Philippians - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

“Grace and peace” was a common greeting in Paul’s day, kind of like our overused “Have a nice
day!” But when grace and peace comes from the source of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
a whole, new meaning springs forth. This grace is logistical, meaning God supplies all the basic
necessities for a believer to live the spiritual life. Prosperity is grace upon grace, also known as
supergrace blessings – those gracious blessings above and beyond our wildest dreams. You can wish
those on me any time! Alpha or logistical grace blessings are given to every believer at the point of
regeneration. Bravo or special grace blessings are given to believers who attain supergrace status.
REVELANT OPINIONS
Paul desires that the Philippians may apprehend more fully the grace of God in which they already
stand. Peace included everything given by God in all areas of life, and had a social dimension as
well as being linked, on occasion, with righteousness. (P. O’Brien) Grace is God being gracious,
adopting an attitude of all-sufficient favour towards helpless and meritless sinners, and acting in line
with that; God coming to them in free, unprovoked love, to give them the opposite of their
deservings. The firstfruit of grace is peace, specifically peace with God. Peace is Godward and
inward. Peace is both our experience and our strength in hard times. It sums up in one word the allsufficient
blessings which God gives to His saints and which His presence enables them to
experience. (J. Motyer)
Philp. 1:2 Grace (Subj. Nom.; logistical grace) to you (Dat.
Adv.) and (connective) prosperity (Subj. Nom.; beyond
logistics, supergrace blessings) from God (Abl. Source) our
(Gen. Rel.) Father (Gen. Appos.) and (connective) the Lord
Jesus Christ (Abl. Source).
WHO Philippians 1:2 ca,rij u`mi/n kai. eivrh,nh avpo. qeou/ patro.j h`mw/n kai. kuri,ou VIhsou/ Cristou/
VUL Philippians 1:2 gratia vobis et pax a Deo Patre nostro et Domino Iesu Christo
LWB Philp. 1:3 I keep on giving thanks to God on the basis of my entire memory [corporate
fondness] of you all [the entire congregation],
KW Philp. 1:3 I am constantly thanking my God for my whole remembrance of you,
KJV Philippians 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
TRANSLATION HIGHLIGHTS
Paul informs the Philippian believers that he continues to give thanks to God (Iterative Present tense)
when conditions warrant for the memories he has of them while in prison. He thanks the Lord that
he has excellent recall of their prior visits, meaning his memory is functioning well in spite of the
circumstances. He remembers some Philippians individually, but in this case, his entire memory of
them as a whole is one of great fondness. Paul has a marvelous relationship with the believers in this