Annotated Devotional Philippians 3:2-11
In this devotional of Philippians 3:2-11 I
would want to share how Paul is
interested in communicating, what it means for believers to know Christ both
personally and practically. [1]To
know him is to be identified with Him in loss of honor, comfort and ultimately
life. He uses this verses to explain that in loosing there is finding. [2]“Christ
is no longer a commodity to be gained but a place, a home where the lost Paul
is found” (Fowl 155). The genre of Philippians
is a letter of friendship which is on the basis of the foregoing discussion, we
may assume that in Paul’s imprisonment to which the Philippians have responded
with a gift by way of Epaphroditus, thus renewing Ephaphroditus has apparently
told him about the situation back home which there was oppositional on
suffering at the hands of pagan neighbors (Fee 27). Paul’s response takes the basic “form” of a
letter of friendship, which in this case weaves in his exhortations regarding
their present situation at those places. The history of founding of this church
sometime during 49CE recorded in Acts 16:11-40 which Luke presents it was woman
meeting for prayer which the first meeting was in a home of a woman merchant
(Fee 28). The church entered into partnership with Paul in the matter into
giving and receiving, therefore social reprocity is the primary thing in
Greco-Roman world. (27)
In this letter the Philippians presently live
the life of the future by the power of the (eschatological) Spirit of God (v.3)
The intended purpose of the passage is that Paul as a Jew who is also a Roman
citizen is trying to tell them to not convert to Judaism, but instead solemnly identify
with Christ; to know Him and live in his spirit in order to be [3]conformed
to his image. At a personal level it has
affected my perspective in the way I live, because I have felt that as how Paul
describes, whatever I thought would make my life happy, now not only don’t see
them that way, but I identify them as loss to comparison of [4]knowing
Christ. I had to identify with loss of everything in order to fully [5]know
him. I have identified with the loss of losing my home in Mexico by coming to
this country and thus losing my family. Paul explains that in order to know
Christ is to be identified with him in this loss of honor. Paul as a Pharisee
in a honor and shame culture, what he considered honor to lose that honor for
Christ in order to be completely identified with Him. Not only he tells them to lose honor, but to
also loose comfort of where they are in other words for them to expect
suffering, thus this identification with Christ brings lose of comfort. I have
felt like I have lost my comfort in every way being far away to the people that
I love and to what makes me who I am to being in a strange land. However, After Paul telling them to lose all
of that to be identified with Christ he doesn’t tell them to not be who they
are in order to change to Judaism. Rather he warns them against “Judaizers”
tells them to change who they are to be in Christ. As I came to a new home in
this country, I have felt that I have to change my culture or I have to lose it
at some point. I have felt that I have to accommodate to another culture, because
this is where I’m learning Theology. However, I stand in the ground where Paul
says to not be identified with Judaism, but with Christ. I don’t have to adapt
or change my culture rather my identification is in Christ alone. Lastly, Paul
urges us that if we want to be identified with Christ we need to not only share
in his sufferings, but ultimately lose our lives so that we might attain the[6]
resurrection. In conclusion, this message has become an essential part of my
walk with God. In the struggle of not being able to see my dad for over ten
years now because of my call to seminary from God; I have understood Paul, that
I persevere not so much because I want to “attain the resurrection”, but
because knowing Christ practically, personally, academically etc. is so much
greater than anything else. This knowing has become my life and ultimate my
greatest treasure.
Work Cited
Fee, Gordon D. Paul's Letter to the Philippians.
W.B. Eerdmans Pub, 1995.
Danker, Frederick W, et al. A Greek-English Lexicon
of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed.,
University of Chicago Press, 2000.
Fowl, Stephen E. Philippians. W.B. Eerdmans Pub,
2005.
[1]These are the habits,
skills and ways of life he desires to see formed in the Philippians, when he
urges the Philippians to adopt the particular pattern of practical reasoning
appropriate to Christ (Fowl 155).
[2] Christ is no longer a
commodity to be gained but a place, a home where the lost Paul is found. In
3:10 Paul indicates that the purpose of gaining Christ and being found in him
is “to know Christ” (Fowl 156).
[3] being conformed (symmorphizomenos) This
is an adverbial participle acting as casual participle. The cause of sharing
his suffering results in being conformed in his image. The tense of the verb is
present which emphasizes that this action is linear continuous. Therefore,
being conformed takes a continuing action it might take a life time. “to
take on the same form, to grant or invest” (455). It is a life process of
having our desires and affections and attention continually redirected and
refocused by our knowledge of the crucified and resurrected Christ (Denker)
[4] It is not simply the
case that Christ has altered Paul’s perceptions about his past achievements,
Rather, he now considers “all these things” losses from the perspective of
being in Christ. The next clause makes it quite clear that Paul’s ability to
see things this way is due to the “surpassing value of knowing Christ my Lord”(Fowl
154).
[5] Again Paul invokes the
language of profit and loss, asset the liability usefully describes the sharp
changing Paul’s perceptions of his past “achievements” (Fowl 153).
[6] might attain (katanteso)The
subjunctive mood is key in this word because demonstrates that the action of
the verb will possibly happen depending on certain factors and circumstances.
In this case the depending factor is (In knowing Christ and becoming like him)
the word means to reach, to arrive at a destination (Denker).
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