

Beare, F. W. A Commentary on the Epistle to the Philippians. London: Adam & Charles Black, 1959.

Bing, Charlie. "Does Philippians 1:6 Teach Perseverance?" Grace Evangelical Society News 6:2 (February 1991):2.

Blazek, Gerald. "Unity through Humility in Philippians." Th.M. thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1977.

Bock, Darrell L. "A Theology of Paul's Prison Epistles." In A Biblical Theology of the New Testament, pp. 299-331. Edited by Roy B. Zuck. Chicago: Moody Press, 1994.

Boice, James Montgomery. Philippians. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1971.

Bruce, F. F. The Epistle to the Galatians. New International Greek Testament Commentary series. Exeter, England: Paternoster Press, 1982; reprint ed., Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1983.

Brug, John F. "The Principles of Financial Stewardship in Paul's Letter to the Philippians," Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly 86:3 (Summer 1989):215-24.

Burtch, Bryan Gordon. "The Greek Words for Prayer in the New Testament." Th.M. thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1951.

Constable, Thomas L. "Analysis of Bible Books--New Testament." Paper submitted for course 686 Analysis of Bible Books--New Testament. Dallas Theological Seminary, January 1968.

_____. "What Prayer Will and Will Not Change." In Essays in Honor of J. Dwight Pentecost. Edited by Stanley D. Toussaint and Charles H. Dyer. Chicago: Moody Press, 1986.

Conybeare, W. J. and Howson, J. S. The Life and Epistles of St. Paul. New ed. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964.

Dahms, John V. "The Subordination of the Son." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 37:3 (September 1994):351-64.

Dalton, William J. "The Integrity of Philippians." Biblica 60:1 (1979):97-102.

Darby, John Nelson. Synopsis of the Books of the Bible. 5 vols. Revised ed. New York: Loizeaux Brothers Publishers, 1942.

Deissmann, Adolf. Light from the Ancient East. Translated by Lionel R. M. Strachan. Revised and reprinted ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1965.

Dictionary of the Apostolic Church. Edited by James Hastings. 1915 ed. S.v. "Philippians, Epistle to the," by D. Mackenzie.

Dictionary of the Bible. Edited by James Hastings. 1910 ed. S.v. "Philippians, Epistle to the," by J. Gibb.

Dillow, Joseph C. The Reign of the Servant Kings. Miami Springs, Fl.: Schoettle Publishing Co., 1992.

Duncan, George B. The Life of Continual Rejoicing. Chicago: Moody Press, 1965.

Duncan, G. S. "A New Setting for Paul's Epistle to the Philippians." Expository Times 43 (1931-32):7-11.

Eadie, John. A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Epistle of Paul to the Philippians. Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, 1894; reprint ed. Minneapolis: James and Klock Christian Publishing Co., 1977.

Fee, Gordon D. Paul's Letter to the Philippians. New International Commentary on the New Testament series. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995.

_____. "Philippians 2:5-11: Hymn or Exalted Pauline Prose?" Bulletin for Biblical Research 2 (1992):29-46.

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. By C. G. Wilke. Revised by C. L. Wilibald Grimm. Translated, revised, and enlarged by Joseph Henry Thayer, 1889.

Gromacki, Robert. Stand United in Joy. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980.

Guthrie, Donald. New Testament Introduction. 3 vols. 2nd ed. London: Tyndale Press, 1966.

Harrison, Norman B. His in Joyous Experience. Chicago: The Bible Institute Colportage Association, 1926.

Hawthorne, Gerald F. Philippians, Word Biblical Commentary series. Waco: Word Books, 1983.

Hendricks, Howard G. Color Outside the Lines: A Revolutionary Approach to Creative Leadership. Swindoll Leadership Library series. Nashville: Word Publishing, 1998.

Hendricksen, William. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of Philippians and Exposition of Colossians and Philemon. Reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979.

Henry, Matthew. Commentary on the Whole Bible. Edited by Leslie F. Church. 1 vol. ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1961.

Ironside, Harry A. Notes on Philippians. New York: Loizeaux Brothers, Bible Truth Depot, n. d.

Jackson, F. J. Foakes, and Lake, Kirsopp, eds. The Beginnings of Christianity. Part I: The Acts of the Apostles. 5 vols. London: Macmillan and Co. Ltd., 1939; reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1965.

Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, A. R.; and Brown, David. Commentary Practical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Revised ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1961.

Jewett, Robert. "Conflicting Movements in the Early Church as Reflected in Philippians." Novum Testamentum 12 (1970):362-90.

_____. "The Epistolary Thanksgiving and the Integrity of Philippians." Novum Testamentum 12:1 (January 1970):40-53.

Johnson, S. Lewis, Jr. "The Out-Resurrection from the Dead." Bibliotheca Sacra 110 (1953):139-46.

Kelly, J. N. D. A Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. Thornapple Commentaries series. London: A. & C. Black Publishers Limited, 1963; reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1981.

Kennedy, H. A. A. "The Epistle to the Philippians." In The Expositor's Greek Testament, 3 (1910):399-473. Edited by W. Robertson Nicoll. 5 Vols. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1900-10.

Kent, Homer A., Jr. "Philippians." In Ephesians-Philemon. Vol. 11 of Expositor's Bible Commentary. 12 vols. Edited by Frank E. Gaebelein and J. D. Douglas. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978.

Lange, John Peter, ed. Commentary on the Holy Scriptures. 12 vols. Reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1960. Vol. 11: Galatians-Hebrews, by Otto Schmoller, Karl Braune, C. A. Auberlen, C. J. Riggenbach, J. J. Van Oosterzee, and Carl Bernhard Moll. Translated by C. C. Starbuck, M. B. Riddle, Horatio B. Hackett, John Lillie, E. A. Washburn, E. Harwood, George E. Day, and A. C. Kendrick.

Lees, Harrington C. "Epaphoditus, God's Gambler." Expository Times 37 (1925):46.

Lenski, Richard C. H. The Interpretation of St. Paul's Epistles to the Galatians to the Ephesians and to the Philippians. Reprint ed. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961.

Lightfoot, J. B. St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians. London: Macmillan & Co., 1913; reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1953.

Lightner, Robert P. Evangelical Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1986.

_____. "Philippians." In Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament, pp. 647-66. Edited by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck. Wheaton: Scripture Press Publications, Victor Books, 1983.

Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. Life of Peace. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1990.

Luter, A. Boyd. "Partnership in the Gospel: The Role of Women in the Church at Philippi." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 39:3 (September 1996):411-20.

Martin, Ralph P. The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries series. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1959.

Matzat, Don. Christ-Esteem. Eugene: Harvest House Publishers, 1990.

McClain, Alva J. "The Doctrine of the Kenosis in Philippians 2:5-8, " Biblical Review 13:4 (October 1928):506-27.

McNeile, A. H. An Introduction to the Study of the New Testament. 2nd ed. revised by C. S. C. Williams. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965.

Minirth, Frank B. and Meier, Paul D. Happiness Is a Choice. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978.

Morgan, G. Campbell. Living Messages of the Books of the Bible. 2 vols. New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1912.

Motyer, Alec. The Message of Philippians. The Bible Speaks Today series. Leicester, England, and Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1984.

Moule, H. C. G. The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Philippians. Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges series. Cambridge: University Press, 1936.

Mounce, Robert H. "The Epistle to the Philippians." In Wycliffe Bible Commentary, pp.1319-31. Edited by Charles F. Pfeiffer and Everett F. Harrison. Chicago: Moody Press, 1962.

Muller, Jac J. The Epistles of Paul to the Philippians and to Philemon. New International Commentary on the New Testament series. Grand Rapids; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1955.

Munro, John "Prayer to a Sovereign God." Interest 56:2 (February 1990):20-21.

Murray, George W. "Paul's Corporate Witness in Philippians." Bibliotheca Sacra 155:619 (July-September 1998):316-26.

New Bible Dictionary. Edited by J. D. Douglas. 1962 ed. S.v. "Crucifixion," by D. H. Wheaton, pp. 281-82.

New Scofield Reference Bible. Edited by E. Schuyler English, et al. New York: Oxford University Press, 1967.

O'Brien, P. T. Commentary on Philippians. New International Greek Testament Commentary series. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1991.

Panikulam, George. Koinonia in the New Testament--A Dynamic Expression of Christian Life. Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1979.

Pentecost, J. Dwight. The Joy of Living. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1973.

Plummer, Alfred. A Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians. London: Robert Scott, 1919.

Pope, W. B. The Prayers of St. Paul. London: Charles H. Kelly, 1897.

Pyne, Robert A. "Antinomianism and Dispensationalism." Bibliotheca Sacra 153:610 (April-June 1996):141-54.

Ramsay, William M. St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1897; reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1960

Ridderbos, Herman N. Paul: An Outline of His Theology. Translated by J. R. DeWitt. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1975.

Robertson, Archibald Thomas. Word Pictures in the New Testament. 6 vols. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1931.

Ryrie, Charles C. Basic Theology. Wheaton: Scripture Press Publications, Victor Books, 1986.

Saucy, Robert L. The Case for Progressive Dispensationalism. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993.

Showers, Renald E. Maranatha Our Lord, Come: A Definitive Study of the Rapture of the Church. Bellmawr, Pa.: Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, 1995.

Smith, Charles R. "The Book of Life." Grace Theological Journal 6:2 (Fall 1985):219-30.

Stagg, Frank. "Philippians." In Broadman Bible Commentary; 11:178-216. Edited by Clifton J. Allen. 12 vols. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1972.

Stanton, Gerald B. Kept from the Hour. Fourth ed. Miami Springs, Fl.: Schoettle Publishing Co., 1991.

Strauch, Alexander. Biblical Eldership. Littleton, Co.: Lewis & Roth Publishers, 1986.

Strong, Augustus Hopkins. Systematic Theology. Westwood, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1907.

Swift, Robert C. "The Theme and Structure of Philippians." Bibliotheca Sacra 141:563 (July-September 1984):234-54.

Swindoll, Charles R. Laugh Again. Dallas: Word Publishing, 1992.

Tatford, Frederick A. The Patmos Letters. By the Author, 1969; reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, n.d.

Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Edited by Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich. Translated and edited by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. 1964-74. S.v. "kardia," by Friedrich Baumgartel and Johannes Behm, 3 (1965):605-14.

_____. S.v. "koinonos," et al., by Friedrich Hauck, 3 (1965):797-809.

_____. S.v. "tareinos," et at., by Walter Grundmann, 8 (1972):11-12.

Trench, Richard Chenevix. Synonyms of the New Testament. Revised ed. London: James Clarke & Co. Ltd., 1961.

Vincent, Marvin. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles to the Philippians and to Philemon. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1897.

Vine, W. E. Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. 4 vols. London: Oliphants Ltd., 1940.

Vos, Howard F. Philippians: A Study Guide. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1975.

Wall, Joe L. Going for the Gold. Chicago: Moody Press, 1991.

Walvoord, John F. Jesus Christ Our Lord. Chicago: Moody Press, 1969.

_____. Philippians. Everyman's Bible Commentary series. Chicago: Moody Press, 1971.

Wiersbe, Warren W. Be Joyful. Wheaton: Scripture Press Publications, Victor Books, 1981.

_____. The Bible Exposition Commentary. 2 vols. Wheaton: Scripture Press, Victor Books, 1989.

Wilkin, Robert N. "Philippians 3:10: Is Our Resurrection Certain?" Grace Evangelical Society Newsletter, November 1987, pp. 1-2.

_____. "Raised to Run." Grace Evangelical Society News 6:8 (August 1991):2-3.

_____. "Working Out Your Salvation." Grace Evangelical Society News 8:3 (May-June 1993):2-3.

Witmer, John A. "The Man with Two Countries." Bibliotheca Sacra 133:532 (October-December 1976):338-49.

Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Philippians (Book Introduction)

THE

EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL, THE APOSTLE,

TO THE PHILIPPIANS.

INTRODUCTION.

Philippi, a considerable city in Macedonia, so called from Philip, father of Alexander the Great. St. Paul had preached there. (Acts xvi.) Those people had a great veneration for him, and supplied his wants when he was at Corinth, and again when he was a prisoner at Rome, sending to him by Epaphroditus, who is thought to have been the bishop of Philippi. St. Paul sent this letter by him to the Philippians, (written during his imprisonment) from Rome; but whether during his first or second imprisonment, is uncertain. (Witham) --- It is generally believed that St. Paul wrote it about the year 62, in his first confinement. In it he testifies to the faithful his most tender gratitude and acknowledgement for the assistance they had sent him, and a zeal the most ardent for their salvation. He felicitates them on their courage under sufferings for the cause of Jesus Christ, on their good works also, and forcibly excites them to confidence and joy. --- The Philippians were the first among the Macedonians converted to the faith. St. Paul, in this epistle, recommends charity, unity, and humility; and warns against false teachers, whom he calls dogs, and enemies of the cross of Christ. He also returns thanks for their benefactions. It was written about twenty-nine years after our Lord's ascension. (Challoner)

====================

Gill: Philippians (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO PHILIPPIANS

Philippi was a Roman colony, and the chief city of one part of Macedonia, Act 16:12, it is by Appianus called Datos which was its original name; and by Diodorus Siculus it is called Crenidae ^a, from, the fountains about it; and it took its name Philippi, from Philip king of Macedon, father of Alexander the great, who rebuilt and fortified it; near this place a famous battle was fought, and a victory obtained by Augustus Caesar and Mark Antony, over Brutus and Cassius; it is now called Chrixopolis, properly Chrysopolis, from the plenty of golden mines near it: here the apostle was directed by a vision, to go and preach the Gospel; and which was succeeded, to the conversion of Lydia, and the jailer, and their families; which laid the foundation of a Gospel church in this place, to whom this epistle is written; and which was written by the apostle when he was a prisoner at Rome, as many things in it show; for he more than once makes mention of his bonds, and of these being made manifest in Caesar's palace, and of some of Caesar's household sending their Christian salutations to this church: Dr. Hammond makes the date of this epistle to be the year 59, and Dr. Lightfoot places it in the year 60, and the sixth of Nero; the occasion of it was this, the Philippians, to whom the apostle was very dear, he being the first preacher of the Gospel to them, and the instrument of their conversion, hearing that he was a prisoner at Rome, send their minister and pastor Epaphroditus to him, to visit him, and by him a present to support him under his afflicted circumstances, and who related to him the case of this church; and at his departure he sent by him this letter; the design of which is, to express his love and affection to them; to give them an account of his bonds, and the usefulness of them, and how he was supported under them; to encourage them under all the afflictions and persecutions, they endured for the sake of Christ; to excite them to love, unity, and peace, among themselves; to caution them against false teachers, judaizing Christians, that were for joining Moses and Christ, law and Gospel, works and grace together, in the business of salvation; to exhort them to a holy life and conversation, and to return them thanks for their kind present.

Gill: Philippians 3 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO PHILIPPIANS 3

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. And whereas these judaizing teachers were for drawing them off from Christ, and weakening their joy and glorying in him, he exhorts them in the first place to rejoice in Christ, Phi 3:1, and to beware of them, whom he describes as dogs, as evil workers, as the concision, Phi 3:2, and opposes to them the characters of real saints, who are truly what they vainly boasted of, really circumcised persons in a Gospel sense, spiritual worshippers of God, joyful believers in Christ, and such as placed no confidence in outward things, Phi 3:3, This the apostle illustrates in his own case, who had as much reason for trusting in such things as any man whatever, Phi 3:4, of which he gives an enumeration in several particulars, Phi 3:5, upon which he passes his judgment, and shows of what account, and in what esteem they were with him before, and now; that formerly they were reckoned gain, but now loss, Phi 3:7, and which he explains as referring to every thing short of Christ, and in comparison of the knowledge of him, and which he preferred to everything; and this he confirms by his willingness to suffer the loss of all things for him; his ends in which were, that he might win him, and be found in him, without his own righteousness, that legal one the false teachers extolled, and with the righteousness of God which faith receives, and is the only justifying one; and that he might know more of him, feel more of his power, have more fellowship with him, and conformity to him, Phi 3:8. His view in all which was, that he might attain to that glorious and happy state of the resurrection of the dead in Christ, Phi 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, Phi 3:12. Next follow various exhortations, as to be of the same mind with the apostle in pressing after spiritual and heavenly things, to which he exhorts those that had a greater knowledge of them than others; and who, though otherwise minded, the apostle was persuaded would have, the same revealed to them, Phi 3:15, and both he exhorts, according to their different attainments, to walk by the same rule and mind the same thing, Phi 3:16, and to be followers of him, and of them that walked after his example, Phi 3:17, giving this as a reason, because there were men who walked otherwise, to the grief of him, to the dishonour of Christ, and to their own shame and destruction, whom he describes as sensual and earthly minded men, Phi 3:18, and to engage them to follow him, and others, and not such persons, he draws a character of them opposite unto them; that whereas the minds of those others were carnal and earthly, their minds were spiritual and heavenly; their conversation was in heaven, and they were waiting for Christ from hence, Phi 3:20, and the blessedness they expect from him then, is the resurrection of their bodies, which is illustrated by the efficient cause of it, Christ; the subject of it, their vile bodies, as in this lifts, and in the grave; the exemplar and pattern of it, the glorious body of Christ; and the means by which it will be effected, the energy and power of Christ, who is omnipotent, Phi 3:21.

College: Philippians (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION

THE CITY

When Paul bypassed the seaport at Neapolis and moved eight miles inland to Philippi, he did so because Philippi, though small, was a city of some importance. The history of the city stretched back several centuries. A small village, known as Krenides, was captured by Philip of Macedon and annexed to his empire in 356 B.C. The area was attractive because of the many springs in the vicinity, and because of the nearby gold mines. Hence Philip named the city after himself, i.e., Philippi.

The city remained insignificant until conquered by the Romans almost two centuries later (168, 167 B.C.). The area was made a Roman province, and included in the first of the four districts into which the Romans divided Macedonia.

The most significant event of the pre-Pauline city took place in 42 B.C. There, on the plain of Philippi, the forces of Brutus and Cassius (Caesar's assassins) clashed with the armies of Antony and Octavian, only to go down in defeat. Thus Philippi was the spot at which the destiny of the Roman empire was set for some time to come.

Later (31 B.C.) Octavian defeated Antony. As a result of the battles of 42 and 31 B.C. a number of military veterans, from both the victors and the vanquished, were settled there. In 31 B.C. the name of the town was enhanced to honor Octavian (Caesar Augustus), its conqueror.

Philippi was made a Roman colony, a high privilege indeed for a provincial city within the empire. Rights of the citizenry included Roman citizenship, the right to own and transfer property, and exemption from certain taxes. The city was in municipal pattern and architecture modeled on Rome, as well as in legal and administrative detail. The citizens wore Roman dress, had coinage with Roman inscriptions, and used (though not exclusively) the Latin language. Roman citizens had certain rights under Roman law, a fact that stood to Paul's advantage when he came to Philippi (Acts 16:37ff).

The city was located on the Via Egnatia, one of the major Roman roads of the time. Some evidence indicates the road in this area was in bad condition during the time of Paul's visit, so that visitors to Philippi may have used the sea route (as Paul did) with greater frequency. However, bad roads, though an inconvenience to travel, did not stop it completely. When Paul left the city it was by road toward the west.

Residents of the city would have included a core of veterans of the Roman wars or their descendants. Also in residence were Greeks, descendants of the native Thracian population, and some Jews. Some read the story of the conversion of Lydia in Acts 16 to indicate there were not enough male Jews in the city to constitute a synagogue. But others argue that there was a synagogue built by the river to which Paul went to preach.

ORIGINS OF THE CHURCH

The origins of this church are recorded in Acts 16:6-40. Compare the commentary by Dennis Gaertner in this series for detailed comments. The following should be noted.

First, it was by divine impulse that the mission to Philippi and Europe was undertaken. A vision, coupled with earlier prohibitions, spurred Paul on his way (Acts 16:6-10). Paul traveled with Silas, Timothy (who had joined the party earlier), and, by assumption, Luke, who is identified by "we" in Acts 16:10. This is based on the view that Acts was written by Luke. When Paul and Silas left the city, Luke was apparently left with the fledgling church, to be picked up by Paul when he passed through Philippi on his third journey (Acts 20:5).

Second, the initial convert in the city was Lydia (Acts 16:13-15), an open-minded God-fearer, whose profession (a dealer in purple cloth) and hospitality lead to the conclusion she was a person of some means. Though she is not mentioned in Philippians, two of the four specific names of Philippian Christians given in the letter are women, and it is generally thought that the women exercised significant roles in the church.

Third, a slave girl was exorcised, and this good deed destroyed her commercial advantage to her owners. In retaliation they inflamed a crowd, with the result that Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned in the most miserable of conditions (Acts 16:16-24).

Fourth, this incarceration served to make the faith of Paul and Silas shine more brightly, as they sang praises to God from their cell, rather than uttering the groans of pain that might have been expected. An earthquake so devastated the prison that the prisoner's cells were opened and their bonds loosed. The jailer, contemplating suicide because he thought his prisoners would have escaped, was reassured by Paul and Silas that they were all still there. More importantly, he found Christ, and he and his family became Christians in what is one of the remarkable conversions of the New Testament (Acts 16:23-34).

Finally, the release of Paul and Silas from prison and the embarrassment of the Philippian officials when they learned they had afflicted Roman citizens is told with a touch of humor. Paul and Silas, apparently taking their time, finally left the city, no doubt much to the relief of the city authorities (Acts 16:35-40). But their companion Luke stayed behind, with a group of believers whose ties to Paul through the years were especially affectionate. Though the first convert was a God-fearer, evidence indicates the church was composed predominantly of Gentiles who had not necessarily been sympathetic to Judaism. The date for these events is generally considered to be from A.D. 49-52.

PAUL'S LOCALE

Paul nowhere in this letter names the place of his imprisonment. A long held tradition, dating as early as the second century, identifies Rome as his locale. In recent years two other main options have been advanced: Ephesus and Caesarea. In considering this issue there are basic data to be kept in mind.

(1) Paul was a prisoner (1:7) and did not know the outcome of his trial (1:19f; 2:17).

(2) The place from which Paul wrote was also populated by those of "Caesar's household" (4:22).

(3) Timothy was with Paul (1:1; 2:19ff).

(4) The Christians in Paul's locale were engaged in evangelism (1:14ff).

(5) Paul hoped to visit Philippi if circumstances allowed (2:24).

(6) There was frequent communication between Philippi and Paul. The Philippians had heard Paul was in prison and sent Epaphroditus, who became ill. This news reached Philippi, and their anxiety reached back to Paul. The letter Paul wrote would be sent to Philippi, to be followed by visits from Timothy, and later (if possible) Paul himself (2:19-28).

A theoretical Ephesian imprisonment meets some of these criteria, but founders on others. Most telling is the fact that though Acts says Paul was in Ephesus for some time (Acts 19:8, 10) there is no record of an imprisonment there.

Paul was imprisoned for at least two years at Caesarea (Acts 24:27), but again that imprisonment does not account for all the statements in Philippians. One of the reasons for objection to Rome as the place of origin was that the distance between Rome and Philippi was too great for all the trips indicated by Philippians. But the distance was just as great to Caesarea. Actually the journey from Rome to Philippi took about forty days. Thus a major objection to a Roman imprisonment, and justification for a Caesarean, is removed.

Two major objections to Rome have to do with the amount of time needed for travel, just discussed, and the change in Paul's travel plans from his announced intention to visit Spain (Rom 15:24, 29) to his intent to visit Philippi (Phil 1:25-27; 2:24). Given Paul's unexpected changes in circumstances due to his arrest and imprisonment (Acts 21), a change of intent should not be found too surprising.

Though Rome cannot be proved to be the place from which Paul wrote, it does seem to fit the circumstances better than the alternatives. If from Rome, the date of writing was probably the early 60s. While holding this view, students still should not close themselves to evidence suggesting other possibilities. Despite the details in Acts and his biographical statements in the letters, there is still a great deal we do not know about Paul's activities.

REASONS FOR WRITING

Hawthorne lists a number of reasons Paul wrote this letter. From his list we may select the following as the most obvious.

First, there was the matter of Epaphroditus and the gift sent to Paul by his hand. Paul wished to respond to their generosity (4:10-20). He also wished to allay their apprehensions about Epaphroditus (2:25-30), with whom he doubtless sent the letter.

Second, he took the opportunity to share certain news about himself and his situation. He especially told them of a problem he faced because some brethren hoped to create trouble for him by preaching Christ out of envy and rivalry (1:14-18). At the same time he addressed the issue of his imprisonment and his possible future (1:19-30; 2:24).

Third, he wished to address a serious problem of division within the church. He names two women (4:2), but we suspect the problem was of wider dimension. There are touches throughout the book directed to this need, but it is addressed most powerfully in 2:1-11.

Fourth, Paul wished to warn about those he calls "dogs," "men who do evil," and "mutilators of the flesh" in 3:2. Later in the chapter he laments about "enemies of the cross" ( v. 18).

EMPHASES

In addition to these central purposes there are certain notes sounded throughout the book which can enrich pursuit by the serious student. The joy motif through the book has been often observed (cf. the reference at 1:4). Though some have argued the church was a joyful one, we believe that not to have been the case. Paul's repeated exhortations indicate their lack of joy, and we suppose that a capturing of the "joy of the Lord" would go far to resolving the Philippians' problems.

Another noteworthy emphasis is the repeated use of the forms of the root fron- ( phron ; references at 1:7). From examining these it can be discerned how Paul's call was for a whole approach to life, not just to superficial thought or action. Study of this term makes it clear that Christianity was a deep and total commitment to the Lord and to a way of life.

In addition the reader might examine the texts listed under "all" (1:1), "partnership" (1:5), and "in the Lord" (4:1).

DEVOTIONAL TEXTS

Some of the great devotional New Testament texts are found in Philippians (see 1:21; 2:5-11,12f; 3:7-11; 4:4-7,8f, and 11-13). Often these verses are taken out of context, and are given an independent existence. We note this to stress the fact that Paul did not write Philippians (or any letter) so it could be the subject of a commentary - though commentaries have real value. To follow Christ meant to live a life, not to judiciously make detailed observations about grammar, word meanings, syntax, etc. So if a commentary enhances understanding, that is a noble thing. But understanding may stop short of salvation. As Paul wrote to enhance discipleship, so this author hopes this work will have the same effect! To God be the glory!

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PHILIPPIANS

Beare, F.W. The Epistle to the Philippians . London: Adam and Charles Black, 1959.

Bruce, F.F. Philippians . Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1983.

Craddock, Fred. Philippians . Atlanta: John Knox, 1985.

Harrell, Pat. The Letter of Paul to the Philippians . Austin: Sweet, 1969.

Hawthorne, Gerald. Philippians . Waco: Word Books, 1983.

Martin, Ralph. Philippians . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987.

Melick, Richard. Philippians, Colossians, Philemon. Nashville: Broadman, 1991.

O'Brien, Peter. Philippians . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991.

Saunders, Ernest. First Thessalonians, Second Thessalonians, Philippians, Philemon . Atlanta: John Knox, 1981.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV