The Enemy In The Philippians Analysis

The Apostle Paul’s strategic mission of expanding the church and spreading the Gospel was significant considering the challenges he had to conquer. His life and example was and is applicable to modern cross-cultural leaders and organizations. Philippians 2 is a letter written by Paul to the church of Philippi. It was prepared during his imprisonment in Rome for spreading the Gospel of Christ in an area where people predominately and traditionally believed in Judaism. His writing in this passage highlights Christ as the ultimate example of humility and Paul’s encouragement to his followers to keep the unity, as they are the light of the world.

     Paul wrote First Corinthians primarily because of a division in the local church caused by several different situations. Paul writes, “Now, dear brothers and sisters, I appeal to you by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real harmony so there won’t be divisions in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose” (First

The book of First Timothy gives us a great point of view of the relationship of Paul and

Christianity over the course of history has a vast influence on individuals, society and the way believers conduct themselves. It provides morals, practices and ethics that every Christian attempts to live by. Throughout the many denominations in the Christian church, Paul of Tarsus had a significant influence on the faith. His contribution to the development and expression of Christianity is immense and can be seen to stem from his writing and missionary journeys which have implemented his ideas and interpretations onto the development of Christianity. After Jesus, Paul was arguably the most significant figure in Christianity as his teachings form a significant part of the New Testament. Like may other Pharisees of that time in history, Paul sought to suppress the early Christian movement. He accused early Christians of blaspheming against God and breaking Mosaic Law. However, Paul had a life-changing experience when he had a vision of Jesus, and he spent the remainder of his life as a missionary for the early church. Centuries after his ministry, his teachings still influence Christian theology.

In the first close reading of the text, I discovered Paul articulated his desire for all believers to be of the same attitude or frame of mind as Christ. Creating a sense of relationship with God through the example of the servanthood of Jesus. This study revealed the traits of Christ’s life and character found in verses: “he was formed of God” (2:6), “emptied himself’ (2:7), “in human form” (2:8), “name above every name” (2:9), “every knee should bend” (2:10), and “every tongue confess … glory to God” (2:11). Looking at each verse, challenged me to read between the lines and wonder what might be happening within the church of Philippi. Textual Criticism

I charge you to strive diligently for unity and peace (Ephesians 4:3). This church should have a peaceful aroma in it. It should be holy ground, instead of a battleground. But do not expect a church free of problems and free of disagreements. Robust dialogue and earnest disagreements are natural features of a covenant relationship. Yet ensure that your dialogue and disagreements

Paul was devoted to spreading the gospel to many different people groups. An example from Paul's life that has taught me about spreading God's word is when he preached on his first missionary journey in Acts 13, even after many Jews slandered him and argued against everything he said. Paul’s demonstration of courage in this situation is very inspiring to me. It teaches me to be bold in my belief of the gospel, even when people disagree with me. Another

In 1Corinthians, Paul appeals to the lowest denominator in the group and abjures wisdom. “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, the intelligence of the intelligent will I frustrate.” 1Cor18. He deals with incest, lawsuits, sexual immorality, and married life, food sacrificed to idols – matter which one readily answered by the Torah and the law. Yet Paul does no research and uses no knowledge he might have learned in his years as a practicing Jew. He relies only on his own intuition, and his personal revelation of Jesus’ death, resurrection and the imminence of his second coming. Unfortunately, this off-the-cuff memo of dealing with real life issues is open to prejudices, rationalizations, projections and a variety of defense mechanisms.

Judaizers wanted to preach works but Paul wrote that we must preach Christ alone. 7. Paul was not a passive individual as he describes himself in verse 14 he was “exceedingly zealous”. He appears to be talking to an audience who knew him in the past as a strong Jew who upheld the traditions of his people. He also stated in verse 14 that he “profited in the Jews’ religion” 8. so he was possibly politically powerful and personally benefiting from his status in the community while upholding the Jewish traditions of his fathers. He wants to make it clear to his audience that what he is preaching to them now is not of man but is by divine revelation from God by his grace. To demonstrate his point, Paul recounts his conversion, in which he switched from being a persecutor of the church to being a preacher of its gospel. He wants to advise that his conversion occurred through a direct act of God, who “was pleased to reveal his Son to me, 9. so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles”. The revelation of who Jesus really was came directly from God and for a clear purpose so that Paul could take the message to the Gentiles. Paul insisted that the Spirit is the same Spirit through whom God spoke and acted in the history of Israel, the difference is that through Jesus the Spirit is now poured out on all God’s people, Jew and Gentile alike. 10. The fact that Paul criticized some aspects of his native Judaism 11. and that he announced a gospel to the

When writing his letter to the Philippians, Paul wanted people to learn to unconditionally love God and have the desire to live in his ways. Paul wrote giving guidelines to prepare for the coming of God and how to live a pure lifestyle. He wrote about how arrogance and selfishness continued to ruin the connection with people and God, and how a strong force is needed to bond them back together. A perfect example of this force is between Phil Connors from the Groundhog Day movie and Rita. In the movie, Phil finds himself being egotistical many times and needing to be placed in the right direction. Phil was stuck in an everyday cycle of Groundhog Day. He could not leave Punxsutawney after many attempts and instead of trying to grow in faith, he

However, Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians that his heart’s desire, his zeal now is to know Him (Christ) and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; (Php 3:10 KJV). Paul uses some very strong language in describing what he was like before Christ and how he has been transformed into the image of Christ. His zeal is no longer to live as a Pharisee but to live as an Apostle to the

Answering God’s call to proclaim Christ, Paul and Barnabas left the church at Antioch in Syria. At first, their method of evangelism was to preach in the town synagogues. But when many of the Jews rejected Christ, the missionaries recognized God’s call of witnessing to the Gentiles.

Paul’s preaching, caused by the provocation we just discussed, afforded him incredible opportunities. He discussed Christ with the Jews, the Gentile worshipers, the frequenters of the marketplace, and even some philosophers (Acts 17:17-18). Though many of the individuals in the last group labeled

Philip II ascended to the throne as the king of Macedon in what can be recognised as one of its most difficult times, as his country was virtually on the brink of collapse. Despite these immediate overwhelming odds, the future of the twenty-one year olds life as king would see him not only revive his depleted state, but overcome constant battles with rival oppressive forces both within and outside Macedon’s borders. It was these crucial further actions executed by Philip that would see him etch his name into history forever, and spark a complicated debate that is; is it fair to describe Philip II as a foreign despot who wrought the destruction of Greek liberty? This paper will argue that Philip was in fact a foreign despot, however did not seek the destruction of Greece herself, but rather sought its unity while in a state of dismay. While technically Philip matches the description of a foreign despot, that is a ruler of absolute power from another nation, it is apparent that he had no intentions to destroy Greece, but rather unify it both through military and political standpoints, both of which will be discussed and argued in this text.

In this letter Apostle Paul showed how great his love was for the church of Philippi, showing his gratitude for their financial support to further the work of the ministry and to express his concern about their spiritual walk. His only thought was about advancing the cause of Christ and building the Philippians’ faith to continue their mission in spite of the persecution they were facing. Within their church many of the people were at odds and some were trying to hinder the spread of the Gospel. Because of this, Paul encourages the church of Philippi to "stand fast, be of the same mind, rejoice in the Lord always but by prayer let your request be made known and the peace of God shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (4:1-7).