Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Philippians 3:15
Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
15. perfect ] An adjective, not a perfect participle, as was the kindred word (“ perfected ”) in Php 3:12. Is there a contradiction between this place and that? On the surface, but not really. The Apostle appears to be taking up the favourite word of teachers who upheld some phase of “perfectionism,” and using it, with loving irony, on the side of truth; as if to say, “Are you, are we, ideal Christians, perfect Christians, all that Christians should be? Then among the things that should be in our character is a holy discontent with, and criticism of, our own present attainment. The man in this sense ‘perfect’ will be sure to think himself not perfected.” And it is important to remember that the Greek word rendered “perfect” is an elastic word. It may mean “adult,” “mature,” as against infantine; cp. Heb 5:13-14. A “perfect” Christian in this respect may have spiritual faculty well developed, and yet be very far from “perfected” in spiritual character. Such considerations, in the light of this whole passage, will do anything for such a Christian rather than teach him to tolerate sin in himself; they will at once keep him humble and contrite, and animate him to ever fresh developments in and by Christ.
be minded ] The same word as that in Php 1:7, Php 2:2; Php 2:5, where see notes.
God shall reveal ] by the action of His Holy Spirit on heart, mind, and will, amidst the discipline of life. There need not be any new verbal revelation, but there would be a new inward revelation of the correspondence of the inspired Word with the facts of the soul, and so a fresh light on those facts. Such language implies the Apostle’s certainty of his commission as the inspired messenger of Christ; it would otherwise be the language of undue assumption. Cp. Gal 1:6-12.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Let us therefore, as many as be perfect – see the notes at Phi 3:12. Or, rather, those who would be perfect; or who are aiming at perfection. It can hardly be supposed that the apostle would address them as already perfect, when he had just said of himself that lie had not attained to that state. But those whom he addressed might be supposed to be aiming at perfection, and he exhorts them, therefore, to have the same spirit that he himself had, and to make the same efforts which he himself put forth.
Be thus minded – That is, be united in the effort to obtain the prize, and to become entirely perfect. Let them put forth the same effort which I do, forgetting what is behind, and pressing forward to the mark.
And if in anything ye be otherwise minded – That is, if there were any among them who had not these elevated views and aims, and who had not been brought to see the necessity of such efforts, or who had not learned that such high attainments were possible. There might be those among them who had been very imperfectly instructed in the nature of religion; those who entertained views which impeded their progress, and prevented the simple and earnest striving for salvation which Paul was enabled to put forth. He had laid aside every obstacle; renounced all the Jewish opinions which had impeded his salvation, and had now one single aim – that of securing the prize. But there might be those who had not attained to these views, and who were still impeded and embarrassed by erroneous opinions.
God shall reveal even this unto you – He will correct your erroneous opinions, and disclose to you the importance of making this effort for the prize. This is the expression of an opinion, that to those who were sincere and true Christians, God would yet make a full revelation of the nature of religion, or would lead them on so that they would fully understand, it. They who are acquainted with religion at all, or who have been truly converted, God will teach and guide until they shall have a full understanding of divine things.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Php 3:15
As many as be perfect be thus minded
Christian maturity
I.
Its signs.
1. Humility.
2. Singleness of purpose.
3. Charity.
II. Its duties.
1. Persevering effort.
2. Forbearance with others.
3. The encouragement of the weak. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
The souls perfection
The word perfect does not express the idea of moral completeness so much as that of physical maturity. It means full grown, as in contrast to babes. And the perfect here are exhorted to cultivate the sense of not having already attained, and to be constantly reaching forth to unattained heights, so that a sense of imperfection and a continual effort after higher life are parts of Pauls perfect man. And it is to be further noted that perfect people may be otherwise minded, and so stand in need of the hope that God would by degrees show them their divergence from His pattern.
I. There are people whom without exaggeration the judgment of truth calls perfect. In the language of the New Testament men are saints who had many sins, and perfect who had many imperfections.
1. The main thing about a character is not the degree to which it has attained completeness in its ideal, but what that ideal is. The distance a man has walked is of less consequence than the direction in which his face is turned. Men are to be ranged according to their aims rather than their achievements. The visionary who attempts something high and accomplishes little is often a nobler man than he who aims at marks on the low levels and hits them.
2. So there is a class of aims so absolutely corresponding to mans nature and relations, that to take them for ones own and to approximate to them in some measure may fairly be called the perfection of human nature. The literal force of the word having reached the end gives pertinence to that question. And there need be, in that ease, no doubt about the answer, Mans chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. He who lives for God is doing what he was made and meant to do, and however imperfect, he is more nearly perfect than the fairest character against which the damning accusation may be brought, The God in whose hand thy breath is thou hast not glorified. People ask sneeringly about David, Is this the man after Gods own heart. Yes; not because religion has a different morality from that of the world (except in being higher), nor because saints make up for adultery and murder by singing psalms, but because the main set of the life was towards God.
3. Such men have in them the germ of a life which has no natural end but absolute completeness. The small seed may grow very slowly here and be only a poor bit of green, but it has Divine germinant virtue within, and waits but being carried to its own clime to flourish.
II. Two of the characteristics of this perfection. Thus minded carries us back to the preceding clauses, Think as I do of yourselves, and do as I do.
1. Not as though I were already perfect, etc., shows us that true Christian perfection has in it a constant consciousness of imperfection. In all fields of effort, as faculty grows consciousness of insufficiency grows with it. The more we know the more we know our ignorance. Only people who never have or will do anything, or else raw apprentices, with the mercifully granted self-confidence which gets beaten out soon enough, think that they can do everything. So in Christian life. Conscience becomes more sensitive as we get nearer right; the worse a man is the less he hears it. One little stain will be conspicuous on a brightly polished blade, but if it be all dirty a dozen more or fewer will make little difference.
2. A constant striving after further advance. How vigorously this temper is put in the context. So yearning forward and setting all the current of his being, both faculty and desire, to the yet unreached mark, the Christian man is to live.
3. This buoyant energy of hope and effort is to be the result of the consciousness of imperfection. This, however, paralyses many. Men lament their evil and slow progress and remain the same year after year. How different this from the grand wholesome completeness of Pauls view here which embraces both elements.
III. The coexistence of these characteristics with their opposites. If in anything ye be otherwise minded refers not to difference of opinion among themselves, but a divergence of character from the pattern set before them. If in any sense ye are unconscious of your imperfections, or are nonprogressive, God will show you what you are. Plainly he supposes that a good man may pass for a time under the dominion of impulses and theories of another kind from those which rule his life.
1. He does not expect the complete and uninterrupted dominion of these higher powers. The higher life is planted, but its germination is a work of time. The conditions of our life are in conflict. Interruptions from external circumstances, struggles of flesh with spirit, are the lot even of the most advanced.
2. Such an admission does not make such interruptions less blameworthy. That piece of sharp practice, that burst of bad temper–could we have helped it or not?
3. The feelings with which we should regard sin and contradictions in ourselves and others should be so far altered by such thoughts, that we should be slow to pronounce that a man cannot be a Christian because he has done so and so. A single act, if it be in contradiction to a mans main tendency, is not necessarily an incompatibility.
IV. The crowning hope that lies in these words is the certainty of a gradual but complete attainment of all the Christians aspirations after God and goodness.
1. The ground of that confidence lies in no natural tendency in us or effort of ours, but solely, in God. Paul is certain that God will reveal, etc., because He is God. He has learned that God is not in the habit of leaving off His work before He has done.
2. By the discipline of daily life, merciful chastisements, His Word, the secret influences of His Spirit, etc. He will reveal to the lowly soul all that is wanting in its knowledge, and communicate to it all that is lacking in character.
3. So for us, then, the true temper is confidence in His power and will, an earnest waiting upon Him, a brave forward yearning hope, blended with a lowly consciousness of imperfection. Presumption should be as far from us as despair. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
What kind of perfection is attainable in this life
I. Explain the point by several distinctions.
1. There is a perfection of the reward and a perfection of grace.
(1) Of the reward the saints will have in heaven when they are freed from all sinful weakness (1Co 13:10; Eph 5:17; Jud 1:24). This we have not in this world, but because we expect it in the next we are to labour after the highest perfection in holiness here, because allowed imperfection is a disesteem of blessedness (1Jn 3:3). He that looketh for a sinless state will get as much as he can of it now.
(2) The perfection of grace and holiness is such as the saints may attain unto in this life (Col 4:12).
2. Legal and evangelical; the one is where there is no sin, the other no guile; the one stands in an exact conformity to Gods law, the other in a sincere endeavour to fulfil it; the one can endure the balance, the other only the touchstone.
(1) Legal perfection is described in Gal 3:10, and supposes a man innocent, and requires that he keep so. This is impossible through the weakness of the flesh (Rom 8:3).
(2) Evangelical (2Ki 20:3) is consistent with weakness (2Ch 15:17). This all must have (1Ch 28:9). What is done for God must be done willingly and with all the exactness possible. Some do many things that are good, but their hearts are not perfect with God (2Ch 25:2); the heart is divided between God and other things (Hos 10:2; Jam 1:8).
3. Absolute and comparative.
(1) That is absolutely perfect to which nothing is wanting. This is in Christ only, not in us.
(a) Where there are so many relics of the flesh a man cannot be absolutely perfect (Gal 5:17; Rom 7:24).
(b) There is none but sometimes sin (1Ki 8:46; Ecc 7:20; Jam 3:2; 1Jn 1:8).
(c) There is none but need the mercy of God and ought to pray for this as for daily bread (Mat 6:13).
(2) Comparative perfection is two fold.
(a) When the professors of Christianity are compared with those that live under other institutions. They that submit to Christs terms are said to be perfect, because Christianity itself is perfection (Mat 19:21).
(b) When compared with others of the same profession, believers are distinguished into perfect and imperfect. Though none can attain to absolute perfection, yet there are several degrees of grace, and diversities of growth (Eph 4:13-14; 1Co 2:6; 1Co 3:1; 1Co 14:20; Heb 5:13-14). It is a monstrous thing after many years growth to be an infant still.
4. Of parts and of degrees.
(1) Of parts, when we have all things that belong to a sincere Christian–as living creatures are perfect as soon as they are brought forth. Thus a Christian must have grace to enlighten and govern, one grace added to another (Jam 1:4). What is defective in parts cannot be supplied by any after growth. Leave out any necessary grace and the new creature is maimed; some leave out temperance, or patience, or love (1Pe 5:7).
(2) Of degrees, when thing has attained its highest pitch. So we are only perfect in heaven (Heb 12:23).
5. Of growth and consummation.
(1) Things are said to be done when they are begun to be done (2Co 5:17). And so they are said to be perfect who are in the way of perfection (2Co 3:18; 2Co 4:16). This perfection is taken–
(a) As to means (Eph 4:12; 1Th 3:10).
(b) As to improvement of means (2Co 7:1; 2Pe 1:8; 1Th 4:1).
(2) Consummate; when after the hazards of life we are presented to Christ (Col 1:28); and by Christ to God (Col 1:22).
II. The reasons we must be perfect.
1. We have a perfect God (Mat 5:43) whom we are required to imitate, and therefore we must not set bounds to our holiness (1Pe 1:15-16).
2. We have a perfect rule (Psa 19:7; 2Ti 3:17).
3. We have a perfect Redeemer (Col 2:10).
4. There is a perfect reward (Eph 4:13).
III. The motives of this perfection.
1. What you lost in Adam must be recovered in Christ, or else you dishonour your Redeemer (Rom 5:17).
2. We pray for perfection and therefore must endeavour after it, otherwise our prayers are a mockery (Mat 6:8; 1Th 5:23).
3. In our making covenant we purpose to do the will of God, and so must endeavour to carry it out, otherwise it is not made with a true heart (Heb 10:22; Psa 18:23; Rev 3:2).
4. Consider the comfort and peace of the man who presses toward perfection (Psa 37:37).
IV. The means.
1. See that the work be begun, for there must be converting grace before confirming grace. What good will it do to blow a dead coal, or to seek strength before we have life.
2. The radical graces must be strengthened–strong faith, fervent love, lively hope.
3. Use the means with all seriousness and good conscience.
(1) In the Word you have principles of faith, obligations to love, arguments of hope, and therefore are built up (Act 20:32).
(2) The sacraments strengthen our faith and hope as a bond or vow, and excite and engage our love and obedience.
(3) Prayer (1Pe 5:10).
4. Think much and often of your perfect blessedness which you expect according to promise, which will quicken and excite you to more diligence. There will be–
(1) A complete vision of God and Christ (1Co 13:12).
(2) A complete possession and fruition of God (Eph 3:19; 1Co 1:30).
(3) A complete transformation into the image of Christ (1Jn 3:2; Psa 17:15).
(4) A complete delectation arising from all this (Psa 16:11.)
V. The notes.
1. When there is such a base esteem of worldly things that our affections are weakened to them every day (Gal 6:14).
2. When more unsatisfied with present degrees of holiness with a constant desire to grow better.
3. When we are swayed more by love than by fear (Gal 4:6; 1Jn 4:18).
4. When we are more humble and see more of our defects than others do. (T. Manton, D. D.)
Christian perfection
I. Its signs.
1. A base esteem of worldly privileges and honours (verse 7).
2. A. forgetting of the past and an earnest pressing towards the prize (verses 12-13).
3. A desire for the coming of Christ, such as banishes the fear of death.
4. Sweet communion with Christ and boldness of access without fear of Gods presence or judgment.
5. Stability amidst either prosperity or adversity.
6. Experience in finding out Satans devices, whereas a beginner, for want of experience and practice, runs, ere he is aware, into many offences, and looks for no remedy.
7. Strength to stand against the bitter blasts and oppositions of the world. Nothing could move Paul or separate him from the love of Christ, but immature Christians are shaken or blown away.
8. Endurance of the infirmities of others (Gal 6:1).
9. Knowledge of particular wants, and hence a seeking after further supplies of grace.
10. Ability and endeavour to beget other Christians. It is the property of a grown creature to beget its like. A weak Christian has enough to do to look to himself.
II. Its means.
1. We must know the order. We must first grow in fundamental graces, for we water not leaves but the root of our plants. When root graces are diligently cherished, works, like leaves, will soon put forth.
2. Whatsoever we do we must do it with the best advantage, labouring to practise as many graces as we can.
3. We must not neglect little things, small occasions of doing good, or beginnings of evil.
4. We must keep our affections to holy exercises and means, and consider what will fit our disposition when indisposed. Are we dull in prayer? Then read. If that will not be endured, use communion of saints.
III. Its motives–Consider–
1. The privilege of a perfect Christian (Psa 46:5).
2. The beautiful example he sets, so as to make others in love with religion.
3. The glory he secures for God.
4. The close communion he has with Christ.
5. His blessed reward. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)
If in anything ye be otherwise minded—
Differences of opinion
I. Must necessarily arise from–
1. the diversity of the human mind;
2. Habit;
3. Attainment.
II. Ought to be regarded with forbearance.
1. The perfect must not despise the weak.
2. The weak must not judge the perfect (Rom 14:3).
III. Are best removed by prayer. God gives wisdom to all who seek it. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
A persuasive to unity in things indifferent
When Gods people are divided in opinion they should not come to an open rupture.
I. What lenity and forbearance should de used.
1. There often are differences of opinion about lesser things in the Church, partly because of different degrees of light–all barks that sail to heaven draw not a like depth of water–and partly because of the remainders of corruption.
2. When differences arise we should take care they come not to open breach. This is the course Paul takes here. So should we, because the Church is in danger of being rent and destroyed (Gal 5:15), because the world is scandalized (Joh 17:21), mutual means of edification hindered (Gal 4:16), and the power of godliness lost.
3. To prevent this all lenity must be used. This I shall state
(1) as to the matter of the strife. If we agree in substantials let us go by the same rule and mind the same thing.
(2) As to the persons contending there is a difference. Paul distinguishes between erring Christians and their factious guides (Php 3:2).
4. The forbearance itself is not out of necessity but voluntary choice and Christian compassion, knowing that we need as much from God and others. Nor is it a forbearance of policy, till we get opportunity to suppress others (Eph 4:2-3). There are four graces that enforce it.
(1) Lowliness–a sense of personal infirmity.
(2) Meekness (Jam 3:17).
(3) Long suffering.
(4) Love (1Pe 4:8; 1Co 13:4; 1Co 13:7).
5. In this forbearance, both strong and weak have their part.
(1) What they are not to do.
(a) Not to leave the truth or do anything against it. Strings in tune must not be brought down to strings out of tune, but the reverse.
(b) Not to connive at sin or error (Lev 19:17; 2Th 3:15).
(2) What they are to do.
(a) The strong are not to deal rigorously with the weak, but wait till God declare the truth unto them, and promote their conviction with all gentleness (Isa 40:11).
(b) The weak are not to rend and cut themselves off from the rest of Christians, or be strange to them on every lesser dissent, but to be teachable and lay aside obstinate prejudices, and examine into the cause of the difference; and leave room for the discovery of Gods mind.
II. The reasons for this exercise of this lenity and forbearance.
1. From the necessity, excellency, and utility of union. What more clear in the Scriptures than that Christians should endeavour to be united. Christ prayed for it (Joh 17:21-23); Paul enforces it (Php 2:1-2); those that cause divisions are sternly cautioned (Rom 16:17-18); unity is pressed by the most cogent arguments (Eph 4:4-6).
2. From the consideration of our mutual frailties. Heb 5:2 should be verified in us (Gal 6:1; Rom 14:1).
3. From the consideration of the probability of Divine illumination.
(1) This illumination comes from God only (Act 16:4; 1Co 3:6-7). Let us, then, in meekness use the means and refer the issue to God (2Ti 2:25). If we force men before they are convinced it may only make hypocrites.
(2) This illumination is given by degrees (Mar 8:24-25).
(3) They who are not for the present may be afterwards instructed in the truth. The apostle proceeded in the hopes of that.
(a) Upon the supposition that they were already converted (Php 1:6).
(b) That they were humble and tractable (Psa 25:9).
(c) That they will not neglect any means of study and prayer (Pro 2:4; Psa 119:18).
(d) That they continue in the communion of the Church.
(e) That they walk according to their light (Joh 7:17).
4. From the temper of those who are perfect. A grounded Christian bears with the infirmity of others and helps them.
III. Considerations helpful to this forbearance.
1. In how many things we agree, in how few we differ. There is a three-fold unity.
(1) In mind (Rom 15:5-6).
(2) In heart (Act 4:32).
(3) In scope (Rom 15:5-7; Jer 32:39).
2. Take more notice of their graces than of their infirmities (Rev 2:2; Rev 2:5-6).
3. Remember how open the enforcements to love and unity are, and in how much the grounds of separation lie in the dark and are doubtful.
4. Think of Gods love and forbearance towards us.
5. This forbearance cannot be expected from others unless shown to others (Jam 3:2; Mat 7:12; Mat 18:28).
6. How dangerous it is to reject any whom Christ will own for His. Will Christ admit him, and you cast him out (Rom 14:3)?
7. As we must not give offence so we must not take it (1Co 13:5; Mat 5:9).
8. Our endeavour for unity ought to be earnest and constant (Eph 4:3; 2Co 12:15). (T. Manton, D. D.)
Perfect and imperfect
The perfect ones, among whom, by the idiom he employs, the apostle places himself, are those who have burst the fetters of intellectual and spiritual bondage; who have made some advancement in the Divine life, who are acquainted with the higher forms of truth, and are no strangers to the impulses and powers of Divine grace; who are the circumcision; who by the spirit worship God; who are conscious of union with Christ, of possessing righteousness through faith in Him, and some measure of conformity to Him, and who cherish through Him the hope of a happy resurrection. And, perhaps, if we take in the previous context the imperfect are those who have not been able so fully to rise above all confidence in the flesh; who still thought circumcision might not be wholly without value; who would scruple to count all such things dead and positive loss, but hankered after some of them; and who, in formally renouncing them secretly or unawares, clung to them, and might not distinctly comprehend the freeness, adaptation, and perfection of that righteousness which is through the faith of Christ. They could not be perfect runners, for they had not laid aside every weight. (Professor Eadie.)
Perfection evidenced by consciousness of imperfection
The thick skin of a savage will not be disturbed by lying on sharp stones, while a crumpled rose leaf robs the Sybarite of his sleep. So the habit of evil hardens the cuticle of conscience, and the practice of goodness restores tenderness and sensibility; and many a man laden with crime knows less of its tingling than some fair soul that looks almost spotless to all eyes but its own. As men grow better they become like that glycerine barometer recently introduced, on which a fall or a rise that would have been invisible with mercury to record it takes up inches, and is glaringly conspicuous. Good people sometimes wonder, and some times are made doubtful and sad about themselves by this abiding and even increased consciousness of sin. There is no need to be so. The higher the temperature the more chilling would it be to pass into an ice house, and the more our lives are brought into fellowship with the perfect life the more shall we feel our own shortcomings. Let us be thankful if our consciences speak to us more loudly than they used to do. It is a sign of growing holiness, as the tingling in a frost-bitten limb is of returning life. Let us seek to cultivate and increase the sense of our own imperfection, and be sure that the diminution of a consciousness of sin means not diminished power of sin, but lessened horror of it, lessened perception of right, lessened love of goodness, and is an omen of death, not a symptom of life. Painter, scholar, craftsman all know that the condition of advance is the recognition of an ideal not attained. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Means of progress
Let our spirits stretch out all their powers to the better things beyond, as the plants grown in darkness will send out pale shoots that feel blindly towards the light, or the seed sown on the top of a rock will grope down the bare stone for the earth by which it must be fed. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Practice the best means of the attainment of knowledge
As surely as we live, this truth of truths can only be so discerned; to those who act on what they know, more shall be revealed; and thus, if any man will do His will, he shall know the doctrine whether it be of God. Any man–not the man who has most means of knowing, who has the subtlest brains, or sits under the most orthodox preacher, or has his library fullest of most orthodox books–but the man who strives to know, who takes God at His word, and sets himself to dig up the heavenly mystery, roots and all, before sunset and the night come, when no man can work. Beside such a man, God stands in more and more visible presence as he toils, and teaches him that which no preacher can teach, no earthly authority gainsay. (J. Ruskin.)
The illuminating circle widening
The mists that shrouded the earth before the dawn do not take their flight at the very first touch of the morning sun. But before his waxing strength they disappear. So will it be, the apostle says, with moral mists. Gods dealings in this respect, in the dispensation of His grace, accord with what we see every day in the physical sphere. Within certain limits, the exercise of power tends to bring more power. To him that hath is given. To the shatirs who run before the king of Persia–as Elijah girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel–practice from childhood has given such activity of limb, that they can keep pace for many hours with a fleet horse. The swing of the heavy hammer makes the muscles of the blacksmiths arms strong as iron bands. Similarly, if a man be willing to do the will of God, which is the legitimate exercise of such religious knowledge as he has, he shall know of the doctrine further. The believer who, whereto he has attained, walks by the same, will find his attainment increasing continually. For the man who fills his sphere of light with spiritual vigilance–strenuous opposition to the temptations of the world, and the flesh, and the devil–earnest effort, according to opportunity, to extend the kingdom of truth and righteousness–the illuminated circle will steadily widen. (R. Johnstone, LL. B.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Php 3:15-19
Let us therefore
The imitation of Paul
I.
The general exhortation includes them all with himself.
1. The fundamental principle of all perfect, i.e., well-instructed and mature Christians, must be to count the goal of religion the attainment of Christ, and the blessedness of religion the practical end of life. Those are perfect who have already finished their course as far as it leads through carnal ordinances, and from them to Christ the end of the law. They have this preparatory or first perfection, in that they have put away childish things (1Co 13:11), became spiritual (1Co 2:6), and are so far made perfect in grace. This is one of several designations, such as adult, strong, etc., which mark those who have entered in the course, and has no more reference to moral perfection than saints has to sanctity.
2. This preliminary perfection is quite consistent with much lingering imperfection. It was quite possible that some of them might give up old dependence on the law while retaining some of the beggarly elements. But the apostle expresses his hope that in every minor particular, as in the fundamental principle, they would be brought to think rightly. But the condition is that they continued thus minded as to the great essential. Those who will to do His will shall know of the doctrine, was the Saviours promise, and St. Paul here gives us only another version of the same promise. Those whose hearts are clear as to the ruling principle and aim of life shall, if they seek the guidance of the Divine Spirit, the source of the greater as well as of the lesser revelations, shall never be suffered to go astray.
3. The life must perseveringly conform to the great principle if this promise is to be fulfilled (Php 3:16). Those who have the right aim in their Christian life must walk by it still, whatever the measure of their progress be. The plough must be held to the end of the furrow; to look back is to be unfit for the kingdom of God.
II. St. Paul exhorts them to copy his example, and that of all true Christians of whom he made himself the representative.
1. Be ye imitators together. The emphasis of their union in this imitation is in danger of being lost unless we consider the deep purpose of it. Very much of the blessedness and strength of religion is the result of close compact fellowship. The Philippians must unite and stir each other up to emulation in this matter, in case of any defection; warning each other, and generally making this imitation the subject of common effort. The apostle knows how effectual a stimulant is the holy example of the saints.
2. This emulous and united imitation of the apostle is enforced by a vivid and pathetic description of the practical Judaizers who were otherwise minded. They are to be marked in the particulars which miserably distinguished them from the apostolic standard. Their life and walk were to be studied and compared with a better model. Before St. Paul had depicted the evil of their doctrine; now he points to their practice. They are enemies of the Cross in their spirit, desires, aims, conduct, and whole compass of their being. They were not referred to as a distinct class; they are diffused through the churches as an unholy leaven.
3. Nothing so stirred the apostles soul as mens opposition to the Cross. He estimated all things by their relation to the atonement.
4. It is their end that first fills his thought, because he had just been paying tribute to the end of the Lord in the resurrection of the saints. That end was destruction (1Co 1:19; Php 1:18; Rom 1:22-23).
5. Many of the Gentile moralists had used these very words to condemn Epicureanism. The worship of the belly had become a current phrase (1 Rom 16:18; 1Co 15:22). While he wept over their unspeakable folly and coming end, he mourned over their degradation–whose glory, etc.
6. The real secret of the dissolute living of these enemies of the Cross lies in the words who mind earthly things. Mind means intellect and heart. The contrast is presented in Col 3:2. (W. B. Pope, D. D.)
Perfection
I. How far attainable.
II. Cannot be absolute.
III. Consists with difference of opinion.
IV. Is distinguished by charity. The apostle does not despise those who differ from him, but is sure they will receive clearer light.
V. Is determined by constancy and perseverance. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
True religion frees men from dangerous errors
I. There is that in religion which is necessary fixed, immutable, and clear, about which good men (perfect) do not differ–the things which are–
1. Perfectly agreeable to the Divine nature.
2. Perfectly agreeable to human nature.
(1) The great materials of natural light.
(2) The great articles of the Christian faith.
II. There is also in religion that which is not so necessary, immutable, and clear, in which good men may be otherwise minded. Here we may note–
1. The causes of error.
(1) The creatures fallibility.
(2) Accidental prejudices from education, converse, strong imagination, melancholy, intellectual weakness, affectation, singularity, worldly interest.
(3) The darkness of things themselves: as where there is less of reason to be said for a thing, or where the rule of faith is short. Here the rule is so far as God has not determined we are referred to reason; and where both reason and revelation seem silent our proper course is stay and expectance rather than peremptory conclusion. Tis hard to get rid of an error, therefore, take heed of admitting one.
(4) Nonimprovement of intellectuals. Men are greatly encumbered by business, and others do not think and examine.
(5) The want of necessary helps, as friends, books, freedom of converse, and opportunity. It betters mens health to live and breathe in a free and open air. Had some but once heard a suggestion to the contrary they had escaped their mistakes. The greatest help is Gods Spirit, and the next, searching company.
2. The preservatives against error are–
(1) Care of right information. We owe this to truth, and to our own souls.
(2) Modesty and humility (Psa 25:9; Pro 3:34; 1Pe 3:18). He is not likely to learn who is not of a teachable spirit.
(3) A general intention to entertain and submit to all truth whatsoever and whensoever it shall appear, and an implicit faith in God where the sense of any text is not clear.
(4) An ingenuous dealing with truth, and love of it for itself, both in respect of the ground on which you receive it, and the use which you make of it.
(5) A perception of the fatal issue of wilfulness and wantonness of opinion in the shameful miscarriages of such as have given themselves up to dreams and fancies–as the Munster Anabaptists and the ancient Gnostics.
3. The uses to be made of this.
(1) Let us live in the sense of our own fallibility: this will make us temperate and cautious. In fallibility is a crooked principle.
(2) Although error be nowhere to be countenanced, yet it is not everywhere severely to be challenged (Gal 6:1; Joh 8:7; Act 3:17). The best are liable to mistakes.
(3) We have not done our task in the world till we are well-informed in our judgment concerning right and wrong, till we are refined in spirit to relish and taste; and reformed in life to do and practise.
III. There is reason to think that God will bring out of particular mistake him that is right in the main. God shall reveal, etc. This is spoken reasonably and becomingly in respect to God, and hopefully and charitably in regard to man; not as prophetic, but as likely and credible.
1. On Gods part: because–
(1) of Gods relation to us as Father and Teacher. Men look up to Him for bodily food; why not for intellectual communications.
(2) God has so declared and promised (Psa 25:9; Pro 3:33; Jam 4:6; 1Pe 5:5; Joh 8:17; Joh 16:13).
(3) God begins with us with intention to go on if we be not perverse and wilful (Joh 16:12). In the case before us God had begun, and they were resolved to press toward the mark.
2. On our part. By truth already received we have a double advantage for receiving more.
(1) The way to the understanding, which was obstructed, has been opened.
(2) The mind is brought into a disposition to receive all Divine truth.
3. On the part of truth, because–
(1) Truth is connatural to our souls.
(2) The several truths mutually depend on each other; one helping to the discovery of another, and each being declaratory and convictive of the same error.
4. Here it is to be observed–
(1) That this is more for the certain guidance of any honest man than he can in Scripture show for his infallibility who usurps the title of head of the Church.
(2) That we have warrant to think and speak things worthy of God, and tending to our encouragement in good behaviour.
5. Lest I should give any advantage to enthusiasm I superadd–
(1) Keep within the compass of the case. The condition here is that we press toward the mark, and Gods blessings are conditional everywhere.
(2) Put off pride. The full soul loathes the honeycomb. Presumption and conceit wholly indispose men for learning (Psa 25:9; Psa 3:7).
(3) God will reveal, does not necessarily import immediate inspiration. One way or other is the course of His providence, and by some instrument or lover of truth we shall be told what we have to do (Act 8:35).
(4) Where knowledge is pursued by practice there is other expectation than from speculation alone (Joh 7:17; Act 5:32).
6. Inferences:
(1) The purity of a mans mind, the sincerity of his intention, the honesty of his heart, are his great security.
(2) In ways of uprightness and integrity we may presume upon Gods leading us into all the truth we are required to know.
(3) Give a fair amount of patience to those who mean well.
IV. Those who agree in the main but differ in other particulars, ought nevertheless to hold together (verse 16). There is harmony, notwithstanding difference in some apprehensions, in all degrees of perfection.
1. This is a representation of the heavenly state. There is no discord there, and, therefore, there should be accord in those who are citizens of heaven (Php 3:20).
2. It is the cause of religion (Jam 3:17; Psa 131:1-2). It is a scandal to the world when professors do not agree, making strangers ask with Pilate, What is truth? Disagreement has tired out the best of men. Good-tempered Melanchthons satisfaction when he came to die was that he was free from temptation to sin, from the troubles of the world, and from the fury of theologies. It was Origens argument against Celsus that through the virtue and efficacy of religion the state of the Church was calm and quiet, whereas other states were turbulent (2Co 12:20).
3. It is the conversation of Christians with each other for mutual gain and advantage.
(1) For spiritual edification, whereas if variance obtains there will be alienation of hearts and suspension of Christian acts (Mal 3:26).
(2) For their better subsistence is an evil world. Foreign opposition and force cannot do the mischief that internal feuds may.
(3) There is more hearts ease and quiet of mind.
4. This prevents all mischiefs which infest humanity, such as factions, suspicions, heart burnings, plottings, competitions, and envious comparisons; whereas there should be but one division–the Church and the world.
5. Objections.
(1) We do not think alike. Nor do we in other matters. There are different opinions in philosophy. There are different constellations. We differ in age, stature, feature, etc. These varieties display the wisdom of the Creator. Yet all agreeing in human nature we are fit companions for each other. Why then should not they who meet in the regenerate nature and agree in the articles of faith and principle of good life, overlook subordinate differences.
(2) Errors are dangerous.
(a) That is not thy charge but His. To say what is fit to persuade is all thou canst do; the rest must remain with God.
(b) Since all things that are necessary to salvation are in the Holy Scriptures, none but those who are gross neglectors err dangerously.
(3) But where is zeal for God and truth. This has its principal operation on ones self, and shows itself on others in the strength of argument, seasonable and renewed proposals.
6. Suggestions.
(1) All that are right in the main are virtually informed by the same spirit, and the things they agree in are far more and weighty than those wherein they differ.
(2) Why should men differ in religion, which is the greatest bond of union?
(3) Why should we be aggrieved, when every one uses but his own right, and every man has a right of judging if he be capable?
(4) Why dost thou lay so much stress upon difference in such points wherein if thou art temperate and sober thou art afraid peremptorily to assert?
(5) Hast thou never erred?
(6) Will difference produce the harmony thou seekest?
(7) Is it safe to reject a man whom we cannot conclude God has cast off?
(8) Why should I think that essential in another which I dare not assert is necessary for my acceptance with God.
(9) I came leisurely to knowledge myself, may not days teach my neighbour wisdom?
(10) What was I taught of God for but to teach others? (Luk 22:32; Ecc 4:9-12).
(11) Shall we disown that which is good in them because they are not such as we would have them?
(12) Do not many differences arise from constitution and circumstances rather than from. Perversity?
(13) Why part from them on earth whom we may meet with in heaven?
7. Cautions.
(1) Great reverence is to be given to superiors. Government is not to be disturbed upon pretence of private judgment.
(2) No disturbance must thence arise to the Church of God (1Co 11:16).
(3) Tis safer to err in an error that is common than in one which is personal.
(4) It becomes the modesty of particular persons when their sentiments are singular to bethink themselves better. (B. Whichcote, D. D.)
The temper to be cultivated by Christians of different denominations towards each other
1. Paul ever kept the dictates of his elevated and inspired judgment under the guidance of Christian kindness. He permits no part of the Christian character to be abridged by another. He never allows his earnestness in maintaining truth and opposing error so betray him into bitterness; nor does he permit his generosity to impair his faithfulness.
2. Our text is a happy combination of these qualities, and is an enforcement of them on others. Were we to imitate them there would be an end of our unhappy dissentions on religious matters.
I. There is a great and growing number of those with whom we should conscientiously unite. Look around and see how many there are who are perfect and thus minded in reference to the most important matters. The rule then should be the rule now (verses 8-14).
1. We ought to seek and cultivate the society of such, by friendly association and public communion, etc.
2. Let us use the means to promote the mutual improvement of such and of ourselves.
3. Let us do all we can to render our reciprocal union more perfect and our usefulness more extensive.
II. There are some who differ from us in matters of great importance–how does the principle apply to them? To have no communion with them would be to expel them from the sacred ark into the ranks of the enemy. Those to whom the apostle refers are evidently not those who renounce and revile evangelical truth, but those whose knowledge or whose means or susceptibility for instruction are deficient.
1. Let us give a fair and comprehensive consideration to the way in which their religious characters have been formed.
(1) Education may early have produced an unfavourable impression, or they may have attended an incompetent ministry.
(2) We ought to pay regard to the difficulties and misapprehensions which lie in the use of words, which may be employed ambiguously or ignorantly.
(3) We should reflect what would probably have been the effect upon our minds had we been placed in their circumstances.
(4) When we see in them the apparent evidences of real holiness let us not be backward to acknowledge it.
2. How we ought to act towards them.
(1) With justice. Let us not misrepresent them, nor exaggerate the differences between us.
(2) With kindness. Let us see that our temper be sweet and our manner pleasing.
(3) We should take great care to prevent them imagining that we maintain salvation to be suspended on a mere theoretical belief of some points of doctrine.
III. There are Christians prom whom we differ on matters of smaller moment.
1. Let us show them the most sincere and honest respect and kindness.
2. Let us cultivate friendly intercourse with them as far as they are disposed to reciprocate it.
3. Let us hold with them religious communion on proper occasions so far as our and their principles permit.
4. When we state and argue for the points in which we differ from them let us take care to deal justly by them.
5. Let us take equal pains, without intrusion, to make them correctly acquainted with our sentiments.
6. Let everything in our speaking and writing, etc., be a demonstration that we esteem the essential principle and expansive morality of the gospel infinitely above the strict bounds of controversial preciseness and ecclesiastical form. (J. Pye Smith, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 15. As many as be perfect] As many as are thoroughly instructed in Divine things, who have cast off all dependence on the law and on every other system for salvation, and who discern God calling them from above by Christ Jesus; be thus minded; be intensely in earnest for eternal life, nor ever halt till the race is finished.
The word , perfect, is taken here in the same sense in which it is taken 1Co 14:20:- Be not CHILDREN in understanding-but in understanding be ye MEN, , be ye perfect-thoroughly instructed, deeply experienced. 1Co 2:6:- We speak wisdom among the perfect, , among those who are fully instructed, adults in Christian knowledge. Eph 4:13:- Till we all come-unto a perfect man, , to the state of adults in Christianity. Heb 5:14:- But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, , the perfect-those who are thoroughly instructed and experienced in Divine things. Let us therefore, says the apostle, as many as be perfect-as have entered fully into the spirit and design of the Gospel, be thus minded, viz. Forget the things which are behind, and stretch forward along the mark for the prize.
If in any thing ye be otherwise minded] If ye have not yet entered into the full spirit and design of this Gospel, if any of you have yet remaining any doubts relative to Jewish ordinances, or their expediency in Christianity, God shall reveal even this unto you; for while you are sincere and upright, God will take care that ye shall have full instruction in these Divine things.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
A learned man reads it from the Greek to this purpose: As many therefore as are perfect, let us think this; and if ye think any thing otherwise, even this also God will, or may, reveal to you, (besides what we have attained to), to walk by the same rule, to think the same thing: conceiving it not congruous to the sense, or syntax, but alien from all manner of speaking, to translate it imperatively: Let us walk by the same rule. But following our own translation:
Let us therefore, as many as be perfect; from the instance of himself, imitating Christ, in loving condescension and lowliness of mind, Phi 2:3,5, worshipping God in the spirit, and not having confidence in the flesh, Phi 3:3, in the fellowship of Christs sufferings, Phi 3:10, pressing forward to absolute perfection, he here doth with himself encourage as many rulers and ruled who were settled in the fundamentals of Christianity, and who had made progress in holiness, to mind that main business of religion, for the prevention of what might ensue upon exasperating differences; whereupon he styles them comparatively perfect in the way, not in the heavenly country, 1Co 13:10; which doth not disagree with what he said before, if we further distinguish of a perfection:
1. Of integrity and sincerity, which some call of parts; as a perfect living child, that hath all the parts of the parent, so, upon the new birth, every real believer receiving grace for grace, Joh 1:13,16.
2. Of maturity, proficiency or degrees where grown to a full stature in Christ; here relatively and comparatively to others, who are more rude, ignorant, and weak brethren, since, in regard of their progress in godliness, they are not taken up with childish things, 1Co 13:9-11, with 1Co 14:20; but are grown more adult, and no more children, 1Co 2:6; Eph 4:13,14; Heb 5:13,14; 6:1; which he doth elsewhere, in regard of their experimental knowledge, call spiritual, Gal 6:1, who here worship God in the spirit, Phi 3:3; as many as are sincere, of whatsoever stature, whether bishops, deacons, or private Christians.
Be thus minded; he would have them to be so minded as he himself was, in renouncing all carnal confidence, acknowledging their gradual imperfection, and still to be striving and contending to a fuller measure of holiness, till they come to be consummate in Christ.
And if in any thing ye be otherwise minded; and if any, through ignorance of Christ and themselves, conversing with those ready to mislead them, should be of any other persuasion in some things only, considering the different attainments of the strong and weak, and thereupon the variety of sentiments, whence would spring some differences not only in opinions but practices amongst them, (which yet hindered not their agreement in what they were attained to),
God shall reveal even this unto you; he hoped Christ, who had already called or apprehended those sincere ones, would in due time rescue them from so dangerous an error, 1Jo 2:20,27, if they would attend upon him in the use of means to come to the knowledge of the truth, with faith and prayer, yielding up themselves to be taught of him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. thereforeresuming Php3:3. “As many of us then, as are perfect,” that is,full grown (no longer “babes”) in the Christian life(Php 3:3, “worshipping Godin the Spirit, and having no confidence in the flesh”), 1Co2:6, fully established in things of God. Here, by “perfect,”he means one fully fit for running [BENGEL];knowing and complying with the laws of the course (2Ti2:5). Though “perfect” in this sense, he was not yet”made perfect” (Greek) in the sense intended in Php3:12, namely, “crowned with complete victory,”and having attained absolute perfection.
thus mindedhaving themind which he had described, Php3:7-14.
otherwise mindedhavingtoo high an opinion of yourselves as to your attainment of Christianperfection. “He who thinks that he has attainedeverything, hath nothing” [CHRYSOSTOM].Probably, too, he refers to those who were tempted to think to attainto perfection by the law (Ga3:3): who needed the warning (Php3:3), “Beware of the concision,” though on account oftheir former piety, Paul hopes confidently (as in Ga5:10) that God will reveal the path of right-mindedness to them.Paul taught externally God “reveals” the truth internallyby His Spirit (Mat 11:25; Mat 16:17;1Co 3:6).
unto youwho sincerelystrive to do God’s will (Joh 7:17;Eph 1:17).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Let us therefore, as many as be perfect,…. Not absolutely, but comparatively, with respect to other believers, in a lower class of knowledge and experience; and not with respect to degrees, but parts; and regards such who were not children, but of riper age in divine things, unless the words are spoken ironically:
be thus minded; as the apostle was, to count what were gain to him, loss for Christ; to reckon all things but loss and dung, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ; to be willing to suffer the loss of all things, to win him, Php 3:8; to desire to be found in him, and in his righteousness, and not a man’s own, Php 3:9; to know more of him in his person, righteousness, sufferings, death, and resurrection from the dead, Php 3:10; and to attain to such a state, and yet to disclaim all perfection, and acknowledge their imperfection, Php 3:11; and to forget things behind, and reach to those before, Php 3:13; and press towards the mark, Christ, for the prize of eternal glory, Php 3:14:
and if in anything ye be otherwise minded; as to seek for justification by the works of the law, or partly by Christ and partly by the law, and to imagine and expect perfection in this life:
God shall reveal even this unto you; such errors will be made manifest sooner or later; the day will declare them, and such wood, hay, and stubble, will be burnt up by the fire, which will reveal every man’s work, 1Co 3:12.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Warnings and Exhortations. | A. D. 62. |
15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. 16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
The apostle, having proposed himself as an example, urges the Philippians to follow it. Let the same mind be in us which was in blessed Paul. We see here how he was minded; let us be like-minded, and set our hearts upon Christ and heaven, as he did. 1. He shows that this was the thing wherein all good Christians were agreed, to make Christ all in all, and set their hearts upon another world. This is that whereto we have all attained. However good Christians may differ in their sentiments about other things, this is what they are agreed in, that Christ is a Christian’s all, that to win Christ and to be found in him involve our happiness both here and hereafter. And therefore let us walk by the same rule, and mind the same thing. Having made Christ our all, to us to live must be Christ. Let us agree to press towards the mark, and make heaven our end. 2. That this is a good reason why Christians who differ in smaller matters should yet bear with one another, because they are agreed in the main matter: “If in any thing you be otherwise minded–if you differ from one another, and are not of the same judgment as to meats and days, and other matters of the Jewish law–yet you must not judge one another, while you all meet now in Christ as your centre, and hope to meet shortly in heaven as your home. As for other matters of difference, lay no great stress upon them, God shall reveal even this unto you. Whatever it is wherein you differ, you must wait till God give you a better understanding, which he will do in his due time. In the mean time, as far as you have attained, you must go together in the ways of God, join together in all the great things in which you are agreed, and wait for further light in the minor things wherein you differ.”
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
As many as be perfect ( ). Here the term means relative perfection, not the absolute perfection so pointedly denied in verse 12. Paul here includes himself in the group of spiritual adults (see He 5:13).
Let us be thus minded ( ). Present active volitive subjunctive of . “Let us keep on thinking this,” viz. that we have not yet attained absolute perfection.
If ye are otherwise minded ( ). Condition of first class, assumed as true. That is, if ye think that ye are absolutely perfect.
Shall God reveal unto you ( ). He turns such cases over to God. What else can he do with them?
Whereunto we have already come ( ). First aorist active indicative of , originally to come before as in 1Th 4:15, but usually in the Koine simply to arrive, attain to, as here.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Toward the mark [ ] . Rev., goal. Bear down upon [] . Skopov mark, only here in the New Testament. See on look, ch. 2 4. Used in the classics of a mark for shooting at, or as a moral or intellectual end. A somewhat similar figure occurs 1Ti 1:6; 1Ti 6:21; 2Ti 2:18, in the verb ajstocew to miss the aim or the shot. A. V., swerved and erred.
Prize [] . See on 1Co 9:24. Ignatius uses the word qema that which is deposited as a prize : a prize of money as distinct from the crown. “Be temperate as God ‘s athlete. The prize is incorruption and eternal life” (to Polycarp, 2.). Chrysostom says : “He that runs looks not at the spectators, but at the prize. Whether they be rich or poor, if one mock them, applaud them, insult them, throw stones at them – if one plunder their house, if they see children or wife or anything whatsoever – the runner is not turned aside, but is concerned only with his running and winning the prize. He that runneth stoppeth nowhere; since, if he be a little remiss, all is lost. He that runneth relaxeth in no respect before the end, but then, most of all, stretcheth over the course.”
High calling [ ] . Lit., upward calling. A calling which is from heaven and to heaven. Klhsiv calling, is habitually used in the New Testament of the act of calling. Compare Heb 3:1. The prize is bound up with the calling; promised when the call is issued, and given when the call is fulfilled.
Phi 3:15Perfect [] . Mature Christians. See On 1Co 2:6. Be thus minded. Lit., think this, or have this mind, namely, to forget the past and to press forward.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect” (hosoi oun teleioi)’as many as therefore are perfect or mature” or passed beyond the rudimentary doctrines, principles of the Word; Heb 5:14. Let us who have spiritual maturity of self-control, discipline, a grasp of the Word and doctrine, pursue faithful witnessing, sacrifice, and service for Christ, a walk of unity, Eph 4:1-4.
2) “Be thus minded” (touto phronomen) let us think this way or in this manner, be of this disposition to keep keeping on, running the Christian race, without looking back or fainting, Heb 6:1-3; Gal 6:9; Jas 5:7-8.
3) “And if in anything ye be otherwise minded” (kai ei ti heteros; phroneite) “and if ye anything, otherwise, or of a different order ye think” Col 2:6-7; Rom 12:1-2; Heb 12:1-3. Let each walk in the mind of Christ, with the standards of Christ, as his moral, ethical, and spiritual goals, Php_2:5-7; Joh 8:12; 2Pe 3:18.
4) “God shall reveal even this unto you,” (kai touto ho theos humin apokalupsei), “God will even uncover, unveil, or reveal even this to you all” through his Word and spirit, 2Ti 3:16-17; 1Jn 4:1-3; Joh 5:39; Eph 5:16-18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
15 As many as are perfect Lest any one should understand this as spoken of the generality of mankind, as though he were explaining the simple elements to those that are mere children in Christ, he declares that it is a rule which all that are perfect ought to follow. Now, the rule is this — that we must renounce confidence in all things, that we may glory in Christ’s righteousness alone, and preferring it to everything else, aspire after a participation in his sufferings, which may be the means of conducting us to a blessed resurrection. Where now will be that state of perfection which monks dream of — where the confused medley of such contrivances — where, in short, the whole system of Popery, which is nothing else than an imaginary perfection, that has nothing in common with this rule of Paul? Undoubtedly, whoever will understand this single term, will clearly perceive that everything that is taught in the Papacy, as to the attainment of righteousness and salvation, is nauseous dung.
If in anything otherwise By the same means he both humbles them, and inspires them with good hope, for he admonishes them not to be elated in their ignorance, and at the same time he bids them be of good courage, when he says that we must wait for the revelation of God. For we know how great an obstacle to truth obstinacy is. This, therefore, is the best preparation for docility — when we do not take pleasure in error. Paul, accordingly, teaches indirectly, that we must make way for the revelation of God, if we have not yet attained what we seek. Farther, when he teaches that we must advance by degrees, he encourages them not to draw back in the middle of the course. At the same time, he maintains beyond all controversy what he has previously taught, when he teaches that others who differ from him will have a revelation given to them of what they do not as yet know. For it is as though he had said, — “The Lord will one day shew you that the very thing which I have stated is a perfect rule of true knowledge and of right living.” No one could speak in this manner, if he were not fully assured of the reasonableness and accuracy of his doctrine. Let us in the mean time learn also from this passage, that we must bear for a time with ignorance in our weak brethren, and forgive them, if it is not given them immediately to be altogether of one mind with us. Paul felt assured as to his doctrine, and yet he allows those who could not as yet receive it time to make progress, and he does not cease on that account to regard them as brethren, only he cautions them against flattering themselves in their ignorance. The rendering of the Latin copies (193) in the preterite, revelavit , (he has revealed,) I have no hesitation in rejecting as unsuitable and inappropriate.
(193) The rendering of the Vulgate ( revelavit ) is followed in the Rheims version — (1582) — hath revealed. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
15. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye are otherwise minded, this also shall God reveal unto you: 16. only whereunto we have attained, by that same rule let us walk.
Translation and Paraphrase
15. Therefore let as many of us as are full-grown (mature, perfect, fully developed in Christian attitudes) think this same (way about our progress as Christians). And if any one (of you) think otherwise (about your Christian progress) God will reveal this (truth) to you (in due time, and convince you that I was right about it).
16. But (whatever your feelings about our goal for life may be, I urge) only (this, that we) live by the same (standard) unto which we have attained(live in accordance with the best knowledge and feelings you have gained).
Notes
1.
Php. 3:15-16 form a concluding exhortation to the preceding material. Paul urged those who considered themselves spiritually perfect (mature, or full-grown) to realize that they had to continue pressing on toward the heavenly goal, even as he did. If there were some among Pauls readers who did not feel about this as Paul felt, and thought that they were already fully attained, Paul did not quarrel with them, but only urged them to live according to the best knowledge and best feelings they then had. He adds the mild, perhaps half-humorous, rebuke, that if in any respect they did not now agree with Pauls views about the Christian life, that God would in due time reveal to them the truthfulness of Pauls position.
2.
Most of us would be much better Christians if we only lived fully up to the things we now know we should do. How much more would we be excellent servants of God if we had a dedication like Pauls, who said, One thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on . . .
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(15) Perfect.The word is apparently used with a touch of irony (as perhaps the word spiritual in Gal. 6:1), in reference to those who hold themselves to have already attained, to be already perfect. It is, indeed, mostly used of such maturity in faith and grace as may be, and ought to be, attained here (Mat. 5:48; 1Co. 2:6; 1Co. 14:20; Eph. 4:13; Col. 1:28; Col. 4:12; Heb. 5:14). But, strictly speaking, this life, as St. Paul urges in 1Co. 13:10-11, is but childhood, preparing for the full manhood, or perfection of the next; and his disclaimer of perfection above suggests that this higher meaning should in this passage be kept in view. The prospect of being perfect in indefectible faith or grace is the Christians hope; the claim to be already perfect is always recurring in various formsall natural but unwarrantable anticipations of heaven on earth. St. Paul, by a striking paradox, bids those who hold themselves perfect to prove that they are so by a consciousness of imperfection. If they have it not, he says, they have something yet to learn. God will reveal even this unto them. The conviction of the Holy Ghost unites inseparably the conviction of sin and the conviction of righteousness. The judgment of absolute decision between them is not yet.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. As many as be perfect Including himself in the class thus designated, and leaving each member of the Philippian Church to decide whether or not he himself belonged to it. See note on Php 3:12. The perfection here is a moral perfection, and, therefore, a different thing from that in Php 3:12, which the apostle declares himself not to have attained. The perfect are the true circumcision, as defined in Php 3:3, and stand in contrast with those who depend upon the flesh, and thereby fail of an acceptable righteousness.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus minded, and if in anything you are otherwise minded, this also will God reveal to you,’
In Php 3:12 Paul declared that he was not already ‘perfect’ (teteleiowmai – to be finished, fully complete). But now he appears to contradict himself. For here he links himself with those who are teleios (perfect, complete, mature). This apparent contradiction arises, however, because while the verb predominantly indicates perfection, it is not always so with the nouns and adjectives from the same root. Thus the verb is used in the New Testament predominantly to indicate what is finished, what is perfect, what is wholly complete. Indeed its only other use in Paul is in 2Co 12:9 where we read, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power (strength) is made perfect in weakness’, where the idea is that God’s power takes Paul’s weakness and results in a complete solution. However, the noun teleios is regularly used to indicate maturity rather than perfection, and in Paul spiritual maturity. Jesus tells us that we are to be ‘teleios because our Father in Heaven is teleios’ (Mat 5:48). Jesus did not expect perfection from us, but a true representation of what the Father is, a spiritual maturity which would be recognised as we demonstrated His beneficial love. A person who does not offend in his words is teleios (Jas 3:2), that is, he reveals his full growth and maturity. In 1Co 2:6 those who are spiritually mature (teleios) recognise true spiritual wisdom. In 1Co 14:20 we are to be mature (teleios) in understanding as adults, as opposed to having the immaturity of children. Thus Paul regularly uses the adjective to indicate those who are mature, or fully grown. Here then Paul is using a play on words to indicate that while he is not yet the finished product, he is mature and fully grown in the faith. And he calls on all who are the same (which is potentially all of them) to be ‘thus minded’, that is, to have the mindset which causes them to press on towards the goal that Paul has described, recognising that they have not yet attained to it. Note how being ‘minded’ results in positive spiritual action as in Php 2:5. It refers to taking up a mindset which results in participation in what the mind has been set on.
Then he warns against having any other mindset. For if anyone has a different mindset it will require God to reveal the truth to him (as He did to the disciples and to Peter – Mat 11:2; Mat 16:17; compare Eph 1:17). The false teachers would have a different mindset, even though they claimed special spiritual illumination. Thus his remark is primarily to them. If they truly claim God’s inspiration let them recognise that that inspiration would inevitably cause them to see things as Paul saw them. For all who see things differently are indicating thereby that they are not fully mature in their understanding. They are not truly illuminated.
Some see here a sideswipe at the ideas of the false teachers. If they claim to be ‘perfect’ let them reveal it by recognising the truth of what Paul has said.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Exhortation to Follow The Examples of True Humility In Php 3:15 to Php 4:1 Paul exhorts the church at Philippi to follow the examples of himself, Christ Jesus, Timothy and Epaphroditus as true servants and to avoid false humility.
Php 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Php 3:15
Php 3:15 Comments – This absolute focus described in the previous verses of reaching forth and pressing towards the prize of God’s high calling is the sign of a mature believer
Php 3:16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
Php 3:16
Php 3:17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.
Php 3:17
Php 3:17 “so as ye have us for an ensample” Comments – In the phrase “so as ye have us for an example,” Paul was referring to the examples given in the passage above, of himself, of Christ, of Timothy, and of Epaphroditus. These were four examples of true servanthood and partnership.
Why would Paul want to become an example when we have the Lord as the perfect example (1Pe 2:21)? It has been my experience in life that certain men of God have become a great inspiration to me. As I read the autobiographies of African missionaries, I am tremendously moved to become a better missionary here in Uganda. As I have worked under certain preachers, teachers and other servants of the Lord, I have taken on their attributes. When we watch someone in the flesh and blood, be can be inspired beyond the narrow vision that we have for our lives, and we begin to reach for higher levels of faith.
1Pe 2:21, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:”
Php 3:17 Comments – Paul uses a great amount of the rest of this epistle to give the church at Philippi four examples of men who also gave up their own ambitions in order to serve the interests of the heavenly Father. Paul tells of how he left the Jewish religion to know Christ and how it cost him everything (Php 1:12-26). Then he uses Jesus as an example of one who left His glory to come to earth and serve the plan of the Father, and was then ushered into the glory that He deserved (Php 2:5-11). Paul then uses Timothy (Php 2:19-23) and Epaphroditus (Php 2:25-30) as examples of faithfulness in supporting Paul’s ministry. In Php 3:18-19, Paul contrasts this life of sacrifice by making a reference to men who serve their own interests. Finally, in Php 4:3, Paul tells the Philippians that other women have laboured together with him in the Gospel.
Php 3:18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
Php 3:18
Act 20:31, “I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears ”.
Php 3:18 “that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ” Comments – These enemies are like those adulterous in Jas 4:4, who love the world and are at enmity with God.
Jas 4:4, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
Php 3:19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
Php 3:19
Mat 7:13-14, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
Php 3:19 “whose God is their belly” Comments – The word “belly” is used figuratively here to describe not only a carnal man’s fleshly lusts, but the fleshly desires that proceed out of their hearts.
Php 3:19 “whose glory is in their shame” – Comments – These people boast of things that they consider as normal; but in fact, these deeds are too shameful to mention (Eph 5:11-12).
Eph 5:11-12, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.”
Illustration While a missionary in Uganda, East Africa, I was having a conversation with an Indian who was born and raised in this nation. We were discussing the problem of corruption among the local Africans, and I commented that they should be ashamed of themselves for stealing government funds and lying so openly. His reply to me reflected his insight into the mindset of corruption when he said, “In Africa there is no shame.” Having been raised in a Judeo-Christian culture, integrity served as the moral fiber of society, and people generally felt shame when committing sins against their fellow people. However, there is a mindset of individuals that feels no shame in their sins, and this is the mindset that Paul is describing in Rom 1:32 and Php 3:19, a person who openly and blatantly sins without feeling any sense of guilt or shame.
Rom 1:32, “Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”
Php 3:19 “who mind earthly things” – Comments – The same words are used in:
Col 3:2, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth .”
Php 3:19 Comments Php 3:19 is a description of the fruit of these false teachers. Jesus said that by their fruit we shall know them. (Mat 7:15-20)
Php 3:17-19 Comments Warnings of False Teachers – Php 3:17-19 is such a timely message today. We must put, or fix, our eyes on God’s word, these epistles, and men of God, because there are present today great deceptions in today’s world of religion and false doctrine. The truth is that there are many false teachers today, not just a few. (Note Mat 7:15-20, Act 20:28-31 , 2Pe 2:1 f, 1Ti 3:1 f, Jude and other passages.) These destructive enemies of God are mentioned in Php 3:2.
Php 3:2, “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.”
Php 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Php 3:20
Julius Oyet said to Jesus, in his vision in heaven, “‘Dear Lord, Look! Help me Lord! How come all these brethren know me so well including all of my names? No Lord, I have never been here and never met them. But how come they know my name Lord?!!!…’ …Jesus held my right hand and answered me saying, ‘My dear Julius, you are not new here. Heaven is your home land and everybody whose name is in the Book of Life is a citizen of heaven!’ Before He could continue I shouted Alleluia. Then He laughed over and over again after which He said, ‘Even these saints before they came here they were known in heaven the first time their names were written in the Book of Life.’” [78]
[78] Julius Peter Oyet, I Visited Heaven (Kampala, Uganda: Bezalel Design Studio, 1997), 70-1.
Illustration – On May 16, 2002, we were on vacation in Texas from the mission field. We had been in the U.S. for almost one month, and Elisabeth, being 3 years old, was getting homesick for Uganda, where she had grown up. She began to ask us often when we were going home. Sensing in our answers our lack of excitement in returning to Uganda, she finally asked me, “Daddy, where is home?” I quickly said, “I don’t know.” Thinking further, I said, “I guess our home is in heaven.”
Php 3:20 Comments – It is interesting to note that the city of Philippi was a Roman colony. As a colony, it held a political advantage to its neighboring cities. A Roman colony was simply a military outpost used to protect the Empire as well as “Romanize” the region in which it was located. It was the only Roman colony in the province of Macedonia. In return for this service from the citizens of a colony, its inhabitants held special privileges, such as immunity from taxes, an autonomous government and Roman citizenship.
We can imagine such a city receiving royal visits from Roman dignitaries on a regular basis. Preparations and excitement must have preceded such visits. Thus, Paul uses this image to paint a clear picture to these believers of how they have a similar relationship to the capital city in Heaven called Jerusalem. As citizens of this royal city, they too can look for a visit from their king, Jesus Christ; they are blessed with special privileges above others.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Php 3:15. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, &c. “Such is the situation of my own mind, and the ardour of desire with which I am pressing after farther attainments in the Divine life. Let as many of us therefore as are perfect in any degree, and initiated, if I may so express it, into the holy mysteries of our religion, into the deep things of God, who have known him that is from the beginning (1Jn 2:13-14.), attend to this as our great business and aim; and if any of you are otherwise affected, if any be unhappily fallen into a remiss and indolent frame, God shall reveal even this unto you, if you sincerely and earnestly ask him. I hope that he will, andI pray that he may give you such views of the crown of glory, the prize of our high calling, as may animate your most vigorous pursuit of it.” In Php 3:12 the Apostle speaks of himself as not already perfected; which is said in opposition to the Jews, and the converts from among them, who flattered themselves, that barely by being under the law they were made perfect. Hence he speaks in such a manner to the Galatians, ch. Php 3:3 when they were seduced by the Judaizers; Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? In which place by the flesh he particularly adverts to the ceremonial law. This notion of the Jews naturally led them into security, and such carelessness of life, as the Apostle judged to be most dangerous. In opposition to them he sets forth his own great solicitude and diligence in the use of all proper means, considering himself as not having yet obtained the prize. This clears the seeming inconsistency between the 12th and the present verse. The perfection spoken of in the 12th verse relates to the reward;with respect to which our Saviour himself says, the third day I shall be perfected, Luk 13:32. And thus the spirits of just men are not made perfect till the other world, Heb 12:23.We may justly observe, that when an expression of this kind is used to intimate that the greatest adepts in Christianity should be labouring after higher improvements, it must strongly imply the obligations on those in a lower class, to press forward. See Heb 5:13-14. 1Co 2:6.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Phi 3:15 . Application of the passage Phi 3:12-14 for the benefit of the Philippians, down to Phi 3:17 .
] denotes not perfection , like in Phi 3:12 , but the moral ripeness which, with differences of degree in the case of individuals, belongs to the true Christian state that has advanced beyond the novitiate that Christian maturity in which one is no longer ; comp. on 1Co 2:6 ; 1Co 3:1 ; Eph 4:13 . The is the ideal goal of the development of this , contradistinguished from the . The special aspect of this maturity, which Paul had in view in using , is to be regarded, not as theoretical knowledge , the doctrine of righteousness by faith being conceived to be specially referred to (Erasmus, Wolf, Rheinwald, and others), but as the moral character and striving of believers, as appears from Phi 3:13 f., along with which the corresponding relation of practical insight is self-evident as a necessary presupposition (comp. Col 4:12 ; Col 1:28 ); although there is no reason to suppose that particular questions in this domain (such as those relating to sacrificial flesh, fasts, feasts, and the like) had arisen in Philippi and occasioned division, of which no trace exists. The jealousy and partial disunion in the church arose from a moral conceit , which was prejudicial to mutual humility (Phi 2:3 ff.) and to personal genuine striving after holiness (Phi 2:12 ff.). In using with which we are to supply sumus simply, and not volumus esse
Paul leaves it to the conscientious judgment of every reader whether he, on his part, belongs to the number of the ; but by including himself in this predicate, and yet having previously negatived the in his own case (Phi 3:12 ), the apostle removes all idle misunderstanding and abuse of his words which might tend to moral pride, and then by leaves room only for the consciousness: , Chrysostom. A tone of irony (Schenkel) is utterly alien to the heartfelt character of the whole discourse, which is, moreover, in this application, Phi 3:15 , so expressed as to include the apostle in common with his readers. To the Catholic fictions of a state of perfection the passage is in direct opposition.
] let us have this frame of mind , namely, which I, in Phi 3:13 f., have just expressed as mine; the frame of humble self-estimation, and at the same time incessant pressing forward. Grotius holds quite arbitrarily that Paul reverts to what he had said in Phi 3:3 . But it is also wrong to seek the reference of . in the passage from Phi 3:4 onwards: “renunciandum esse splendidis virtutibus Judd. (Phi 3:4-7 ), contra in solo Christo acquiescendum (Phi 3:8-10 ) et ad victricem palmam studio indefesso annitendum (Phi 3:12-14 ),” Hoelemann; comp. Calvin, Wolf, Heinrichs, and others, including Matthies, Baumgarten-Crusius, Rilliet, and Reiche; similarly Hofmann, who makes it refer to the entire presentation joining on to Phi 3:3 of a frame of mind which is opposed to the disposition of those against whom they are to be on their guard. Phi 3:4-11 are certainly said by way of warning against the false teachers , and are opposed to these; but this opposition is of a dogmatic nature, for the upholding of the Pauline fundamental doctrine against Judaism, and it is only Phi 3:12 that begins what has regard to the moral progress of the Church in the right way pressing onward to the goal, in which respect Paul desires to serve for their model (Phi 3:17 ), as which he has sketched himself in Phi 3:13 f, when he begins with and introduces his . Besides, the , which is correlative with the , does not point back beyond Phi 3:13 f. Therefore, not even the appropriation of Christ, Phi 3:8-11 , is to be included in the reference of the (in opposition to de Wette and Wiesinger). Van Hengel is inclined to refer to ; but the readers needed the exhortation to the right mode of striving after the , and not the summons generally, that they should have the . in view. This applies also against the similar, although more exact, interpretation of Fritzsche ( Diss. II. in 2 Cor . p. 92): “ hac mente simus sc. ut . consectemur .”
.] and if as to any point ( , accusative of the object) ye be otherwise minded , take up another way of thinking, varying, namely, from that specified in . A man may, forsooth, have in general the same frame of mind which Paul has represented in himself, and to which he has summoned his readers; but at the same time an isolated concrete case ( ) may occur, which a man cannot fit into the in question, and regarding which he is of opinion that he ought to be differently minded, so that in such a state of things he becomes morally inconsistent in his frame of mind, inasmuch as he lacks the befitting and . . ., Phi 1:9 , in the moral judgment which determines the . Hofmann arbitrarily limits the to some matter independent of the essential disposition of the Christian life . This sense would have required a more precise definition, in order to be found. And the hope which is uttered in the apodosis, is in perfect harmony with the prayer in Phi 1:9 f.; hence Hofmann’s objection, that the readers must have themselves corrected the fault which according to our view here emerges, is quite groundless. The subject addressed is the readers generally (see Phi 3:17 ), not the (Hunnius, Wolf, Bengel, Storr, and others, including Flatt, Rheinwald, Hoelemann, Rilliet, Reiche), whom several expositors have regarded as those who had not yet raised themselves to the pure righteousness of faith excluding the law (see Rheinwald and Reiche), or who had allowed themselves to be led away by false teachers (see Hunnius, Grotius, Storr). But setting aside the arbitrariness generally with which this contrast is introduced, it is opposed by the fact, that Paul does not assume any thorough and essential diversity in the , but only such a variation as might affect some one or other isolated point ( ), and that not in the doctrinal, but in the moral province of Christian conduct. Moreover, if persons led astray were here in question, nothing would be less in harmony with the character of the apostle than the hopeful tolerance which is expressed in the words . Lastly, the change of person (in opposition to Bengel) was necessary, because Paul, speaking of a partial , could not include himself.
In , otherwise (not occurring elsewhere in the N. T.), there is implied, according to the context, an unfavourable sense, the notion of incorrectness, secius quam oportet . Comp. Hom. Od . i. 234; Dem. 298. 22, 597. 3; Eustath. ad Od . p. 1448. 2; Soph. Phil . 503; Valckenaer, Diatr . p. 112; just as (comp. on , Gal 5:10 ) may denote even that which is bad or hostile ( Wis 19:3 ; Dissen. ad Pind. Nem . viii. 3, Pyth . iii. 54; Wyttenbach, ad Plat. Phaed . p. 321). It is here the (Plat. Theaet . pp. 190 E, 193 D), as frame of mind . This has not been attended to by van Hengel, when he takes with equal unsuitableness in an emphatic sense, and as to strive for: “si quid boni per aliam viam expetitis , quam ego persequor.”
. .] Expression of the hope that such variations will not fail to be rectified, on the part of God, by His revealing operation. Certainly, therefore, the variations, which Paul so forbearingly and confidently and without polemical handling commits to revealing correction on the part of God, were not on matters of principle or of an anti-Pauline character.
] this also , like other things which He has already revealed unto you; so that in is contained the idea also still (Hartung, Partikell . I. p. 135). Hofmann erroneously says that implies: there, where the disposition is present, which I require . It in fact belongs to . This , however, is not: that ye (Oecumenius, Grotius, Cornelius a Lapide, Fritzsche, l.c . p. 93), but what ye wrongly think; the frame of mind in question , as it ought to be instead of the , not: “whether you are right or I” (Ewald). Calvin aptly says: “Nemo ita loqui jure posset, nisi cui certa constat suae doctrinae ratio et veritas.” The passage is very far from betraying uncertainty or want of firmness (Baur).
The , which is to be taken as purely future, is conceived by Paul as taking place through the Holy Spirit (see Eph 1:17 ; Col 1:10 ), not by human instruction (Beza). He might also have written (comp. , 1Th 4:9 ; also Joh 6:45 ), by which, however, the special kind of instruction which he means would not have been indicated. This is the inward divine unveiling of ethical truth, which is needed for the practical reason of him who in any respect otherwise than Paul has shown in his own example; for , , Chrysostom. Wherever in this moral respect the right frame of mind is not yet completely present in one or the other, Paul trusts to the disclosing operation of God Himself, whose Spirit rules and works in the Church and its individual members (1Co 2:14 ; 1Co 3:16 ; Eph 1:17 ; Eph 2:21 f.; Rom 8:9 ; Rom 8:15 ; Rom 8:26 ; Gal 5:22 ; Gal 5:25 , et al .).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
XXVII
THE MINISTRY OF TEARS AND PAUL’S RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS
Phi 3:15-4:23
This chapter closes the exposition of the letter to the Philippians. Commencing at Phi 3:15 we make a running comment on the rest of the letter.
“Let us therefore, as many as are perfect.” It is somewhat surprising that just before this Paul said that he counted not himself to be perfect, but that is in the passive voice, to be perfected. Now we have an active form of the same word, only it is an adjective instead of a verb, and the question arises, Is there a contradiction? The answer is, no. The adjective “perfect” is frequently used in the New Testament in the sense of full-grown, mature, as a mature Christian and not a novice, not a babe in Christ, as in the letter to the Hebrews, where he says that “when for the time ye ought to be teachers ye have need that one teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God,” and then says, “Let us go on to perfection,” that is, to maturity.
To continue: “And if in anything ye are otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.” What kind of a revelation is this? Does it mean that God will indefinitely keep up his external revelation, so that there will be continual additions to the Bible? It does not mean that. It is an internal revelation by the Spirit of God. In other words, where a matter is not clear a man, if he be of the right mind and seeks the Spirit’s guidance, then God will reveal the matter to him by inward monition.
Verse Phi 3:17 : “Brethren, be ye imitators together of me, and mark them that so walk even as ye have us for an ensample. For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is perdition, whose God is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.”
This passage puts before us two examples, one they are exhorted to follow, and the other they are exhorted to shun. The first is the example of Paul himself just cited and expounded in the preceding chapter. Every preacher should be an example to the flock, as Peter says: “Not lords over God’s heritage, but examples to the flock.” Now Paul wishes to be imitated just as far as he follows Christ, as he explains it in another passage, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” The other, the evil example, and before I expound it I raise this question: To what kind of people is he referring that give this evil example? Then I raise this question: Is he referring to the Judaizing element of the Christian church, as he has been doing in Phi 3 ? He is referring to Antinomians, whether Jews or Gentiles. That is a big word and is applied in theology to that class of people who emphasize salvation through justification so as to deny the necessity of Christian people’s living right, that is, opposed to the law. I do not know any worse enemies to the cross of Christ than the Antinomians, and I am sorry to say that we have had some of them in Texas. They are not necessarily Jews, but people who, as Luther did in some things, so stress justification by faith, election, calling, and predestination that they take no account of the kind of life that a Christian ought to live. I am ashamed to say that I knew a Baptist preacher in Texas who, after offering an infamous proposition to a fellow Christian too shameful for me to specify said, “What harm will it do? You and I are both Christians, and nothing that a Christian does is charged against him.”
Paul says, “I tell you, even weeping, that these people are enemies of the cross of Christ. Their god is their appetite their lust; their god is the gratification of their animal desires, and they glory in their shame.” To me the most horrible thing in the world is for a man to profess belief in the high doctrines of grace and then live an evil life. God calls men to good works; God regenerates men, creates them unto good works, and whom he calls he not only justifies but sanctifies, and I am sure that the unsanctified man will never enter heaven.
I quote a part of that verse again: “I now tell you, even weep-ing.” Such a thing excited the deepest concern in Paul’s heart, and I recall attention to this verse in order to cite in this connection Monrod’s lectures, or sermons on Paul, and particularly the one on the “Tears of Paul.” What things excited this man’s tears? There are many cases of Paul’s weeping, and in each case there was a specific cause for his tears.
Let us look at Jesus on Olivet weeping over Jerusalem. There is no such lamentation in all history: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate I” On this passage is based the hymn
Did Christ o’er sinners weep? And shall our cheeks be dry? Let floods of penitential grief, Burst forth from every eye.
The psalm says, “He that goeth forth weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” Tears are an indication of earnestness and sympathy. Macaulay, in that famous poem of his, “The Battle of Ivry,” represents Henry of Navarre this way: He looked upon the foemen and his glance was stern and high; He looked upon his comrades and a tear was in his eve.
Verse Phi 3:20 : “For our citizenship is in heaven.” The citizens of a city were enrolled. Rome enrolled her citizens, and the Philippians were all on that roll as being a Roman colony, but our citizenship is in the New Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Where is Jesus now? He is in heaven, at the right hand of the Father. How long will he remain there? Until his enemies be made his footstool. Why will he come back to this earth? To raise the dead, the just and the unjust, and to judge the world in righteousness. Our citizenship is in heaven. From whence, i.e., from heaven; Peter says, “Whom the heavens must retain until the time of the restoration of all things,” and our text adds, “Who shall change our vile bodies that they may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself.” That subject is abundantly discussed in 1Co 15 , and it embodies a cardinal doctrine, vital and fundamental. A man who does not believe in the resurrection of the dead and the glorification of the bodies of the saints has no right to claim to be a Christian.
Keble in his “Christian Year” uses this language: Before the judgment seat, Though changed and glorified each face, Not unremembered we shall meet, For endless ages to embrace.
Phi 4 : “Therefore, my brethren beloved and longed for, my joy and crown.” More than once I have called attention to Paul’s joy and crown. He says about the same thing in the letter to the Thessalonians “Ye are my crown of rejoicing.” The psalmist says, “He shall come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”
When we enter heaven it will not delight us that on earth we were great generals, or great admirals, or great statesmen, but it will delight us to see there those who, through our instrumentality, were saved. That shares the very heart of Christ.
“He will be wondered at” in the old sense of the word admired in all them that believe, and the whole ransomed church of God will be his crown of rejoicing. “He shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied.” So when we see those of them whom we have influenced to become Christians, or more faithful Christians, they will be our “crown of rejoicing.”
When Spurgeon died a memorial service of his death was held in Nashville, Tennessee, and I was invited to deliver the oration; and my first volume of sermons is that oration. As a part of the oration I drew a picture, and yet a scriptural picture, of those who greeted Spurgeon when he entered heaven the aged widows whom he had sheltered and protected, the orphans whom he had clothed and fed, the young preachers whom he had instructed and whose expenses he had largely met and who were supplied with libraries by his wife these all, passing into heaven, were standing on the battlements to shout their welcome to the coming preacher, and he shouted back, “Ye are my crown of rejoicing,” and it is this to which Paul alludes when he says, “For other foundation can no man Jay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; . . . a day of fire shall declare it,” and the bad material that he has put on shall be his loss. He, himself who is on the foundation will be saved, but only the good material that he has put in the building will be his reward. “He will come with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”
We now come to an exhortation upon which I wish to give a few remarks. “I exhort Euodia, and I exhort Syntyche, to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yea, I beseech thee also, true yokefellow, help these women, for they labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.”
The position of women in Macedonia was far superior to many other countries, and the Macedonian women were particularly prominent and useful in the Philippian church. That, in fact, accounted in part for the great liberality of that church. Here were two sisters, both prominent, both great workers, that helped Paul when he was there, and also Clement, and they helped all the rest of Paul’s fellow workers. But they fell apart, I do not know just why. There might have been some little talk at a quilting, but I am pretty sure it was not at a bridge party. Or it might have been at a Ladies’ Aid Society. How sad! Paul stands up for these women. He gives them both a certificate of good character; they were both noble workers, his fellow laborers. He exhorts somebody, whoever this true yoke fellow is, to help these women to get together. It is a very sad thing when two prominent men in a church get to pulling apart, but I think it is a sadder thing when two prominent women get to pulling apart. Men know better how to put things in a parentheses than women. Whenever there is a sharp difference between two women in a church it is much more apt to reach the home and the children. A man can have a difference with a man and say nothing to the wife about it, and especially to the children, but if a woman has a difficulty everybody in the house has to hear about it, and everybody must take sides or get into trouble.
I am a great believer in women’s societies. A woman’s society helped to take care of our Lord. There are a great many Texas churches that would have gone into oblivion long ago but for a few faithful women. They were the life and soul of this Philippian church.
It is too bad that Euodia and Syntyche could not pull together. The longer we serve as pastors the more we find Euodias and Syntyches, and the Lord give us wisdom when we come to deal with these cases. “I beseech thee also, true yokefellow, help those women.”
Let us look at this word “yokefellow.” Is it a proper name or not? Farrar and others say that this is a proper noun, and by a play on words, not unusual with Paul, he calls him a true yokefellow. I think Paul refers to Epaphroditus, who was there when this letter arrived and who was the pastor, and he had just demonstrated at Rome that he was a true yokefellow with Paul. The subscription says that this letter was carried by Epaphroditus. Paul could refer to the pastor of the church as the yokefellow, who put his neck into the yoke when he found Paul in prison at Rome, and helped him pull the gospel wagon; so I doubt its being a proper noun.
Phi 4:3 closes this way: “Whose names are in the book of life.” On that book of life I give some scriptures to be studied: Exo 32:32-33 ; Psa 69:28 ; Psa 87:6 ; Isa 4:3 ; Eze 13:9 ; Dan 12:1 ; Luk 10:20 ; Rev 3:5 ; Rev 13:8 ; Rev 17:8 ; Rev 20:12 ; Rev 21:27 . I also recommend that one of my sermons in the first book of sermons called The Library of Heaven. The last book mentioned as belonging to the “Library of Heaven” is the book of life, and in that sermon will be found some helpful light on this book of life, and particularly on this question: When does a man’s name go into the book of life? Of course in the divine purpose the roll of the saved was complete in eternity. He who hath numbered the very hairs of our heads I presume has numbered the heads as well, and in that sense the book would be the elect as in God’s thought, but I don’t think that is the thought here. The book of life is the register of the citizens enrolled. He says, “Our citizenship is in heaven.” Our names go down and we become citizens, that is, whenever we are converted. It is a register of judicial decisions recorded as each one is justified. Hence this book is the deciding thing at the judgment seat of Christ: “Whosoever is not found written in the book of life” already written before the judgment day comes “shall be cast into the lake of fire.” It is in view of that book that we have that good old Baptist hymn: When thou, my righteous Judge, shalt come, To take thy ransomed people home, Shall I among them stand? Shall I, who sometimes am afraid to die. Be found at thy right hand? How can I bear the piercing thought: What if my name should be left out?
In Phi 4:5 , going on with the running comment, we have this statement, “The Lord is at hand.” What does that mean? It does not mean the Lord’s coming. It means his presence. It means that we should live continually as if sensible of the presence of the Lord right here. As John says in the letter to the Laodiceans, “Behold I stand at the door and knock” at the door of the heart of the church member “and if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in and I will sup with him and he will sup with me.” Commencing with verse 6 and extending to verse 9 we have the famous recipe for happiness as found in the analysis. Here is the secret of happiness, and it certainly consists of he following things:
1. “Be anxious about nothing.” We have heard people say, “It is the pace that kills.” It is not the pace that kills; it is the anxiety that kills the anxiety that draws the wrinkles on the brow and the crow’s feet around the eyes, and makes a man look as if he was not only aged, but burdened an Atlas with the world on his shoulders, and those anxieties are the kill-joys and the most foolish things in the world, for nine-tenths of the things that we are anxious about never happen. The danger exists in our imagination. “A brave man never dies but once a coward is dying all the time. He dies every day of his life.”
My father taught his children a solemn lesson. He had only twelve children of his own, so he adopted three other families, making twenty-five in all, and in the winter time the great room of our house was he dining room, about forty feet long, and a fireplace eight feet wide. It took two grown men to bring in the back log for us. Now, with that big fireplace roaring and the big, heavy dining table pushed back, the twenty-five of us would gather around that fire and he would talk and instruct us. One day shall never forget it it was Saturday the dining table had just been pushed back and every boy on the place was growling because they had planned to go fishing and it was pouring down rain. My father looked around and said, “Boys, by the will of God, I give you permission to fret and be anxious about everything in the world but two things.” We thought this allowed us a big margin and eagerly asked what they were. This was his answer:
“First, never fret or be anxious about a thing you can help. If you can help it, just help it, and quit worrying.
“Second, never fret about a thing you can’t help, for fretting won’t do any good.”
The more we thought about it the more we found that there wasn’t any margin about it at all; the two things covered all things.
In Psa 37 is a passage that I have read at family prayers oftener than any other in the Bible, another recipe for happiness: “Fret not yourselves because of evildoers . . . Trust in the Lord and do good . . . Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall bring it to pass. Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for him . . . I have seen the wicked in great power, spreading himself like a green bay tree; and lo I he passed away. . . . I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seeding begging bread. . . . The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” To the same effect is our Saviour’s Sermon on the Mount: “Be not anxious for the morrow, as to what ye shall eat or drink, or what ve shall out on.” That is the first step in the recipe for happiness. Throw anxieties over your shoulders. They don’t do a bit of good.
It was a custom in that big family of ours to practice archery. It was noticeable that whenever a boy drew an arrow to the head and let it fly at the target, if the arrow, visible in its flight, seemed to be going too far to the right he would lean to the left, as if his leaning would shape the course of a shaft after it was sped from the bow. So in futile anxiety we waste our strength on impossible things.
2. “But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” When we are troubled about anything let us take it to the Lord in prayer. We can’t carry it. Let us put in on him. That is the second step. What is the result? “And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” The peace of God!
3. The first step disposes of anxiety, and the second substitutes prayers and supplication with thanksgiving. The third element of the recipe relates to the government of the thoughts: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
I call attention to a law. We become assimilated, that is, made like unto the things that we habitually and steadfastly contemplate. If we habitually think about falsehood, and dishonesty, and murder, and unlawful things, and things of bad report, and immodest things, then we become like them.
A lady member of my church had great concern about the future of her daughter. I said to her, “My sister, what sort of pictures do you hang up in your daughter’s room to look at the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night? If you want her to be unselfish, put up the picture of Florence Nightingale or Clara Barton. If you want her to be modest or pure in heart, put up the picture of Mrs. Prentiss. If you want her to be worldly-minded, then put up those fashionable pictures that represent worldly things, like a round of fashionable social games and pleasures, as the thing for her to think about.”
While I am talking about pictures I am not referring so much to painted canvas as to the direction of habitual thoughts. It is a tremendous lesson.
God pity the poor girl whose selfish, worldly-minded mother is thinking only of society’s demands and leaves the girl’s soul beggarly and bankrupt in the sight of God.
Dr. Broadus used to say, “The best way to judge a man to ask him to tell what he reads when he is tired. On what does he relax his mind.” Some people want to go to a show, some to read yellow-backed literature, some to take a moral furlough. Our habitual trend is evidenced by what our minds turn to as soon as restraint of duty is removed. What comes to us first say, on Monday morning after we have preached on Sunday on what the preachers call “Blue Monday”?
4. The fourth element of the recipe for happiness is in the verses Philippians 11-13: “I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound: in everything and in all things have I learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want. I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me.” Of course that man is unhappy whose happiness depends on a big dinner, and he can’t get it, or upon the weather; he is miserable because it rains or is cold, or if the bank breaks and the crop fails. Here I give a secret that I told all over Texas in Philippians 1887: The springs of our happiness are never outside of us but in us. If we are all right inside, the external things can’t disturb our happiness. The remarkable, acute discernment of Robert Burns expresses the thought exactly: “Tis not in title, nor in rank, Tis not in wealth like London bank, To give us peace and rest; If happiness has not her seat And center in the breast; We may be wise, or rich, or great, But never can be blest.
I have already discussed the offerings that Paul next refers to, and so I come to the conclusion of the letter: “Salute every saint in Christ Jesus.” But suppose a man is a Methodist! Well, if he be a saint, salute him. If he be a Roman Catholic, give him the hand of fellowship not the hand of church fellowship but Christian fellowship; rejoice in heart over every really converted soul of whatever denomination. “They that are of Caesar’s household salute you.” What was Caesar’s household? It does not mean Caesar’s individual family, but his slaves and dependents. The household of a Roman Emperor included clients and advisers, as well as hundreds of slaves, well-trained, efficient, educated, and many of them nobles in their own land before their captivity. Some of the noblest men and women in Rome were slaves who had been princes and princesses in their own land; some of them had been heroes. Caesar’s household was very extensive. Dr. Lightfoot calls attention to the fact that a recent discovery bears on this passage. He says that the names of 170 members of Caesar’s household are inscribed on the monuments that have been discovered, and they include quite a number of names mentioned in Paul’s letter to the Romans.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the sense of “perfect” in Phi 3:15 , and what its distinction from “perfected” in Phi 3:12 ?
2. What is the sense of “reveal” in Phi 3:15 ?
3. What are two examples, one good and the other bad, are put before us in Phi 3:17-18 , and who are these “enemies of the cross”?
4. Cite the instances of Paul’s weeping, showing for what in each case, and cite every instance of our Lord’s weeping and for what in each case, together with a pertinent passage from the psalm concerning the same, and the cases of Elisha and Jeremiah, all bearing on the ministry of tears.
5. Who has given a great discourse on the tears of Paul?
6. Cite the first stanza of the hymn on the weeping of Christ, and Macaulay’s couplet on Henry of Navarre in the battle of Ivry,
7. What is the allusion in “Our citizenship is in heaven,” and what the parallel passage in Ephesians?
8. On the “whence also we wait for our Lord” (Phi 3:20 ), cite a passage from the Psalm and one from Peter in Acts, showing how long our Lord remains in heaven, and a pertinent passage each from Romans and 1 Corinthians to show what his employment is in heaven.
9. What is Paul’s “crown of rejoicing” in Phi 4:1 , and our Lord’s at the judgment?
10. Why is an alienation between two prominent good women of a church more disastrous and more difficult to heal than in the case of men?
11. Who is the yokefellow in Phi 4:2 , and does the reference to Clement mean that he, with the women, labored with Paul, or that these women labored with Clement and others as well as Paul?
12. Cite the passages in both Testaments on the “book of life,” tell what it is, when the enrolment takes place, and what its final use.
13. Cite a stanza from a great hymn bearing on this final use.
14. What is the meaning of “The Lord is at hand,” and cite a similar passage from James and one from Revelation.
15. State the four elements of the recipe for happiness in Phi 4:6-8 ; Phi 4:11-13 , and give parallel to same, part in Psalm and part in the Sermon on the Mount.
16. What is the meaning of Caesar’s household?
15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Ver. 15. As many as be perfect ] Comparatively, or conceitedly so.
God shall reveal ] Different measures of knowledge and holiness are given to the saints at different times. We are narrow mouthed vessels, and cannot receive all at once. “Whither I go thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards,” Joh 13:36 . See Trapp on “ Joh 13:36 “
15, 16 .] Exhortation to them to be unanimous in following this his example . In order to understand this somewhat difficult passage, we must remember (1) that the description of his own views and feelings which he holds up for their imitation ( .) began with having no confidence in the flesh, Phi 3:4 , and has continued to Phi 3:14 . Also (2) that the description commencing with , is taken up again from Phi 3:3 , , , . . , . . These two considerations will keep us from narrowing too much the , and from misunderstanding the . As many of us then (refers to Phi 3:3 ; see above) as are perfect (mature in Christian life, = those described above, Php 3:3 ), let us be of this mind (viz. that described as entertained by himself, Php 3:7-14 ): and if in any thing (accusative of reference: see Khner, Gramm. ii. 220 ff.) ye be differently minded (for , cf. Od. . 232 ff., . | , | , : Demosth. p. 298. 22, , , , . Hence it gives the meaning of diversity in a bad sense. The difference referred to seems to be that of too much self-esteem as to Christian perfection: see below), this also (as well as the rest which he has revealed) will God reveal to you (i.e. in the progress of the Christian life, you will find the true knowledge of your own imperfection and of Christ’s all-sufficiency revealed to you by God’s Spirit, Eph 1:17 ff. . , , , . , . , , , . , , . , . Chrys.
must not be taken as c., Grot., &c. as representing the fact, that ye , but is the thing, respecting which ye . .).
Phi 3:15 . . What Paul understands by . we can easily discover from Eph 4:13-14 , Col 1:28 ; Col 4:12 , 1Co 2:6 ( Cf. also the definition of the word in Heb 5:14 taken in connexion with Heb 6:1 ). In all these passages . depends upon knowledge, knowledge gained by long experience of Christ, resulting both in firm conviction and maturity of thought and conduct. It has not so much our idea of “perfect” = “flawless,” as of “perfect” = “having reached a certain point of completeness,” as of one who has come to his full growth, leaving behind him the state of childhood ( ). Cf. chap. Phi 1:9-10 . Lft [8] . supposes a reminiscence of the technical term , used in the Mysteries to denote the initiated , and imagines Paul to speak with a certain irony of people at Philippi who claimed to be in this fortunate position as regards the Christian faith. There is no need to assume here the language of the Mysteries (as Anrich shows, Das Antike Mysterienwesen , Gtt., 1894, p. 146, n. 1), or to find irony in Paul’s words. Probably there were some (see on Phi 3:13 supr. ) at Philippi who boasted of a spiritual superiority to their brethren and who may have called themselves . This may have been due to special equipment with the Spirit manifesting itself in speaking with tongues, etc. See 1Co 12 passim . But Paul takes the word seriously and points out what it involves. [Wernle’s attempt in Der Christ u. die Snde bei Paul. , pp. 6 7, to show that this passage is no argument against Christian perfection which he believes Paul to hold, rests on the erroneous association of . with the Mysteries.] . Let us show our humble conviction that we are still far from the goal which we desire to attain. . If, in the case of any separate detail of character or knowledge, you imagine yourselves to be , to have reached the highest point, God will reveal the truth (the true standpoint of humility) on this matter also. The form of the conditional sentence suggests that Paul knew of persons at Philippi who had erroneous views on this subject. But his hint of rebuke is very delicately put. . . . It is far-fetched to take this (as Hpt [9] . does) of their judgment on the Judaisers. Paul has forgotten, for the time, the special anxiety which weighs upon him, and has become absorbed in the glorious vista which unfolds itself to the Christian. . . . A firm conviction of the Apostle’s. See esp [10] . 1Co 2:10 (and Cf. Von Soden, Abhandlungen C. v. Weizs. gewidmet , p. 166).
[8] Lightfoot.
[9] Haupt.
[10] especially.
Philippians
THE SOUL’S PERFECTION
Php 3:15 .
‘As many as be perfect’; and how many may they be? Surely a very short bede-roll would contain their names; or would there be any other but the Name which is above every name upon it? Part of the answer to such a question may be found in observing that the New Testament very frequently uses the word to express not so much the idea of moral completeness as that of physical maturity. For instance, when Paul says that he would have his converts to be ‘ men in understanding,’ and when the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of ‘them that are of full age,’ the same word is used as this ‘perfect’ in our text. Clearly in such cases it means ‘full grown,’ as in contrast with ‘babes,’ and expresses not absolute completeness, but what we may term a relative perfection, a certain maturity of character and advanced stage of Christian attainment, far removed from the infantile epoch of the Christian life.
Another contribution to the answer may be found in observing that in this very context these ‘perfect’ people are exhorted to cultivate the sense of not having ‘already attained,’ and to be constantly reaching forth to unattained heights, so that a sense of imperfection and a continual effort after higher life are parts of Paul’s ‘perfect man.’ And it is to be still further noticed that on the same testimony ‘perfect’ people may probably be ‘otherwise minded’; by which we understand not divergently minded from one another, but ‘otherwise’ than the true norm or law of life would prescribe, and so may stand in need of the hope that God will by degrees bring them into conformity with His will, and show them ‘this,’ namely, their divergence from His Pattern for them.
It is worth our while to look at these large thoughts thus involved in the words before us.
I. Then there are people whom without exaggeration the judgment of truth calls perfect .
The language of the New Testament has no scruple in calling men ‘saints’ who had many sins, and none in calling men perfect who had many imperfections; and it does so, not because it has any fantastic theory about religious emotions being the measure of moral purity, but partly for the reasons already referred to, and partly because it wisely considers the main thing about a character to be not the degree to which it has attained completeness in its ideal, but what that ideal is. The distance a man has got on his journey is of less consequence than the direction in which his face is turned. The arrow may fall short, but to what mark was it shot? In all regions of life a wise classification of men arranges them according to their aims rather than their achievements. The visionary who attempts something high and accomplishes scarcely anything of it, is often a far nobler man, and his poor, broken, foiled, resultless life far more perfect than his who aims at marks on the low levels and hits them full. Such lives as these, full of yearning and aspiration, though it be for the most part vain, are
‘ Like the young moon with a ragged edge E’en in its imperfection beautiful.’
If then it be wise to rank men and their pursuits according to their aims rather than their accomplishments, is there one class of aims so absolutely corresponding to man’s nature and relations that to take them for one’s own, and to reach some measure of approximation to them, may fairly be called the perfection of human nature? Is there one way of living concerning which we may say that whosoever adopts it has, in so far as he does adopt it, discerned and attained the purpose of his being? The literal force of the word in our text gives pertinence to that question, for it distinctly means ‘having reached the end.’ And if that be taken as the meaning, there need be no doubt about the answer. Grand old words have taught us long ago ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him for ever.’ Yes, he who lives for God has taken that for his aim which all his nature and all his relations prescribe, he is doing what he was made and meant to do; and however incomplete may be its attainments, the lowest form of a God-fearing, God-obeying life is higher and more nearly ‘perfect’ than the fairest career or character against which, as a blight on all its beauty, the damning accusation may be brought, ‘The God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, thou hast not glorified.’
People sneer at ‘saints’ and point at their failings. They remind us of the foul stains in David’s career, for instance, and mock as they ask, ‘Is this your man after God’s own heart?’ Yes, he is; not because religion has a morality of its own different from that of the world except as being higher, nor because ‘saints’ make up for adultery and murder by making or singing psalms, but because the main set and current of the life was evidently towards God and goodness, and these hideous sins were glaring contradictions, eddies and backwaters, as it were, wept over with bitter self-abasement and conquered by strenuous effort. Better a life of Godward aspiration and straining after purity, even if broken by such a fall, so recovered, than one of habitual earthward grubbing, undisturbed by gross sin.
And another reason warrants the application of the word to men whose present is full of incompleteness, namely, the fact that such men have in them the germ of a life which has no natural end but absolute completeness. The small seed may grow very slowly in the climate and soil which it finds here, and be only a poor little bit of ragged green, very shabby and inconspicuous by the side of the native flowers of earth flaunting around it, but it has a divine germinant virtue within, and waits but being carried to its own clime and ‘planted in the house of the Lord’ above, to ‘flourish in the courts of our God,’ when these others with their glorious beauty have faded away and are flung out to rot.
II. We have set forth here very distinctly two of the characteristics of this perfection.
The Apostle in our text exhorts the perfect to be ‘ thus minded.’ How is that? Evidently the word points back to the previous clauses, in which he has been describing his own temper and feeling in the Christian race. He sets that before the Philippians as their pattern, or rather invites them to fellowship with him in the estimate of themselves and in their efforts after higher attainments. ‘Be thus minded’ means, Think as I do of yourselves, and do as I do in your daily life.
How did he think of himself? He tells us in the sentence before, ‘Not as though I were already perfect. I count not myself to have apprehended.’ So then a leading characteristic of this true Christian perfection is a constant consciousness of imperfection. In all fields of effort, whether intellectual, moral, or mechanical, as faculty grows, consciousness of insufficiency grows with it. The farther we get up the hill, the more we see how far it is to the horizon. The more we know, the more we know our ignorance. The better we can do, the more we discern how much we cannot do. Only people who never have done and never will do anything, or else raw apprentices with the mercifully granted self-confidence of youth, which gets beaten out of most of us soon enough, think that they can do everything.
In morals and in Christian life the same thing is true. The measure of our perfection will be the consciousness of our imperfection–a paradox, but a great truth. It is plain enough that it will be so. Conscience becomes more sensitive as we get nearer right. The worse a man is the less it speaks to him, and the less he hears it. When it ought to thunder it whispers; when we need it most it is least active. The thick skin of a savage will not be disturbed by lying on sharp stones, while a crumpled rose-leaf robs the Sybarite of his sleep. So the practice of evil hardens the cuticle of conscience, and the practice of goodness restores tenderness and sensibility; and many a man laden with crime knows less of its tingling than some fair soul that looks almost spotless to all eyes but its own. One little stain of rust will be conspicuous on a brightly polished blade, but if it be all dirty and dull, a dozen more or fewer will make little difference. As men grow better they become like that glycerine barometer recently introduced, on which a fall or a rise that would have been invisible with mercury to record it takes up inches, and is glaringly conspicuous. Good people sometimes wonder, and sometimes are made doubtful and sad about themselves, by this abiding and even increased consciousness of sin. There is no need to be so. The higher the temperature the more chilling would it be to pass into an ice-house, and the more our lives are brought into fellowship with the perfect life, the more shall we feel our own shortcomings. Let us be thankful if our consciences speak to us more loudly than they used to do. It is a sign of growing holiness, as the tingling in a frost-bitten limb is of returning life. Let us seek to cultivate and increase the sense of our own imperfection, and be sure that the diminution of a consciousness of sin means not diminished power of sin, but lessened horror of it, lessened perception of right, lessened love of goodness, and is an omen of death, not a symptom of life. Painter, scholar, craftsman all know that the condition of advance is the recognition of an ideal not attained. Whoever has not before him a standard to which he has not reached will grow no more. If we see no faults in our work we shall never do any better. The condition of all Christian, as of all other progress, is to be drawn by that fair vision before us, and to be stung into renewed effort to reach it, by the consciousness of present imperfection.
Another characteristic to which these perfect men are exhorted is a constant striving after a further advance. How vigorously, almost vehemently, that temper is put in the context–’I follow after’; ‘I press toward the mark’; and that picturesque ‘reaching forth,’ or, as the Revised Version gives it, ‘stretching forward.’ The full force of the latter word cannot be given in any one English equivalent, but may be clumsily hinted by some such phrase as ‘stretching oneself out over,’ as a runner might do with body thrown forward and arms extended in front, and eagerness in every strained muscle, and eye outrunning foot, and hope clutching the goal already. So yearning forward, and setting all the current of his being, both faculty and desire, to the yet unreached mark, the Christian man is to live. His glances are not to be bent backwards, but forwards. He is not to be a ‘praiser of the past,’ but a herald and expectant of a nobler future. He is the child of the day and of the morning, forgetting the things which are behind, and ever yearning towards the things which are before, and drawing them to himself. To look back is to be stiffened into a living death; only with faces set forward are we safe and well.
This buoyant energy of hope and effort is to be the result of the consciousness of imperfection of which we have spoken. Strange to many of us, in some moods, that a thing so bright should spring up from a thing so dark, and that the more we feel our own shortcomings, the more hopeful should we be of a future unlike the past, and the more earnest in our effort to make that future the present! There is a type of Christian experience not uncommon among devout people, in which the consciousness of imperfection paralyses effort instead of quickening it; men lament their evil, their slow progress and so on, and remain the same year after year. They are stirred to no effort. There is no straining onwards. They almost seem to lose the faith that they can ever be any better. How different this from the grand, wholesome completeness of Paul’s view here, which embraces both elements, and even draws the undying brightness of his forward-looking confidence from the very darkness of his sense of present imperfection!
So should it be with us, ‘as many as be perfect.’ Before us stretch indefinite possibilities of approximating to the unattainable fulness of the divine life. We may grow in knowledge and in holiness through endless ages and grades of advance. In a most blessed sense we may have that for our highest joy which in another meaning is a punishment of unfaithfulness and indocility, that we shall be ‘ever learning, and never coming to the full knowledge of the truth.’ No limit can be put to what we may receive of God, nor to the closeness, the fulness of our communion with Him, nor to the beauty of holiness which may pass from Him into our poor characters, and irradiate our homely faces. Then, brethren, let us cherish a noble discontent with all that we at present are. Let our spirits stretch out all their powers to the better things beyond, as the plants grown in darkness will send out pale shoots that feel blindly towards the light, or the seed sown on the top of a rock will grope down the bare stone for the earth by which it must be fed. Let the sense of our own weakness ever lead to a buoyant confidence in what we, even we, may become if we will only take the grace we have. To this touchstone let us bring all claims to higher holiness–they who are perfect are most conscious of imperfection, and most eager in their efforts after a further progress in the knowledge, love, and likeness of God in Christ.
III. We have here also distinctly brought out the co-existence with these characteristics of their opposites.
‘If in anything ye are otherwise minded,’ says Paul. I have already suggested that this expression evidently refers not to difference of opinion among themselves, but to a divergence of character from the pattern of feeling and life which he has been proposing to them. If in any respects ye are unconscious of your imperfections, if there be any ‘witch’s mark’ of insensibility in some spot of your conscience to some plain transgressions of law, if in any of you there be some complacent illusion of your own stainlessness, if to any of you the bright vision before you seem faint and unsubstantial, God will show you what you do not see. Plainly then he considers that there will be found among these perfect men states of feeling and estimates of themselves opposed to those which he has been exhorting them to cherish. Plainly he supposes that a good man may pass for a time under the dominion of impulses and theories which are of another kind from those that rule his life.
He does not expect the complete and uninterrupted dominion of these higher powers. He recognises the plain facts that the true self, the central life of the soul, the higher nature, ‘the new man,’ abides in a self which is but gradually renewed, and that there is a long distance, so to speak, from the centre to the circumference. That higher life is planted, but its germination is a work of time. The leaven does not leaven the whole mass in a moment, but creeps on from particle to particle. ‘Make the tree good’ and in due time its fruit will be good. But the conditions of our human life are conflict, and these peaceful images of growth and unimpeded natural development, ‘first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear,’ are not meant to tell all the truth. Interruptions from external circumstances, struggles of flesh with spirit, and of imagination and heart and will against the better life implanted in the spirit, are the lot of all, even the most advanced here, and however a man may be perfect, there will always be the possibility that in something he may be ‘otherwise minded.’
Such an admission does not make such interruptions less blameworthy when they occur. The doctrine of averages does not do away with the voluntary character of each single act. The same number of letters are yearly posted without addresses. Does anybody dream of not scolding the errand boy who posted them, or the servant who did not address them, because he knows that? We are quite sure that we could have resisted each time that we fell. That piece of sharp practice in business, or that burst of bad temper in the household which we were last guilty of–could we have helped it or not? Conscience must answer that question, which does not depend at all on the law of averages. Guilt is not taken away by asserting that sin cleaves to men, ‘perfect men.’
But the feelings with which we should regard sin and contradictions of men’s truest selves in ourselves and others should be so far altered by such thoughts that we should be very slow to pronounce that a man cannot be a Christian because he has done so and so. Are there any sins which are clearly incompatible with a Christian character? All sins are inconsistent with it, but that is a very different matter. The uniform direction of a man’s life being godless, selfish, devoted to the objects and pursuits of time and sense, is incompatible with his being a Christian–but, thank God, no single act, however dark, is so, if it be in contradiction to the main tendency impressed upon the character and conduct. It is not for us to say that any single deed shows a man cannot be Christ’s, nor to fling ourselves down in despair saying, ‘If I were a Christian, I could not have done that.’ Let us remember that ‘all unrighteousness is sin,’ and the least sin is in flagrant opposition to our Christian profession; but let us also remember, and that not to blunt our consciences or weaken our efforts, that Paul thought it possible for perfect men to be ‘otherwise minded’ from their deepest selves and their highest pattern.
IV. The crowning hope that lies in these words is the certainty of a gradual but complete attainment of all the Christian aspirations after God and goodness.
The ground of that confidence lies in no natural tendencies in us, in no effort of ours, but solely in that great name which is the anchor of all our confidence, the name of God. Why is Paul certain that ‘God will reveal even this unto you’? Because He is God. The Apostle has learned the infinite depth of meaning that lies in that name. He has learned that God is not in the way of leaving off His work before He has done His work, and that none can say of Him, that ‘He began to build, and was not able to finish.’ The assurances of an unchangeable purpose in redemption, and of inexhaustible resources to effect it; of a love that can never fade, and of a grace that can never be exhausted–are all treasured for us in that mighty name. And such confidence is confirmed by the manifest tendency of the principles and motives brought to bear on us in Christianity to lead on to a condition of absolute perfection, as well as by the experience which we may have, if we will, of the sanctifying and renewing power of His Spirit in our Spirit.
By the discipline of daily life, by the ministry of sorrow and joy, by merciful chastisements dogging our steps when we stray, by duties and cares, by the teaching of His word coming even closer to our hearts and quickening our consciences to discern evil where we had seen none, as well as kindling in us desires after higher and rarer goodness, by the reward of enlarged perceptions of duty and greater love towards it, with which He recompenses lowly obedience to the duty as yet seen, by the secret influences of His Spirit of Power and of Love and of a sound Mind breathed into our waiting spirits, by the touch of His own sustaining hand and glance of His own guiding eye, He will reveal to the lowly soul all that is yet wanting in its knowledge, and communicate all that is lacking in character.
So for us, the true temper is confidence in His power and will, an earnest waiting on Him, a brave forward yearning hope blended with a lowly consciousness of imperfection, which is a spur not a clog, and vigorous increasing efforts to bring into life and character the fulness and beauty of God. Presumption should be as far from us as despair–the one because we have not already attained, the other because ‘God will reveal even this unto us.’ Only let us keep in mind the caution which the Apostle, knowing the possible abuses which might gather round His teaching, has here attached to it, ‘Nevertheless’–though all which I have been saying is true, it is only on this understanding–’Whereto we have already attained, by the same let us walk.’ God will perfect that which concerneth you if–and only if–you go on as you have begun, if you make your creed a life, if you show what you are. If so, then all the rest is a question of time. A has been said, and Z will come in its proper place. Begin with humble trust in Christ, and a process is commenced which has no natural end short of that great hope with which this chapter closes, that the change which begins in the deepest recesses of our being, and struggles slowly and with many interruptions, into partial visibility in our character, shall one day triumphantly irradiate our whole nature out to the very finger-tips, and ‘even the body of our humiliation shall be fashioned like unto the body of Christ’s glory, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.’
perfect. App-126.
be thus minded = have this in mind. Greek. phroneo, as in verses: Php 16:19.
be . . . minded. Same word.
otherwise. Greek. heteros. Only used thus here. Compare App-124.
reveal. App-106.
even = also.
15, 16.] Exhortation to them to be unanimous in following this his example. In order to understand this somewhat difficult passage, we must remember (1) that the description of his own views and feelings which he holds up for their imitation ( .) began with having no confidence in the flesh, Php 3:4, and has continued to Php 3:14. Also (2) that the description commencing with , is taken up again from Php 3:3, , , . . , . . These two considerations will keep us from narrowing too much the , and from misunderstanding the . As many of us then (refers to Php 3:3; see above) as are perfect (mature in Christian life, = those described above, Php 3:3), let us be of this mind (viz. that described as entertained by himself, Php 3:7-14): and if in any thing (accusative of reference: see Khner, Gramm. ii. 220 ff.) ye be differently minded (for , cf. Od. . 232 ff., . | , | , : Demosth. p. 298. 22, , , , . Hence it gives the meaning of diversity in a bad sense. The difference referred to seems to be that of too much self-esteem as to Christian perfection: see below), this also (as well as the rest which he has revealed) will God reveal to you (i.e. in the progress of the Christian life, you will find the true knowledge of your own imperfection and of Christs all-sufficiency revealed to you by Gods Spirit, Eph 1:17 ff. . , , , . , . , , , . , , . , . Chrys.
must not be taken as c., Grot., &c. as representing the fact, that ye , but is the thing, respecting which ye . .).
Php 3:15. , perfect) Php 3:12, note.-) this one thing, Php 3:14.-) otherwise than perfect (for the person is changed, let us be minded, ye are minded). He does not, however, say or [; which would mean difference or disagreement of mind]: nor does he mean aught of minding earthly things, Php 3:19. Comp. also Gal 5:10.- ) even this, which we, that are perfect, mind, expressed in Php 3:14.- , God) even though I do not write it.-, to you) striving at perfection.-, will reveal) Eph 1:17.
Php 3:15
Php 3:15
Let us therefore, as many as are perfect,-In verse 12, he said he did not claim to be perfect. Here he classes himself and others as perfect. There he spoke of being perfected by reaching the mark at the end of life. He was not perfected until he reached that state. Here he speaks of those having passed from the law of Moses into complete and perfect revelation of God through Christ. [The term perfect is here used in the sense of relative perfection, contrasting the mature Christians with babes in Christ who lacked the experience and development which others have obtained.]
be thus minded:-To be just what he has been saying in the preceding verses-that they have not yet obtained absolute perfection. [He did not wish his readers to think they had already reached the goal because in one sense they belong to the ranks of the mature.] They were not to forget that faith is to be made manifest in the life, and that the prize is not won because they knew it to be before them at the end of the racecourse. It is only bestowed on those who run to the end.
and if in anything ye are otherwise minded, this also shall God reveal unto you:-If any do not see the full truth, God will lead them to it yet, which has its full explanation in the following: If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from myself. (Joh 7:17). That is, if any one who desires to do the will of God does not yet see as Paul does, God will lead him into the full truth, as God promises: And let us know, let us follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth. (Hos 6:3). To those who follow these instructions there is hope, even if it takes time. Very few persons in this world attain to the state that they have no thought, or way, or preference of their own, who fully empty themselves of all their own ways and preferences and present to God hearts with no desire but to know and to do his will. A heart in that state is perfect before God. A sincere desire to know and do his will, without any wish or preference save to do Gods will, will lead into the fullness of divine truth. All should seek this state.
perfect
(See Scofield “Mat 5:48”).
as: Rom 15:1, 1Co 2:6, 1Co 14:20, Col 1:28, Col 4:12, 2Ti 3:17, Heb 5:14,*Gr: Jam 1:4, 1Jo 2:5
be thus: Phi 3:12-14, Gal 5:10
God: Psa 25:8, Psa 25:9, Pro 2:3-6, Pro 3:5, Pro 3:6, Isa 35:8, Luk 11:13, Joh 7:17, Jam 1:5
Reciprocal: Exo 36:10 – General Deu 18:13 – Thou shalt Joh 17:23 – made Rom 12:6 – according to the proportion 1Co 14:6 – revelation Phi 1:9 – your Phi 2:2 – that Heb 6:11 – we desire
(Php 3:15.) , -Let as many of us therefore as are perfect think this. introduces the inference based on a retrospect. The use of is striking, especially in contrast with in the 12th verse. There, he says-Not as if I had taken the prize, or were already perfected; and now he says-Let as many as are perfect, not as many as would, or wish to be perfect, as Peile and Macknight translate. The adjective has plainly a somewhat different sense from the verb. The adjective refers to relative, but the verb to absolute perfection. The one is predicated of him who is in the race and has made some progress; and the other of him who has reached the goal and taken the prize. Perfecti viatores, says Augustine, nondum perfecti possessores. The apostle’s use of the term sanctions this idea. He elsewhere speaks of two classes in the church -babes and perfect men. 1Co 2:6; Eph 4:12-13; Heb 5:13-14. The terms and are in contrast. See also 1Co 14:20. In the first passage referred to, the allusion is to respective degrees or attainments in knowledge. It is too restricted a view, on the part of Heinrichs, Rheinwald, and Conybeare, to adopt such an illusion here, as it is not of knowledge solely, but also of Christian experience generally, that the apostle has been speaking. Chrysostom well says, . The phrase – does not mean we who are perfect, but as many of us as are perfect, leaving it to each of themselves to determine whether the epithet be applicable to him or not. The perfect ones, among whom by the idiom he employs he places himself, are those who have burst the fetters of intellectual and spiritual bondage; who have made some advancement in the divine life; who are acquainted with the higher forms of truth, and are no strangers to the impulses and powers of divine grace; who are the circumcision; who, by the Spirit, worship God; who are conscious of union with Christ, of possessing righteousness through faith in Him, and some measure of conformity to Him, and who cherish through Him the hope of a happy resurrection. And perhaps, if we take in the previous context, the imperfect are those whose minds had not been able so fully to rise above all confidence in the flesh; who still thought circumcision might not be wholly without value; who would scruple to count all such things dead and positive loss, but hankered after some of them; and who, in formally renouncing them, secretly or unawares clung to them, and might not distinctly comprehend the freeness, adaptation, and perfection of that righteousness which is through the faith of Christ. They could not be perfect runners in that course which the apostle has traced, for they had not laid aside every weight. They were entangled at every step, and progress was impeded. Wiesinger’s view is different. He supposes that a believer is called , not in a comparative sense, but solely on account of that moral nature which he has received through fellowship with Christ, and that his being is the strongest call to strive after the . The general truth is correct, but the statement does not invalidate what we have said. The language used by the apostle –intimates that all were not in the Philippian church; the idea of relative progress is therefore involved. Nor does it, as Wiesinger objects, in any way give countenance to self-esteem, for he neither names the , nor points out precisely in what their perfection consists. On the other hand, he classes himself among the , and yet he has declared of himself that he was yet not perfected. In fact, the perfect one was only in the way of being perfected; none knew his imperfection so much, or felt it so deeply, and therefore he strove with quenchless ardour to move fleetly onward to the end of the race, and obtain the crown. For one may be perfect in aim, and yet be far from realizing it. The perfection referred to was such a progress as vividly showed defect; such a stage in the race as revealed most painfully the distance lying still in front; such light which, as it grew, served also to enlarge the circle of darkness round about it. Chrysostom’s notion is peculiar-What means the word? (). This-that we should forget those things which are behind. Therefore it belongs to him who is perfect, not to regard himself as perfect:-
-let us be of this mind. The reference in the pronoun is disputed, some making it of wider, and others of narrower extent. Calvin, Aretius, Zanchius, Hoelemann, and others down to De Wette, take it from the previous context. Thus Vatablus-hoc justitiam esse non ex lege, sed ex fide Christi. De Wette glances especially at Php 3:8-11, while van Hengel restricts to , and gives the unwarranted sense of expetamus. With Meyer we regard the special reference to be that which had just been said, beginning with Php 3:12. Let this be our thought, not to sit down satisfied with past progress, but heedless of it, and feeling as if nothing were done till all were done, to speed uniformly onward to higher attainment. And yet there is no question that all the previous verses of the chapter are closely connected; and it is implied that, in order so to feel, and so to act, so to think of the past, and so to throw himself into the future, one must be found in Christ, and be filled with ardent desire to know Him and the power of His resurrection. If he be a Jew, he must abandon trust in external privilege, and cling unreservedly to Jesus. When he loses, then shall he gain, and having won Christ, he is to go from strength to strength, until, having attained to the resurrection from the dead, his whole nature is crowned with perfection. As these various attainments floated before the apostle’s mind, the pursuit of them gradually assumed a pointed form, and took the image of a race-a race which demands vigilant perseverance from all who have entered upon it; and this, the untiring energy of acquisition or progress, was to be a deep and permanent thought within every one of them.
-and if in any respect ye think otherwise. The conjunction is followed by the indicative implying condition, simply and purely, if, as may be the case. Winer, 41, 2; Klotz, Devarius, 2.455. is the accusative of reference, and that reference is certainly not to any essential points of doctrine, but to aspects of truth or elements of spiritual experience, which the apostle has been presenting. They might not see those relations of truth so clearly as the apostle, and their convictions might not be so profound, or their progress so rapid and uniform. The adverb is only used here in the New Testament. This meaning has been assigned to the phrase by Hunnius and others- si qui vestrum a falsis doctoribus vobis aliter persuaderi passi estis. The person of the verb is changed, but there is no reason to suppose, with Bengel, Hoelemann, and Rilliet, that the same class of persons is not addressed, and that the are now appealed to. The apostle excludes himself, and so could not use the first person plural. Van Hengel, following out the meaning he assigns to the verb, renders in bald Latin -si quid boni per aliam viam expetitis. To disprove this position, there is no occasion with Meyer to introduce one use of as meaning adversus. He might also have adduced its occasional employment as a euphemism for . Passow, sub voce. For the true idea is brought out simply by the implied contrast. This difference must be wrong, so far as it does not correspond with the apostle’s mind, and the amount of error is just in proportion to the amount of difference; and that it is wrong, is also shown from the apostle’s expectation, that God would set them right. The revelation which the apostle promises they should enjoy, had for its purpose to remove such disagreement, and bring them to his mind. Chrysostom’s explanation is- . But this is by far too limited a notion, for it is not so much the spirit in which perfection is to be sought that the apostle refers to, as the way in which to reach it by a knowledge of its constituent element. The apostle thus takes for granted that there might be a difference, and it must have been one not wholly of minor moment, or one which their own judgment, or sense of duty or propriety, might rectify. For he predicts-
-yea, this shall God reveal to you. Meyer quotes Hartung, i. p. 135, for rendering auch noch; as if the idea were-as God had already revealed other things, so will He also reveal this. Such is also the view of Alford, and Ellicott in his commentary, though not in his translation. We prefer the rendering even this -this matter of difference in which they were wrong,-yea, this God would reveal to them. But what is the reference in -what is it that God would reveal? Is it the fact that they were otherwise minded, as OEcumenius and Fritzsche suppose, or is it the measure of difference, that God should reveal? The reference is to . When they read the vivid record of the apostle’s experience, they might at once, and of themselves, discover what want of harmony was between them and him. But the meaning of the apostle is, that God, by revealing the difference and showing the fault of it, would remove it. The verb is future, and has not the optative sense which some would give it. It predicts or promises divine illumination. Winer, 40, 6; Eph 1:17. Such spiritual enlightenment was frequent in those times, when the written oracles of the New Testament were not in circulation, and indeed is needed at all times, to give the mind a just and abiding perception of the truth. Psa 25:9; 1Jn 2:20. It is plain, therefore, that the difference of view was not some wilful and wicked misconception, or some wretched prejudice, adhered to with inveterate or malignant obstinacy. It was rather some truth not fully seen in all its bearings-some principle not so perceived as to be carried out in all its details and consequences-some department of duty which they might apprehend rather than appreciate – or some state of mind which they might admire in the apostle, but did not really covet for themselves. The apostle throws his own teaching into the shade, and ascribes the coming enlightenment to God. He might have taught them the necessary lesson, or it might be found in the previous details of the chapter, or Epaphroditus on returning might be commissioned to explain and enforce it; yet all might be insufficient, and therefore the work is taken out of man’s hand, and the needed insight is declared to be the gift of the Father of Lights. Chrysostom puts the distinction well- , .
Php 3:15. Perfect means mature in spiritual matters, such as those described in Heb 5:14. Paul believed such disciples were able to be thus minded; that is, were prepared to make the same resolution that he just declared for himself. Otherwise minded. If some among them had not yet reached that point in their Christian growth, they need not despair; if they will continue partaking of the truth of God, this advanced thought possessed by Paul will finally be revealed unto them.
Php 3:15. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect. The apostle uses the word perfect, as our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount: Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect, carries its own explanation on its face. The Christian is to set before himself the highest ideal, and to be ever striving after it. To those who are so striving, wherever they may be in the scale of spiritual advancement, St. Paul gives the name of perfect, just as he uses saints of those who aim at saintly life with all their powers, though they may at times fall short thereof.
be thus minded. Think as I have been setting before you my own thoughtsfirst, that the righteousness of the law is to be counted loss for the knowledge of Christ; and next, that having been called to faith in Him, not to forget that faith is to be made manifest in the life, and that the prize is not won, because you know it to be before you at the end of the race-course. It is only bestowed on those who run to the end.
and if in anything ye are otherwise minded. To be thus minded is to have the right mind; so by otherwise minded we must understand being in error. As has been already said, though the Philippians might all be classed under the head of perfect, there were yet many gradations among them, and all of them would not have attained to the clear insight of St. Paul in spiritual things. These are the otherwise minded; but to them the apostle says, if they will but run in the race so far as it is set before them, if they will but be determined to advance further towards ideal perfection, then the Spirit will be given to enlighten their minds still more, and to make them aware of what, as yet, they know not.
even this shall God reveal unto you. The apostle here reminds them that the light which they already enjoy is the gift of God, As therefore He has given this, so will He also supply more to those who live according to what they now have. It is not of anything but the practical duties of the Christian life that the apostle here seems to be speaking, but his teaching is true to an extent farther than he pushes it. If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, is of the widest application, and shows us also that it suits St. Pauls hearers, those who desire to be more perfect, for it is in its literalness, If any man wisheth to do His will, etc. And the light will come as a revelation. It will not necessarily be from human teaching. It may be from within that the beam shall first be seen. But in whichever way it is imparted, it is through the Holy God, and those who receive it may fitly be called taught of God.
Let as many as be perfect, that is, grown Christians, instructed thoroughly in their Christian duty, who, compared with others, may be called perfect, be thus minded, as I am, namely, to believe the circumcision of the flesh abolished, and that no confidence is to be placed in any righteousness of our own, but in the righteousness which is of God by faith only; and if any, seduced by the judaizing teachers, be otherwise minded, and think that the ceremonial law is not abrogated, nor the practice of circumcision abolished, God in his due time will show them their error, and convince them, that none of those things are now necessary for the obtaining of his favour.
Nevertheless, in the mean time, he exhorts all persons, according to the measures of light and knowledge which they had received, to walk according to the rule of the Scriptures, preserving mutual love, and avoiding further rents and divisions.
Observe here, That in the first and best age of the Christian church, there was, and we cannot expect but there ever will be, a variety of opinions and differences in judgment amongst the members thereof.
Observe, 2. That in this case of unavoidable differences amongst good men, there ought to be mutual charity and meekness, moderation and forbearance, no censorious judging of each other, but look first at what is wanting in ourselves and next at what is useful in others: the one will make us humble, the other charitable; and both peaceable.
Php 3:15-16. Let us, as many as are perfect As many as are genuine believers in Christ, thorough Christians, justified and regenerated, new creatures in Christ, and so fit for the Christian race of duty and suffering; be thus minded Minded as I have said that I am, namely, inclined and determined to press forward with zeal and diligence to still higher attainments in holiness, usefulness, and patient sufferings, till as Christ was, they are made in this world. Let us apply wholly to this one thing; and if in any thing In any of the particulars before mentioned; ye Any of you being yet weak in faith, wavering in hope, and imperfect in love, see Heb 6:11-12; 1Jn 4:17-18; be otherwise minded Contented with, and resting in, past attainments, and sunk into a remiss and indolent frame of mind, destitute of zeal and Christian fervency; God If you be sincere, and truly desire it of him; shall reveal even this unto you Shall show you your error and your sin, and excite you to fresh zeal and diligence in your Christian calling. Nevertheless Let us remember this is on the supposition that, whereunto we have already attained Or, so far forth as we have already made any progress toward perfection, we walk by the same rule By which we have hitherto walked, and take care not to lose the ground we have already gained, which, by giving way to unbelief, diffidence, and distrust of Gods love, power, and faithfulness engaged for us, or by sinking into lukewarmness and sloth, we should easily do. Macknight takes the passage in rather another sense, namely, as signifying that such of the Philippians as sincerely feared the Lord, if they happened, from ignorance or prejudice, to think differently from the apostle concerning any important article of faith, would have their error discovered to them, not by a particular revelation, but by the ordinary influences of the Spirit, agreeably to Psa 25:12, What man is he who feareth the Lord, him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.
Verse 15
As many as be perfect; all those whose Christian characters are advanced and mature.–Be otherwise minded; if they have not attained to the views above inculcated.
3:15 {7} Let us therefore, as many as be {m} perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
(7) The conclusion of this exhortation standing upon three members: the first is, that those who have profited in the truth of this doctrine should continue in it. The second is, that if there are any who are yet ignorant and do not understand these things, and who doubt of the abolishing of the Law, they should cause no trouble, and should be gently waited for, until they also are instructed by the Lord. The third is, that they judge the false apostles by their fruits: in which he does not doubt to set forth himself as an example.
(m) He said before that he was not perfect. So that in this place he calls those perfect who have somewhat profited in the knowledge of Christ and the Gospel, whom he sets against the rude and ignorant, as he himself expounds in Php 3:16 .
Paul’s charge to adopt his attitude 3:15-17
In conclusion, Paul urged those who were mature among his readers to recognize that what he had said was true. He also promised that God would enlighten those who thought differently about minor matters if their attitude was right.
"The sentence is thus predicated on their mutual friendship and mutual trust, which is so secure that Paul can simply leave it in God’s hands to ’reveal’ to them what further understanding they may need on matters wherein they might not be ready fully to agree with him." [Note: Fee, Paul’s Letter . . ., p. 359.]
"Perfect" (NASB) means "mature" (NIV, Gr. teleios), not sinless. In Php 3:12 Paul used the same root word and claimed he was not perfect. Probably there he meant that he was not absolutely perfect or mature, and here he meant that he was relatively mature compared to the immature. [Note: See Müller, p. 125.] He may have been using "perfect" here somewhat ironically.
". . . for the time being true Christian perfection ’consists only in striving for perfection.’" [Note: Hawthorne, p. 158.]
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)