April 22 – Philippians 1:1-11
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all 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 all of you, since I have you in my heart; for 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 all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
Paul loves this church. He writes with incredible tenderness as he opens this letter. It is written to everyone in the Philippian church, all of the saints, the overseers (the bishops or head guys) and the deacons (those who help out the overseers).
Then he prays for grace and peace. We probably skim over this sentence without giving it too much thought, but the Greek words open up so much more emotion. The word ‘charis’ for grace reflects joy that comes with the gift of grace. The word ‘eirene’ for peace is a hope for spiritual contentment. With just a few words he opens this letter with hope for joy in grace and contentment in peace.
The last time Paul had been in this church was probably ten years before this letter was written. He was imprisoned and they were paying close attention to his words. Over and over, though he told them how much joy they brought him.
From the moment that Paul brought them the gospel, these people believed! And he goes on to let them know that their faith in Christ will come about because Jesus is the one who started the ‘good work’ in them. Though Paul was in their midst, preaching the gospel, he refuses to take credit for the work they are doing. It comes from Jesus.
These opening verses proclaim Paul’s love for these people. He longs for them, knowing that they are an active part of his ministry. He prays for them constantly and in this letter, he encourages them to continue on the path they have already begun. They are already filled with love, he prays they will have more. They already search for truth in knowledge and insight; he prays they will grow in this.
When they are filled with righteousness, it will be because of nothing they have done, but will have come from Jesus and this will bring glory to God.
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all 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 all of you, since I have you in my heart; for 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 all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
Paul loves this church. He writes with incredible tenderness as he opens this letter. It is written to everyone in the Philippian church, all of the saints, the overseers (the bishops or head guys) and the deacons (those who help out the overseers).
Then he prays for grace and peace. We probably skim over this sentence without giving it too much thought, but the Greek words open up so much more emotion. The word ‘charis’ for grace reflects joy that comes with the gift of grace. The word ‘eirene’ for peace is a hope for spiritual contentment. With just a few words he opens this letter with hope for joy in grace and contentment in peace.
The last time Paul had been in this church was probably ten years before this letter was written. He was imprisoned and they were paying close attention to his words. Over and over, though he told them how much joy they brought him.
From the moment that Paul brought them the gospel, these people believed! And he goes on to let them know that their faith in Christ will come about because Jesus is the one who started the ‘good work’ in them. Though Paul was in their midst, preaching the gospel, he refuses to take credit for the work they are doing. It comes from Jesus.
These opening verses proclaim Paul’s love for these people. He longs for them, knowing that they are an active part of his ministry. He prays for them constantly and in this letter, he encourages them to continue on the path they have already begun. They are already filled with love, he prays they will have more. They already search for truth in knowledge and insight; he prays they will grow in this.
When they are filled with righteousness, it will be because of nothing they have done, but will have come from Jesus and this will bring glory to God.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment