Philippians - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

have this fellowship with the Lord.
REVELANT OPINIONS
Knowledge lays a stable foundation for the Christian character, preventing it from evaporating into a
mere unreasoning emotionalism. This conception is prominent in Paul's writings and is based on the
O.T. idea of the knowledge of God. To know God is to revere Him, to be godly, for to know Him is
to understand the revelation He has given of Himself. To know Christ is to have the key which will
unlock all the secrets of existence viewed from the standpoint of religion. To recognize this is to
understand doctrinal teaching ... knowledge is the necessary prerequisite of intimate communion
with Christ. (W.R. Nicoll) παραλαμβαvω plainly refers to the definite Christian teaching Paul had
set himself to give them. The word is used regularly of "receiving truth" from a teacher. (W.R.
Nicoll) There was a necessarily close connection between the word the apostle preached and the life
he lived. He not only instructed the Philippians and passed on to them the authoritative, apostolic
tradition; he also provided them with the right sort of model to imitate. They had before their very
eyes a pattern of what it was like to be a true Christian. (P. O’Brien)
There is a polysyndeton in this passage - the use of a particle repeatedly (in this case και) in longer
enumerations which lend rhetorical emphasis. It produces the impression of extensiveness and
abundance by means of an exhausting summary. (Blass, Debrunner, Funk) Paul was assiduous in
inculcating these doctrines. Hypocrites, on the other hand, insisted upon nothing but ceremonies. It
is a dishonorable thing to abandon holy instruction. (J. Calvin) Paul dares to point to his life as an
illustration of this high thinking. The pastor is the interpreter of the spiritual life and should be an
example of it. (A.T. Robertson) The shift in mood from the Indicative requires subordination ...
subordination separates all subordinate clauses from independent clauses no matter which comes
first. (W.G. MacDonald) Using this principle of textual transcription, I have also "separated" the
Imperatival clause from the other Indicative clauses as a separate sentence. It is connected to the
second half of the verse as a protasis to an apodosis. (LWB)
The imperative “let your mind dwell” or think stresses the idea of a constant thought process.
Believers must strengthen daily the moral integrity of their thought life. (R. Gromacki) Many
examples can be used to show that men today, because they have abandoned the authority of the
Word of God, are reappraising the standards set by people who recognized and yielded to that
authority. Men’s minds are subject to satanic control. An unceasing, unremitting, unrelenting battle
goes on day after day and hour after hour for the control of the mind of the child of God. If one is to
keep from following the counsel of the ungodly, from standing in the way of sinners, and from
sitting in the seat of the scoffer, his mind must be occupied with the Word of God. The greatest area
of sin in the believer’s life is not the area of actions but the area of thought. There is a whole
classification of sins that we would have to call sins of the mind. Those sins are more real to the
child of God than such sins as adultery and murder and theft. That is a testimony to the fact that
there is a warfare going on. Satan is attacking the mind. (J. Pentecost)
Philp. 4:9 These things (Nom. Appos.; Bible doctrines and
their fruits in your life) which (ellipsis) you have both