Commentaries

March

March 1

Chapter 1, Verse 24, “But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.”

We now live in a temporary, part-time society and so does a lot of the rest of the world. If something doesn’t work out–to suit us–we just pack up, walk away, and leave. Marriages dissolve, families explode, businesses close without so much as a fight to keep things together. Why is that? Somewhere, sometime, somehow, self became way too important or, as Spock would say, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.” It used to be that we looked out for one another; now we run over each other. Selfishness will always cause us to forget how to love. Paul’s conclusion was really just a selfless act in light of his review of circumstances. Remain, in this context, ἐπιμένειν, epimenien, means to continue on with persistence that suits the objective. Or more simply, don’t give up and don’t quit. Stay the course to bring the greatest benefit to those around you. Paul did and I will.

March 2

Chapter 1, Verse 24, con’t, “But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.”

Speaking about “in the flesh” in the bible is sometimes pejorative, but not always. Jesus struggled in the flesh at the temple and in the garden–neither event was sinful. King David was in the flesh when he took Bathsheba–that one was definitely sinful. And there is the rub. The flesh we carry is full of sin. I don’t believe for a minute that Paul was being sinful, but he was indicating this struggle that every true believer faces. Remaining in the flesh, as over against going to heaven, means we keep all our aches, pains, and temptations with us and have to continue to battle sin every day we live. For Paul, and for me, the battle is worth the risk because every day in the flesh is another opportunity to represent God and his Kingdom. And the only way to do that is–in the flesh.

March 3

Chapter 1, Verse 24, con’t, “But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.”

ἀναγκαιότερον, anankaioteron, “is more necessary,” according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, has the precise meaning of “what ought according to the law of duty to be done, what is required by the condition of things.” OK, so what? My simple render would be, “after careful consideration.” Paul weighed the cost of both options. Cost to whom? Certainly, not to himself. No, he was thinking about all the new disciples in the church who needed his counsel even if they didn’t realize it. We would do well to think that way. God wants us to be other-centered, not self-centered. Sometimes that requires a measure of sympathy but more often than not, it requires empathy. We just need to open our eyes and learn to identify the heartfelt needs of others and find our plan in God’s plan to help meet those needs.

March 4

Chapter 1, Verse 24, con’t, “But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.”

The little greek preposition δι’, de (from διά), with ὑμᾶς, umas, “you,” has a big meaning. It can be rendered “as though,” “by,” “out of,” “because of,” “on account of,” and even “therefore,” or “wherefore,” depending on context. Here, though, it means “for the sake of–you,” or, for your sake. That, obviously, means “for your benefit.” That is really Paul’s whole argument summarized. Whether he lived or died, all the while being a vocal witness for Jesus, the word, the kingdom of God, and most importantly, the gospel, his focus was other-centered, not self-centered. Over and over, Paul encourages us to care. But how? We must do it by investing our time and money in people with a clear focus on winning them to Christ. Give more instead of buying more so we build God kingdom instead of our own.

March 5

Chapter 1, Verse 25, “Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith.”

Well, there you go, the end of the matter. Paul was convinced. Who convinced him? The Roman guard? One of his disciples who visited him? No, it was God. Surprise, surprise. Paul listened to God over all the voices around him, He said, πεποιθὼς, pepoithōs, “having been persuaded of.” He was persuaded by what was trustworthy. He prayed, God answered. The Lord persuades a believer who is yielded to him to be confident in his preferred will; not what I/we want, but what God wants for us. So, it was and is a matter of obedience. “God, right here is what I really want to do, but I would rather do your will than my own.” Get it? Sometimes, just like here in Paul’s life, God had to do some persuading to help Paul realize the greatest need. I need that sort of persuasion all the time.

March 6

Chapter 1, Verse 25, con’t, “Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith.”

At least for the moment, Paul was convinced that an exit to heaven was not going to happen. But he didn’t just say he would stay as an opposite to leaving. He said he would remain, μενῶ, meno, which carries with it the idea of endure, as in put up with whatever circumstances might arise so as to not break fellowship with those who depended on him as a spiritual mentor, albeit at a distance for those outside Rome. One very spirited preacher/pastor I know has said, “Life is hard whether you go in God’s direction or not; choose your hard.” And so we do. Either choose the hard life of going your own way that leads to hell or go the hard way of God that leads to peace and heaven. Remain by those who need you for as long as you can. You may be the only hope they have of knowing Jesus.

March 7

Chapter 1, Verse 25, con’t, “Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith.”

Remain and continue. What is the difference since they both come from the same Greek word, μενῶ, meno, “I will remain,” and παραμενῶ, parameno, “will continue with?” The first, already discussed, is about staying instead of leaving so as to continue having influence. The second has to do with being engaged as in continuing to have a close working relationship. Sometimes, even when we know we can continue to have influence in someones life, the difficulties we face in doing so causes us to leave and quit the relationship because of the mental anguish involved. And this is usually for one of two reasons: 1) they just don’t ever seem to get it or, 2) they just don’t care. When our helping isn’t helping, what do we do? Keep trying to help until God makes it clear it is time to move on. And that is hard, too.

March 8

Chapter 1, Verse 25, con’t, “Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith.”

Progress and joy, progress and joy. Paul links them together. Why? He does so because the more you do the first one, the more you will have the second one. Progress, προκοπὴν, prokopen, means advancing by chopping down anything that stands in the way. For the believer, this means going forward in sanctification, Christ-likeness; cutting through obstacles by God’s power. A lot of time, we forget that growing in Christ is not just about learning the right way to live. Because we still deal with sin in our lives, we have to learn how to avoid the things in our lives that trigger moving backwards, going in reverse toward the habits that set us back. In our quest to be more like Jesus, we have to remember that if we are not moving forward, we might get left behind.

March 9

Chapter 1, Verse 25, con’t, “Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith.”

Sometimes it seems hard to find joy in anything. Akin to the word for rejoice in this verse, joy means to be glad about something. It should not, however, be confused with happiness. Happiness always changes with circumstances, like winning versus losing or getting a promotion instead of getting passed over. Joy, part of the fruit of the Spirit, is a mindset that comes from God giving us victory over circumstances and allows us to have a positive attitude in the midst of what might be considered a bad circumstance. Joy in the Lord allows us to persevere, and when we can do that, a bad day or week or month cannot rob us of God’s peace, our gladness of heart. Paul was staying around for their joy in faith. Faith can be very difficult at times, having it, keeping it, living it. His encouragement would help the believers around him and in cities far way maintain their joy even if living for God was, for whatever reason, contentious.

March 10

Chapter 1, Verse 26, “so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.”

Paul was not at all suggesting that their primary glory, boasting, rejoicing, or confidence was in or because of him. Clearly, Jesus is and was the reason they could do all those things. But, we must remember that if we are walking with God in a manner that reveals him and honors him through the power of the Spirit, honor will, as it should, come our way. That is not boasting in ourselves; it is the result of boasting in Christ. I want my life to really count for Jesus. The only way I know how to do that is to be an example for him and risk any accolades that may come my way while guarding against pride to keep the focus off myself. To do otherwise will cause me, you, anyone to get puffed up and then when pride arises. . .well, you know the result–pride comes before a fall.

March 11

Chapter 1, Verse 26, “so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.”

What does it mean to glory in Jesus? The word glory, καύχημα, kauchema, is “boasting,” as it is in the NIV, “pride” in the NAS and NLT, and “rejoicing” in the KJV. Each translation offers insight. In this case, I believe “your pride in Christ Jesus,” NAS is best–assuming we know how to handle the idea of pride. The bible warns us about pride when it puts us at odds with God. That sort of pride always happens when we think our accomplishments happened without God, as in, “I did it myself.” Being overly self-confident will almost always lead to sinful pride. That is not what Paul was talking about. Rather, he was referring to a gladness of heart that causes us to brag about the goodness of God over everything else. God’s goodness is all around us even we we are not paying attention. When we do recognize his goodness, we should absolutely take pride and boast about it.

March 12

Chapter 1, Verse 27, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.”

My manner of life is how I live in front of others, my words, my deeds, how I treat others, where I go, and especially what I say and do in regard to God. πολιτεύεσθε, politeuesthe, “conduct yourselves,” or “let your conversation be,” is a verb that means to behave as a citizen or to avail yourself to or recognize the law; hence, pledge yourself to a certain law of life. In this case, it means to live a life that pleases God by modeling our affairs after the life of Christ. I believe Paul’s intent was to remind us to love one another as Christ loves the church. After all, we do have dual citizenship, here and in heaven where love reigns supreme.

March 13

Chapter 1, Verse 27, con’t, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.”

This is the fifth and most descriptive of six “gospel” mentions in chapter one. It is not just any gospel, but the gospel of Christ. So, what exactly is the gospel of Christ? 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 is where Paul flat out explains it saying, “Christ died for our sins. . .was buried. . .he was raised on the third day.” Jesus, who is the Christ, is fully God and fully man (John 1:1-14), he was born of a virgin (Luke 2:1-22), he never sinned (1 Peter 2:22), he gave his life as a ransom for sin (1 John 3:16, John 3:1-18), defeated death and called us to salvation (2 Timothy 1:9-10). This salvation is a gift that cannot be earned (Ephesians 2:8-9) and is received through repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10) and faith in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). The result of salvation is eternal life (John 3:16) and a life in which we serve God by serving others through good works directed by God (Ephesians 2:10) This is God’s only plan and there is no other.

March 14

Chapter 1, Verse 27, con’t, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.”

Most people do not think about or know that there are many spirits at work in the world. Evil is represented by demons that infect the minds of those without Christ. And further, some of these demons come after God’s children, and seek them, on behalf of the father of lies (and demons), Satan. He wants to destroy people of faith and prevent people from coming to faith through chaos and confusion. God, on the other hand, has one plan, one spirit, and only one idea in mind: unity. Christian unity is simply God’s people moving together for the advancement of the gospel to see people come to faith in Jesus while learning how to be more like Jesus so that the world can see that unity. His vehicle for this is the local church reaching their community with the good news.

March 15

Chapter 1, Verse 27, con’t, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.”

The question can be asked, “Isn’t this the same thing as one spirit?” Being of one spirit is about being led by God. Having one mind is about acting on what God leads us to do. We are not robots; God expects us to think through our various assignments based on how he has gifted us. When we recognize our gifts from the spirit and strive to do the work he assigns us, the results honor his kingdom and bring people in touch with God’s love and his desire for them to be saved. We don’t all think the same things or even at the same pace. But when our minds are focused on Christ, we end up at the same place–winning the lost and growing the kingdom while we work through the local church for the good of all those around us–certainly for the lost, but especially for the good of the redeemed.

March 16

Chapter 1, Verse 27, con’t, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.”

συναθλοῦντες, synathlountes, is a compound word. Its component parts, συν, soon, means together and αθλέω, athleo, means to wrestle or contend–to engage or compete in an athletic contest. I am tempted to give it a contextual meaning of trying to out do one another, which, when talking about serving God for the benefit of others, is not a bad idea. But, I think it better to consider this an expression of locking arms while we labor together, sweating our way to the goal of Kingdom growth, pushing and pulling each other along to remain strong and not give up. I remember as a runner that I always do my best when competition is present. And since Paul is known for using running as a biblical metaphor, I believe at some level this is what he had in mind.

March 17

Chapter 1, Verse 27, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.“

What were the people to be striving (wrestling) for? The faith of the gospel. Consider two things. First, faith, biblical faith is not something I conjure up on my own. Like grace, it is a gift from God. I do not have the intelligence or resolve to cause faith to make any sense at all. In fact, faith is neither reasonable or rational apart from God. And yet I have it because God put it in me. The faith I have from God is present for a reason. That is the second thing. This faith gives me the ability to believe way beyond my understanding There is a bunch of stuff in the bible that no one will ever prove by reason or science. I have the power to believe by faith–and not by sight. The more I am in the word, the deeper my faith grows. As faith deepens, it grows stronger. As I exercise my faith, I am able to ward of the world and stand against Satan’s onslaught because my faith is great than my fear.

March 18

Chapter 1, Verse 28, “and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.”

Paul instructed his readers using a word that only appears here in the New Testament; πτυρόμενοι, ptyromenoi, “frightened” (KJV), “alarmed” (NAS). The bible tells us to have no fear. What is the difference? Fear is a mindset that malingers, hangs on, and affects life in general. Fearful people avoid any situation that may frighten them. So, being frightened is episodic, usually brought on by some confrontation. Here, Paul clearly admonishes readers to not let such actions deter them. When the enemy of the Kingdom attacks, do not react. Rather, respond with the strength that comes from the Holy Spirit. Or, Like Jesus said, “Satan, get thee behind me.” We, too, can stand up to evil if we just will.

March 19

Chapter 1, Verse 28, con’t, “and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.”

τῶν ἀντικειμένων, tone antikeimenon, “those opposing you,” also adversaries, enemies, is not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you are not given to being fearful just because someones disagrees with you and might be vocal about it. Why? It should be obvious if you are a true believer in Jesus. The thought of opposition pushes you to do two things–get closer to God and learn more from the word (2 Timothy 2:15). You cannot very well mount an argument for the truth (Jude 1:3) if you are not well-versed in what it says. Not only that, but having adversaries causes you, or should cause you, to seek out other believers who can help you (Proverbs 27:17). When you step out and are willing to fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12), you will find yourself in the enviable position of having others listen and join the struggle.

March 20

Chapter 1, Verse 28, con’t, “and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.”

Opponents, adversaries, enemies of the faith generally try to bully their way into convincing Jesus followers to be/feel guilty. My response to bullies has almost always been to punch them in the mouth, of course, but that is no better than being a bully itself. Paul tells us to overcome them by being fearless. Fearless is hard, maybe harder than throwing a punch. But, in God’s economy, it is necessary to overcome evil. That is why Jesus stopped Peter when he cut off Malchus’ ear at his arrest. Jesus showed fearlessness all the way to the cross. Our ability to stand without fear in the face of disagreement with the truth depends on our knowledge of the truth and our level of faith in the power of God over our foes.

March 21

Chapter 1, Verse 28, con’t,”and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.“

Here is the real beauty of living life for Jesus as an overcomer. When we become a true believer in Jesus as Savior and Lord, we learn that nothing can separate us from God’s love, nothing. We understand the notion of salvation as a gift from God and that we played no part in it. God provided it through Jesus on the cross, he shows us our need of it by his word and the testimony of others, he convicts us of the need for it, he draws us to himself to the point of repentance, and he even gives us the faith to receive it. It is all from God and no on can take it away (nor can we jettison it–who would want to do that). So, truly, whether by death or rapture, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

March 22

Chapter 1, Verse 29, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.”

When I think about a grant, it is a sum of money given that I didn’t work for to do something I did ask for. Here, the grant is an opportunity. It is a divine consent to carry out a function that maybe you didn’t see coming your way. And isn’t that just like God? He can be full of surprises. Life is going along just fine and, boom, God seem to throw a monkey wrench in the cog wheels of an otherwise well-oiled machine. Should we expect anything less from God? Remember, to whom much is given. . .much will be required (Luke 12:48). But also remember, when God grants opportunity, he paves the way to success by providing his resources and strength to answer the call.

March 23

Chapter 1, Verse 29, con’t, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.”