Philippians 1:11

“Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ- to the glory and praise of God.” -Philippians 1:11

The end of Paul’s prayer is centered on Christian identity. Just before this verse, Paul says his prayer for the Philippians is that they would love (one another and God) in knowledge and insight, coupled with the ability to discern what is best- all because of their citizenship which is in Heaven (Phil. 1:27 TNIV).

Paul often uses fruit as a metaphor for Christian identity. Jesus also used a fruit and corresponding tree analogy to discern what is truly guiding us in our lives. (Luke 6:43-45) Paul’s point is clear: may God make it evident that you are Christian, in Christ (as he often says).

Righteousness is a large term from Paul’s theology. A spirited debate has surfaced in the past few years, not just in academic circles, but also from major league Church leaders, concerning justification and the term ”Righteousness of God.”

On the one hand, there are some who believe that the righteousness of God is thoroughly ‘forensic’ (my term, probably not the best term), meaning that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. When we believe in Jesus, his pure righteousness (which pleases the wrath of God, afterall Jesus was sinless) is ‘imputed’ into us, giving us new life and right standing with God.

On the other hand, some say that the righteousness of God is His faithfulness and patience to fulfilling His promises and covenant. Though the world had turned away from God and it appeared as if His mission to create a new world would be impossible, God stayed with the plan, sealed a new beginning in Jesus (a new Exodus), and we are proof of God faithfulness to that plan upon faith in Jesus.

Well, either way we look at the category of God’s righteousness, one thing remains certain. When we are filled with the fruit of righteousness, we reveal a God who has done something marvelous within us. Our lives are signposts that God is still active and is working within His creation.

May we feel a sense of mission and destiny today. May we bear fruit of God’s righteousness in the Earth.

Philippians 1:10

‘… so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.”

Paul’s prayer is also concerned with the Philippian church to have discernment and purity. These words are used often in Christian discourse.

Discernment is often associated with being able to know what is right and wrong. Paul lists a spiritual gift of ‘discerning between spirits’ (1 Cor. 12:10- also referred to as distinguishing between spirits). Jesus appears to be using discernment in those occasions when tested by the Teachers of the Law about a topic in which they attempt to catch Jesus in an argument. Jesus seems to see right through them. (see Mt. 9:3-5; 22:17-19)

This is an integral prayer for the Philippians. The whole letter illustrates this peculiar place that the Philippians found themselves. They were citizens of Heaven, yet still alive on earth (Phil. 3:20), and that they would remain pure in the midst of a wicked and depraved generation. (Phil. 2:15) Paul’s theology is consistent; there are 2 worlds co-existing (the current age that is expiring and the new age to come inaugurated in Jesus’ resurrection). Therefore, in the interim, be careful to live as if the new age to come has already come fully.

Paul’s desire for them to be pure and blameless until the day of Christ seems consistent as well. The Christian faith is not a plugin for when we finally arrive in the fullness of God. The Christian message is that God has come and is coming, therefore get on with living as part of this new Kingdom. The Christian life is not something to ‘patch up’ when we finally arrive, but to live as if the Day is already here.

This prayer of Paul’s is encouragement for today. Our American culture has hatched its own “Hindu Christianity”, mixing and matching whatever we feel like to the parts of Christianity that we like more than other parts. (i.e. I like the idea of God’s love but not all this talk about sin) We are in the same peculiar position of the Philippian believers. We need discernment and encouragement to stay pure, to discover what this life lived with Jesus is all about, and what it is not about.

May we have that wonderful discernment and purity today.

More than Devotions… Philippians 1:9

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight…” Phillipians 1:9

Being a part of the Evangelical world will convince us that the only, not just primary, way to know God is to read the Bible everyday and spend time in prayer. As a pastor I will ask people how their spiritual life is going and they will respond by measuring their Bible and prayer time. If they are reading and praying they are doing ‘good’. If they are not reading and praying they still say they are ‘good’, but the awkwardness gives the truth away.

On top of that, I’ve met more than a few people in my life who are familiar with the Bible, can tell you where most references are, and have huge, leather-cover Bibles… but may also have anger issues, their marriages are falling apart, they are highly critical, and bullies.

We can’t always draw a straight line from knowing about the Bible (regular devotions and study) and spiritual growth (becoming like Jesus). Jesus even said that the greatest distinction of His people would be that they love one another. (John 13:34-35)

Note: I am not saying devotions are unimportant. I love the Bible, I study it with ferocity. I pray every day, for people and for issues in my life. I’m also aware of how we can come to know God in other ways alongside Bible study.

Paul’s prayer for the Philippians begins with a hope that their “love would abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.” The ‘knowledge and depth of insight’ may come from reading God’s word and meditating on it for our lives, but love doesn’t attach itself in our lives without actually loving, i.e. learning more about love will not make us better at loving.

Dallas Willard often gauges how his spiritual walk is going by answering 2 questions:

“Am I growing more or less easily irritated these days?”

“Am I growing more or less easily discouraged these days?”

These questions will allow us to discover if we are (as Jon Ortberg says) one the one hand “Selfishly Unloving”, or on the other hand, “Radiantly Loving”.

I hear all the time, “I need to go deeper in my walk with God.” Some have criticized the church for not having enough deep teachings/sermons/etc… I believe that the church should be passionate about understanding the depths of Scriptures. I also believe that a person can experience the depth of the work of Jesus by helping those who are in need, loving their enemies, etc…

Let’s be honest, we are not lacking in ways to get people more information about the Bible. My question is, how many Beth Moore bible studies, spiritual gifts tests, small group studies, sermon series presentations is it going to take before we start putting some plays into action?

The question I’m asking myself, and others, today is “How willing are you to love?” This, in my opinion, may be a more honest place to start than “how is your Bible reading and prayer time going?”

Philippians 1:9a

“And this is my prayer…” Philippians 1:9a

Paul not only has affection for the people of Philippi (1:8), but he also prayed for them often. Before we lists off his prayer, I was taken back by the fact that Paul was in constant prayer for these people. Paul would think about them often and he had a prayer for them specifically.

This challenged me in how I prayed for people I know. I heard of a person who was asked about their prayer life, how it was, what they did for prayer, etc. He said that sometimes you have a prayer life (prayer that occurs as a discipline at certain times of the day, set times, etc…) and then there are times when you live a life of prayer (your prayer with God is like breathing, it seems that every spare moment is turned upward towards God). Out of the two, I hope that I have a life of prayer.

That’s what it appears to be going on with Paul as he is in jail, thinking about his life, what would happen to him, etc… It was in those moments when he would think about the Philippians and know exactly how to pray for them.

Thoughts:

- Do we have a prayer life or a life of prayer? (note: a prayer life is not bad at all, though it seems I am putting one above the other. The point is, are we communicating with God and allowing Him to speak to us?)

- Do we know the people that we pray for at a level that we know exactly how to pray for them? Is there a prayer you have for your wife, kids, co-workers, etc…?

Philippians 1:3-8

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all of my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

It is right for me to feel this way about you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for you with the affection of Christ Jesus.”

I’m sure it was hard for Paul not to play favorites as he planted churches in different places during his missionary campaigns. As noted earlier, Philippi may have been the first church Paul planted in all of modern-day Europe. I can imagine the hope that he had for this first church in a new area. It wasn’t that they were legitimately his favorite, but it would be hard not to concentrate on the progress of the Philippian church.

So, Paul starts his introduction to this letter with thanksgiving for the believers. He prays with joy when he prays for them, and thanks them for their ‘partnership in the gospel.’ Partnership is ‘koinania’ or fellowship or commonwealth. Paul assumed that these folks were with him always. Every time he ministered (anywhere) they shared in God’s grace with him (see. Phil. 1:7-8).

This is incredible for me to imagine. Paul allows others to receive credit for the things he is doing, even though they are miles away, and we can also conclude, that there were people in Philippi among the believers that Paul hadn’t even met before.

In another place, Paul reminds us that we are one body. If one part of the body suffers, we all suffer and if one part rejoices, we all rejoice. (1  Corn. 12:26) We see Paul’s person application of this idea here. The Philippians were helpful during Paul’s imprisonment (perhaps sending money, food, provisions while he was in prison), and Paul was an encouragement to them, helping them discover the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A couple of musings and thoughts here:

1. It is important for us to stay connected to the church within our own walls. How well do you and I know the people that we share Sunday morning worship times with? My encouragement would be to join a small group/community/house church/Lifegroup that will be able to help us stay connected to one another.

2. It is important for us to stay connected to the church universal. One of the creedal distinctives of Christianity is that the church is universal (lower “c” catholic church from the Nicene creed). Today I watched a video on Cornerstone Church’s website (home of Francis Chan) that illustrated the horrific treatment of pastors, missionaries, and believers in India. Watch the video here (note: it is the first video on the right side of the screen) The video stirred me to pray for India and to search my own life about how committed I am to Jesus Christ. I experienced the church universal through the video.

Philippians 1:2

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

I read an article from Al Hsu in Christianity Today where he speaks about this pattern of greeting from the Apostle Paul. He contends that this greeting was not given carelessly, but intentionally.

‘Grace to you’ was a common Greek greeting and Peace (shalom) was a common Jewish greeting. The meta theme of many of the NT writings was this idea that God is making one family out of Jews and non-Jews (Greeks, Gentiles, all non-Jews). A good treatment of this is idea is Ephesians 1-3.

Paul’s greeting was not isolationistic, “Grace to you Greeks and Peace to you Jews.” His greeting was intentionally communal. He was saying, ‘this is to everyone that is Jesus Christ.”

A beautiful thing about the message of Jesus is that it is relevant to all and is transferable to every culture. Tim Keller, in his book The Reason for God, reminds us that Christianity is the only major world religion that has migrated from its beginning (from Palestine to Rome to Europe, to the Americas, to the ends of the Earth). Jesus died for everyone.

May we find community among those not like us. May our stories have different origins of beginning, but a common ending… Christ in all.

Charis humin kai eirene (Grace and peace to all of you)

Philippians 1:1

“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus. To all of God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons.”

Background on Philippians

The Church in Philippi was special to Paul, they were perhaps the 1st church that he planted in modern day Europe. Paul visited this church often (4:15-16). One of the reasons he wrote them was to let them know that Epaphroditus (from Philippi who accompanied Paul) was recovering from illness.

Paul wrote them to alleviate fears of his imprisonment for the gospel (Phil. 1:12-14), and to encourage them to continue to grow in the faith, even though they had significant success.

Philippi

Philippi was a colony of the Roman Empire, meaning they were Roman occupied, but were several miles away from Rome. They were Roman territory, but were far away (important concept to remember for the book…).

This verse speaks to me in a couple of ways:

1. Paul and Timothy are servants (gk. douloi- lit. slaves). The 1st century world was ran by slavery. People became slaves after being conquered during war times or unable to pay debts. The NT word doulos refers metaphorically to a person committing completely to another. Paul and Timothy were massive leaders in the Church. Their leadership, however, seemed different than what we’d expect, for they considered themselves committed slaves to Jesus. In this context, it is hard to make a name for oneself because of a leadership position. They didn’t seem to care about what the ‘business card’ said. They wanted to bring glory to God, and not to themselves.

2. Paul calls the Philippians ‘God’s holy people’. The doctrine of Justification declares someone righteous before God, not on his/her own merit, but because of God’s gift to him/her. The Philippians, though they were amazing examples of Christians, were not holy practically… they were positionally.

Thoughts and Musings

Are we servants (doulos) for Jesus? Are we dedicated solely to serving God?

How grateful are we because we know (as Christians) we are a holy person because of God’s gift to us? What should that do within us?