Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Philippians 1:26

Textus Receptus:
ινα το καυχημα υμων περισσευη εν χριστω ιησου εν εμοι δια της εμης παρουσιας παλιν προς υμας

King James:
That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.

Comments:
your rejoicing...for me: Paul speaks of the same kind of rejoicing (or boasting) in 2 Corinthians 1:14. In that passage (verses 12-14), as here, the scriptures make it clear that it is good for believers to celebrate Christ by celebrating each other. Similarly, Paul uses this word again in Philippians 2:15-17 ("rejoice" in verse 16) to say that the Philippians' faithfulness will provide him an opportunity to boast or express his exuberant confidence in Christ.

by my coming to you again: Paul often speaks of his coming, presence, and absence in parallel to the Lord's coming, presence, and absence. That is, as Jesus instructed the disciples about their obedience in His absence (but presence through the Holy Spirit) in John 14-16, so Paul urges Philippian believers to be faithful in his absence as they were in his presence in chapter 2:12. There is nothing more significant about this observation than the fact that every disciple-making believer is a representative of Christ, as passages like 1 Corinthians 11:1 make obvious, and therefore a testimony (good or bad) for God's faithfulness.

Expanded Paraphrase:
I believe God will bring me to you again so that you will overflow with confident joy in Jesus Christ as a testimony to His faithfulness, but as a result of what he does through me, allowing me to come to visit and disciple you again.

1 comment:

sofyst said...

YAH! My devotions are back!