Analysis Of Philippians 1 PDF

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Analysis of the first chapter to the Philippians ...

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"Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." (NKJV) Philippians 1:6 From this place, some people seem to think that all believers have an absolute promise from God that they cannot fall away seeing that he will infallibly complete the good work in them until the day of Christ Jesus. ______________________________________________________________________________ Those who seriously think that this text establishes an absolute promise of God to all believers that they will infallibly continue in the faith since he will irresistibly work perseverance in them have done a remarkably poor job at interpreting the Scripture. That the conclusions that they draw from this place are obviously false is rendered apparent by these considerations: 1) The Apostle expresses a confidence, not a certainty, of the event taking place. A man may be confident that he can run a marathon but he is not absolutely certain. Our confidence is often shaken by subsequent events, but certainty remains firm despite. 2) The confidence that the Apostle had did not proceed from any absolute promise of God concerning their perseverance, but from a judgement of charity. For he says in the next verse, "just as it is right for me to think this of you all." Until the point of Paul's writing, the Philippians had "fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now" (Philippians 1:5) and had partaken with and supported Paul in his "defense and confirmation of the gospel" even while he was in prison. It was, therefore, their present faithfulness, demonstrated by their willingness to suffer for the sake of the gospel, that grounded the Apostle's confidence. This same kind of charitable yet reasonable confidence may be seen in the book of Hebrews, where the author, after having described the sad case of some believers who fall away, writes: "But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner." Hebrews 6:9 "But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul." Hebrews 10:39 3) If the Apostle had such an absolute promise of God as the ground of his confidence he would not have said, "it is right for me to think this of you all." The promise of God would have led the Apostle to speak with far greater certainty than this. 4) The confidence that the Apostle expresses is directed to the Philippian church only as can easily be demonstrated by the context: "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the

day of Jesus Christ; just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace." Philippians 1:3-7 When the Apostle says "being confident. . . that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ," who does he intend by that pronoun "you?" Does he understand it of all believers in all ages? No, for these words are addressed to "all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi" (Philippians 1:1). It is was the church at Philippi, and them only, who were the objects of the Apostle's confidence. We have no warrant, therefore, to indiscriminately apply this confidence to all who have been converted. Those who do this are like those who take Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope," and seek to apply this verse--which relates to a specific people at a specific time, the promise being that of restoring the Jews out of Babylonian captivity--indiscriminately to all believers! Even the same Apostle did not do this, for in writing to true believers of different churches, he expresses his confidence over their perseverance in far less hopeful words: "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel." Galatians 1:6 "Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?" Galatians 3:4 "I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain." Galatians 4:11 "You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace." Galatians 5:4 "For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain." 1 Thessalonians 3:5 "Having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck." 1 Timothy 1:19 If the Apostle truly believed that God had made some absolute promise to finish the good work in all who once believed, then why was he so troubled at the state of believers in other churches? Why didn't he express the same confidence towards them as he did to the believers in Philippi?

5) The interpretation of infallible perseverance in these words are inconsistent with the later words of the same Apostle where he writes: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." What need is there to work out one's salvation if God has infallibly promised to complete the good work regardless of whether one works out his salvation or not? ______________________________________________________________________________ The meaning of the text, therefore, is nothing more than this: "I, Paul, seeing your (the Philippians) steadfastness in the ministry of the gospel, have every good reason to be confident that the good work begun in you will continue until the day of Christ Jesus. But this is far from any absolute promise of God concerning infallible perseverance. There is only a charitable judgement that the Philippian church will persevere based on the reality of their past and present steadfastness in the faith....