Peritemnein ( G4059) means to circumcise; katatemnein means to mutilate, as in Leviticus 21:5, which describes forbidden self-mutilation, such as castration. Yet there is not one of these things that has not become the ruin of souls; and there are none that ought to know this better than those I am addressing this night. Click to enable/disable _gid - Google Analytics Cookie. Hence he desired that their conversation should be as became such zeal; "that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; and in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.". When the distinction of the resurrection of the just from that of the unjust got lost in Christendom, and all were merged in the error of one general indiscriminate resurrection, one can understand that people would not feel the impropriety of substituting for (for as to , of which Dr. B. speaks, it exists in no document whatever). "It pleased God," wrote the father, "not to cut him off in his sins. "That" (says he, after he had exhorted the Philippians thus to stand,) "I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. Now, immediately after telling them to rejoice in the Lord, he is warning them about the false teachers. The idea is that a man's Christian maturity cannot go beyond martyrdom. This is salvation in truth. There is no getting to heaven as our home but by Christ as our way. So he reaches forth, epekteinomenos--stretched himself forward, bearing towards his point: it is expressive of a vehement concern. "Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation" (he would turn it again to practical profit as to others): "because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.". Click on the different category headings to find out more. People lived and died without ever having heard of Jesus Christ our Lord. 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. "Our conversation is in heaven; from whence we wait for the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour" for this is the true meaning of it. They demanded that they be circumcised and they keep the law of Moses in order to be saved, which Paul called the perversion of the gospel of Jesus Christ.It is interesting that these people usually referred to the Gentiles as dogs. Oh, it is a blessed thing, that in the midst of the sorrows of this world, the Holy Spirit knows how thus to blend the name of Christ, as the sweetest balm, with the sorrow, however bitter, and to make the very memory of the grief pleasant because of Christ, who deigns to let Himself into it all. But in truth it may betray itself in doctrine and practice in various shapes. There is therefore not the slightest ground to countenance the rather dangerous idea, that the apostle did not employ a phrase analogous to the correct one which is found elsewhere in the New Testament, and adopted "a popular and familiar mode of expression," i.e. I had everything going for me as far as righteousness from the law. Teleios ( G5046) in Greek has a variety of interrelated meanings. So far Paul has been stating the privileges which came to him by birth; now he goes on to state his achievements in the Jewish faith. Their happy and bright state in Christ did not dim their fellowship with the gospel. He says that the Lord will circumcise their hearts to make them love him ( Deuteronomy 30:6). There were in the Church at Philippi men whose conduct was an open scandal and who, by their lives, showed themselves to be the enemies of the Cross of Christ. Had He not been God in His own being and title, it would have been no humiliation to be a servant, nor could it be indeed a question of taking such a place. You can check these in your browser security settings. advert as at Romans 4:16, and elsewhere to the state of the persons in question, that state or kind of resurrection unto life of those who have died in the Lord, and whose resurrection will be a resurrection unto life and glory, their bodies being raised incorruptible, and both body and soul united for ever with the Lord. 's critical, scholastic, and exegetic manner. There is a righteousness provided for us in Jesus Christ, and it is a complete and perfect righteousness. 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. 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. She laid the thing out, carefully cut it out, but she really had never sewn anything before. In fact, he had gone beyond. Not seldom do they begin to question whether it can be possible that such a one is really of value to the church of God. WebPhilippians 3:11. The very fact, or way of putting it, supposes Him to be a divine person. Observe, A Christian's calling is a high calling: it is from heaven, as its original; and it is to heaven in its tendency. The archangel is at best but a servant; the highest creature, far from having to stoop in order to become a servant, can never rise above that condition. I can't believe what they did to me. He knew well how much they might be tried by the report of his own imprisonment, and no deliverance coming as yet. Paul did not express doubt by this statement; he asserted a fact. He is exalting Christ. If by any means I, might attain unto the resurrection of. Furthermore the resurrection he said he hoped to attain was still future whereas he had already experienced spiritual resurrection with Christ to newness of life (Romans 6:1-11; Galatians 2:20). WebFee's commentary on Paul's letter to the church in Philippi. Paul had certain people that seemed to follow him wherever he went, trying to pervert that which he taught of the grace of God, especially the Jewish legalizers who sought to bring the people back to a legal relationship with God, putting them under the law. Faith is the ordained means of actual interest and saving benefit in all the purchase of his blood. Timothy shared the unselfishness of the apostle's heart. out-resurrection). (c) It is the guarantee that in life and in death and beyond death the presence of the Risen Lord is always with us. But how can this be unless the heart is perfectly at ease as to itself? "Well, where did you place?" "In nothing," says he, "terrified by your adversaries [this is the other side]: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. It is the personal experience of another person. And thus the name dog the Jews began to apply to the Gentiles. If then, matter is essentially evil, the body is essentially evil and will remain evil whatever you do with it. There is something which ought to be made known unto men, namely, the not fighting for your rights. So, it is rather tragic, because these people are opposed to the life of sacrifice, self-denial, and yet, that is the first step that Jesus said was necessary to be a disciple of His; you have got to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Him.And Paul said, "Follow me; you have me as your example. But still, that is not enough to bring a man an entrance into the kingdom of heaven.Now, here they were going around and trying to tell the Gentile believers that you had to keep the law to be righteous. Considering that he had not already attained, and had not apprehended, he pressed forward: "I follow after (Philippians 3:12; Philippians 3:12), dioko--I pursue with vigour, as one following after the game. Christian joy made Wesley able to accept the great blows of life, and also to greet the lesser discomforts with a jest. Christ was so truly before his heart, that in fact there was no self left unjudged to warp the choice. And therefore, "whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." He had done everything that he was supposed to do according to the law to be righteous. The Philippian congregation was generally a wonderful group of people. At any rate, such is the picture that the Holy Spirit gives of him there. However exanastasis seems to be a very unusual word to use to describe the attainment of Christ-like character. Because I may blow my horn and shake my fist, but the Spirit will say, "Hey, don't you remember you have got a fish emblem on the back of your car? Of the two, the converse would be more intelligible; but my conviction is that both the Lord and His apostle used similar and correct phraseology, as did the Holy Spirit elsewhere. "All that time, Mr. Wesley and I lay on the floor: he had my greatcoat for a pillow, and I had Burkitt's notes on the New Testament for mine. But Paul was certain that the only kind of righteousness there is comes from casting oneself freely upon the grace of God. But it is quite certain that they lived gluttonous and immoral lives and used their so-called Christianity to justify themselves. But our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly await the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, for he will refashion the body which we have in this state of our humiliation and make it like his own glorious body, by the working of that power of his whereby he is able to subject all things to himself. The NIV is more paraphrastic, translating a Greek word with any number of English synonyms to make the English translation more readable. All Commentaries Videos Images Devotionals Other Translations Sermons Related Scriptures Podcasts Blogs. You see, past experience is only valid if it is translated into the present. The moment you look at what He is made, then it is to the glory of Him who thus exalted Him. That which is holy must never be given to dogs ( Matthew 7:6). All rights reserved. By calling himself an Israelite, Paul stressed the absolute purity of his descent. there is no small tendency whenever people know the gospel well, if this be all, to settle down, thinking they have nothing more to do with the matter. "They really did me wrong. This is one of the main features of our chapter. They declared that they were within the grace of God and that, therefore, it did not matter what they did; God would forgive. I agonizo towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God.Paul said, "Don't you realize that they that run in a race run all, only one receives the prize, so run that you may obtain." The word signifies the resurrection in general, both of the just and unjust; may signify that of the blessed only. 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