July 21, 2011 – Philippians 1

Please read the introduction first. It is very thorough in discussing when this was written. From what we have read and reflected on in other letters, the earlier time makes sense to me as well because we have seen that in early letters Paul writes of his great concern about Jewish Christians and their preaching of Mosaic law but in letters written while imprisoned in Rome these concerns seem to be resolved. If there are contentions about Jewish Christians and their teachings, that would put this letter into the earlier category.
It is interesting to see this inner turmoil in Paul, between continuing life here on Earth and being in Heaven with Christ. It is not suicidal in the least, and he seems to feel that he does have more life to live, it is more of a reflection on the lack of fear of death he has. He has an extreme confidence in that he knows what is to come after his death. He knows death for him will be a uniting with Christ. But that is because staying on Earth means living for Christ and bringing those to Him. I wonder if people take this section as a guarantee of Heaven for those that believe in Christ. I don’t think I have ever seen it used that way, but if I believed in Once Saved, Always saved or a Faith Alone type theology, I believe this is a passage I could take out of context. Even though Paul writes with confidence about being in Heaven after death, this is not something he is always confident about or something he feels he is guaranteed. 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 “Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing. No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.” Even though Paul has hope and works towards being with Christ in Heaven, he does not take that for granted or as something guaranteed in a “once saved, always saved” type theology.