"Home is the nicest word there is." ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder
In love with Jesus. Wife to my best friend & man I love more than life. Mama to 4 amazing God given blessings. Proud Homemaker & Homeschooler. Living life with it's ups and downs and blogging about it!

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Philippians 2:12-18

Finally getting around to posting my notes and the NLT study bible notes that I have on this passage of scripture! So sorry that it took me so long!

Be the People God Wants You to Be

12My dear friends, you have always obeyed. You obeyed God when I was with you. It is even more important that you obey now while I am not there {to help you}. You yourselves must live in a way that moves you toward your salvation. Do this with respect and fear for God. 13Yes, God is working in you. God helps you want to do the things that please him. And he gives you the power to do these things.
14Do everything without complaining or arguing. 15Then you will be innocent and without anything wrong in you. You will be God’s children without fault. But you are living with evil people all around you who have become very bad. Among those people you shine like lights in the dark world. 16You offer those people the teaching that gives life. So I can be happy when Christ comes again. I can be happy because my work was not wasted. I ran in the race and won.
17Your faith makes you give your lives as a sacrifice F13 in serving God. Maybe I will have to offer my own blood (death) with your sacrifice. But if that happens, I will be happy and full of joy with all of you. 18You also should be happy and full of joy with me.


We have to be very careful about what we believe and how we live, especially while on our own. It's easier when you have Christian leaders there with you. When they are not, we must be even more diligent about focusing our attention on Christ. That way, we won't be sidetracked.

vs. 13- God wants to be beside us when we struggle to obey Him. He helps us have the desire to obey him and gives us the power to do so.

I don't know about you, but I don't often ask God to help me desire to do His will! Maybe we should ask this of Him more often?

To be like Christ we have to 1st; think like Christ. (NLT)

We need (NLT)
a. the power of the indwelling spirit (1:19)
b. the influence of faithful Christians who are living in obedience to God's word
c. Sacrificial service

When we start doing God's will, we start desiring to do His will (4:8,9)
when we do what God wants, he will change us.

vs.14- If all that people see and hear about your church is that it's members constantly argue, complain, and gossip, they get a false impression of Christ and the Gospel.
Belief in Christ should unite us. If your church is always complaining and arguing it lacks the unity of Christ Jesus. Stop arguing and complaining and let the world see Christ ( I am going back and studying this in better detail; this really speaks to my heart right now)

14-16- Purity, Patience, Peacefulness

These three things should be the characteristics of our life. We should shine brightly with our transformed lives. Most times our light is dulled by arguing and gossiping.

17- Paul regarded his life as a sacrifice: Is this how we view our lives?

18- We should be happy when Christ is glorified. We should be willing to give our lives to do that.

I think that last verse there just about says it all. We should be willing to give our lives for the glory of Christ. That gives me A LOT to think about.
I don't know when I will post on Philippians next. I am not going to say a specific time because I have had to eat my words so many times about that already with everything that's going on right now. However, it will be in the next couple of days so just keep reading! Ya'll are keeping me going right now, I can't tell you how much that means to me. :o)

Love and Prayers,

JULIE

2 comments:

Denise said...

12. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed,. With Christ's obedience as their guide and with His exaltation as encouragement, the Philippians had been faithful from the very beginning. Not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence,. In this parenthetical statement, Paul's says their obedience was even now more evident in his absence. Here were people for whom it was not necessary for Paul to be in their midst watching over them in order for them to be faithful to the Lord. Here were Christians who were serious about what they were during. This is why this letter is called the epistle of joy. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;. The Greek word translated “work out” means “to perform, accomplish, achieve, or complete.” The word “own” emphasizes the personal responsibility each Christian has concerning his own salvation. Having been saved by grace through faith, the Philippians were going to complete their salvation by continuing in obedient faith to the will of the Lord. This obedient faith would be properly motivated by fear and trembling. In Isaiah 66:2, the Lord said, “But on this one will I look, On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who tremble at My word.” In Paul's letters, these two words occur together in three other places and always refer to obedience (I Corinthians 2:3; II Corinthians 7:15; and Ephesians 6:5). This fear is of the greatness of the task we have been given and the consequences of failure. When it comes to the instructions of the Lord, the Christian must be very careful about what he is or is not doing: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (II Corinthians 10:12). “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. (2) For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, (3) how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation...” (Hebrews 2:1-3). This fear and trembling is the caution and circumspection that shrinks away from whatever would offend and dishonor the Godhead. This is not to be confused with the fear that has torment, which perfect love casts out (I John 4:18). On the contrary, the fear and trembling of this passage helps us demonstrate our love for God by keeping His commandments (cf. I John 5:2,3).

13. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for {His} good pleasure. When one is obedient to the word of the Lord, God is working in and through this person to do His good pleasure. The term “good pleasure” comes from a Greek word meaning will or choice. It is God's word that produces in us both “to will” (the motivation) and “to do” (the work) His will. Without the word of God and the example of Jesus Christ, the works God prepared beforehand that the followers of His Son would do (cf. Ephesians 2:10) would not be done.

14. Do all things without murmuring and disputing,. The Greek word translated “murmuring” conveys the idea of a secret debate. In other words, complaints and charges made not openly and honestly, but those done behind the scene. This fault had been prevalent in ancient Israel (Exodus 16:7; Numbers 16:41; I Corinthians 10:10), and if it became prevalent in the Philippian church, their good work and name would be sorely effected. The word translated “disputing” means to suspiciously question and doubt. If the Philippians developed this sort of attitude with each other, then wranglings and disputings would arise to wreck spiritual havoc in their midst. Of course, murmuring and disputing could arise against God or their fellow Christians, and the cause would be the “selfish ambition and conceit” of 2:3.

15. That you may become blameless and harmless,. Paul now mentions the basic reason why they should abstain from murmuring and disputing. The word “blameless” addresses itself to moral integrity, which will manifest itself in the sight of others. “Harmless” means unmixed, unadulterated, sincere, and guileless, and represents moral integrity with respect to the mind or heart. Paul was exhorting the Philippians to be upright both in what was seen and unseen, both outwardly, and inwardly. Children of God without fault. The illusion is to animal sacrifice. They were already children of God, but Paul wants to encourage them to go on to perfection (cf. 3:13). In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,. Peter used the word “crooked” in the indictment of his generation (Acts 2:40), and particularly to describe harsh or bad-tempered masters (I Peter 2:18). It means “wicked.” “Perverse” coveys the idea of “distorted” and is a little stronger word than “crooked.” It is used here and in Matthew 17:17 to denote a moral nature all warped and knotted and describes the extreme depravity of a generation that has turned from the truth of God's word. Among whom you shine as lights in the world,. In their crooked and perverse culture, the Philippians were to maintain their moral integrity. They were in the world, but they were not of the world (cf. John 15:19; Romans 12:2).

16. Holding fast the word of life,. As the Philippians “held forth” the word of life, both by example and by teaching, they would be light-bearers. In doing so, they would be pointing men and women to Him who is “the light of the world” (John 8:12). So that I may rejoice in the day of Christ. The Philippians' fidelity will be a source of Paul's rejoicing at the second coming of Christ (cf. 4:1; II Corinthians 1:14; I Thessalonians 2:19). That I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Paul's “run” or “labor” among the Philippians had been to bring them to Christ and encourage them to live in conformity to His will. If they remained faithful, then his labor among them was not in vain.

17. Yes, and if I am being poured out {as a drink offering} on the sacrifice and service of your faith,. Paul, who is imitating Christ, is pouring himself out for the Philippians. If the ultimate sacrifice is required, then he, like Christ, will pour himself out unto death. I am glad and rejoice with you all. In doing so, he will be glad (“filled with joy”). The word translated “rejoice” means “to rejoice together, to congratulate.” Paul is saying he felt genuine personal joy in that his dying would be a means of honoring the faith of the Philippians and goes on to say, “I congratulate you upon it”: i.e., upon the honor occurring to you by my blood being poured on the sacrifice and service of your faith.

18. For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me. Paul wanted the Philippians to see the situation as he saw it. As he “congratulated” the Philippians on the honor his martyrdom would bring their faith, so they were to “congratulate” him on the honor that such a death would bring to his own faith.

I really enjoyed your thoughts on these verses, love you my friend.

Denise said...

Visit my blog sweetie, I have an award for you.

If we don't find Him in the small things, how will we ever find Him in the big ones? ~Elisabeth Elliot