Passion of Apostle Paul - Literature review Example

Passion of Apostle Paul Outline Desiring the consolation of the love of Christ, unity with him and fellowship with the spirit. (Philippians 2 4). Requirements: a. Being likeminded, having the same love and being one in spirit (Philippians 2:2). b. Should act not out of pride, selfish ambition or vain conceit. (Philippians 2:3). c. Each member to consider others better than themselves (Philippians 2:3). d. Each member should not focus on themselves but act for the benefit of others (Philippians 2:4) 2. Believers should have the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5-8). He: a. did not pride over his equality with God (Philippians 2:6). b. humbled himself and took the nature of a servant (Philippians 2:7). c. humbled and became obedient to death (Philippians 2:8). 3. Christ’s humility resulted to him being glorified (Philippians 2:9-9-11). a. Was given a name above all names (Philippians 2:9). b. The name will cause all creation, on earth and in heaven to bow (Philippians 2:10). c. The name will cause every tongue to confess that Jesus is Lord, for the Glory of God (Philippians 2:9-11). Passion of Apostle Paul Introduction Jesus said he is the Way, the Truth and Life and no one can go to the father except through in. In other words, he was telling the believers that unless they walked as he did, they would never see God. It is through the acceptance and emulation of the example of Jesus that believers can learn to conform to the mind and ways of Jesus. One character of Jesus that stood out among all was humility and this is well illustrated in Philippians 2:1-11. By possessing this character, it will be very easy for believers to fellowship with each other, living in peace, have unity with Christ and treat each other with love, kindness, patience, while portraying self-lessness, gentleness, goodness. Basically, Philippians 2:1-11 is a call for the believers to emulate the humility of Jesus. Content The book of Philippians was written by Paul to the church of Philippians and by extension, all other Christians. At this time, Paul was in prison in Rome and was writing to thank the church in Philippians for the help they accorded him. He told them about what he went through in Rome and how his suffering helped to spread the gospel. He also used this book to warn them of priding in the flesh, advise them and encourage them to press on in their Christian walk. In Philippians 2:1-11, Paul narrowed his teaching into calling the believers to emulate the humble nature of Christ1. In his writing, Paul is pleading with the Christians to sum up every good character they had by having the same mind as that of Christ. He went ahead to illustrate of the level of humility Christ had and how this humility cause him and God to be glorified. When Paul was writing this letter, he knew that the believers always longed for the encouragement and comfort that comes through unity with Christ and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Through these verses, Paul took a step of telling the Philippians that if they really longed for the consolation of the love of Christ, unity with him and fellowship with the spirit, there are some characters they must possess or things they must do for this to be complete 2. Personally, Paul also always longed for the strengthening of the Christians and their maturity in Christianity till they reached the stature of Christ. He knew this was the surest thing that they could qualify them to enter heaven and this would be his joy. He therefore tells them to make his joy complete by possessing the characters he was listing to them. In Philippians 2:2, Paul calls on the Christians to be likeminded, have the same love, and be one in spirit and of one mind. By telling them to be likeminded, be one in spirit and mind, Paul was advising them to avoid any differences amongst themselves and have one focus. He was also stressing on the need for unity that would arise if the church became one in the spirit. In this case, if they all waked under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Just as the Holy Spirit is in perfect unity with God the father and God the son, Paul was stressing that the church, was also to walk in unity if at all they were really filled with the Holy Spirit. In the following verses, (Philippians 2:3-4), Paul was telling the believers that they should not act out of pride, selfish ambition or vain conceit. Instead, he advised them to consider others better than themselves and not focus on their personal interests but on the interests of others. He also adds that this should be done in humility. In these verses, Paul was teaching the believers that none of them was supposed to be found oppressing others or doing things with the aim of benefiting themselves alone, even at the expense of the others. Neither were they supposed to make vain glory their motive of serving God3. Instead of being selfish and proud, the believers were supposed to demonstrate selflessness; the selflessness that Jesus showed when he left all glories in heaven and accepted to dies, though sinless, just to save sinful man. When doing this, Christ put aside his own interests and considered the salvation of mankind and that is why Paul tells them to focus on the interests of others. By stating that they should consider other better than themselves and looking at the interests of others, Paul meant that the believers should demonstrate intense love to each other. This was meant to ensure they live respecting one another and helping each other. Others were not to be found suffering yet others were having excesses. By stating that these things should be done in humility, Paul was trying to weed out hypocrisy where people pretend to mind about others yet that is not the true nature in them. He therefore meant that help and respect to others was supposes to come from the heart and be expresses willfully. After this, Paul, in Philippians 2:5, advices the believers that when relating with each other they should have the same mindset as that of Jesus. He then proceeds to explain to them what kind of mindset he was referring to, that is, being most humble4. In the three subsequent verses, Paul reminds the believers the characters of Jesus that proofed that he was most humble. In Philippians 2:6, he states, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage” (Holy Bible, NIV). By saying this, Paul was implying that Jesus is of the same stature as his father, both having equal authority and deserving equal respect. However, Jesus choose to humble and accept to do the will of his father, to come and die so that man can be saved5. Jesus had the power to object to this because he knew he was to suffer rejection, pain and finally, die a shameful death he would go through. Through this verse, Paul was calling on all Christians, especially those who felt they could not humble because of the big positions they have or their wealth status, to humble and submit to the commands of God. Even Jesus in his kingship humbled, then how about man? In Philippians 2:7, Paul tells the believers that Jesus humbled himself even more by accepting to be presented to them in human nature. In addition, he took the nature of a servant. Being God, and thus having an immortal body and being kingly, Christ accepted to put them off so that he could come and live in the midst of men as one of the, serving God just to show them how to serve God. he also served men, those who were supposed to serve him. In this verse, Paul was stressing that those who consider themselves of high status should always humble and in effect, be an example to others on how man should humble before God and respect fellow men6. They should also love the lowly and show this by interacting with them, not separating with them because of contempt in their hearts towards the poor. In Philippians 2:8, Paul tells the believers that Jesus, having taken the form of man, “humbled himself by becoming obedient to death- even death on a cross!” These strong remarks is a message to the believers that one of the critical signs of humility is obedience and this is reinforced by selflessness. In essence, Paul was illustrating that our humility should be evidenced by our obedience to God and how we are ready to surrender our interest for the sake of others7. In verses, 9-11, tells the believers that Christ’s humility resulted to him being glorified by God. It also resulted to God being glorified well. After showing this humility Jesus was exalted to the highest lace and given a name that is above all names. The exaltation came as a result of his voluntary obedience to the father8. It shows the kind of honor, before God and mankind, that God can give us if we learn to act out of humility, and do it voluntarily. It is also an indication that humility will never take away our status as indicated by Jesus being restored to his kingly position and being exalted higher than before. In verses 2:10-11, Paul explains the beauty attached to the honor given to Jesus because of humility. He states that at the name given to Jesus, “every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Holy Bible, NIV). This signifies the universality of the lordship and level of exaltation Jesus received because of this9. In this verse, Paul was trying to make the believers to see the beauty behind humbling. It earned Jesus great respect both in heaven and on earth and among all creation. In the same way, humility builds our reputation among men and this will cause them to respect us. Application A Christian fellowship is basically a collection of Christians sharing some virtues together. God normally honors and bestows his blessings upon such gatherings. However, there are requirements for Christians to receive these blessings. They are require to put consistent efforts and see to it that they have the mind like that which Christ had towards his father, that is, giving up their own self as a sign of love to the one they serve. Christians must also put every effort to keep away strive and self-focus/selfish ambitions away from their gatherings. Instead, they should work towards having Christian fellowships that is yield compassion and Christian love in their midst. Jesus came to show us an example through which we can learn and behave as God expects of us. Philippians 2:6 reveals to us that Jesus is equally God just as his father. Therefore, the character of Christ tells a lot about the character of God. When he said that he is the Way, the Truth and the Life he meant that the whole truth is found in him. This includes his revelations about the character of God to us. This was made possible because Jesus wore the nature of God. This means that although he is exalted above the higher heavens, God is still humble. He confirms this by declaring that he dwells among the humble and contrite/lowly in spirit. Having received the example from Jesus, Christians should also put on this nature of God for them to have a perfect fellowship with him10. That is, they should make sure they are clothed with humility. This is important for their fellowship because the pride in men and can never be in harmony with the humility of God. God loves that we serve him. However, it will be evil if we served God in an effort to obtain some form of glory for ourselves. Christians should therefore make sure their motives for serving God are pure. They should serve him because they love him and ensure they work alongside others. There is also need to care about the needs of others whom we fellowship together. This is to say that we should not always just focus on making our selves comfortable when some of the brethrens are almost finding it impossible to move on. We should learn to share with them. Apart from material possession, we should also consider the spiritual interests of others for example uplifting and encouraging those who are low in the spirit. Jesus was exalted more than before because of the humility he showed before God. By taking the nature of a servant, he was lifting other instead of demanding honor from them. Christians should therefore learn that humility not only entails bringing yourself down but also lifting others. Conclusion Jesus accepted and emulated the example of his father and thus he attained the same stature of God the father. Philippians 2:1-11 is a good guide on how Christians can attain this nature of Christ which is also the nature of God the father. In these verses Paul shares the heart and mind of Christ with the church so that they could understand how to fellowship with each other. He gives them detailed instructions of the truth concerning deeper loving relationships that should be seen among the believers. His main advice to the believers was for them to conform to the mind of Christ. Being that our main goal as Christians is to attain full sonship with Christ Jesus, we must come to a point of embracing his nature and conform to his mind and ways. This is important because God will never recognize proud people as his sons. References Borchert, G. (1995). "Philippians, Epistle to, “Philippi" in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. III: K-P. Ed. G. W. Bromiley. (2nd Revised Ed). Grand Rapids. Eerdmans. Brooks by the Travellers Way. (2008). Strife and Vain Glory: Phillipians 2:3. Online: www.ccel.org/ccel/jowett/brooks.iv.xxv.html -. Accessed 5th November, 2011. Bruce, F. (1989). New International Biblical Commentary: Philippians. Peabody, MA. Hendrickson Publishers. Cheung, V. (2003). Commentary on Philippians. Online: www.rmiweb.org/books/philippians.pdf - Accessed 5th November, 2011. Cole, S. (19995). “Every Knee Shall Bow: Philippians 2:9-1.” Online: http://www.preceptaustin.org/philippians_23-4.htm. Accessed 5th November, 2011. Guzik, D. (2003). “David Guziks Commentaries on the Bible.” Online: http://www.studylight.org/com/guz/view.cgi?book=php&chapter=002. Accessed 5th November, 2011. Holman Bible Dictionary (2001). “Philippians.” Online: . 1991. Accessed 5th November 2011. Jay, A. (1995). The Christian Counselors Commentary: Romans, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and 2 Thessalonians. New York. Timeless Texts. McFarland, K. (2008) "Philippians 2:1-11 - Having the Mind of Christ." Becker Bible Studies Applications. Online: http://guidedbiblestudies.com/applications/50_002.html. Accessed 5th November, 2011. Weave, S. (2002). Lexical Study of Philippians 2:1-11. Online: www.angelfire.com/.../steveweaver/LEXICAL_ST... -. Accessed 5th November 2011. Read More