Philippians 2 & 3. Unity and Works

 

Philippians 2 Unity Through Humility

Paul stresses spiritual unity in the body of Christ. Selfish ambition and conceit bring discord, which draws people’s focus away from Christ and toward themselves and their desires. Genuine humility builds and strengthens the body of believers. Being humble involves having a true perspective about ourselves, “lowliness of mind,” and looking out for the interest of others. Believers must lay aside any pride or selfishness, always treating people with respect. In that way, we will be following the example of Christ, who selflessly gave His life for us.

Philippi was a cosmopoliatn city whose church reflected great diversity of backgrounds and social status. With so many lifestyles and attitudes represented, unity must have been difficult to maintain. Paul encouraged the believers to guard against any selfishness, prejudice, or jealousy that might lead to division. This holds true as the church continues to reach out to all walks of life. We must remember not to prejudice, but rather, to welcome new believers with open minds and genuine interest, taking postivie steps toward building unity in Christ.

Philippians 3 Works Don’t Work

Paul seems to be boasting of his achievements, but actually he was explaining that his human accomplishments, no matter how impressive or extensive, could not earn salvation and eternal life with God. Paul didn’t depend on his works to please God, because even the most imrpessive resume’ falls short of God’s standards. We can’t rely on our good works to usher us into eternity. It’s so much easier than that! All we need to do is confess our sins and believe in Jesus as our personal Savior. God isn’t impressed by what we’ve done, He’s impressed by our acceptance of His grace.

Believers must constantly seek the goal of maturity in Christ. Even Paul knew that he had not attained that goal, so he pressed on to grow in Christ. A key to that growth is “forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.” Past sins have been covered and need not hinder us, and past worldly accomplishments mean nothing. We are “heavenly citizens in training.” All that matters is walking with Christ through life, allowing Him to prepare us for His kingdom.

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Dr. David Jeremiah Study Bible. Through the Bible by J. Vernon McGee.