INTRODUCTION
The Church at Philippi appears to have been one of the purest of the Apostolic age, and beyond any other called out the Apostle’s thankfulness and commendation.
The occasion of the Epistle seems to have been the return of Epaphroditus, who had brought a gift from Paul’s friends in Philippi, but had been seized by a dangerous illness, Paul was a prisoner in his own hired house in Rome and was anticipating his trial before the emperor.
There is nothing controversial in this letter. The peace of God keeps the Apostle’s mind and heart, and out of it pours a tide of deep and tender love. The hope of being alive at Christ’s coming is still his guiding star. His citizenship is in heaven, and all that he has forfeited of earthly wealth and joy is more than compensated for by what he has found in Christ.
OUTLINE OF THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS
TO PRESENT EVERY MAN PERFECT IN CHRIST
HUMAN AND DIVINE RIGHTEOUSNESS CONTRASTED
Warning against Those Who Glory in the Flesh
Paul’s Personal Claim to Legal Righteousness
His Repudiation of All Else for the Righteousness of Christ
7. Why did Paul count as loss everything that had been gain to him?
Righteousness Through Faith in Christ
Finally, my fellow believers, continue to rejoice and delight in the LORD. To write the same things again is no trouble for me, and it is a safeguard for you.
Look out for the dogs [the Judaizers, the legalists], look out for the troublemakers, look out for the false circumcision [those who claim circumcision is necessary for salvation];
for we [who are born-again have been reborn from above–spiritually transformed, renewed, set apart for His purpose and] are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory and take pride and exult in Christ Jesus and place no confidence [in what we have or who we are] in the flesh–
though I myself might have [some grounds for] confidence in the flesh [if I were pursuing salvation by works]. If anyone else thinks that he has reason to be confident in the flesh [that is, in his own efforts to achieve salvation], I have far more:
circumcised when I was eight days old, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews [an exemplary Hebrew]; as to the [observance of the] Law, a Pharisee;
as to my zeal [for Jewish tradition], a persecutor of the church; and as to righteousness [supposed right living] which [my fellow Jews believe] is in the Law, I proved myself blameless.
But whatever former things were gains to me [as I thought then], these things [once regarded as advancements in merit] I have come to consider as loss [absolutely worthless] for the sake of Christ [and the purpose which He has given my life].
But more than that, I count everything as loss compared to the priceless privilege and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord [and of growing more deeply and thoroughly acquainted with Him–a joy unequaled]. For His sake I have lost everything, and I consider it all garbage, so that I may gain Christ,
and may be found in Him [believing and relying on Him], not having any righteousness of my own derived from [my obedience to] the Law and its rituals, but [possessing] that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.
And this, so that I may know Him [experientially, becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Him, understanding the remarkable wonders of His Person more completely] and [in that same way experience] the power of His resurrection [which overflows and is active in believers], and [that I may share] the fellowship of His sufferings, by being continually conformed [inwardly into His likeness even] to His death [dying as He did];
so that I may attain to the resurrection [that will raise me] from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained it [this goal of being Christlike] or have already been made perfect, but I actively press on so that I may take hold of that [perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His own. [1Co_9:24; 1Ti_6:12]
Comments by
F.B.Meyer
On
Philippians 3:1-12
LOSING ALL TO KNOW CHRIST
Precept must be on precept, line on line. The false teachers who dogged Paul’s steps insisted on rigid conformity to Judaism, with its rabbinical accretions, as the condition of being saved by Christ. Paul’s answer was that he had gone through all the requirements of Judaism, but had found it absolutely unsatisfactory and inefficient to subdue the sin of his soul. But in Christ he had found everything he needed. What had been gain to him now seemed but dross. He had found the pearl of great price, and was only too glad to sacrifice all else to purchase and keep it, as the talisman of complete victory.
The essence of Judaism was not external but within. True circumcision was deliverance from the self-life, and that could only be gained by the Cross of Christ. The “Israelite indeed,” like Nathanael, had three traits of character-his worship was spiritual, he gloried in the Crucified, and he was delivered from reliance upon the self-life. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to teach us to know Jesus in the intimacy of personal fellowship, to feel the pulse of His resurrection life, to experience the power of His death, and to realize the whole of His divine program. For this we might be more than content to trample on our boasted pride.
Pastor Jeff Arthur.
Rejoice But Beware Of The Dogs
3 Marks Of Gods People
No Confidence In The Flesh
Be Found In Him.
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