Ortlund on Phillipians

In his chapter from For The Fame Of God's Name entitled The Pastor as Worshipper, Ray Ortlund Jr. considers the book of Phillipians and draws out what the Phillipian believers can put their faith in. He writes,

"Taking into account only this letter from the apostle, they have reason to believe that:

• he who began this good work in them will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (1:6);
• they are all partakers of grace together (1:7);
• they are experiencing the affection of Christ Jesus himself through their relationship with Paul (1:8);
• they will be pure and blameless for the day of Christ (1:1O);
• human opposition, far from defeating the gospel, is serving to advance the joyous spread of the gospel (1:12-18);
• should life be lost, Christ is gained (1:21);
• temporary survival is gospel opportunity (1:22);
• to depart and be with Christ is far better than this life (1:23);
• the further one goes with Christ, the more joy one experiences (l:25);
• the gospel of Christ is an uplifting power (1:27);
• opposition to gospel witness presages the doom of the opponents and the glorious destiny of the faithful (1:28);
• it is a God-given privilege to suffer for the sake of Christ (1:29);
• union with Christ brings encouragement, comfort from love, participation in the Spirit, affection, and sympathy (2:1);
• Christ Jesus himself is living proof that the arrogance of this world is doomed and that gospel humility is the path of great reward (2:6-9);
• Jesus is King, and he will have every rational creature in the universe know it and own it, to the greater glory of God the Father (2:10-11);
• the Philippians do not need Paul always present to lead them by the hand; God himself is deeply at work in them (2:12-13);
• knowing Christ Jesus the Lord redefines all trophies of self-exaltation as “rubbish,” for he gives true righteousness and participation in his death and resurrection; he is so superior to all things in this world that, whatever path one may take into the resurrection of the dead, the price to be paid is small in comparison (3:7-11);
• in conversion, Christ Jesus takes eternal possession of the believer (3:12);
• the call of God in Christ Jesus offers a prize far beyond this world, worthy of the believer’s all (3:14);
• to whatever extent any believer struggles to grasp the upward call, God will reveal all that that believer needs revealed (3:15);
• to settle for the rewards of this world is to make oneself an enemy of the cross of Christ and to make a god of one’s earthly appetites, which is the path of destruction and the reversal of a truly human life (3:18-19),
• those who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh also find their citizenship in heaven, from which they await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will raise even their lowly bodies into his immortal glory by his power over all things (3:3, 20-21);
• their names are written in the book of life (4:3);
• the Lord is at hand (4:5);
• God receives the prayers of his people and sends his overruling peace to guard their hearts when the circumstances of life would have them frantic (4:6-7);
• if believers will follow the apostolic example of lovely heavenly-mindedness, they will experience the presence of the God of peace (4:8-9);
• Christ strengthens his people to accept with contentment whatever life may bring (4:11-13);
• when the Philippians support Paul’s ministry, the fruit increases to their own credit (4:17);
• God receives their partnership with Paul as a sacrifice pleasing to himself (4:18);
• God is committed to the Philippians’ own needs with all his riches in glory in Christ Jesus (4:19);
• in it all, God will get glory for himself forever and ever (4:20);
• in the meantime, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ will steadfastly be with their spirit (4:23)." (p411-12)
  

Gordon Fee on Philippians 1:1-2

Philippians 1:1-2

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:

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

Comments on Philippians 1:1-2 by Gordon Fee in Paul's Letter To The Philippians(Fee, Gordon D. Paul's Letter to the Philippians. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1995), a volume in The New International Commentary on the New Testament:

"Paul and Timothy are thus to be thought of as "slaves/servants of Christ Jesus." Here is the absolute predominant motif in this letter. Everything is in, of, by, and for Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus is the basis for their common existence; he is the focus and content of the gospel in which Paul, Timothy, and the Philippians are partners; and he is the Lord, to whom every knee shall bow..." (64)

"Exactly as one finds the earliest (1 Thessalonians) and later (1 Timothy) letters, both reference [to overseers] are plural. No evidence exists for a single leader as the "head" of the local assembly in the Pauline churches." (67)

"It is worth noting that this [Grace to you and peace] is the invariable order of Paul's words, not "grace and peace to you" as in most translations. Very likely there is significance to this order; the grace of God and Christ is what is given to God's people; peace is what results from such a gift." (70)

What if Philippians were our only Bible?

Here is a post by Ray Ortlund Jr from his blog Christ is Deeper Still:

A recent study in Philippians prompted me to wonder, what if this one brief book were our only available Bible? How much would we have to believe and live off of? At least this:

• He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (1:6);
• We are all partakers of grace together (1:7);
• We will be pure and blameless for the day of Christ (1:10);
• Human opposition, far from defeating the gospel, is serving to advance the joyous spread of the gospel (1:12-18);
• Should life be lost, Christ is gained (1:21);
• Temporary survival is gospel opportunity (1:22);
• To depart and be with Christ is far better than this life (1:23);
• The further we go with Christ, the more joy we experience (1:25);
• The gospel of Christ is an uplifting power (1:27);
• Opposition to gospel witness presages the doom of the opponents and the glorious destiny of the faithful (1:28);
• It is a God-given privilege to suffer for the sake of Christ (1:29);
• Union with Christ brings encouragement, comfort from love, participation in the Spirit, affection and sympathy (2:1);
• Christ Jesus himself is living proof that the arrogance of this world is doomed and that gospel humility is the path of great reward (2:6-9);
• Jesus is King, and he will have every rational creature in the universe know it and own it, to the greater glory of God the Father (2:10-11);
• We do not need even an apostle always present to lead us by the hand; God himself is deeply at work in us (2:12-13);
• Knowing Christ Jesus the Lord redefines all trophies of self-exaltation as “rubbish,” for he gives true righteousness and participation in his death and resurrection; he is so superior to all things in this world that, whatever path we may take into the resurrection of the dead, the price to be paid is small (3:7-11);
• In conversion, Christ Jesus takes eternal possession of us (3:12);
• The call of God in Christ Jesus offers a prize far beyond this world, worthy of our all (3:14);
• To whatever extent we struggle to grasp the upward call, God will reveal all that we need revealed (3:15);
• To settle for the rewards of this world is to make oneself an enemy of the cross of Christ and to make a god of one’s earthly appetites, which is the path of destruction and the reversal of a truly human life (3:18-19);
• We who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh also find our citizenship in heaven, from which we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will raise our "vile" (KJV) bodies into his immortal glory by his power over all things (3:3, 20-21);
• Our names are written in the book of life (4:3);
• The Lord is at hand (4:5);
• God receives our prayers and sends his overruling peace to guard our hearts when the circumstances of life would have us frantic (4:6-7);
• As we follow the apostolic example of lovely heavenly-mindedness, we experience the presence of the God of peace (4:8-9);
• Christ strengthens us to accept with contentment whatever life may bring (4:11-13);
• When we support the ministry of the gospel, the fruit increases to our own credit (4:17);
• God receives our gospel partnership as a sacrifice pleasing to himself (4:18);
• God is committed to our own needs with all his riches in glory in Christ Jesus (4:19);
• In it all, God will get glory for himself forever and ever (4:20);
• And in the meantime, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ will steadfastly be with our spirit (4:23).

Makes me wonder, how much more is there in this Bible which I hardly know?