Is Humility A Moral God?

Paul commends the Philippians for their earnest work in spreading the word of God. He tells them how much he longs to see them. He warns them about potential pitfalls. He coaches them on dealing with hard times, and provides examples from his own life, other Christians and the Lord Jesus Christ. No matter what, the good news of Jesus Christ will advance. God will complete His work in the Philippians’ lives. His children will have all their true needs supplied. The theme verse of Philippians is ‘ rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice!” (Phil

In the bible, there were many different scriptures that interested me but the one passage that stood out was Paul’s letters in Philippians. The book of Philippians is a Jail Epistle which is a letter composed while in jail. Paul composed it around 62 A.D. as he foreseen his discharge from jail. They key identities are the Missionary Paul, Timothy, Epaphroditus, Euodia, and Syntyche. It was composed to demonstrate his gratefulness and love to the Philippians in a thank-you letter for their proceeded with help and support, and furthermore to energize their development. In Philippians the chapter and verse that stood out was Chapter 4 verse 13 when Paul says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” The missionary's capacity of knowing how to live

These passages from the Bible are a couple of my favorite verses in Philippians. These verses talk about how we are supposed to be like Christ both in Spirit and in actions. The next three verses tell us that we should do everything without complaining or without grumbling and then we will be able to be secure in Christ. Paul says that if we do these things then we will “shine among them [our generation] like stars” because of all we accomplished in Christ and because of our blamelessness.

Firstly the unfailing and uncompromising grace of God is reaffirmed as Paul opens up to the men in the Areopagus,

He then encour-ages the Philippians “to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,” so that the world may see the riches of God’s grace. Paul is essentially promoting faith to the Philippians by asking them to view the works that God is doing within the world. Paul is ultimately encour-aging the Philippians to recognize who God is and what He has done through Christ for them; he is stating that their only hope is to abide in Him and that they should “shine”(in this principle) for the world to see God’s

Alluding to the hymn (2:5-11) by using the words, “form,” “humiliation” and “power,” the next verse elucidates the privilege of the citizen of heaven. Again, Paul shows his paradoxical theology by using opposite words, “humiliation” and “glory,” impressing the paradoxical dynamism of salvation with a divine initiative on the recipients. Interestingly, Paul does not use the plural form, but use singular form, “our body.” By this, Paul probably shows the communal characteristic of salvation here.

Colossians would see Christ’s love. Andrew C. Perriman believes, "By filling up what was lacking of a predetermined measure of afflictions which the righteous must endure, Paul also reduces the tribulations other believers, especially these Gentile Christians at Colossae, are to experience. The more of these sufferings he personally absorbed, as he went about preaching the gospel, the less would remain for his fellow Christians to endure.”8 Further, if a Believer of Christ could view the sufferings that must come as an opportunity to gain more wisdom and knowledge, it would assist others in understanding that, suffering for Christ’s sake would ultimately develop one’s heart to never lose faith in God. 2 Timothy 2:12 support this premise by

This passage of Scripture was written by the apostle Paul as he was reflecting upon the thorn of his flesh. Paul had entreated the Lord asking why he was burdened with such an affliction, but the Lord answered that “[His] grace is sufficient” and was using Paul’s suffering to further His purpose. The Lord was teaching Paul that suffering can be used and that although at times suffering may seem that it is too much to bear, this suffering is actually being used by the Lord to help grow His people. Paul’s thorn was used to prevent him from becoming conceited at the knowledge of how much the Lord had revealed to him and how much the Lord was using him (2 Cor. 12:7-9).

This influenced what the author of the letter had to say because he or she needed to help the Christians who were suffering stick to their values and be faithful with suffering. The author also was influenced by this suffering to make sure that these Christian down use the suffering they are facing as an excuse to do evil. This passage from the First Letter of Peter to the Christians tells a great deal about humanity’s relationship with one another when we take a look at what was happening in the lives of the Christians in Asia Minor, and Christians everywhere. The passage very clearly shows how much lust is in humanity rather than love, which is giving what is truly good and accepting other for who they are.

An example of humility in the Old Testament is listed in Proverbs 22:4, “By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honor, and life” and Psalm 37:11: “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace”. In the New Testament, Luke instructs us in Acts 20:19, to “serve the LORD with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations…” Paul’s letter to the Philippians 3:10 demonstrates his faithfulness as he endures suffering, creates a more intimate understanding of the sufferings of Christ and that Christians who endure the suffering are part of that fellowship: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his

When exploring the concept of ‘God the Son’, the incarnation and attributes of God as seen in Christ enter the picture. In order for human sin to be covered, a human sacrifice is all that could meet the requirement ordained by God, yet, they had to be sinless. Only the incarnate God could fulfill this role, exhibiting qualities of God Himself, such as selflessness, unconditional love, and purity. Another core trait was humbleness, although Jesus held the highest status in all the world, which shone brightly in His ministry, as He also served the children of God. Paul captured the essence of Jesus as God and the reality of the incarnation in these verses, “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God…made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:5-7, NKJV).

This story of St. Antony makes it clear that living the virtue of humility is not only a matter of rejecting the motions of pride, selfishness and vanity, the devil’s greatest allies and the sins that are the greatest obstacle to the vocations we have received from the Lord, but living a life that sees power and authority made perfect in weakness. (2 Cor. 12:19)

“Let this attitude be in you.” This is what Paul says right before he tells us about Christ. He also says that the same attitude was in Christ. To fully understand the attitude we are to have, we need to make sure we fully understand what attitude was in Christ. He was God and humbled himself all the way down to a “slave”. As a “slave” he was put to death, death on a cross. Death on a cross was the most horrible punishment of its day. From death, he went back to heaven. When he arrived, God exalted for his willingness to be humble. His exaltation was the highest exaltation there could be anywhere in the universe.

During the course of 2,000 years of Christian history, the cross, the symbol of salvation, has been detached from the ongoing suffering and oppression of human beings. In other words, the cross has been transformed into an ornament that Christians wear around their necks. Rather than reminding us of the “cost of discipleship,” it has become a form of “cheap grace,” an easy way to salvation that doesn’t force us to confront the power of Christ’s message and mission.

I chose to write my paper on Philippians 3:12-21. Before writing this paper I was not entirely familiar with the reasons for Paul’s letters to the church of Philippi. It was an interesting study once I understood the background and reasoning for Paul’s writings. Paul writes a thank you letter to the Christians at Philippi for their contributions and support in his hour of need, and he uses the occasion to send along some instructions on Christian unity. Paul is also giving them an update on his circumstances. Most of Paul’s letter to the church of Philippi dealt with areas such as joy, rejoice, praise, thankfulness, and attitude.