Welcome back to Bible Study Wednesday. We are in the second chapter of the book of Philippians. If you did not start out with me for this study, just take a look at this post here. You can catch up and join us this week. If you are ready to begin, grab your Bible and a notebook. Let's take a moment to invite Holy Spirit to teach us what only He can teach and show us how to apply what we have learned to our lives.
We are starting in Philippians chapter two. There are 30 verses, just like in the first chapter. I am using my Women's Study Bible and will follow the breakdown they use.
Verses 1-11 BE OF ONE ACCORD AND ONE MIND
Paul begins this letter desiring for the church at Philippi to be united. I think if he were to write a letter to the body of believers of Jesus Christ today, especially the church in America as a whole, it would he would not write a different letter than we read in chapter two. He is telling them, as he would tell us today, that his joy is full when he knows they are thinking the same way, loving the same way, in agreement and unity of mind; not allowing anything to be done with arguing and striving but in humility. In chapter one he brought up humility and emphasized the need for each of us to be humble. We should be more concerned with helping meet the needs of those around us than to fulfill our own selfish desires. The unity of mind can only happen when we think like Christ. In verse five Paul writes, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Until we learn to think like Jesus we will not have unity in the body. He is our head and we must line up to His thought patterns and His behavior. We must pattern our way of life after the way He led His. Paul continues this portion of the letter to remind us what Jesus looked like. He was a servant. He was humble. He did not make Himself the main thing, but He continuously pointed everyone to God the Father. He knew Who He was and He knew Who He belonged to. And we see that Jesus also was obedient to the death, even willing to die on the cross for our sins. God has given Him the only name that men can be saved by, the name of Jesus Christ. Verses 11 and 12 say this: "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Understand that God set aside His glory, not His deity. He was still God in the flesh when He dwelt among men. He set aside His privilege and His ability to do whatever He wanted to do. He humbled Himself to become a human being and that was a new concept to many. It was the opposite of what we even see superheroes in cartoons and movies do. Usually the ordinary become extraordinary and do amazing things by becoming something larger than themselves. Instead we see God come down in the form of a man and live in this cruel world to suffer and bleed and die for you and me. It just is not something that any other story or myth or fairy tale would ever come up with. It is a real, true story, though. It actually happened that Jesus left the splendor of glory to come to earth and be a mortal to save all of humanity. Jesus humbled Himself. Why should we not do the same?
The very way that Jesus died, death by crucifixion, was not something a Roman citizen ever had to worry about. They were not ever subject to such a cruel sacrifice. His death carried with a curse according to Deuteronomy 21:23 in the Old Testament which reads, "he that is hanged is accursed of God." Jesus' blood was pure, sinless, perfect, and able to pay the debt of the sins of the entire world. Nothing but the blood of Jesus could ever do that.
Verses 12-18 SHINE AS LIGHTS IN THE WORLD
Verse 12 tells us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Note that it does not say work FOR your own salvation. There is nothing we can do to be saved aside from believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and confessing with our mouths. There is no good deeds, kind thoughts, nice gifts, large sum of money that will ever save us. Those things mean nothing when it comes to being saved. Jesus's blood was shed for the remission of sins and that alone is what can save us. Anything good we do is just to honor our Savior. It is not to save us. We read on and it says that it is God who works in us for His good pleasure. We are told what not to do, as children of God. Verse 14 tells us to do all things without complaining and fighting. We are not supposed to argue over doctrine, gifts of the Spirit, baptism, paying tithes, or anything! The world is watching, desperately seeking something to believe in, and we are fighting and carrying on for them to see and they are walking away, shaking their heads, thinking we are just like them! Friends, we need to show them who Jesus is! Not who we are in our sinful, carnal nature. Let's start bearing fruit of self-control, love, goodness, kindness. Let's show them how wonderful it is to be a child of the Most High God. We are supposed to shine our lights in this messed up, backwards-way-of-thinking world. We are supposed to be lights and beacons for Jesus to pierce the darkness and show the world there is a better way, the ONLY way and His name is Jesus.
Verses 19-24 TIMOTHY'S FAITHFUL SERVICE
Paul tells them he is sending Timothy. He honors who Timothy is. He builds him up and points out his godly character. How do we speak of one another? Do we share our thoughts about others in the body of Christ as honorable and good? May we never tear one another down and tarnish the reputation of another. Paul had hoped to come see the church members but he was sending Timothy, recommending him to them. He said he had trained him like a father teaches a son. Paul loved the people of Philippi so much he wanted to make sure they had someone to watch out for them, look out for their best interest. He said there was no one else he could trust to care more about the things of Jesus than about themselves, so he was going to send them the very one he trained like his own child to go be the leader and helper to them that Paul desired to be.
Verses 25-20 EPAPHRODITUS'S SERVICE TO PAUL
Paul wraps up this second chapter with an update on Epaphroditus. The church heard he was sick and had been praying for him. Epaphroditus was very ill to the point of nearly dying. Paul tells them that God had mercy on Epaphroditus and on himself as well so that Paul would not have his brother's death to add to his sorrow. Paul tells them he is sending Epaphroditus to them and tells them to receive him with all gladness. He builds up his reputation and character, again setting the example of how we should treat our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Today's big takeaways are that we must be united as a body of believers. Christ is the head and we are His body. We are the working parts that go and tell others who He is. We are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, pray for our leaders, help the homeless, widows, and orphans. We are to give generously to the church so we can further the Kingdom of God. We are to have compassion and love. If we want to be moving in harmony with one another, we must be in the same mind. We will be in one mind and one accord when we think like Jesus, act like Jesus, love like Jesus, and give like Jesus. There is no other way.
I hope this Bible study has been helpful to you. Please join me next time as we read the third chapter of this book. I enjoy breaking the Bread with you. I pray something I have said today has given you strength for your journey and light for your way! God bless you!
~Bridgett Owens
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