Beyond Suffering Bible Sampler - Flipbook - Page 7
PhiliPPians 3
that I am away, it is even more important.
Work hard to show the results of your salva
tion, obeying God with deep reverence and
fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you
the desire and the power to do what pleases
him.
14
Do everything without complaining and
arguing, 15 so that no one can criticize you.
Live clean, innocent lives as children of God,
shining like bright lights in a world full of
crooked and perverse people. 16Hold firmly to
the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s
return, I will be proud that I did not run the
race in vain and that my work was not use
less. 17 But I will rejoice even if I lose my life,
pouring it out like a liquid offering to God,*
just like your faithful service is an offering
to God. And I want all of you to share that
joy. 18Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share
your joy.
Paul Commends Timothy
19
If the Lord Jesus is willing, I hope to send
Timothy to you soon for a visit. Then he can
cheer me up by telling me how you are get
ting along. 20I have no one else like Timothy,
who genuinely cares about your welfare. 21All
the others care only for themselves and not
for what matters to Jesus Christ. 22 But you
know how Timothy has proved himself. Like
a son with his father, he has served with me
in preaching the Good News. 23I hope to send
him to you just as soon as I find out what is
going to happen to me here. 24 And I have
confidence from the Lord that I myself will
come to see you soon.
Paul Commends Epaphroditus
25
Meanwhile, I thought I should send Epaph
roditus back to you. He is a true brother,
CONNECTION POIN TS
3:711 Joy in Suffering Suffering is the great
equalizer. Whether emotional, physical, social,
or spiritual, suffering unites us in God’s purpose. With Paul, we can affirm that nothing
eradicates our sinful, selfish desires and transforms us into the image of Christ quite like pain
and suffering. We may differ in the degree and
duration of our suffering. Some people with
disabilities may undergo deeper levels and
longer periods of suffering than those without
disabilities. Yet through it all, we share Paul’s
deepest desire—to know Jesus in his death
that we might also experience the joy of his
resurrection.
6
coworker, and fellow soldier. And he was
your messenger to help me in my need. 26 I
am sending him because he has been long
ing to see you, and he was very distressed
that you heard he was ill. 27 And he certainly
was ill; in fact, he almost died. But God had
mercy on him—and also on me, so that I
would not have one sorrow after another.
28
So I am all the more anxious to send him
back to you, for I know you will be glad to see
him, and then I will not be so worried about
you. 29 Welcome him in the Lord’s love* and
with great joy, and give him the honor that
people like him deserve. 30 For he risked his
life for the work of Christ, and he was at the
point of death while doing for me what you
couldn’t do from far away.
The Priceless Value of Knowing Christ
Whatever happens, my dear brothers and
sisters,* rejoice in the Lord. I never get
tired of telling you these things, and I do it
to safeguard your faith.
2
Watch out for those dogs, those people
who do evil, those mutilators who say you
must be circumcised to be saved. 3 For we
who worship by the Spirit of God* are the
ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on
what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put
no confidence in human effort, 4 though I
could have confidence in my own effort if
anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason
for confidence in their own efforts, I have
even more!
5
I was circumcised when I was eight days
old. I am a pureblooded citizen of Israel and
a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real
Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member
of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest
obedience to the Jewish law. 6I was so zealous
that I harshly persecuted the church. And as
for righteousness, I obeyed the law without
fault.
7
I once thought these things were valuable,
but now I consider them worthless because
of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything
else is worthless when compared with the in
finite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
For his sake I have discarded everything else,
counting it all as garbage, so that I could
gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I
no longer count on my own righteousness
through obeying the law; rather, I become
3
2:17 Greek I will rejoice even if I am to be poured out as
a liquid offering. 2:29 Greek in the Lord. 3:1 Greek
brothers; also in 3:13, 17. 3:3 Some manuscripts read
worship God in spirit; one early manuscript reads worship
in spirit.
