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. I just did a dumb thing, I ran through a red light and hit somebody and I am being sued for a million dollars. Differences there may be among the saints, and especially when we come to the question of experience. It cannot be till the Christ is risen according to the pattern of Christ Himself. So, let this be your mind, let this be your attitude, follow me. It describes him with eyes for nothing but the goal. But there he was soon to experience the faltering of brethren; there he was to see not one standing by him in the hour of his shame and need. Paul said, "I have not yet apprehended that for which I was apprehended. 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. The author of Exalting Jesus in Luke is Thabiti M. Anyabwile Philippians - Ryan Kelly 2014-07-31 The book of Philippians challenges Christians to remember their true identity as citizens of Gods kingdom, especially when faced with difficult circumstances and painful trials. The history of the Jews had dispersed them all over the world. He provides his own life as an example to the Philippians to follow as opposed to the false teachers. They are always looking at their past and doing nothing now. and mark them which walk so as ye have us for your ensample [example]. Observe, The apostle was as ambitious of being sanctified as he was of being justified. "Hey, I tried it before. 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. And so accordingly His servant says here, "If I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour.". But here is the proper experience of a Christian. They are out there, there are many of them. He breaks it completely, becomes conqueror for ever, wins the title for God's grace to deliver righteously every creature, save only those who, far from receiving Christ, dare to reject Him because of that very nature which He took on Him, and that infinite work on the cross which had caused Him suffering to the utmost in working all out for the glory of God. And any moment I could lose it. I just" And living in the past, and being destroyed in the past, and can't go ahead because they are looking backward. Far from losing sight of our past ways, it is a very wholesome thing indeed to remember them: we are never safe in forgetting what we are and have been. "I would, then, that ye should understand, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel." The Lord Jesus not only comes down into the place of servant in love among men, but goes down into the last fortress of the enemy's power. Christ held it forth; nay, more, He was it. It is not at all as the objects of the gospel, but as having fellowship with it, their hearts bound up and identified with all the trials and difficulties that the gospel was sustaining in its course throughout the world. WHAT IT MEANS TO KNOW CHRIST ( Php_3:10-11 ). Abraham and those saints of the Old Testament, the scripture said, confessed that they were just strangers and pilgrims on this earth, that they were looking for the city which hath foundations whose maker and builder is God. He thus takes a common place with his beloved son in the gospel. (ii) Our only boast is in Jesus Christ. The futility of a relationship with God based on the principle of law. They exist; they are there. Hence, says he, "I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. The true Christian worships God, not with outward forms and observances, but with the true devotion and the real sincerity of his heart. Is this the life that is practically exercised? It is not love growing less but more, and this abounding in intelligence and knowledge, which could not be looked for in saints just beginning their career. Close. Does he question the assurance of his salvation? ), . Elsewhere it is God's or divine righteousness. But the moment he has Christ before him thus, he judges according to the affections of Christ, and he looks at the need of saints here below. In affliction, in prison, everywhere. We have only begun to see the work of God; we have only begun to see the glory of God poured out. This filled Paul with sunshine; and he would have others to enjoy the same bright light which the name of Christ cast on every object. And so the models started coming in with all these beautiful dresses showing them off and doing their little stances and all, and a model came in that had a dress that was absolutely gorgeous. Obviously this out-resurrection is something which is capable of many degrees depending on the measure of ones faithfulness. When he received Jesus Christ, as far as they were concerned, he was dead. It was the teaching of these Jews that, if a man wished to be saved, he must earn credit in the sight of God by countless deeds of the law; and, further that salvation belonged to the Jews and to no one else, and that, before God could have any use for him, a man must be circumcised and, as it were, become a Jew. It is of great use in the Christian course to keep our eye upon heaven. It is not the Lord at hand to succour one now and here from time to time. Having died and risen with Christ, he wants to go on and experience in reality what this means - death to sin and selfish desires, and a new life of constant victory through the living power of the risen Christ within him. The words that Paul used seem to indicate that he was thinking of a resurrection from among those who were dead. We worship God in the spirit.Jesus said, "God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.". He passionately longs to reach the final destination and, in no way presuming upon the grace of God, presses on towards that goal (OBrien 413). This is lost in the idea of labouring in it. The hope of the Christian is that the day will come when his humanity will be changed into nothing less than the divinity of Christ, and when the necessary lowliness of mortality will be changed into the essential splendour of deathless life. Following the Jewish Law does not make anyone right in Gods eyes; only faith in Christ does that. Verses 1-21. Do with them as you will, they still defy you But if you will hand over the conflict to Jesus, He will subdue them; He will bring them under his strong, subjecting hand. It was to Israel that they in the most special sense traced their heritage. Did he want more for himself? A Hebrew was a Jew who was not only of pure racial descent but who had deliberately, and often laboriously, retained the Hebrew tongue. "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. God never can fail; and the very trials that would seem to crush all hope for the glory of Christ on the earth are the precise occasions in which God proves that after all it is He alone who triumphs, while man always fails even if he be an apostle. But to one cut off from such work it was, in appearance at least, a heavy burden and an immense trial; but Christ changes all for us. Proud member Whence our grace comes--from our being apprehended of Christ Jesus. This commonly is apt to give occasion for strife as well as vain-glory. They declared that they were within the grace of God and that, therefore, it did not matter what they did; God would forgive. But while he was on his way, just before arriving in Damascus about noontime, there came a light from heaven brighter than the noonday sun. No; but "because that ye had heard that he had been sick." In such places the citizens were mostly soldiers who had served their time--twenty-one years--and who had been rewarded with full citizenship. It is all judged, and its religious form not least, by Christ "Though," says he, "I might also have confidence in the flesh. Nederlandstalige Bijbelstudies door Stan Marinussen, Copyright - Enduring Word       |      . We do not speak of standing in Christ now, but of their allotted services. As he went on, the cheerfulness and composure of his countenance were amazing to all the spectators." It was not a reference to a kindly family pet, but it was a reference to those mean wild dogs that roamed Israel. "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice." But the phrase, the resurrection of the dead, also might be used, in a more limited sense, to denote the resurrection of the righteous as a most desirable object; and this might be secured by effort. What a God is ours, so to treat that which, connected with the world, Christ Himself calls "unrighteous mammon!" . For God had made the world full of life; He "saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good," and Satan apparently won the victory over Him in it. Perhaps he meant he wanted to experience suffering for Christs sake and was even willing to die for Him to arrive at his resurrection in a manner that would enable him to face His master unashamed. Most preachers begin with the serious handicap that they have to say, not, "Do as I do," but, "Do as I say." His goodness can even take this up and thus make it fragrant even to Himself. It is always the power of Satan that is in view here. In Hebrew the verb is yada' ( H3045) and in Greek it is translated by ginoskein ( G1097) . It was such an one, truly the servant of Jesus Christ, and so much the more their servant because His, even their servant for Jesus' sake it was such an one that wrote from Rome to the tried saints at Philippi. Is this your measure of the love of Christ? Why, it was gain. But this is not the character of Christian joy. We expect to eat bread and to drink water every day; and we must listen again and again to the truth which is the bread and the water of life. How lovely that even such a man should speak, not merely of his own prayers, but of theirs, turning all to such account. We cannot know everything that Paul meant by this phrase; but the Resurrection of Christ is the great dynamic in at least three different directions. There are those who are living after their flesh. Is It Ok for Christians to Follow Zodiac Signs? No wonder the apostle was grieved to think of differences among such women as these. At the same time he intimates his value for their love, and takes care that his was independence founded on dependence, an independence of circumstances which finds its strength in simple and absolute dependence upon God. 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." Love feels acutely nothing so much; but it triumphs. I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be [not rejoicing here, but] the less sorrowful." Yes, the power of the resurrection, but you know, you can never know the power of the resurrection until you have, first of all, know the cross. I am the one who would]: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless ( Philippians 3:4-6 ). Thus "forgetting those things which are behind" refers to the progress that we may make. 3:8-9 Yes, and I still count all things loss, because of the all-surpassing value of what it means to know Jesus Christ, my Lord. He says that the Lord will circumcise their hearts to make them love him ( Deuteronomy 30:6). Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. He said he was blameless. 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