9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
Last time, we looked at how much Paul loved the Philippian church. He longed for them. He loved the partnership in the gospel with them. And he said that he prayed with joy for them. Here, he tells them what he prayed. Many times, when we pray for each other, it’s very generic, or we pray for specific physical or spiritual needs (“Please protect them. Please help them”). Here’s what Paul prayed for his friends. As I meditated on it, I silently put my family, my friends, and myself into this prayer. I hope you’ll find encouragement from it:
God, my Father, I come before you with joy, praying for my family and friends who share in the journey of discipleship. I ask you today to give them more love. Give them an overwhelming amount of love, more and more each day so they’ll know you better. Lord, I ask you that as we love you more, we will gain depth of knowledge and insight about you. This will help us to know what’s best to do in all circumstances. God, I want all of us to be pure and blameless before you because of your love for us and the love you give us for you. God, I ask that we will stay pure and righteous before you until you come back and that we are filled with your righteousness, not our own, so your name will be praised.
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
Today we begin a new study: the book of Philippians. This is a very interesting letter by Paul to the church in Philippi. It was written from a Roman prison toward the end of Paul’s life. The Philippian church was started by Paul converting a woman named Lydia (Acts 16). Shortly after the church started, Paul healed a woman that was possessed by a demon. This got him into big trouble. He was “severely flogged” (Acts 16:23). But God saved him. An earthquake shook the prison walls, broke the chains, and forced the doors open. But Paul stayed in the prison. The jailer rushed in, expecting them to be gone, but Paul used the opportunity to convert him. The next day, the Roman officials had to issue an official apology and they escorted him out. I wonder if he thought about how God freed him in Philippi as he sat in jail in Rome. Whatever he thought about while he was isolated, he was very grateful for the friendship he had built with the people in the Philippian church. It gave him great joy to know that, no matter what he was going through, he had partners in the gospel who knew him. Who do we have in our lives we can write to like this? Who do we pray for? And when we pray, do we pray with joy? I think that’s one of the things that kept Paul from going insane. Wherever he went, he built deep friends based on a shared conviction of what Jesus did for them. Whether it was Ephesus, Rome, Athens, or Philippi, he built great friendships. And when he was in need, those friends came through for him. I have good friends from work, from classes I’ve taken, and from my neighborhood. But my best friends are those that encourage me to be closer to God and help me to carry to completion what I started when I said “Jesus is Lord.”
17 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. 19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. 21 Timothy, my co-worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my fellow Jews. 22 I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings. Erastus, who is the city’s director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings. 24 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you. Amen. 25 Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen. The book of Romans finishes with a warning and a promise–and they are related. The warning is to “watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way” (v.17). This is a return to what we read in chapter 13 (“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another”-13:8), chapter 14 (“Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters”-14:1) and chapter 15 (“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God”-15:7). It’s clear that God cares about our relationships to one another just as much as He cares about our relationship with Him. And we should do our best to avoid anyone who actively tries to put obstacles in our way from meeting that goal. This doesn’t mean avoiding people who don’t agree with us–just those that actively try to divide us. Why? Because the act of dividing people hurts God–especially over matters that are not critical to our salvation. The promise is that the God of peace will crush Satan under our feet. On the surface, that doesn’t seem related to the warning…but read it very closely: “the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” If we are willing to accept one another, continue to love one another, and avoid those that try to actively divide us, God, who is a God of peace, will crush Satan. This has been a great journey–to study the Book of Romans. There are profound theological lessons as well as practical ones. We will close this study the same way Paul closes the letter: To the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ. Amen.
16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me. 3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. 5 Greet also the church that meets at their house. Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. 11 Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew. Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. 12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the other brothers and sisters with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the Lord’s people who are with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.
Benefactor: Phoebe (v2) Co-worker/helper: Priscilla, Aquila (v3), Urbane (v9) Laid down their lives: Priscilla, Aquila (v3) First convert: Epenetus (v4) Toil/hard labor: Mary (v5) The last chapter of Romans starts with personal greetings, encouragement, and memories. And, while it’s easy to skip over these verses, we miss out on some very key lessons. In the New Testament as a whole, we learn a lot about a few people (other than Jesus). We learn a lot about Paul’s life and ministry. We learn about Peter, James, and John, and their relationship to Jesus and how their commitment to Jesus impacted their ministries throughout Acts and the rest of the New Testament. We learn a little about the companions who traveled with Paul and the letters he wrote to them (like Timothy, Titus, Barnabas, and others). But we don’t know much about the vast majority of those who accepted Jesus as lord because of their testimony, the individual members of all the churches planted by the apostles, the “great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language,” spoken about in Revelation 7 (those who gave their lives because of their commitment to Jesus). But here, we get a little glimpse. I’d like to encourage us to imitate them. They just lived “ordinary” Christian lives. But they did extraordinary things. Phoebe (v. 2) was a leader and deacon. She encouraged and supported Paul. Priscilla and Aquila (v. 3) risked their lives to assist in spreading the gospel. Mary (v.5) as well as Tryphena and Tryphosa (v. 12) just “worked hard”. Andronicus and Junia were actually in prison with Paul. Ampliatus (v. 8) was just a “dear friend”. Apelles (v. 10) was just “faithful”–his faith encouraged Paul. Take some time today to praise God for these men and women. Without them, the gospel would not have come to us. And let’s be committed to being like them–let’s work hard, be faithful, stand with our leaders, and give financially and in spirit to the cause of making Jesus known.
25 Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. 28 So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. 29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ. 30 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. 31 Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there, 32 so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed. 33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Paul begins to wrap up his letter. He’s been traveling all over and, as he goes, he shares his faith. But he also collects contributions from the believers to help those in Jerusalem. It’s clear that no one asked him to do this. He just did it. How do I know? Because he specifically says “Pray…that the contribution I take to Jerusalem maybe favorably received by the Lord’s people there.” He wasn’t sure how the contribution would be received. But he saw a need (there was a famine in Jerusalem at the time) and he did what he could to meet it…and asked others to do the same. Many times we wait for direction. We want someone to have a vision for where we need to go. Paul just saw a need and went after it. Whether it was evangelism, writing letters of encouragement, or taking up contributions for those in need, he just did what he knew was right. How about you? Are you waiting for someone to direct you to give? To share? To write letters of encouragement? Or do you take initiative and just do what’s right and pray that God will fix it? I am ashamed to admit I’m too much of a “follower’ and not enough of a leader in this way. I am determined to change that today! Please join me!
17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. 21 Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.” Isaiah 52:15 (see Septuagint) 22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, 24 I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while.
How do we define success? For some, success is being famous. For others, success is being respected. Still others think being rich is successful. Others are less grandiose–success is having a stable job, having a family, being active in the community. And, in our digital age, some also define success by how many followers they have, how many subscribers, or how many likes. Paul defined success differently. His glory was “in Christ Jesus in service to God.” What made Paul happy was sharing with others what God did for him and having an impact on others. Can we honestly say that? Do we live to serve God? Or do we live and ask God to serve us? Do we proclaim what Christ has done through us? Do we declare the gospel in our lives, to our friends, neighbors, and other disciples? This is challenging–but also exciting. Today, let’s think about the power of God in our lives and proclaim it to the people we know. What has God done for you? Share it! Today, let’s “glory in Christ”!
8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.” (2 Samuel 22:50; Psalm 18:49) 10 Again, it says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.” (Deut. 32:43) 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him.” (Psalm 117:1) 12 And again, Isaiah says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.” Isaiah 11:10 (see Septuagint) 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 14 I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Hope…it’s an amazing word. According to 1 Corinthians 13, it’s one of only three things that matter (faith, hope, and love). Even saying the word changes our demeanor. As I searched for this word online, I came across a quote by a writer named Hal Lindsey. He’s not one of my favorite authors, but his quote was great and rang true to me: We can live 40 days without food, 3 days without water, 8 minutes without air, but only one second without hope. This world takes hope away. We see cruelty of humans against other humans and we lose hope. We experience difficulty with coworkers, neighbors, family members, or other people and we lose hope. We have trouble paying our bills, we fail classes, or we lose our job and we lose hope. Or, most devastating, we lose someone we love, and we lose hope. In the most difficult of times, we can turn here and understand a deeper truth. God is the “God of hope.” That’s who he is. When we lose hope, He will give us more as we trust in Him. This is not a “magic pill” that we take. We can’t just pray and say “I trust you” and hope comes back. We have to truly place our trust in Him and allow Him to fill us with joy and peace. Trusting in the God of hope can mean a lot of things. Sometimes it means we have to pray and meditate on His goodness. Sometimes it means we need to go back to His word and read how much He loves us. Sometimes it means singing songs to raise our spirits so we can see the hope He’s given us. Sometimes it means going to a friend, a sibling, or another mature disciple and telling them what’s really going on so they can encourage you. Sometimes it means going to a professional counselor or psychologist and trusting that God will use them. No matter what it means for you today, if you’re without hope, go back to the God of hope, put your trust in Him and allow Him to fill you with joy and peace. And the hope will overflow.
15 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” Psalm 69:9 4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. 5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
This passage is a continuation of “making every effort to do what leads to peace” (Rom. 14:19). Here, God says we should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up instead of pleasing ourselves. This is extremely challenging! How many times do we say (or think to ourselves): “this is who I am. Deal with it.” Or we go online, make a post and say “if you can’t handle it, you can go somewhere else”. This goes against all of our natural tendencies and our society as a whole. We reward people for speaking their mind and praise people who “put other people in their place.” The Bible doesn’t say we should not speak our mind. It does not say we should stay silent when we see sin. But it does say we should build others up for their own good. And, as proof of this, he reminds us of what Jesus did. Just think of Jesus’ experience: he allowed himself to be physically spat upon, beaten, mocked, and nailed to a cross and through it said “Father forgive them.” He never responded in a negative way one time. And He did that for us. So He asks us to accept others, just as He accepted us. So the next time you’re tempted to say “this is just who I am”, think of how Jesus accepted you “just as you were” and accept others in the same way. This brings praise to God and helps others get to heaven. If you’re insulted or taken advantage of, you can rejoice that you now get to be a little more like Jesus. And Jesus will not forget anything you do for His sake.
19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. 22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
Since the beginning of chapter 14, we’ve been reading about the importance of protecting each other. It started with “Accept one another” (v. 1). Then, after some time, God urges us to “stop passing judgement on one another” (v. 13). Now, the strongest encouragement of all: “Make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification.” That phrase is very powerful: make every effort. It’s an active word. It’s not just passively try to accept each other. It’s actively pursuing things that will help our brothers and sisters go to heaven. It means laying down the strong feelings you have for the sake of someone else. In fact, the Bible goes so far as to say we could actually “destroy the work of God.” Just think about that for a second. Who of us wants to stand before God and explain why, for the sake of our feelings, we destroyed someone else’s faith? Important (but not salvation) issues have always been the most challenging for us as disciples. When this was written, it was what kind of food was eaten. For us, it’s critical issues like climate change, politics, laws, and how to fix societal issues. It’s important that every person “does not condemn himself by what he approves“ Whatever we decide to do about things that are wrong must come from our faith and desire to please God. Take a simple example from today’s world: the protests happening for “black lives matter.” It is wrong for any person to lose their lives for the color of their skin. It is a sin to condone brutality. There are a lot of Scriptures to support this. However, on the issue of public protest, this is a very contentious issue. Should we protest publicly? For some people, the answer is yes. If their faith leads them to the streets, they should be commended for their convictions, and living out their faith. They should be accepted. For others, the answer is no. If their faith is that public protests do not solve issues like this, they should also be accepted. Forcing someone who doesn’t believe in protests to participate could destroy their faith. Similarly, condemning those who believe in the power of public displays of disapproval could destroy their faith. This is a hard teaching–because Satan forces us into a false choice. He wants us to think that anyone who doesn’t think like us in important matters is already in danger. So we think we’re helping them by being “enlightened”, when actually we are destroying them. I pray and hope that all of us decide to accept one another and protect them over everything else.
10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’”Isaiah 45:23 12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. 13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.
This is a continuation of God’s viewpoint on “disputable matters”. As a reminder, disputable matters are issues that are very important to people personally, but they aren’t universal salvation issues. As an example, Paul uses food and drink which was very important to many Jewish Christians. For some, it was so important, it was a salvation issue for them. There are lots of those kinds of issues today: racial justice, political views, climate change, and many others. God’s answer to that is this: “Make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.” In other words, the relationship we have with each other must be more important than any individual issue. We must care more about each others’ spiritual journey than our own conviction. There’s a great story in the Bible that illustrates this. In Acts 16:1-3, we read about a man named Timothy who was traveling with Paul. Timothy was baptized but never circumcised (because his father didn’t follow the Jewish faith). He agreed to allow himself to be circumcised “because of the Jews in that place.” Think about that for a second. Circumcision isn’t a painless process and it is permanently life-changing. To the Greeks, it was disfigurement. But he allowed himself to be circumcised for the sake of the other Jewish people in the area in order to protect their salvation. This is the nature of God’s true church and its people. We must be willing to forego our own convictions of very important matters for the sake of saving others’ faith. Why? Because the Kingdom of God “is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” The next time you have a discussion with a brother or sister who is strongly convinced of an issue that, for them, clearly is a salvation issue, consider this passage. How can you protect them and help them get to heaven?
Bible meditations 