New Testament / Philippians

  • Abounding Love

    Philippians 1:9–11

    Only by faith do we lay hold of Christ’s righteousness, which alone gets us into heaven. Yet we can also get additional rewards in heaven if we serve God faithfully. These rewards, however, are still grounded in faith because ...Read More

  • A Cause to Glory in Christ Jesus

    Philippians 1:25–26

    In saving us from sin, death, and His holy wrath, our God has placed us in a community that, according to His sovereign determination, needs our gifts and talents. To refuse to serve the body of Christ is tantamount to ...Read More

  • A Life Worthy of the Gospel

    Philippians 1:27

    We can by no means overestimate our need of the Christian community for our own faithfulness to our Savior in this world. All of the greatest leaders in church history had the support of fellow believers, and they were thereby ...Read More

  • A Sign of Destruction and Salvation

    Philippians 1:28

    We do not earn our place in heaven through the consistent endurance of persecution and harassment. Rather, such endurance proves that we have the faith that can alone lay hold of the benefits of salvation, for “the one who endures ...Read More

  • Belief and Suffering

    Philippians 1:29–30

    If we are surprised when persecution comes, then we will find it more difficult to endure it and experience the grace of God in our suffering. Yet as we remember that both belief and suffering are granted to us by ...Read More

  • Clinging to the Truth

    Philippians 2:16

    Today’s passage tells us that as we live a life that reflects the gospel, we not only become the lights that we already are in Christ but also encourage those who give the gospel to us. Our church leaders ...Read More

  • Discerning the Good

    Philippians 4:8–9

    Paul’s exhortation to think on what is good, excellent, and beautiful in the culture around us suggests that withdrawal into a Christian ghetto is not the way to witness to Jesus in this world. We are to live in ...Read More

  • Don’t Worry, Be Joyful

    Philippians 4:4–7

    Even if God never gives us another blessing, what Jesus did on our behalf gives us more than a sufficient reason to rejoice. We can properly grieve when friends and families die, relationships end, jobs are lost, and suffering occurs ...Read More

  • Don’t Worry, Be Joyful

    Philippians 4:4–7

    Knowledge that death does not have the final say is but one of the many reasons why we as Christians can find the fullness of joy in the Lord (Phil. 4:4). Jesus has brought us so many other benefits ...Read More

  • Idolatry Defined

    Philippians 3:19

    Anything or anyone can become an idol in our lives because whatever we love more than the Lord is, by definition, an idol. Because our hearts are idol factories, as John Calvin taught us, we are all continually tempted to ...Read More

  • Jesus Is Lord

    Philippians 2:5–11

    Early Christians like Polycarp were martyred because they refused to confess Caesar as lord. They knew that Jesus alone is divine and would have no one usurp His status. These Christians knew the New Testament is not merely being polite ...Read More

  • Lights to the World

    Philippians 2:14–15

    Since we are already lights to the world in Christ Jesus, we can, by His Spirit, show forth the glory and goodness of God in line with the Father’s plan. We will fail from time to time and need ...Read More

  • Literature

    Philippians 4:8

    We do not have to read pornographic material in order to find literary filth. How many novels, romantic or otherwise, contain scenes of an explicit nature? How many Christians believe they can read such things innocuously? How many of us ...Read More

  • Lord

    Philippians 2:5–11

    The early Christians endured martyrdom before confessing, “Caesar is lord.” They knew that Jesus alone was divine, and they were unwilling to allow anyone to usurp His status. Our modern culture offers many competing lords for worship. Pray that you ...Read More

  • Meeting Paul’s Need

    Philippians 4:10–12

    God gives us friends in the church to help build us up and so that we might support one another in all our needs. Of course, only Christ fulfills all our needs in an ultimate sense, but He does work ...Read More