Philippians - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

teaching sinless perfection. Paul turns these over to God. He will teach them otherwise if they are
willing to be taught. (K. Wuest) There seemed to be a "perfectionist" wing in the churches at
Philippi. A group of Christians believed that they had "arrived" spiritually and had become
complacently perfect. Paul mentioned them as "thinking differently" (3:15) after he placed his own
personal disclaimer on having attained the perfection towards which he was continually pressing
forward. (R. P. Martin) The term “teleios” refers to a person who has reached the limit of his
professional abilities. It was also employed to designate the “perfect” person in Greek philosophy. It
refers here to the potential of being “mature” in the Christian life. It does not assert that every
believer at Philippi is “mature,” but it leaves the way open for the conscientious judgment of every
reader whether he or she fits the description … He urges them to press on, adding that if there were
any inconsistency or inadequacy in their basically Christian outlook, God Himself would make this
clear as well. (P. O’Brien)
There is much we need to know, but we do have the Bible. Shall we neglect it or not? Christian
friends, let us fill up our souls with the Bible. For only then shall we continue to walk as we ought to
walk with God. Only then shall we see clearly the way we should go. (J. Boice) Paul is now
addressing the mature. (R. Lenski) God feeds His children in response to an appetite and a desire,
and apart from the desire there will be no feeding. And apart from that feeding, there will be no
growth, and apart from that growth, there can never be spiritual maturity. Spiritual giants are not
born, they are made. Some of us have a weight problem, and all of us who have that problem would
like to say it is glandular. But the doctors don’t concur. They don’t soothe the conscience. In the last
six weeks or so, our family has lost, among the three of us, about sixty pounds. There is only one
way to do it and that is to eat less because weight is directly proportional to the intake of food. And
the loss of weight is directly proportional to abstinence from food. I do not believe there ever has
been a spiritual giant without an appetite for the person of Christ. (J. Pentecost) God reveals more to
those who walk up to the revelations they already have. (R. Jamieson)
Clearly there were some who were teaching that it was possible to be “perfect” in a final sense here
and now. The apostle answers this in a twofold way. First, he insists on a true evaluation of
perfection in terms of a maturity which ever seeks a fuller maturity. The second counterblast to the
claim of false perfection is the suggestion that if any are disposed to think differently God shall
reveal them even this. So confident is he that the truth has been stated, that he invokes the aid of God
to illuminate the minds and correct the behavior of those who do not share his conviction. (R.
Martin) Paul exhorts the Philippian saints who are spiritually mature to consider themselves so only
in a relatively sense, and to remember that there is much room for spiritual growth in their lives. The
spiritual maturity spoken of here is, as we have seen, not a state of sinlessness or flawlessness, but
one of completeness, or a well-rounded Christian character, a state opposite to spiritual infancy. (K.
Wuest) This mindset of continually striving for Christ’s reward is appropriate, even for mature
believers. (G. Sapaugh)
Paul has completed his retrospective exposition and now writes from his current status of spiritual
maturity. He infers from the preceding verses, which describe spiritual self-esteem and spiritual
autonomy, that in every generation a certain number of positive believers will continue their