115. God at work–Paul’s Concept of the Verb energein and Cognates (Philippians 2:12-13)
One of the more unusual notions that frequently occurs in Paul’s letters is that God is “working in” people and situations. The verb that expresses this most consistently is energein 1 (“put one’s capabilities into operation”) and its cognate nouns energeia 2 (“state or quality of being active”), energēma3 (“activity as expression of capability”), and [...]
102. “Endangering one’s life…for the work of the Messiah” (paraboleusamenos Philippians 2:30)
When Paul commends his friend, Epaphroditus, he comments particularly on his willingness to hazard everything for “the work of the Messiah,” to act as the serving emissary of the Philippian Church, and to assist Paul. In Philippians 2:30 Paul chose an interesting expression to describe the degree to which Epaphroditus was willing to go for the sake of the Gospel.
96. Having the Same Form (summorphizō) Philippians 3:17
Twice in the space of a few verses in his letter to the Christians in Philippi Paul used the verb summorphizō (“becoming like” (NIV) 3:10) and the cognate adjective summorphos (“will be like” (NIV) 3:21). These are the only contexts in the New Testament, apart from Paul’s use of the adjective in Romans 8:29 (“to [...]
95. Contending (sunathlountes) … Not Being Intimidated (pturomenoi)
When Paul composes his letter to the Philippian believers, his personal circumstances are not the best – imprisoned, awaiting trial, with execution as a possible outcome. Within the Christian ranks some leaders were using the occasion in such a way that it actually increased the pressure on Paul! Hard to imagine Christian leaders doing such [...]
88. “Knowing Christ” (Philippians 3:10)
Recently I was interacting with a pastor about the meaning of the expression “to know him”, i.e. Jesus, that Paul used in Philippians 3:10. What did Paul signify by using this expression to define his spiritual quest? Are we to interpret this in accordance with statements such as Joseph “knew [Mary] not until she had [...]